Measurement of Phonated Intervals During Four Fluency-Inducing Conditions

Abstract

These results provide further evidence of the importance of phonation variables to (a) our understanding of how FICs may operate and (b) the treatment of stuttering. These findings, along with previous studies that showed how purposefully reducing the number of short PIs resulted in the elimination of stuttering, suggest that treatment programs based on prolonged speech-or PIs, in particular-may benefit from emphasizing a reduction in the number of short PIs and a simultaneous increase in the number of longer PIs.

Temporal variability in sung productions of adolescents who stutter

“…Research confirms that singing naturally slows down articulation rate in individuals who stutter, with significant increases in utterance duration as well as in overall voicing time (Andrews, Howie, Dozsa, & Guitar, 1982;Colcord & Adams, 1979;Healey, Mallard, & Adams, 1976;Stager, Jeffries, & Braun, 2003). In particular, the percentage of short phonated intervals (i.e., 30-200 ms of vocal fold vibration) reduces significantly (Davidow, Bothe, Andreatta, & Ye, 2009;Ingham et al, 2001;Ingham, Ingham, Bothe, Wang, & Kilgo, 2015). Reductions in short phonated intervals have been identified as one of the strongest indicators of improved fluency in individuals who stutter (Davidow, 2014).…”

Systematic studies of modified vocalization: Speech production changes during a variation of metronomic speech in persons who do and do not stutter

“…Two-min monologues were placed after each speaking condition to prevent carryover effects (Davidow et al, 2009). Before the next condition could begin, PWS were required to reach %SS levels within 90% or greater of their baseline monologue rate, reach 90% or greater of their baseline monologue speech rate, and receive a rating of “2” or lower on a 7-point (1–7) scale (“1” = sounds identical to habitual monologues; “ 7” = sounds totally different than habitual monologues ).…”

“…It typically results in stuttering frequency levels at or near zero (e.g., Andrews, Howie, Dozsa, & Guitar, 1982; Davidow, Bothe, Andreatta, & Ye, 2009). Several explanations have been put forth for the stuttering reductions during metronome stimulation, such as distraction (Barber, 1940; Johnson & Rosen, 1937), slowed speech (Johnson & Rosen, 1937), normalization of brain regions that may be abnormally activated or deficient (Alm, 2004), integration of the speech mechanism (Johnson & Rosen, 1937), or specifically that the metronome effect helps to properly time motoric patterns involved in respiration, phonation, and articulation (Van Riper, 1973), and Wingate’s Modified Vocalization Hypothesis (Wingate, 1969, 1970).…”

“…Changes in speech production variables have been found from a control condition to several FICs, including syllable- and word-based metronomic speech. Examples include an increase in vowel duration (e.g., Stager et al, 1997), an increase in intraoral pressure rise time (Stager et al, 1997), a decrease in the percentage of short phonated intervals (an estimate of the duration of vocal fold vibration, as measured from the surface of the throat between breaks of 10 ms or more; Davidow et al, 2009), a decrease in peak pressure (Stager et al, 1997), and a decrease in air flow rate (Hutchinson & Navarre, 1977) during metronomic speech in a group of PWS. These changes suggest that PWS may receive fluency benefits from these adjustments, although their necessity for fluency during several FICs has yet to be determined (Davidow, Bothe, Richardson, & Andreatta, 2010).…”

Small Groups, Big Gains: Efficacy of a Tier 2 Phonological Awareness Intervention With Preschoolers With Early Literacy Deficits

“…That is, prior to treatment, PWS do not necessarily produce more short PIs in their connected speech than normally fluent speakers. Nevertheless, investigations by Davidow, Bothe, Andreatta, and Ye (2009), for instance, have shown that some well-known fluency inducing conditions (chorus reading, prolonged speech, singing, and rhythmic stimulation) are associated with approximately 50% reductions in PIs within the range of 51-150 ms. Most important for the development of improved treatment options, the results of these PI investigations were used to develop a treatment known as Modifying Phonation Intervals (MPI).…”