Text recognition skills and text recall ability of adults who do and do not stutter in oral and typed modes

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Growing evidence suggests subtle weak language and memory skills in adults who stutter (AWS). It is unknown if differences are due to oral task demands; prior memory studies have focused on phonological short-term memory. This study further investigates story retelling and word fluency skills in AWS and adults who do not stutter (AWNS). METHOD: Fifteen pairs of AWS and AWNS completed story retell and recognition tasks conducted in oral and typed modes. Word fluency (lexical retrieval) skills, digit span in both modes, and vocabulary were also assessed. RESULTS: No significant differences were found between groups on most measures, across modes, with the exception of word fluency, where AWS produced fewer items in both modes. Vocabulary and word fluency skills correlated with story retell ability in AWNS, but not in AWS. Findings suggest potential lexical access and retrieval differences in AWS, but no specific disadvantages posed by oral responses.