Dysfluency characteristics identified by listeners as “stuttering” and “stutterer”

This study was designed to measure the effect of variation in dysfluency characteristics on listener evaluation of “stuttering” and of the speaker as “stutterer” Eighteen speech patterns composed of various combinations of type, frequency, and manner of dysfluency were judged by a panel of public school teachers. For judgments “stuttering,” type was the identifying characteristic, repetition being viewed significantly more directly as “stuttering” than was hesitation. For judgments of “stutterer,” frequency of dysfluency the major factor. Identical dysfluency characteristics were judged both as “stuttering” and respoken by a “stutterer” in approximately three-fourths of the judgments. When “stuttering” but not “stutterer” was judged, identifying characteristics could involve type, frequency, or manner of dysfluency. In the rare instances where judgments of “stutterer” but not “stuttering” were made, type and frequency were factors.