Information Processing Biases in Adults Who Stutter: Behavioral and Eye-tracking Indices of Threat-related Attention Allocation
University of Memphis
Summary
The goal of this clinical trial is to examine whether stuttering is associated with a tendency to attend more quickly or for longer durations to threat-related information in the environment (threat-related attention bias). The main questions it aims to answer are: Do adults who stutter, relative to adults who do not stutter, attend to threat-related stimuli more than neutral information? Are attentional biases observed across different types of threat or are they specific to threats related to stuttering experiences? Do measures of attention bias explain individual differences in psychological reactions among adults who stutter?
Description
The goal of the project is to examine threat-related attentional processes associated with stuttering. In Aim 1, investigators will establish differences in attention bias (AB) in adults who do and do not stutter and the processing stage at which differences emerge. In Aim 2, investigators will compare AB effects across different categories of threat stimuli to determine whether threat-related AB in adults who stutter is general or disorder-specific. In Aim 3, the investigators examine the role of AB as a causal factor mediating effects of individual risk-factors (related to temperament and at…
Eligibility
- Age range
- 18–65 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Yes
Inclusion Criteria: * Speaks English as their primary language * Normal hearing (based on pure tone screening) * Normal or corrected vision (based on report) * Normal color vision (based on Ishihara Test, Concise Edition) * Nonverbal intelligence within at least average range based on Test of Nonverbal Intelligence, 4th Edition * Expressive language within at least average range score based on Expressive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test Additional inclusion criteria for adults who stutter: * Self-identification as a person who stutters * Score of at least 11 (mild stuttering) on Stuttering…
Interventions
- BehavioralThreat-related stimulus exposure
Participants will view threat-related stimuli (words or faces) paired with nonthreat matches in three related experimental paradigms.
Location
- University of MemphisMemphis, Tennessee