The structure of disfluency behaviors in the speech of adult stutterers

Throughout the stuttering literature numerous references to a twofold classification of disfluency types are found. However, no rigorous empirical test of that dichotomous classification has been reported in the literature. This investigation was designed to conduct such a test in order to provide an empirical foundation for that distinction. The hypotheses stated that the relationships among disfluency behaviors were consistent with an underlying two-dimensional structure and specified the group of variables (disfluency behaviors) having primary association with each dimension. Instrumentation and procedures permitting reliable identification and coding of nine disfluency behaviors were developed. This observational system was applied to baseline monologues obtained from 180 adult stutterers. Results of factor analyses supported the hypotheses on the two-factor structure and on the disposition of the disfluency variables.