A Comparison of the Reaction Times of Stutterers and Nonstutterers to Items on a Word Association Test

Abstract

Reaction times to words judged as neutral or as connoting joy, guilt, depression, fear, or aggression were measured in 30 male stutterers between 18 and 45 years of age and in a matched group of 30 normal speakers. Reaction time was utilized as the index of affective disturbance. Stutterers had significantly greater mean latency for all words, and especially for certain affect-connoting items, particularly those pertaining to guilt.