The Anticipatory Struggle Hypothesis: Implications of Research on the Variability of Stuttering

Abstract

Answers consistent with the anticipatory struggle hypothesis are suggested for several questions which have received a large share of experimenters' attention in recent years. The metronome effect may be due in part to the simplification of motor planning which results from reduction of speech to small units, and in part to distraction. The adaptation effect appears to be due largely to repeated rehearsal of the motor plan. An important factor in the white noise and DAF effects seems to be simply the rule that almost any novel form of auditory feedback may serve to reduce stuttering. Finally, the inconsistent effects of punishment on stuttering appear reasonable on the basis of the anticipatory struggle hypothesis when this concept is precisely formulated in behavioral terms.