Semantic Processing Abilities of Preschoolers who Stutter: Preliminary Findings

Kia Hartfield and Edward Conture

The purpose of this study was to assess semantic processing of 13 preschool children who do (CWS) and 13 who do not stutter (CWNS). Participants’ speech reaction times (SRTs) and errors associated with picture naming were assessed during four semantic priming conditions: (1) Neutral, (2) Physical, (3) Functional and (4) Categorical. Findings indicated that CWS exhibited significantly slower SRTs and greater semantic priming effects than CWNS. Results suggest that the semantic processing of CWS operates at less than their maximal potential thus they benefit more from semantic priming than CWNS who operate closer to their maximum abilities.