Text Type and Stuttering Severity: Influence on Listener Recall and Comprehension

James Panico and E. Charles Healey

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of text type, topic familiarity, and stuttering severity on listener recall, comprehension, and perceived listening effort. A total of 60 participants were assigned to one of four stuttering severity levels. Each participant listened to two narrative and two expository texts. Results indicated that increasing stuttering severity and unfamiliar expository text speech samples decreased listener recall and comprehension. Perceived listener effort also increased as stuttering severity increased. Clinical implications suggest not only focusing on the management of the stuttering but on the linguistic complexity of the spoken information as well.