Journal article
Effects of stuttering and sound avoidance on reference production and memory
Applied psycholinguistics, Vol.47, e3
02/12/2026
DOI: 10.1017/S0142716425100428
PMCID: PMC12926730
PMID: 41737806
Abstract
Adults who stutter (AWS) frequently engage in language monitoring to anticipate and manage stuttering. This linguistic monitoring may reallocate cognitive resources, with potential consequences for language production and memory. We investigated whether AWS' increased monitoring during production imposes dual-task costs that limit encoding benefits, or whether it enhances memory through deeper conceptual engagement. Thirty-two AWS and sixty-four adults who do not stutter (AWNS) completed a referential communication task in which they described or identified pictures with an experimenter. To simulate AWS' linguistic monitoring, half of the AWNS performed a simultaneous sound avoidance task (AWNS-SA), prohibiting certain word-initial phonemes. After the communication task, participants completed a recognition memory test for past referents. Results showed that AWS performed more similarly to AWNS than to AWNS-SA in both language production and memory, although AWS' memory declined on a trial-by-trial basis when stuttering occurred. These findings suggest that linguistic monitoring in AWS does not impose substantial dual-task costs overall, but that stuttering moments can transiently disrupt memory encoding. Together, these results highlight the adaptive nature of linguistic monitoring in AWS and contribute to a broader understanding of how it supports language production and memory across AWS and AWNS.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Effects of stuttering and sound avoidance on reference production and memory
- Creators
- Si On Yoon - New York UniversityMorgan Schuchard - University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s HospitalAnu Subramanian - University of IowaNaomi H. Rodgers - University of Iowa
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Applied psycholinguistics, Vol.47, e3
- DOI
- 10.1017/S0142716425100428
- PMID
- 41737806
- PMCID
- PMC12926730
- NLM abbreviation
- Appl Psycholinguist
- ISSN
- 0142-7164
- eISSN
- 1469-1817
- Publisher
- Cambridge Univ Press
- Number of pages
- 21
- Grant note
- UM1TR004403 / National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences of the National Institutes of Health; United States Department of Health & Human Services; National Institutes of Health (NIH) - USA; NIH National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS)
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 02/12/2026
- Academic Unit
- Communication Sciences and Disorders; Center for Social Science Innovation
- Record Identifier
- 9985139492302771
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