Characteristics of Attentinal Focus of Movement Among Adults Who Stutter

【Purposes】Certain conditions are known to eliminate stuttering immediately. These conditions are referred to as fluency-inducing conditions (Bloodstein, et.al., 2021), and they infer abnormalities of attentional characteristics among people who stutter. The aims of this study were to elucidate how the motor performance of stutterers is influenced by attentional foci : external focus of attention (EF) and internal focus of attention (IF) (Wulf, et al., 1998). 【Methods】A typing task involving sequential key pressing was conducted under EF and IF conditions among 13 adults who stutter (AWS) and 12 matched control adults who do not stutter (ANS). Typing accuracy and typing speed were analyzed. 【Results】Similar to other body movements (Wulf, 2013), the typing speed was significantly lower in IF than EF for both AWS and ANS. Additionally, for AWS, typing accuracy was significantly decreased in IF compared to EF. These findings indicate that IF reduces the efficiency of finger movement compared to EF in AWS. 【Conclusions】The results suggest that AWS are more vulnerable to disruptions in motor control under IF conditions than under EF conditions. The clinical implications of these findings are discussed.

【References】Bloodstein, O., Ratner, N. B., & Brundage, S. B. (2021). A handbook on stuttering. Plural Publishing.　Wulf, G. (2013). Attentional focus and motor learning: A review of 15 years. International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 6(1), 77–104.　Wulf, G., Höß, M., & Prinz, W. (1998). Instructions for motor learning: Differential effects of internal versus external focus of attention. Journal of Motor Behavior, 30(2), 169–179.