Comparison of Acoustic Startle Response in School-age Children who Stutter and their Fluent Peers

It is theorized that stuttering emerges as the result of an interaction between constitutional and environmental factors (Van Riper, 1982; Bloodstein, 1995), and that constitutional factors in persistent stuttering may include an emotionally reactive temperament (sometimes referred to as a “sensitive” temperament) (Brutten & Trotter, 1986; Brutten & Shoemaker, 1967; Conture, 1991; Guitar, 1998, 2000). Additionally, it has been proposed that children who stutter (CWS) may be inherently inclined to have a sensitive temperament compared to their normally fluent peers, which may contribute to their vulnerability in beginning, maintaining, or recovering from stuttering (Conture, 1991, 2001; Guitar, 1998; Zebrowski & Conture, 1998, Karass, Walden, Conture, Graham, Arnold, & Hartfield, 2006; Eggers, De Nil, & Van den Bergh, 2010; Walden, Buhr, Johnson, Conture & Karass 2012).The purpose of this research is to examine the reactivity/sensitivity of school-age CWS, as evidenced by the acoustic startle response and scores on a standardized temperament scale. Acoustic startle response, determined by electromyography (EMG), measures the amplitude of eyeblink response to a brief pulse of white noise. This neurophysiological assessment of emotional reactivity has been widely used in psychological research (Vrana, Spence, & Lang, 1988, p.487). This physiological measure will be paired with a parent-report measure to assess emotional sensitivity.