Comparison of listeners' judgments of simulated and authentic stuttering using magnitude estimation scaling

The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether normal listeners can diff erentiate authentic and simulated stuttering. The subjects were 40 graduate and undergraduate students in hearing and speech sciences mho were asked t o listen to segments of authentic and simulated stuttered speech at varying severities. Using magnitude estimation scaling, each subject was asked to judge the samples of stuttered speech by providing ii numerical response th at matched the severity of the segment listened to. Analysis showed that th e subjects discriminated between different severi ties of both the authenti c and stuttered speech. They did not differentiate between authentic segmen ts of stuttered speech and simulated ones.