Effects of time-interval judgment training on real-time measurement of stuttering

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether a previously developed interval-based training program could improve judges' stuttering event jud gments. Two groups of judges made real-time stuttering event judgments (com puter-mouse button presses) in 3 to 6 trials before the response-contingent judgment training program and in another 3 to 6 trials after training, for recordings of 9 adults who stuttered. Their judgments were analyzed in ter ms of number of stuttering events, duration of stuttering, and 5-s interval s of speech that could be categorized as judged (or not judged) to contain stuttering. Results showed to changes in the amount of stuttering identifie d by the judges; (b) improved correspondence between the judges' identifica tions of stuttering events and interval-based standards previously develope d from judgments made by experienced, authoritative judges; (cf improved co rrespondence between interval-based analyses of the judges' stuttering judg ments and the previously developed standards; (d) improved intrajudge agree ment; (e) improved interjudge agreement; and Lf) convergence between the 2 judge groups, for samples and speakers used during training tasks and also for other speakers. Some implications of these findings for developing stan dardized procedures for the real-time measurement of stuttering are discuss ed.