DOES DISTRACTION REDUCE STUTTERING?
Several studies established that distraction does not reduce stuttering. For example, stutterers can talk fluently to the rhythm of a metronome, but an arrhythmic metronome does not enable fluency, showing that metronomes do not reduce stuttering via distraction. A 1982 study had stutterers step on and off a 10-inch platform while reading out loud. A 1985 study had stutterers manually track an irregular line on a rotating drum while speaking. Neither distraction was able to reduce stuttering. “Distraction” is a vague term, with different people using the word differently. Paying attention to your speech is called a distraction, e.g., speaking in an unusual accent. But paying attention to something other than your speech is also called a distraction.
