Multiple baseline analysis of the regulated breathing procedure for the treatment of stuttering

The effects of a regulated breathing procedure on several characteristics of the speech of an adult stutterer were evaluated in a multiple baseline across situations design. Speech rate, dysfluency rate, and masseter electromyelogram (EMG) were measured during reading, an interview, a simulated social situation, and while speaking on the telephone or over an office intercom. Results showed reliable change in each dependent measure consistent with implementation of the regulated breathing treatment in a multiple baseline fashion. The treatment effects were substantiated by a social validation procedure in which naive observers listened to tape-recorded samples of the subject's speech in all phases of the experiment. The naive observers rated the subject's speech in terms of the ability to understand the subject's speech, subjective desire to interact with the subject, and global social impression made by the subject. Descriptors were regulated breathing, stuttering, facial EMG, and social validation.