Comparison of attentional shifting skill in 6-8 years children with fluent speech and developmental stuttering

Background and Aim : Executive functions are complex cognitive structures that include activities such as inhibition, attentional shifting, planning and organizing the cognitive output process. These functions lead to conscious control of thought and action. Regarding the role of executive functions, each person before the onset or during the fluent speech requires identification, inhibition, and modification of speech interruptions (such as repetitions and prolongations that are the main symptoms of stuttering), and must be able to consistently regulate the speech process to adjust the verbal units fluently and sequentially. Therefore, any defect in the inhibition, transmission, and working memory of the developing children can make speech fluency difficult. For these reason, the purpose of this study was comparison of attentional shifting skill in 6-8 years children with fluent speech and developmental stuttering.Methods : This research is a descriptive-analytic cross-sectional study. The participants included 31 children with developmental stuttering (6-8 years old) selected based on the convenient sampling method. Also, 31 normal children were selected from elementary schools in Tehran Province that matched in terms of age and gender with the first group. The children of two groups were selected from the same district (The fifth district) of Tehran Province. Wisconsin card sorting test was used to measure of attentional shifting. Data analysis was performed using SPSS (V. 16) and the Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare two groups.Results : The result of this study showed significant difference between two groups in index of attentional shifting (P<0/05). According to the Shapiro-Wilk Test, the data distribution was not normal. Therefore, the parametric test of the Mann-Whitney U test was used.Conclusion : The finding of this study showed that children who stutter had less efficiency in attentional shifting skill compared to normal children, and this problem may be due to exacerbation or persistence of stuttering.

Keywords:

Executive functions , attentional shifting , Developmental stuttering , Wisconsin card sorting test