Date of Graduation

Spring 2010

Degree

Master of Science in Communication Sciences and Disorders

Department

Communication Sciences and Disorders

Committee Chair

Klaas Bakker

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to determine whether adult persons who stutter (PWS) exhibit higher levels of sensory-processing sensitivity than adult persons who do not stutter (PWNS). The Highly Sensitive Person Scale (Aron & Aron, 1997), which is a 27-item questionnaire designed to detect high sensitivity in adults, was completed by 101 adults who stutter (with clinical diagnoses of stuttering), and 107 adults of similar age and gender distribution who do not stutter (with no diagnoses of stuttering). All participants completed The Highly Sensitive Person Scale in an online survey form. Overall, PWS were not statistically different from PWNS. However, the variability in sensory-processing sensitivity scores was great among PWS as well as PWNS. Although the overall internal consistency of the Highly Sensitive Person Scale was good, there were still some items that differentiated the samples. Specific questions were identified that did vary between the groups of participants, in terms of responding and the relationship to test total. Item numbers 27, 24, 1, 5 and 11 appeared to indicate that PWS exhibited slightly higher levels of sensory-processing sensitivity than PWNS, while item numbers 18, 9, 15, and 16 appeared to indicate that PWNS exhibited slightly higher levels of sensory-processing sensitivity than PWS. Ramifications for future research were discussed.

Keywords

sensitivity, sensory-processing sensitivity, people who stutter (PWS), people who do not stutter (PWNS), stuttering, the Highly Sensitive Person Scale

Subject Categories

Communication Sciences and Disorders

Copyright

© Amanda Leah Schembs

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