FAST FINGER EXTENSIONS ARE SLOWER IN STUTTERERS THAN IN NONSTUTTERERS

10 adult stutterers and 10 nonstutterers were required to extend as fast as possible their right and left index fingers under isometric conditions in response to an auditory signal. Force developed during finger extension was measured continuously during each trial. From these force records reaction time, contraction time, and peak force were measured. For stutterers, contraction times were longer (about 36 msec) than for nonstutterers. Possible reasons for this result are discussed.