Evaluating adaptation effect in real versus virtual reality environments with people who stutter.

INTRODUCTION: The adaptation effect refers to the gradual reduction of dysfluencies with repeated exposure to a substance. The concept of adaptation was originally defined in light of the reading task. Yet, limited studies have also confirmed the adaptation effect in spontaneous-speech. The reduction in the dysfluencies can be attributed to the reduction in the anxiety, or getting habituated to the content of reading material or due to motor learning.

METHODS: This research aimed at measuring the adaptation effect in real and virtual reality (VR) environments for spontaneous-speech and reading. The objectives were divided into two categories. The first objective aimed at comparing the adaption effect for the real and VR environments on the reading task, while the second objective addressed the same objective, but for the spontaneous-speech task. The study involved 24 participants in the age range of 19-33 years. SSI-4 was administered on the participants.

CONCLUSION: The reduction in dysfluencies was seen for both real and VR testing environments. The reduction in the dysfluency was more marked for reading-task compared to spontaneous-speech task. The results shed light on the relationship between adaptation effect and the test environment.