Modification of maintenance and generalization during stuttering treatment.

A procedure designed to maintain and generalize the gains achieved during a stuttering treatment was assessed. A performance-contingent schedule of decreasing within-clinic assessments was evaluated when it was programmed with either contingent or noncontingent schedule conditions. The effect of these schedules on stuttering was assessed within BAB and ABA experimental conditions which were applied to nine stutterers divided into two groups. Assessments were made on the speech behavior of subjects within and outside of clinic conditions as well as covertly. The percentage of syllables stuttered and syllable-per-minute data from both groups of subjects indicated that the performance-contingent schedule was associated with both maintained and generalized reductions in stuttering. The clinical validity of this finding is limited, however, because covert assessment data were consistent with outside-clinic performance for only six of the nine subjects.