Differences in eye movements of people with and without stuttering issuesPremzl, Alex (Avtor) Jurančič, Klementina Penelope (Mentor) stutteringfixationsregressionsdyslexiasaccadic eye movementssilent readingovert readingStuttering is a complex speech disorder that extends beyond overt disfluencies in articulation, encompassing cognitive, linguistic, and neurological processes that influence both oral and silent reading. This thesis synthesizes empirical findings from eye-tracking, behavioral, and neuroimaging studies to examine five hypotheses concerning differences between individuals who stutter and fluent speakers. The results provide strong evidence that individuals who stutter exhibit distinct patterns of eye movement behavior, including increased saccadic movements, prolonged fixations, and more frequent regressions, even during silent reading tasks. These findings challenge the notion that stuttering is exclusively a motor-based disorder and suggest disruptions at higher levels of linguistic and cognitive processing. Further, individuals who stutter demonstrated lower articulation rates and reduced fluency compared to non-stuttering peers. When required to read at a pace similar to fluent readers, they showed a trade-off between speed and accuracy, indicating a negative correlation between articulation rate and reading accuracy under time pressure. Neuroimaging evidence confirmed atypical brain activation patterns in stuttering individuals, with reduced activity in left-hemisphere regions and compensatory right-hemisphere activation, highlighting structural and functional differences in neural organization. The findings carry important implications for both theoretical models of stuttering and clinical practice. They suggest that stuttering should be understood as a multifaceted disorder involving linguistic, cognitive, and neural mechanisms, and that interventions should address not only speech output but also broader processing differences. Nevertheless, the synthesis is limited by methodological heterogeneity across studies, small and demographically narrow samples, and a lack of longitudinal research. Future investigations should prioritize standardized methodologies, larger and more diverse populations, and multimodal approaches combining eye-tracking with neuroimaging. Such research could clarify causal mechanisms, explore compensatory strategies, and identify early diagnostic markers. By situating stuttering within an integrative framework, this thesis contributes to a deeper understanding of the disorder and its implications for education, therapy, and further scientific inquiry.A. Premzl20252025-09-27 11:22:18Magistrsko delo/naloga95576sl