How Listeners Compensate for Disfluencies in Spontaneous Speech

Listeners often encounter disfluencies (like uhs and repairs) in spontaneous speech. How is comprehension affected? In four experiments, listeners followed fluent and disfluent instructions to select an object on a graphical display. Disfluent instructions included mid-word interruptions (Move to the yel- purple square), mid-word interruptions with fillers (Move to the yel- uh, purple square), and between-word interruptions (Move to the yellow- purple square). Relative to the target color word, listeners selected the target object more quickly, and no less accurately, after hearing mid-word interruptions with fillers than after hearing comparable fluent utterances as well as utterances that replaced disfluencies with pauses of equal length. Hearing less misleading information before the interruption site led listeners to make fewer errors, and fillers allowed for more time after the interruption for listeners to cancel misleading information. The information available in disfluencies can help listeners compensate for disruptions and delays in spontaneous utterances.