>*"Could you give an example of cognitive conflict and controlled processes? I get the gist of it but I don’t think I fully understand it"* Yes of course. Cognitive conflict often arises when there are competing thoughts or motivations related to speaking. For example: * Linguistic Conflict: Choosing between two similar words while speaking. For instance, trying to decide between saying "big" or "large." Or choosing between speaking at a normal pace or changing the way you speak e.g., reducing the speech rate * Motivational Conflict: Feeling both motivated to contribute to a conversation but also afraid of being evaluated negatively by others * Approach-Avoidance Conflict: Wanting to express an idea during a presentation (approach motivation) while fearing the possibility of stumbling over words (avoidance motivation) * Physiological conflict: Instructing motor movement (approach behavior) while feeling a headache or a burning neck (as sympathetic pain) that is too painful so you inhibit motor execution (aka blocking). In the early stages this would be stuttering anticipation, the experience of inability to execute motor movements * Stutterer identity conflict: Stuttering in your [self-concept](https://www.reddit.com/r/Stutter/comments/15cl7wd/comment/ju04cuv/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) can contribute to stuttering anticipation and developing stuttering behavior Controlled processes involve deliberate and conscious cognitive efforts to manage behavior. They require more mental effort and can be influenced by cognitive conflict. In stuttering, controlled processes can contribute to disruptions of initiating (or instructing) motor execution. For example: * Self-Focus: Paying excessive attention to how you're speaking, leading to self-consciousness and inhibiting natural speech flow * Inhibitory control: Trying to suppress or control the occurrence of disfluencies by forcefully stopping "instructing to execute motor movements" mid-speech to avoid stuttering * Substitution strategies: Replacing a difficult word with an easier one to avoid potential stuttering, even if the substituted word doesn't accurately convey your intended message * Physical Tension: Using struggle behaviors, muscular tension and physical effort to try to control speech to replace "instructing motor execution" * Overthinking: Overanalyzing each word before saying it, which can lead to increased cognitive conflict * Monitoring Feedback: Continuously monitoring the outcome of speech (in case of preventing speech errors), locating speech muscles, reinforcing overreliance on audible feedback or anticipation for signs of potential disfluencies or errors * Anxiety Management: Trying to manage anxiety by using controlled breathing techniques or other strategies, which might inadvertently lead to more cognitive conflict and tension