Thank you for your fantastic comment! >*"I could get more technical to explain neural structures and dynamics that lend credence to this explanation, but this comment is already too long."* I would be happy and very interested to hear more, such as about the technical side as you said. >*"Anticipation is the problem, because overreliance implies there is some level of reliance where anticipation is helpful."* Answer: I agree with your statement. Additionally, according to [Brocklehurst (PhD)](https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Paul-Brocklehurst), often PWS learn to respond in the anticipation of stuttering in traditional speech therapy. According to him, this might reinforce anticipation. I think that he's got a point. Outside of speech therapy, I think that, after reading many of the comments in this subreddit, I've noticed that many PWS use word-substitution to escape an anticipated block (or, they implement other such negative coping mechanisms). Another example of "relying on anticipation for overt execution of planned syllables": Additionally, here is where my thoughts may diverge from the viewpoint of traditional speech therapy. I argue that perceiving oneself as a PWS or labeling one's speech as PDS (persistent developmental stuttering), can in the worst case, also increase such anticipation (after all, we might subconsciously develop an image of ourselves stuttering - aka anticipation, even if only hypothetical or associated with certain expectations). Brocklehurst (PhD) states something similar, see [his model here ](https://www.reddit.com/r/Stutter/comments/196mdrr/the_role_of_classicaloperant_conditioning_in/)(which I created based on his hypothesis). Furthermore, such a change in self-identity or self-image might also lead to developing 100s of subconscious expectations, such as: * "I need confidence to make it easier to initiate motor programs" and * "*It makes sense to stutter more in the beginning of words/phrases*" (and eventually this expectation could escalate and become: "*It makes sense to stutter on every part of a word/phrase, not just in the beginning, because I label my stuttering as severe PWS*" - which is what had happened in my own personal experience).