Comment #1: >*"I think this phenomenon isn’t totally consistent with my experience."* Thank you so much for your thoughtful reply! 🙏 You're right—this phenomenon definitely isn't consistent across everyone’s experience. I think that’s what makes it so fascinating. I have my own thoughts about why it's so inconsistent, I’ve found that the approach-avoidance conflict behind stuttering can fluctuate on a moment-to-moment basis, depending on how we ***perceive*** the situation. And this ***perception*** is based on our past experiences, and internal biases, wouldn't you agree? Let me share a personal example: When I was about 10, I remember walking through a busy shopping mall with my family. Both my mother and I stuttered quite severely. At one point, I **perceived** that loud background music (i.e., a **stimulus**) made me feel *less self-conscious (i.e.,* ***a value judgements****)*, like people wouldn't hear me as clearly or pay as much attention to my speech. As a result, I actually was significantly *more fluent*. Of course, this was all happening subconsciously—I wasn’t trying to stutter less; it just happened. But then my mother said something that really changed my **perception**. She told me, “*Loud music always makes stuttering worse. It distracts you and makes it harder to control your speech.*” After hearing that, I started believing in my mother.. I got convinced by her. And sure enough, my stuttering got significnatly worse that afternoon in the shopping mall. So: such conditioning doesn't necessarily take many years. One-time-learning is where conditioning can occur even after only one (or a couple) event or experience. Over the years, I’ve noticed how paradoxical these "**stimuli**" can be. For example, some weeks I’d stutter more with my dad, and almost not at all with my mom. Then the next week, it would flip completely. I wasn’t aware of any fear or specific reason—it just happened without being consciously aware of what triggered this. In hindsight, now I think this might have to do with fluctuating perceptions, rather than actual external conditions themselves. In fact, many things we see as "stimuli" can be paradoxical. The same stimulus can either increase or decrease stuttering, depending on our view/perception of it, I think. Take “speaking slowly”—for some people, it helps reduce stuttering, and for others, it makes it worse. Or look at polls where people report speaking more fluently with either strangers *or* family—two completely different experiences depending on the person. I’d argue it’s not really the stimulus itself, but our *interpretation* of it that changes the effect.