Isn't it just a reaction to perceiving prediction **errors**? This research explains it better: [https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/uph5g](https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/uph5g) You could see it like, we have an existential imperative to resist entropy (i.e., minimize uncertainty or surprise) by generating internal probabilistic representations of the environment, whether that's a need to avoid stuttering, avoid negative reactions, or we perceive our speech performance as inadequate (in other words, lack of confidence in our ability), or we feel the need to avoid anything else - it can literally be anything else - that we perceive as a problem, an **error**, and to be avoided. For example, the fear to stutter on our name can be perceived as an error, but literally anything at all can be perceived as a prediction error that prevents us from saying the word or sound in that specific moment. Likely the biggest mistake I think we all seem to make, is that we fill in what this 'error' is for other people, but that's simply not how error prediction works. For those who want to understand this better (which I think will be everyone, since this is probably one of the most important things about the underlying symptoms of speech blocks), I’ve compiled dozens of important points from various research studies about this in [this post](https://new.reddit.com/r/Stutter/comments/1dcx3vy/any_doctors_therapists_med_students_or/)