# A shared database for the study of the development of language fluency

> **NIH NIH R01** · CARNEGIE-MELLON UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $324,375

## Abstract

The goal of the FluencyBank project is the construction of a shared computerized database of
multimedia interactions for the study of the development of speech fluency and disfluency through
childhood. We will create a Gold Standard database collected from four groups of participants:
Spanish-English bilinguals, late talkers, children who stutter, and normally-developing control
children. Working with our Consortium members from 32 sites, we will extend this database with
already available recordings and transcripts, as well as additional new data using the new core
protocol. The Gold Standard data will be coded extensively for the training of computational linguistic
methods for automatic and semi-automatic data analysis. Using these methods, we will create new
measures of fluency that we can use to distinguish developmental patterns of recovery from
stuttering. Where available, we will supplement this behavioral database with information from
genetic and neuroimaging work. The results will be important for the development of the theory of
typical and atypical patterns of fluency and disfluency. They will also allow us to better understand
the course of fluency development, and to devise and evaluate methods for treating fluency
disorders. The results will be important for both research and clinical practice. We will disseminate
these data and methods to the wider community through conferences, networking, and technical
support systems. All data and methods will be freely available to all interested researchers.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9965647
- **Project number:** 5R01DC015494-05
- **Recipient organization:** CARNEGIE-MELLON UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** BRIAN MACWHINNEY
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $324,375
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2016-07-22 → 2022-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9965647

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9965647, A shared database for the study of the development of language fluency (5R01DC015494-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9965647. Licensed CC0.

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