Sexual characteristics of preadolescent childrens’ voices

Abstract

This investigation was undertaken to enlarge current understanding of the acoustic properties which influence the perception of maleness and femaleness in the voices of prepubertal children. Perceptual judgments of sexual identity were obtained in response to tape recordings of whispered and normally phonated vowels, normally spoken sentences, and sentences spoken in a monotonous fashion. Seventy-three children provided recordings. The four utterance types were chosen to experimentally manipulate selected physical properties of speech thought to exert an influence on listener judgments of sexual identity. The results of this work suggest that cues stemming from differences in vocal tract dimensions and/or articulatory behaviors provided the primary cues about the sexual identity of these preadolescent children. Although laryngeal source cues could have provided relevant information about the sex of a few children, this variable was felt to play a relatively minor role in the sex recognition process. New information was uncovered about the role certain suprasegmental factors play in the identification of child sex.

The Queen’s English: An Alternative, Biosocial Hypothesis for the Distinctive Features of “Gay Speech”

“…For example, we should see early signs of speech differences in pre-homosexual children (i.e., young children who will be homosexual as adults) and relatively independently of their level of exposure to adult gay subculture as children. Indeed, there is already some evidence in support of this prediction showing lower voice formant frequencies in young boys compared to young girls of the same age and physical size which appear to reflect the same mechanism we emphasize, namely subtly exaggerated lip protrusion in young boys compared to young girls associated with their generally greater physical and social assertiveness (Bennett & Weinberg, 1979;Perry, Ohde, & Ashmead, 2001;Sachs, Lieberman, & Erickson, 1972). Fourth, the hypothesis even predicts variation within individuals in the formant frequencies of vowels produced in different social contexts that are associated with differing degrees of social assertiveness.…”

Acoustic Correlates of Perceived versus Actual Sexual Orientation in Men’s Speech

“…Peak frequencies for /s/ are felt to reflect resonances of the effective portion of the vocal tract, or that portion of the vocal tract between the point of maximum constriction (point of articulation) and the lips [30]. Since an inverse relationship exists between the length of the effective portion of the vocal tract and frequency of the peak, it appears that gay men in this study demonstrated a vocal tract cavity anterior to the tongue con-striction for /s/ that was shorter than the straight men.…”

“…Specifically, Avery and Liss [29] found that while individual formant values on four connected speech vowels (/i/, /a/, /ae/, and /u/) varied substantially both within and between speakers, the majority of F 1 and F 2 values for less-masculine-sounding (LMS) males were higher than values for more-masculine-sounding (MMS) males. In preadolescent children as well, vocal tract resonance properties have been found to provide primary cues regarding sexual identification of voice [30]. Bennett and Weinberg [30] concluded that differences in vocal tract reso-…”

“…In preadolescent children as well, vocal tract resonance properties have been found to provide primary cues regarding sexual identification of voice [30]. Bennett and Weinberg [30] concluded that differences in vocal tract reso-…”

Identification of Children's Gender and Age by Listeners

“…17 However, the few studies that have examined listeners' ability to identify children's gender from their voice reported on above-chance correct identification rates. Bennett and Weinberg, 18 for example, reported that listeners were able to identify the gender of preadolescent children at 60-80% correct rate. In contrast, another study found that listeners had difficulties identifying gender of young children and that when children were between the ages of 5 and 11, correct gender identification rates varied from 19% to 40%.…”