Perceptual Gender Identity of Voices in Pre-pubertal children

Abstract

The present study investigated sexual dimorphism in voices of children. Ten children each in the age group of 4-5 years and 5-6 years participated in the study. Listener’s identification of gender in phonation and speech tasks were obtained. Results revealed that gender identification was better in the older age group, and in speech compared to phonation. The results are discussed with reference to perceptual cues taken by the listeners to identify the gender of the preadolescents.