Objective
The study investigated the development of perception and separately self-awareness of two voice dimensions – vocal loudness and voice quality — in children with and without voice disorders.
Methods / Design
The study included a total of 60 participants: 50 phonotypical children categorized in two equally numbered age groups: (3-4- and 5-6-year-old children), and 10 children with phonotraumatic voice disorders. All children watched brief videos of cartoon characters who produced different voices. Children were then required to respond to related questions regarding the voices they heard. Each participant completed four tasks: (1) vocal loudness perception, (2) voice quality perception, (3) vocal loudness self-awareness, and (4) voice quality self-awareness. Eye tracking measures were captured and coded to determine accuracy of responses. All testing was conducted remotely via Zoom.
Results
Regarding voice perception, for phonotypical children, older participants performed more accurately than younger children for both loudness and voice quality, suggesting a developmental trend for perception. Children with voice disorders had similar outcomes to those of phonotypical children for loudness perception. However, voice quality perception in children with voice disorders was poorer than for same-age phonotypical children.
Regarding self-awareness of voice, self-awareness of loudness developed early and no differences were found between the two age groups of phonotypical children. However, children with voice disorders performed poorly compared to same-age peers. All children performed at chance level for self-awareness of voice quality.
Conclusions
Findings from the current project suggest a developmental trajectory for perception of voice. Results also indicate that perception and self-awareness of different features of voice follow a different developmental trajectory: while self-awareness of vocal loudness is already developed in 3-4-year-old children, self-awareness of voice quality is not yet present even in 5-6-year-old children. This study also suggests that children with voice disorders differ from phonotypical children on some features of voice perception and self-awareness. Implications for models of pediatric voice therapy are discussed.
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