Perceptual connections between prepubertal children's voices in their speaking behavior and their singing behavior

Traditionally, children's speaking and singing behaviors have been regarded as two separate sets of behaviors. Nevertheless, according to the voice-scientific view, all vocal functioning is interconnected due to the fact that we exploit the same voice and the same physiological mechanisms in generating all vocalization. The intention of the study was to investigate whether prepubertal children's speaking and singing behaviors are connected perceptually. Voice recordings were conducted with 60 10-year-old children. Each child performed a set of speaking and singing tasks in the voice experiments. Each voice sample was analyzed perceptually with a specially designed perceptual voice assessment protocol. The main finding was that the children's vocal functioning and voice quality in their speaking behavior correlated statistically significantly with those in their singing behavior. The findings imply that children's speaking and singing behaviors are perceptually connected through their vocal functioning and voice quality. Thus, it can be argued that children possess one voice that is used for generating their speaking and singing behaviors.