Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 20, 2026
Quantitative Assessment of Cortical Auditory-tactile Processing in Children with Disabilities
Published on: January 29, 2014
Longitudinal Evaluation of Cepstral Peak Prominence in Children
Elizabeth Heller Murray1, Recai Yucel2
1Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, College of Public Health, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Insights
Cepstral peak prominence (CPP) in children aged 2-7 increases with age, indicating improved vocal fold vibration regularity during this developmental period. This finding provides crucial normative data for identifying voice disorders.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Speech Science
- Acoustic Phonetics
- Developmental Audiology
Background:
- Cepstral peak prominence (CPP) is an acoustic measure reflecting voice periodicity.
- Understanding typical vocal development is crucial for distinguishing normative changes from voice disorders.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the developmental trajectory of cepstral peak prominence (CPP) in children aged 2-7 years.
- To establish normative data for CPP during a critical period of vocal development.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective analysis of longitudinal speech data from 31 typically developing children (aged 2-7).
- Calculation of cepstral peak prominence (CPP) using Praat, controlling for fundamental frequency, intensity, and stimuli length.
- Longitudinal cohort study design with at least five data points per child.
Main Results:
- Cepstral peak prominence (CPP) showed a significant positive, nonlinear relationship with age.
- CPP increased with age, with a steeper increase observed after 5 years.
- Controlled acoustic measures did not negate the age-related CPP trajectory.
Conclusions:
- This study provides the first normative data on cepstral peak prominence (CPP) development in children aged 2-7.
- The observed increase in CPP suggests enhanced vocal fold vibration periodicity correlating with structural vocal fold changes.
- These findings are vital for differentiating typical vocal development from potential voice pathologies.
Objectives:
To evaluate whether the acoustic measure of cepstral peak prominence changes during typical development in children 2-7.
Methods:
Data were retrospectively analyzed from the Arizona Child Acoustic Database Repository in this longitudinal cohort study. The Repository contains longitudinal data recordings from 63 total children between 2 and 7 years of age. Thirty-one children met the inclusion criteria for the current analysis (at least five time points of usable speech data, no history of speech or language difficulties, no significant dysphonia, and were monolingual speakers of American English). Cepstral peak prominence measures were calculated in Praat for each child, at each timepoint. Additional acoustic measures of vocal fundamental frequency, vocal intensity, and stimuli length were also calculated. These measures were chosen as previous work has shown they may impact cepstral peak prominence values.
Results:
Linear mixed-effects regression models examined the relationship between cepstral peak prominence and age, after controlling for vocal fundamental frequency, vocal intensity, and stimuli length. Within-participant effects of age were found, indicating a trajectory change in which cepstral peak prominence increases with age in this population. This positive relationship between a cepstral peak prominence and age was nonlinear, with a steeper slope between age and cepstral peak prominence after 5 years of age.
Conclusions:
This is the first study to examine the typical developmental trajectory of cepstral peak prominence children between 2 and 7 years, a critical period of vocal development. Cepstral peak prominence increased with age, suggesting an increase in periodicity of vocal fold vibration that coincides with the significant vocal fold structural changes occurring during this time. Outcomes present important normative information on vocal development, essential for effectively understanding the difference between what vocal changes are part of normative development and what changes indicate a voice disorder.
More Related Videos
14:05Behavioral Assessment of Hearing in 2 to 4 Year-old Children: A Two-interval, Observer-based Procedure Using Conditioned Play-based Responses
Published on: January 23, 2017
06:04Systematic Hearing Performance Evaluation Process for Adolescents with Cochlear Implantation at Early Ages
Published on: March 24, 2023
