Speaking fundamental frequency characteristics of 8- through 10-year-old white- and African-American boys

The purpose of this study was to determine the typical speaking fundamental frequencies (SFF) and the standard deviations of the SFF (pitch sigmas) of African-American boys in comparison to white-American boys. A group of 90 boys, 45 from each racial group, aged 8 through 10 years, were recorded as they read a passage and as they described a picture. Analysis of these recordings indicated that no significant differences occurred among any of the groups for modal SFF. The across-race analysis of pitch sigma revealed that the 9- and 10-year-old African-American boys exhibited significantly greater variability in comparison to the age-matched white boys. When the pitch sigma data were analyzed within race, the 10-year-old African-American boys exhibited significantly greater variability than the younger African-American boys, while no differences were found among the white boys.