Levrero, Florence, Mathevon, Nicholas, Pisanski, Katarzyna, Gustafsson, Erik and Reby, David (2018) The pitch of babies’ cries predicts their voice pitch at age five. Biology Letters, 14 (7). ISSN 1744-9561

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Abstract

Voice pitch (fundamental frequency, F0) is a key dimension of our voice that varies Voice pitch (fundamental frequency, F0) is a key dimension of our voice that varies before and after puberty. While a recent longitudinal study indicates that inter-individual differences in voice pitch remain stable in men during adulthood and may even be determined before puberty [1], whether these differences emerge in infancy remains unknown. Here, using a longitudinal study design, we investigate the hypothesis that inter-individual differences in F0 are already present in the cries of pre-verbal babies. While based on a small sample (n = 15), our results indicate that the F0 of babies’ cries at 4 months of age may predict the F0 of their speech utterances at 5 years of age, explaining 41% of the inter-individual variance in voice pitch at that age in our sample. We also found that the right-hand ratio of the length of their index to ring finger (2D:4D digit ratio), which has been proposed to constitute an index of prenatal testosterone exposure, was positively correlated with F0 at both 4 months and 5 years of age. These findings suggest that a substantial proportion of between-individual differences in voice pitch, which convey important biosocial information about speakers, may partly originate in utero and thus already be present soon after birth.

Item Type:	Article
Keywords:	voice pitch, longitudinal study, Fundamental Frequency, baby cries
Schools and Departments:	School of Psychology > Psychology
Depositing User:	Ellena Adams
Date Deposited:	02 Jul 2018 11:23
Last Modified:	02 Jul 2019 13:46
URI:	http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/76808

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