Research project Development and perception of children's voices before puberty
Photo: Canva.com
The project is an extension of a German research project with the scope of developing a better understanding and treatment of the speaking voice of children and adolescents in gender-affirming care.
The results of the German project show, among other things, that adult German listeners categorise voices of German children as boys or girls better than chance, even though the voices are too young to reflect biological characteristics of sex.
To investigate whether, or how, such signals work within or between different language communities, comparable data from Swedish and Italian children will be collected and analysed; and new listening tests will be conducted in which adults from all three countries are asked to categorise children's voices from all three countries.
Read more about the german project results
In the summer and autumn 2025 recordings will be made in schools in the Stockholm area, and listening tests will be carried out on-line.
Cristine Ericsdotter Nordgren and Riccarda Funk. Photo: Martin Funk