Pitch matching and verbal abilities of preschool children

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine and compare the pitch matching and verbal abilities of preschool children. Twenty-five female and male subjects between three and five years old, with no observable cognitiv, physical or emotional disabilities, participated in the study. Subjects met with the experimenter for one thirty-minute testing session. During the pitch matching test, subjects vocally matched individual pitches first presented on a Casio electronic keyboard, and then presented vocally by the experimenter. Subjects also received the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised (PPVT-R) which required pointing to the correct picture out of a group of four in response to a verbal stimulus. Results revealed no statistically significant relationship between pitch matching and verbal activities for this sample. However, for the four year old group only, a significant correlation existed between pitch matching and PPVT-R scores at the .05 level. Environmental and maturational variables affecting the results of the study and recommendations for future research are discussed.

Keyword(s): Pitch-matching, verbal-abilities, preschool, children, peabody-picture-vocabulary-test (revised).

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