Effects of Coaching and Repeated Trials on Maximum Phonational Frequency Range in Children

SummaryPurposeMaximum phonational frequency range (MPFR) is the frequency range from the lowest to the highest pitch that an individual can produce. This study investigated the effects of coaching and repeated trials on MPFR in a group of school-age children.MethodsThirty girls aged 6-11 years were randomly assigned into two groups: coaching and non-coaching. All of the participants produced the lowest and the highest phonational frequency for 10 times each. The participants in the coaching group were prompted by the clinician with verbal encouragement and a visual cue (hand-sweeping) to produce their maximum performance. The participants in the non-coaching group were simply asked to repeat the task 10 times.ResultsThe clinician's coaching helped the participants in the coaching group reach their MPFR in fewer trials. The MPFRs elicited in 10 trials were significantly greater than those elicited in fewer trials.ConclusionsThese findings suggested that coaching and repeated trials could facilitate the elicitation of MPFR more efficiently.