title: Effects of Coaching and Repeated Trials on Maximum Phonational Frequency Range in Children.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Maximum 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.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty 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.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The 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.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings suggested that coaching and repeated trials could facilitate the elicitation of MPFR more efficiently.
authors: Voice Research Laboratory, Division of Speech and Hearing Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong. Electronic address: estella.ma@hku.hk.
authors: Estella P-M
authors: EP
authors: Ma
authors: Voice Research Laboratory, Division of Speech and Hearing Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
authors: Trista K-Y
authors: TK
authors: Li
mesh_terms: D000162:Acoustics; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D003463:Cues; D005260:Female; D006723:Hong Kong; D006801:Humans; D009042:Motivation; D010699:Phonation; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012737:Sex Factors; D013068:Speech Production Measurement; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D014705:Verbal Behavior; D014833:Voice Quality
keywords: coaching; pediatric voice; repeated trials; vocal functions; voice assessment