Comparison of soprano and baritone dichotic listening test scores between genders: Preliminary results

Abstract

Perception of voices of different genders by male and female individuals is in the research scope of many science areas. In this study, consonant-vowel syllables vocalized by baritone and soprano are presented to participants separately in the same session. In the dichotic application, homonymous or heteronymous syllable combinations are presented to each ear simultaneously. Participants are asked to indicate the syllable that they hear dominantly. For baritone and soprano voices, 36 syllable combinations are presented to 17 healthy subjects (8 females, age: 21.43) in three different conditions: when no attention is directed to any ear (non-forced/NF), when attention is directed to left ear (forced left ear attention/FL), and when attention is directed to right ear (forced right ear attention/FR). In NF condition, male and female subjects had high right ear advantage (REA) for both baritone and soprano voices. In FL condition, male and female subjects had high left ear advantage (LEA). In FR condition, REA was higher. Furthermore, REA score of males when soprano voice was presented was higher than the scores when baritone voice was presented, while females had higher REA scores when baritone voice was presented. To sum up, soprano and baritone voice presentation in dichotic listening test results in right ear preference in NF and FR conditions and left ear preference in FL condition. However, in FR condition REA is increased male and female subjects respond differently to baritone voices such that voice of opposite sex has higher advantage. Additionally, in FL and FR condition, that are indicators of attention, female subjects had better results than males. In further periods of the study, consistency of these results will be tested by increasing participant numbers.