Ratings of vocal pleasantness and the aging process.

Abstract

In response to the questions raised at the outset, the following summary statements can be made: (1) Listeners were reliable in making pleasantness judgments. All listening groups were reliable, but the two older listening age-groups had the highest correlation coefficients. (2) Speakers were judged as less pleasant as their age levels increased. (3) Young listeners made judgments nearer the unpleasant end of the scale than did the older listeners. (4) Male speakers were judged as more pleasant than were female speakers. (5) Female listeners rated speakers as being more pleasant than did the male listeners.