Decoding the expressive intentions in children's songs

Adults and children were exposed to separate visual and auditory cues from paired renditions of familiar songs by young, untrained singers who attempt ed to express happiness and sadness. Same-age children and adults decoded t he expressive intentions of 8- to 10-year-old singers with comparable accur acy (Experiment 1). For performances by 6- to 7-year-old singers, same-age children were less accurate decoders than were adults (Experiment 2). The y ounger performers also provided poorer cues to the intended emotion than di d the older performers. Moreover, 6- to 7-year-olds were less accurate than 8- to 10-year-olds at decoding the performances of 8- to 10-year-old singe rs (Experiment 3). The findings indicate that, although young children succ essfully produce and interpret happy and sad versions of familiar songs, 6- to 7-year-old children are less proficient than are 8- to 10-year-old chil dren and adults.