Relationships between age, sex, and hesitation phenomena in young children

Spontaneous speech was elicited from a sample of sixty three to eight year old children equally divided by age and sex. Recordings were analyzed for nine categories of hesitation phenomena. Retest recordings were made and analyzed to assess temporal stability of the hesitation phenomena. Results showed that the children most often used “ah” phenomena and unfilled pauses as do adults. “Ah” phenomena showed a significant increase with age, especially between five and six among the females. Although no significant differences appeared between the test and retest data, females did decrease their unfilled pauses significantly with time. Stuttering showed significant peaks at ages three, seven, and eight.