The contribution of speech rate and pitch variation to the perception of vocal emotions in a German and an American sample

Breitenstein, Caterina; Lancker, Diana Van; Daum, Irene

doi:10.1080/02699930126095

Cited by 103 publications

(60 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…We approach this question by conducting a production and a perception experiment with different tone groups. For the purpose of this study, we test two emotions (happiness and sadness) highly associated with pitch movement and range (Breitenstein et al, 2001;Pereira, 2000;Scherer and Oshinsky, 1997). These two emotions differ in physiological arousal, which is associated with a subjective sense of energy ranging from lethargic to hyperactive (Thelwall et al, 2010) and is reported in the literature as the most consistent association with vocal pitch (e.g., Bachorowski, 1999).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does restriction of pitch variation affect the perception of vocal emotions in Mandarin Chinese?

Wang

Lee

2014

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America

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This study reports a finding about vocal expressions of emotion in Mandarin Chinese. Production and perception experiments used the same tone and mixed tone sequences to test whether pitch variation is restricted due to the presence of lexical tones. Results showed that the restriction of pitch variation occurred in all high level tone sequences (tone 1 group) with the expression of happiness but did not happen for other dynamic tone groups. However, perception analysis revealed that all the emotions in every tone group received high identification rates; this indicates that listeners used other cues for encoding happiness in the tone 1 group. This study demonstrates that the restriction of pitch variation does not affect the perception of vocal emotions.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does restriction of pitch variation affect the perception of vocal emotions in Mandarin Chinese?

Wang

Lee

2014

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America

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“…RESEARCH in speech prosody has shown that sadness is associated with a number of acoustical cues including slower speaking rate, quieter voice, lower overall fundamental frequency, lower spectral centroid, and smaller pitch variance (e.g., Banse & Scherer, 1996;Breitenstein, van Lancker & Daum, 2001;Davitz, 1964;Fairbanks & Pronovost, 1939;Siegman & Boyle, 1993). Of the various factors studied, loudness has been shown to be an especially reliable indicator when assessing the emotional state of a speaker (Yildirim et al, 2004).…”

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confidence: 99%

Dynamic Levels in Classical and Romantic Keyboard Music: Effect of Musical Mode

Ladinig¹,

Huron²

2010

Empirical Musicology Review

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An analysis of dynamic markings in 140 works representing three musical periods (Classical, early Romantic, late Romantic) is reported. We tested the hypothesis that minor-mode music from the Romantic period is more likely to exhibit louder dynamic levels than minor-mode music from the Classical period. This hypothesis was motivated by the theory that in the Romantic period, in addition to conveying sadness, the minor mode was more likely to be used to convey affects that are associated with higher dynamic levels, such as seriousness, passion or aggression. Our analysis showed no absolute differences regarding the notated dynamic levels of the minor-mode pieces. However, regardless of the musical mode, pieces from the earlier period exhibited higher dynamic levels than pieces from the later periods. This effect is attributable to a decrease in dynamics for major-mode pieces in later musical periods, while minor-mode pieces do not show a change in dynamics over time. Using the mean dynamic level for each period as a reference, these observations are consistent with the theory that Romantic music is more likely than Classical music to employ the minor mode to represent or convey affects that are associated with higher dynamic levels.

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“…Over the past century, dozens of formal experiments have confirmed all of the features he described. Sad speech exhibits a quieter dynamic level (Skinner, 1935;Scherer, 1986;Siegman & Boyle, 1993;Banse & Scherer, 1996;Cowie et al, 2001); sad speech is slower in tempo (Siegman & Boyle, 1993;Breitenstein, van Lancker & Daum, 2001); sad speech is lower in pitch (Fairbanks & Pronovost, 1939;Lieberman & Michaels, 1962); sad speech is more monotone (Skinner, 1935;Fairbanks & Pronovost, 1939;Eldred & Price, 1958;Davitz, 1964;Huttar, 1968;Williams & Stevens, 1972;Bergmann, Goldbeck & Scherer, 1988;Banse & Scherer, 1996;Sobin & Alpert, 1999;Breitenstein, van Lancker & Daum, 2001;); sad speech exhibits more mumbled articulation (Dalla Bella, Peretz, Rousseau, & Gosselin, 2001); and sad speech displays a darker timbre (Ohala, 1980(Ohala, , 1994Tartter, 1980;Scherer, Johnstone, & Klasmeyer, 2003, Table 23.2; Schwartz, Howe, & Purves, 2003;Ross, Choi, & Purves, 2007).…”

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confidence: 99%

“You Can’t Play a Sad Song on the Banjo:” Acoustic Factors in the Judgment of Instrument Capacity to Convey Sadness

Huron

Anderson

Shanahan

2014

EMR

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Forty-four Western-enculturated musicians completed two studies. The first group was asked to judge the relative sadness of forty-four familiar Western instruments. An independent group was asked to assess a number of acoustical properties for those same instruments. Using the estimated acoustical properties as predictor variables in a multiple regression analysis, a significant correlation was found between those properties known to contribute to sad prosody in speech and the judged sadness of the instruments. The best predictor variable was the ability of the instrument to make small pitch movements. Other variables investigated included the darkness of the timbre, the ability to play low pitches, the ability to play quietly, and the capacity of the instrument to "mumble." Four of the acoustical factors were found to exhibit a considerable amount of shared variance, suggesting that they may originate in a common underlying factor. It is suggested that the shared proximal cause of these acoustical features may be low physical energy.

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The contribution of speech rate and pitch variation to the perception of vocal emotions in a German and an American sample

Cited by 103 publications

References 35 publications

Does restriction of pitch variation affect the perception of vocal emotions in Mandarin Chinese?

Does restriction of pitch variation affect the perception of vocal emotions in Mandarin Chinese?

Dynamic Levels in Classical and Romantic Keyboard Music: Effect of Musical Mode

“You Can’t Play a Sad Song on the Banjo:” Acoustic Factors in the Judgment of Instrument Capacity to Convey Sadness

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