Emotion in Speech: The Acoustic Attributes of Fear, Anger, Sadness, and Joy

Decoders can detect emotion in voice with much greater accuracy than can be achieved by objective acoustic analysis. Studies that have established this advantage, however, used methods that may have favored decoders and disadvantaged acoustic analysis. In this study, we applied several methodologic modifications for the analysis of the acoustic differentiation of fear, anger, sadness, and joy. Thirty-one female subjects between the ages of 18 and 35 (encoders) were audio-recorded during an emotion-induction procedure and produced a total of 620 emotion-laden sentences. Twelve female judges (decoders), three for each of the four emotions, were assigned to rate the intensity of one emotion each. Their combined ratings were used to select 38 prototype samples per emotion. Past acoustic findings were replicated, and increased acoustic differentiation among the emotions was achieved. Multiple regression analysis suggested that some, although not all, of the acoustic variables were associated with decoders' ratings. Signal detection analysis gave some insight into this disparity. However, the analysis of the classic constellation of acoustic variables may not completely capture the acoustic features that influence decoders' ratings. Future analyses would likely benefit from the parallel assessment of respiration, phonation, and articulation.     

Recent Books on ≡ Theology, Science and Religion

Books reviewed in this article:
Keith Ward, God, Faith & the New Millennium: Christian Belief in an Age of Science.
Fraser Watts ed, Science Meets Faith: Theology and Science in Conversation.
Ian G. Barbour, Religion and Science: Historical and Contemporary Issues.
Philip Clayton, God and Contemporary Science.     

The Risk of Obedience: A Consideration of Kierkegaard's Fear and Trembling

This paper argues that Kierkegaard's defence of Abraham is in the first instance a polemic against the notion that the demands of faith are co-terminous with the best insights of practical reason. It is further argued that while no justification of Abraham's action at Mount Moriah may be offered, he is nevertheless to be admired for trusting in God beyond the limits of his understanding. Such trust is admirable, however, only in the context of a long life of obedience and love.     

Time out from avoidance as a reinforcer: a study of response interaction

Monkeys could either postpone shock by pressing a lever or pull a chain to produce a period of time out from the avoidance procedure. The period of time out proved to be an effective positive reinforcer. Certain features of the animals' behavior were attributed to interactions between the two responses.     

Therapists and Psychotherapy

The Grit and Grist of Psychotherapy: The Inspirations of John Warkentin. Voices: The Art and Science of Psychotherapy, 1981, 17.     

Equivalent effects of grouping by time, voice, and location on response timing in verbal serial memory

The grouping of list items is known to improve serial memory accuracy and constrain the nature of temporal errors. A recent study (M. T. Maybery, F. B. R. Parmentier, & D. M. Jones, 2002) showed that grouping results in a temporal organization of the participants' responses that mimics the list structure but not the timing of its presentation. Here the authors tested the prediction that the temporal grouping of responses should yield the same pattern of response time (RT) irrespective of the method of grouping at presentation. Comparing temporal, location, and voice grouping, the results show that although these methods impact on recall accuracy to varying degrees, all 3 conditions produce significant and equivalent peaks in RT at the first position of each group. The RT data were accurately simulated through a model based on ACT-R's (J. R. Anderson & M. Matessa, 1997) basic principles. Altogether, the data suggest that the temporal organization of responses in verbal serial recall results from (a) declarative knowledge about the list's structure that is independent of the perceptual means by which grouping is induced at presentation and (b) the level of activation of the items per se.     

Contexts and control operations used in accessing list-specific, generalized, and semantic memories

The human ability to focus memory retrieval operations on a particular list, episode or memory structure has not been fully appreciated or documented. In Experiment 1-3, we make it increasingly difficult for participants to switch between a less recent list (multiple study opportunities), and a more recent list (single study opportunity). Task performance was good, although there was a cost associated with switching. In Experiment 4, list-specific learning experiences were used to create a generalized memory as a step towards semantic memory. List-specific memories intruded during attempts to retrieve the generalized memory and the generalized memory enhanced list-specific performance. The generalized memory also intruded in a free-association task. We propose that a hierarchy of contexts and control operations underlie the human ability to access different memory structures and that there is no sharp discontinuity in the control operations needed to access list-specific, generalized, and semantic memories.