Acoustic Patterns of Emotions

Pollermann, Branka Zei; Archinard, Mare

doi:10.1002/0470845945.ch23

Cited by 8 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…These results could be explained by 1) an increase in sub-glottal pressure and/or vocal fold tension producing an increase in F0, and 2) an increase in pharyngeal constriction or a less pronounced retraction of the larynx, resulting in a higher energy distribution, with an increase in arousal levels 2 35 47 . A raise in F0 and a shift in energy distribution towards higher frequencies with increasing arousal have been commonly observed in humans 2 3 , as well as in other mammals (e.g. pig, Sus scrofa 48 ; tree shrew, Tupaia belangeri 49 ; squirrel monkey, Saimiri sciureus 13 ; reviews 6 9 ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 88%

“…Indeed, emotion expression informs individuals about the probable intention of behaviors of others and therefore, regulates social interactions 1 . Vocal expression of emotions has been extensively studied in humans (“affective prosody” 2 3 ). However, human voice also depends on socio-cultural and linguistic conventions that can act as confounding factors in the study of affective prosody 4 .…”

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confidence: 99%

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Segregation of information about emotional arousal and valence in horse whinnies

Briefer

Maigrot

Mandel

et al. 2015

Sci Rep

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Studying vocal correlates of emotions is important to provide a better understanding of the evolution of emotion expression through cross-species comparisons. Emotions are composed of two main dimensions: emotional arousal (calm versus excited) and valence (negative versus positive). These two dimensions could be encoded in different vocal parameters (segregation of information) or in the same parameters, inducing a trade-off between cues indicating emotional arousal and valence. We investigated these two hypotheses in horses. We placed horses in five situations eliciting several arousal levels and positive as well as negative valence. Physiological and behavioral measures collected during the tests suggested the presence of different underlying emotions. First, using detailed vocal analyses, we discovered that all whinnies contained two fundamental frequencies (“F0” and “G0”), which were not harmonically related, suggesting biphonation. Second, we found that F0 and the energy spectrum encoded arousal, while G0 and whinny duration encoded valence. Our results show that cues to emotional arousal and valence are segregated in different, relatively independent parameters of horse whinnies. Most of the emotion-related changes to vocalizations that we observed are similar to those observed in humans and other species, suggesting that vocal expression of emotions has been conserved throughout evolution.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 88%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Segregation of information about emotional arousal and valence in horse whinnies

Briefer

Maigrot

Mandel

et al. 2015

Sci Rep

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“…Filter related acoustic features such as formant frequencies and energy distribution have been more rarely considered in studies of positive emotions. Research suggests that filter related features, particularly energy distribution in the spectrum, might be important for differentiating emotional valence even between emotions of similar arousal level (e.g., Banse & Scherer 1996;Pollermann & Archinard, 2002;Waarama, Laukkanen, Airas, & Alku, 2010), whereas source-related parameters do not allow differentiation of valence, but do differentiate between discrete emotions (Patel, Scherer, Björkner, & Sundberg, 2011). However, more research measuring a large set of parameters including filter-related features is needed to obtain acoustic features for a larger set of discrete emotions.…”

Section: Focus On Source Parametersmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It has been proposed that the human voice also conveys emotional states, each characterized by a unique acoustic profile (e.g., Banse & Scherer, 1996;Scherer, Banse, Wallbott, & Goldbeck, 1991). A number of studies support the idea of emotion-specific patterns of acoustic features for discrete negative emotions, in that acoustic profiles of several negative emotions, including anger, fear, and sadness, have been reported to show considerable differentiation (e.g., Banse & Scherer, 1996;Juslin & Laukka, 2001;van Bezooijen, 1984;Pollermann & Archinard, 2002).…”

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confidence: 99%

Good vibrations: A review of vocal expressions of positive emotions

2020

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Researchers examining nonverbal communication of emotions are becoming increasingly interested in differentiations between different positive emotional states like interest, relief, and pride. But despite the importance of the voice in communicating emotion in general and positive emotion in particular, there is to date no systematic review of what characterizes vocal expressions of different positive emotions. Furthermore, integration and synthesis of current findings are lacking. In this review, we comprehensively review studies (N = 108) investigating acoustic features relating to specific positive emotions in speech prosody and nonverbal vocalizations. We find that happy voices are generally loud with considerable variability in loudness, have high and variable pitch, and are high in the first two formant frequencies. When specific positive emotions are directly compared with each other, pitch mean, loudness mean, and speech rate differ across positive emotions, with patterns mapping onto clusters of emotions, so-called emotion families. For instance, pitch is higher for epistemological emotions (amusement, interest, relief), moderate for savouring emotions (contentment and pleasure), and lower for a prosocial emotion (admiration). Some, but not all, of the differences in acoustic patterns also map on to differences in arousal levels. We end by pointing to limitations in extant work and making concrete proposals for future research on positive emotions in the voice.

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“…In humans, indicators of emotions in human voice (‘affective prosody’) have been studied in detail (e.g. Scherer, ; Zei Pollermann & Archinard, ). Theories of speech production recently applied to animal vocal communication (‘source–filter theory of vocal production'; Fant, ; Titze, ; Taylor & Reby, ) can inform us about the mechanisms linking contexts of vocal production and the acoustic structure of vocalizations, and allow us to make predictions about how vocalizations should change according to emotional arousal and valence.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vocal expression of emotions in mammals: mechanisms of production and evidence

2012

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Emotions play a crucial role in an animal's life because they facilitate responses to external or internal events of significance for the organism. In social species, one of the main functions of emotional expression is to regulate social interactions. There has recently been a surge of interest in animal emotions in several disciplines, ranging from neuroscience to evolutionary zoology. Because measurements of subjective emotional experiences are not possible in animals, researchers use neurophysiological, behavioural and cognitive indicators. However, good indicators, particularly of positive emotions, are still lacking. Vocalizations are linked to the inner state of the caller. The emotional state of the caller causes changes in the muscular tension and action of its vocal apparatus, which in turn, impacts on vocal parameters of vocalizations. By considering the mode of production of vocalizations, we can understand and predict how vocal parameters should change according to the arousal (intensity) or valence (positive/negative) of emotional states. In this paper, I review the existing literature on vocal correlates of emotions in mammals. Non-human mammals could serve as ideal models to study vocal expression of emotions, because, contrary to human speech, animal vocalizations are assumed to be largely free of control and therefore direct expressions of underlying emotions. Furthermore, a comparative approach between humans and other animals would give us a better understanding of how emotion expression evolved. Additionally, these non-invasive indicators could serve various disciplines that require animal emotions to be clearly identified, including psychopharmacology and animal welfare science.

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Acoustic Patterns of Emotions

Cited by 8 publications

References 7 publications

Segregation of information about emotional arousal and valence in horse whinnies

Segregation of information about emotional arousal and valence in horse whinnies

Good vibrations: A review of vocal expressions of positive emotions

Vocal expression of emotions in mammals: mechanisms of production and evidence

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