An investigation of speaker height and weight identification.

Abstract

The purpose of this investigation was to determine if listeners were capable of speaker height and weight identifications from recorded speech samples. A standard prose passage was recorded by 30 speakers, 15 females and 15 males. A master tape containing the randomly arranged recorded readings of all speakers was played to a group of 30 subjects for speaker height and weight identification purposes. All subjects participated in two experimental sessions. In one session they were asked to determine the height of each of the speakers on the tape, and in another session weight judgments were made. The order of presentation of the height and weight tasks was randomized so that 15 subjects made height judgments first while 15 subjects made weight judgments first. A multiple-choice response sheet containing four choices for the judgment of height and weight for each speaker was provided. Results indicate that the subjects were capable, with slightly better than chance guessing accuracy, of identifying the heights of male and female speakers and the weights of male speakers when presented with only their recorded speech samples. Implications of these findings and suggestions for future research are discussed. Subject Classification: [43]70.30.