Abstract
The human voice carries socially relevant information such as how authoritative, dominant, and attractive the speaker sounds. However, some speakers may be able to manipulate listeners by modulating the shape and size of their vocal tract to exaggerate certain characteristics of their voice. We analysed the veridical size of speakers’ vocal tracts using real-time magnetic resonance imaging as they volitionally modulated their voice to sound larger or smaller, corresponding changes to the size implied by the acoustics of their voice, and their influence over the perceptions of listeners. Individual differences in this ability were marked, spanning from nearly incapable to nearly perfect vocal modulation, and was consistent across modalities of measurement. Further research is needed to determine whether speakers who are effective at vocal size exaggeration are better able to manipulate their social environment, and whether this variation is an inherited quality of the individual, or the result of life experiences such as vocal training.
Highlights
The human voice carries socially relevant information such as how authoritative, dominant, and attractive the speaker sounds
Recent work from our group using vocal tract MRI and functional MRI of brain activation during the imitation of large and small voice targets reported group differences in larynx lowering and raising behaviours related to singing e xpertise[36], but neither group nor individual differences in this behaviour were analysed in relation to corresponding voice acoustics or listeners’ perception of talker size
As fPC2 loaded nearly exclusively onto vocal tract length it serves as a measure of laryngeal raising and laryngeal lowering
Summary
The human voice carries socially relevant information such as how authoritative, dominant, and attractive the speaker sounds. We analysed the veridical size of speakers’ vocal tracts using real-time magnetic resonance imaging as they volitionally modulated their voice to sound larger or smaller, corresponding changes to the size implied by the acoustics of their voice, and their influence over the perceptions of listeners. Individual differences in this ability were marked, spanning from nearly incapable to nearly perfect vocal modulation, and was consistent across modalities of measurement. Given that size modulation may influence social interactions, there is a need for an account of how individual differences in this skill manifest across vocal tract modulations, speech acoustics, and their influence over the perceptions of listeners
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