Standard Prose Passage Research Articles

Listeners’ perceptions of and attitudes toward Hispanic-, Asian-, and Arabic-accented English speakers

A master tape containing the randomized recordings of 20 Hispanic-, Asian-, and Arabic-accented English speakers reading a standard prose passage was presented to a group of 22 native English-speaking listeners who participated in two listening sessions. In the first session they were asked to use a 5-point listening preference rating scale. In the second session they heard the same speakers and were asked to determine the presence or absence of an accent and, if present, the type (Asian, Hispanic, Arabic, or other) and degree (mild, moderate, or severe) of accentedness. A scattergram plotting listeners’ mean listening preference ratings and degree of accentedness ratings for each of the speakers in the study revealed a strong inverse relationship which yielded a statistically significant (p <0.01) correlation coefficient.Thus, the higher the degree of severity of the listeners’ judged accentedness of speakers, the more negative their listening preference rating judgments of the speakers. Implications of these findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Effect of listeners' comprehension on judgments of speakers' height and weight.

To determine the effect of listener's comprehension on speakers' height and weight judgments, a total of 40 speakers, 20 Americans (10 females and 10 males) and 20 non-Americans representing various nationalities (10 females and 10 males), recorded a standard prose passage. A total of three master tapes were constructed to represent the three experimental conditions: (1) American speakers' readings in English, (2) foreign speakers' reading in their native languages, and (3) foreign speakers' readings in English. A total of 30 judges, 15 females and 15 males, participated in three sessions, one for each of the three master tapes, and were asked to provide direct estimations of the height and weight of each speaker from the tapes. Listeners' comprehension does not appear to play a major role in height and weight judgmental tasks.

The consistency of listener judgments in speaker height and weight identification

The purpose of this investigation was to determine the consistency of listener judgments of speakers’ heights and weights. A total of 30 speakers, 15 females and 1 5 males, recorded a standard prose passage and their readings were randomly arranged on a master tape. The tape was presented to 30 judges in four experimental sessions. In each session the judges were asked to make direct estimations of the height and weight of each speaker as well as to indicate the overall confidence for their judgments on a seven-point confidence rating scale. Results indicate that listener height and weight estimations are consistent across all sessions, evidence of the reliability of height and weight judgments. Implications of these findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.

A comparative study of the effect of visual and auditory cues on speaker height and weight identification

The purpose of this investigation was to compare the effect of visual and auditory cues on speaker height and weight identification in an attempt to determine if the voice alone conveys as much information as visual clues concerning speakers' heights and weights. A total of 30 speakers, 15 females and 15 males, participated in the study. A standard prose passage was recorded and a professional frontal full-length photograph was taken of each speaker. A group of 30 judges participated in two experimental sessions. In one session, they were shown photographic slides of all subjects and were asked to make judgments of height and weight based on the visual clues on each slide. In another session, the judges heard a master tape of the subjects' recorded readings and made height and weight judgments based on the auditory clues in each speech sample. The order of presentation of the two sessions was randomized so that 15 judges participated in the visual task in the first session and the auditory task in the second session, while 15 judges received the auditory task in the first session and the visual task in the second session. In both sessions the judges were asked to make direct estimations of height and weight. Results indicate that, although differences exist between the two experimental conditions in judges' height and weight estimates, the differences are, on the average, very small: 0.24 in and 2.03 lb, respectively. Implications of these findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.

An investigation of speaker height and Weight Discriminations by means of paired comparison judgments

The purpose of this investigation was to determine if listeners were capable of making accurate comparative judgments of speakers’ heights and weights when presented with pairs of recorded speech samples. A standard prose passage was recorded by 18 speakers, nine females and nine males. Two master tapes were constructed, one for each speaker sex. A paired comparison procedure was employed in the preparation of the tapes, so that each tape contained a total of 36 pairs of readings [n(n-1)/2]. The readings in each pair consisted of the third sentence from the speakers’ recordings of the standard prose passage. The master tapes were played to a group of 40 judges, 20 females and 20 males, for height and weight discrimination judgments. All listeners participated in two sessions, one for height and one for weight judgments. They were asked to judge which member of each pair was heavier or taller as well as the confidence of each decision on a seven-point confidence rating scale. Results of their judgments indicate that listeners are capable of making accurate discriminations of speakers’ heights and weights at better than chance-guessing levels. Moreover, the sex of the speaker and listener did not significantly affect height and weight judgments. Implications of these findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.

A comparative study of speaker height and weight identification from voiced and whispered speech

The purpose of this investigation was to compare speaker height and weight identification from voiced and whispered speech stimuli in an attempt to determine the effect of vocal pitch on such identification tasks. A total of 28 speakers, 14 females and 14 males, recorded a standard prose passage in a normal and whispered manner. Four master tapes were constructed, one for each of the voiced and whispered readings as well as for the two speaker sex groups. A total of 32 judges, 16 females and 16 males, participated in two sessions, one for the female and male voiced tapes and one for the female and male whispered tapes. The order of presentation of the tapes was randomized so that 16 subjects judged the voiced tapes in the first session and the whispered tapes in the second session, while 16 subjects heard the whispered tapes in the first session and the voiced tapes in the second session. In addition, the order of presentation of the female and male tapes in each session was randomized. The judges were asked to make direct estimations of height and weight for each speaker on the tapes. Results indicated that listeners were capable of accurately identifying the approximate heights and weights of speakers under both experimental conditions. Moreover, listener height and weight identification accuracy did not differ significantly between the voiced and whispered conditions, indicating that vocal pitch does not appear to play a major role in height and weight identification tasks. Implications of these findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.

The effect of filtered speech on speaker race and sex identifications

The purpose of this investigation was to determine the relative importance of portions of the broadband speech spectrum in speaker height and weight identification in an attempt to provide more evidence on the specific acoustic cues that function in such identification tasks. A total of 30 speakers, 15 females and 15 males, recorded a standard prose passage. Three master tapes were constructed from these recordings, representing the three experimental conditions in the study: unfiltered, 255 Hz low-pass filtered, and 255 Hz high-pass filtered tapes. A total of 30 judges participated in three sessions, one for each of the three master tapes. In each session they were asked to make direct estimations of the height and weight of each speaker as well as to indicate the overall confidence for their height and weight judgments at the end of each session by means of a seven-point confidence rating scale. The order of presentation of the tapes was counterbalanced so that six orders were used, with five judges assigned to each of the six order groups, Results indicate that speaker height and weight identification accuracy is not significantly affected by filtering of the speech signal. Implications of these findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.

The effect of filtered speech on speaker height and weight identification

The purpose of this investigation was to determine the relative importance of portions of the broadband speech spectrum in speaker height and weight identification in an attempt to provide more evidence on the specific acoustic cues that function in such identification tasks. A total of 30 speakers, 15 females and 15 males, recorded a standard prose passage. Three master tapes were constructed from these recordings, representing the three experimental conditions in the study: unfiltered, 255 Hz low-pass filtered, and 255 Hz high-pass filtered tapes. A total of 30 judges participated in three sessions, one for each of the three master tapes. In each session they were asked to make direct estimations of the height and weight of each speaker as well as to indicate the overall confidence for their height and weight judgments at the end of each session by means of a seven-point confidence rating scale. The order of presentation of the tapes was counterbalanced so that six orders were used, with five judges assigned to each of the six order groups, Results indicate that speaker height and weight identification accuracy is not significantly affected by filtering of the speech signal. Implications of these findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.

The effect of temporal speech alterations on speaker height and weight identification.

The purpose of this investigation was to determine the importance of temporal features of speech in speaker height and weight identification. A total of 30 speakers, 15 females and 15 males, recorded a standard prose passage. Three master tapes were constructed from these recordings, representing the three experimental conditions in the study: forward-played, backward-played, and time-compressed tapes. A total of 32 judges participated in three sessions, one for each of the three experimental conditions. In each session they were asked to make direct estimations of the height and weight of each speaker. The order of presentation of the three tapes was counterbalanced. Results indicate that temporal alteration of the speech signal by means of backward-playing adversely affected listener judgments of height and weight. However, time compression of the speech signal did not appear to have a significant effect on listener accuracy. Implications of these findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Correlational study of speakers' heights, weights, body surface areas, and speaking fundamental frequencies.

The purpose of this investigation was to determine the relationship among speakers' heights, weights, body surface areas, and speaking fundamental frequencies. The recordings of 30 speakers' readings of a standard prose passage were analyzed by means of the Fundamental Frequency Indicator (FFI) to obtain their speaking fundamental frequency characteristics. The speakers' heights and weights were obtained by means of standard measurement procuedures, and their body surface areas were calculated. Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients, computed separately for men and women, indicated that speakers' heights, weights, and body surface areas were not significantly correlated with their speaking fundamental frequencies; female speakers showed a slight negative correlation while male speakers showed a low, positive trend. Implications of these findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.

An investigation of speaker height and weight identification by means of direct estimations

The purposes of this investigation were: (1) to determine if listeners were capable of making accurate direct estimations of speakers’ heights and weights from recorded speech samples, and (2) to determine the importance of the sex of the speaker and listener on the speaker height and weight identification tasks. 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 40 judges, 20 females and 20 males, for speaker height and weight identification. All subjects participated in two experimental sessions, one for height judgments and one for weight judgments. The judges were asked to estimate the height and weight of each of the speakers on the master tape. Results indicate that listeners are capable of accurately identifying the approximate heights and weights of speakers. Moreover, the sex of the speaker and listener did not significantly affect speaker height and weight identification judgments. Implications of these findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.

An investigation of speaker height and weight identification: II. Direct estimations

Results of a previous investigation [N.J. Lass and M. Davies, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 60, 700–703 (1976)], in which subjects were given a multiple-choice response task for their judgments, indicated that listeners were capable of identifying the heights of male and female speakers and the weights of male speakers at better than chance levels. The purposes of the present investigation were: (1) to determine if listeners were also capable of making accurate direct estimations of speakers' heights and weights from recorded speech samples (without the benefit of available multiple choices), and (2) to determine the importance of the sex of the speaker and listener on speaker height and weight identification tasks. 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 40 judges, 20 females and 20 males. All subjects participated in two experimental sessions. In one session they were asked to determine the height of each speaker and in another session weight judgments were made. The order of presentation of the two experimental tasks was randomized so that 20 subjects made height judgments first and 20 made weight judgments first. Results indicate that listeners are capable of accurately identifying the approximate heights and weights of speakers by means of direct estimations. Moreover, the sex of the speaker and listener did not significantly affect speaker height and weight identification judgments. Implications of these findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Listening Rate Preference: Comparison of Two Time Alteration Techniques

A paired comparison procedure was employed to compare listening-rate preferences of 40 adult female subjects. Recordings of a standard prose passage were time-altered to yield nine rates (100 to 300 words per minute). Two different time alteration techniques were employed. One technique (VOCOM-I) altered the passage by a selective vowel compression-pause deletion procedure, while the other technique (VARISPEECH-I) employed a systematic expansion/deletion process for alteration. Two separate master tapes were presented to the subjects. A comparison of the rank ordering of rates for the two tapes shows a similarity in over-all listening rate preferences. Differences in rate preference in past research may be related to the instrumental methods used to alter speech.

An investigation of speaker height and weight identification.

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.

The use of time-expanded speech as an aid in the diagnosis of articulation disorders

The recording of 20 speech defective speakers' readings of a standard prose passage were presented to 36 student speech clinicians under three listening conditions: (1) unaltered; (2) time expanded to 150% of the original recording time; and (3) time-expanded to 200% of the original recording time. Results of their evaluations indicate that the expanded versions of the recordings elicited more accurate evaluations by the student clinicians. Implications of these findings concerning the possible usefulness of time-expanded speech as an aid in the training of listening skills in student speech clinicians are discussed.

An investigation of speaker photograph identification

The purpose of this investigation was to determine whether listeners were capable of speaker photograph identification based on recorded speech samples. A standard prose passage was recorded by 30 speakers, 15 females and 15 males. A master tape of all recorded readings was played to a group of 30 subjects for speaker photograph identification purposes. The subjects were shown photographic slides of two persons on a screen and simultaneously heard a tape recording of a single speaker reading the standard prose passage. Their task was to determine to which of the two photographs the speaker’s voice belonged. All subjects participated in two experimental sessions. In one session they were shown full-view photographic slides and in another, portrait-view slides. The order of presentation of the two kinds of slides was randomized so that 15 subjects were shown full-view slides first and 15 subjects were shown portrait-view slides first. Subjects were also asked to indicate the confidence of their speaker photograph identifications on a seven-point rating scale, and to describe the criteria upon which they based their decisions. Results indicate that the subjects were capable of identifying the full-view photographs of female and male speakers with slightly better than chance guessing accuracy when presented with their recorded speech samples. Implications of these findings and suggestions for future research are discussed. Subject Classification: [43]70.30, [43]70.65.

Preliminary investigation of speaker height and weight identification

The purpose of this investigation was to determine if listeners were capable of speaker height and weight identification from recorded speech samples of speakers' voices. 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. All subjects participated in two experimental sessions. In one session they were asked to determine the height of each speaker and in another session weight judgments were made. The order of presentation of the two experimental tasks was randomized so that 15 subjects made height judgments first and 15 subjects made weight judgments first. A multiple‐choice response sheet containing four choices for height and weight judgments for each speaker was provided. In addition, subjects were also asked to indicate the confidence of their decisions on a seven‐point rating scale, and to describe the criteria upon which they based their decisions. Results indicate that (1) for both order groups, subjects were capable, with better than chance‐guessing accuracy, of correctly identifying the heights and weights of speakers when presented with only recorded speech samples and (2) subjects exhibited slightly greater accuracy in identifying speaker weights than heights, regardless of the order in which they were exposed to the two kinds of identification tasks. Implications of these findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.

A preliminary investigation of speaker photograph identification

The purpose of this investigation was to determine if listeners were capable of speaker photograph identification from recorded samples of speakers' voices. A standard prose passage was recorded by 30 speakers, 15 females and 15 males. A master tape containing the randomly arranged recorded readings was played to a group of 30 subjects. The subjects were shown photographic slides of two persons on a screen simultaneously and heard a recording of a single speaker reading a standard prose passage. Their task was to determine to which of the two photographs did the speaker's voice belong. All subjects participated in two experimental sessions. In one session they were shown full‐length photographic slides and in another session portrait slides were employed. Results indicate that (1) for both order groups and both kinds of photographs, subjects were capable, with better than chance‐guessing accuracy, of correctly identifying the photographs of speakers; (2) subjects exhibited slightly greater accuracy in speaker photograph identification under the full‐length condition; and (3) subjects were more accurate in their identification of photographs of female speakers than they were for male speakers.

A normative study of children's listening rate preferences.

A paired comparison paradigm was employed to determine the listening rate preferences of children. Recordings of a reading of a standard prose passage were time-altered by means of a speech compressor to yield nine rates: 100, 125, 150, 175, 200, 225, 250, 275, and 300 wpm. A master tape was constructed from the time-altered versions of the reading and presented to 49 children for their listening rate preference judgments. Results indicate that the children's most preferred listening rate was 175 wpm and their least preferred rate was 100 wpm. Comparisons of the present findings with the listening rate preferences of adults, as well as suggestions for future inquiry, are discussed.

A psychophysical study of rate of continuous speech stimuli by means of direct magnitude estimation scaling.

The psychological scaling procedure of direct magnitude estimation was employed to establish the relationship of measured and perceived rate of continuous speech stimuli. Time-altered recordings of a standard prose passage were prepared with a speech compressor to provide six variable rates: 75, 125, 175, 225, 275, and 325 w.p.m. A total of 30 master tapes were constructed, one for each of the 30 subjects who participated in the study. Each tape included the six variable stimuli and the standard stimulus to be used in each of three experimental sessions. For each session, one standard stimulus (125, 175, or 225 w.p.m.) and a total of three randomized series of six variable stimuli were used. Results of subjects' magnitude estimations indicate that although a linear trend is evident, there is no one-to-one relationship between measured and perceived rate of continuous speech stimuli. Stevens' power function law appears applicable in describing this relationship. Comparisons of the present results with previous findings using different scaling techniques and different stimuli are discussed.