Harsh is large : Nonlinear vocal phenomena lower voice pitch and exaggerate body size
Anikin, Andrey LU
; Pisanski, Katarzyna
; Massenet, Mathilde
and Reby, David
(2021)
In Royal Society of London. Proceedings B. Biological Sciences
288(1954).
- Abstract
- A lion’s roar, a dog’s bark, an angry yell in a pub brawl: what do these voca-lizations have in common? They all sound harsh due to nonlinear vocal phenomena (NLP)—deviations from regular voice production, hypothesized to lower perceived voice pitch and thereby exaggerate the apparent bodysize of the vocalizer. To test this yet uncorroborated hypothesis, we synthesized human nonverbal vocalizations, such as roars, groans and screams, with and without NLP (amplitude modulation, subharmonics and chaos).We then measured their effects on nearly 700 listeners’ perceptions of three psychoacoustic (pitch, timbre, roughness) and three ecological (body size, for-midability, aggression) characteristics. In an explicit rating task, all NLP lowered... (More)
- A lion’s roar, a dog’s bark, an angry yell in a pub brawl: what do these voca-lizations have in common? They all sound harsh due to nonlinear vocal phenomena (NLP)—deviations from regular voice production, hypothesized to lower perceived voice pitch and thereby exaggerate the apparent bodysize of the vocalizer. To test this yet uncorroborated hypothesis, we synthesized human nonverbal vocalizations, such as roars, groans and screams, with and without NLP (amplitude modulation, subharmonics and chaos).We then measured their effects on nearly 700 listeners’ perceptions of three psychoacoustic (pitch, timbre, roughness) and three ecological (body size, for-midability, aggression) characteristics. In an explicit rating task, all NLP lowered perceived voice pitch, increased voice darkness and roughness, and caused vocalizers to sound larger, more formidable and more aggressive. Key results were replicated in an implicit associations test, suggesting that the‘harsh is large’ bias will arise in ecologically relevant confrontational contexts that involve a rapid, and largely implicit, evaluation of the opponent’s size. In sum, nonlinearities in human vocalizations can flexibly communicate both formidability and intention to attack, suggesting they are not a mere byproduct of loud vocalizing, but rather an informative acoustic signal wellsuited for intimidating potential opponents. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/464cc2e7-386d-4d36-ac2e-088dbc1dd3cc
- author
- Anikin, Andrey
LU
; Pisanski, Katarzyna
; Massenet, Mathilde
and Reby, David
- organization
- publishing date
- 2021
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- body size, voice, acoustic communication, nonlinear vocal phenomena, pitch, roughness
- in
- Royal Society of London. Proceedings B. Biological Sciences
- volume
- 288
- issue
- 1954
- article number
- 20210872
- publisher
- Royal Society Publishing
- external identifiers
-
- pmid:34229494
- scopus:85110962231
- ISSN
- 1471-2954
- DOI
- 10.1098/rspb.2021.0872
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 464cc2e7-386d-4d36-ac2e-088dbc1dd3cc
- date added to LUP
- 2021-07-10 13:06:15
- date last changed
- 2022-04-27 02:47:29
@article{464cc2e7-386d-4d36-ac2e-088dbc1dd3cc,
abstract = {{A lion’s roar, a dog’s bark, an angry yell in a pub brawl: what do these voca-lizations have in common? They all sound harsh due to nonlinear vocal phenomena (NLP)—deviations from regular voice production, hypothesized to lower perceived voice pitch and thereby exaggerate the apparent bodysize of the vocalizer. To test this yet uncorroborated hypothesis, we synthesized human nonverbal vocalizations, such as roars, groans and screams, with and without NLP (amplitude modulation, subharmonics and chaos).We then measured their effects on nearly 700 listeners’ perceptions of three psychoacoustic (pitch, timbre, roughness) and three ecological (body size, for-midability, aggression) characteristics. In an explicit rating task, all NLP lowered perceived voice pitch, increased voice darkness and roughness, and caused vocalizers to sound larger, more formidable and more aggressive. Key results were replicated in an implicit associations test, suggesting that the‘harsh is large’ bias will arise in ecologically relevant confrontational contexts that involve a rapid, and largely implicit, evaluation of the opponent’s size. In sum, nonlinearities in human vocalizations can flexibly communicate both formidability and intention to attack, suggesting they are not a mere byproduct of loud vocalizing, but rather an informative acoustic signal wellsuited for intimidating potential opponents.}},
author = {{Anikin, Andrey and Pisanski, Katarzyna and Massenet, Mathilde and Reby, David}},
issn = {{1471-2954}},
keywords = {{body size; voice; acoustic communication; nonlinear vocal phenomena; pitch; roughness}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{1954}},
publisher = {{Royal Society Publishing}},
series = {{Royal Society of London. Proceedings B. Biological Sciences}},
title = {{Harsh is large : Nonlinear vocal phenomena lower voice pitch and exaggerate body size}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2021.0872}},
doi = {{10.1098/rspb.2021.0872}},
volume = {{288}},
year = {{2021}},
}