- Email: [email protected]
The effect of filtered speech on speaker height and weight identification
Journal of Phonetics (1980) 8, 91 - 100
The effect of filtered speech on speaker height and weight identification Norman J. Lass, Jon K. Phillips and Cynthia A. Bruchey Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology, West Virginia University , Morgantown, West Virginia 26506, U.S.A. Received 14th July 1978
Abstract:
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 , 25 5 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 .
Introduction Contemporary research on speaker identification has also included the study of speaker height and weight identification . Recent research has shown that , on the basis of perceptual cues obtained from recorded speech samples, listeners are capable of accurate judgments of speakers' heights and weights. In a study by Lass & Davis (1976) , in which subjects were given a multiple-choice response task , it was found that listeners were capable of accurately identifying the heights and weights of speakers at better than chance levels. In another study, Lass et al . (1978) attempted to determine if listeners were also capable of the more demanding task of making direct estimations of speakers' heights and weights from recorded speech samples , without the use of multiple-choice responses. They, too , found that listeners were capable of accurately identifying the approximate heights and weights of speakers at better than chance levels. Lass et al., (1980a) , in an experiment concerned with determining if listeners were capable of making accurate comparative judgments of height and weight when presented with pairs of recorded speech samples, found that listeners were able to make such discriminative judgments of speakers' heights and weights at better than chance levels. 0095-4470/80/010091+10 $02.00/0
© 1980 Academic Press Inc. (London) Ltd.
92
N. J. Lass et a/.
Lass & Colt ( 1980), in comparing the effect of visual and auditory cues on speaker height and weight identification, had their subjects make height and weight judgments under two different experimental conditions. In one condition, they listened to recorded readings and in another condition they saw photographic slides of the speakers. Only slight differences in height and weight estimations between the visual and auditory conditions were found, leading the investigators to conclude that the voice alone appears to convey similarly accurate information concerning speakers' heights and weights as visual clues alone. In a study concerned with the effect of phonetic complexity on speaker height and weight identification, Lass eta/. (1979a) discovered that listeners were capable of accurate height and weight judgments at different levels of phonetic complexity, including isolated vowels, monosyllabic words , bisyllabic words, and sentences . Moreover , there was no regular progressive trend in listener accuracy from the simplest to the most complex auditory stimuli, indicating that phonetic complexity does not appear to play a significant role in listeners' height and weight judgments. Lass et al. (I980b) compared speaker height and weight identification from voiced and whispered stimuli in an attempt to determine the effect of vocal pitch on such identification tasks. They found that listeners were capable of accurately identifying speaker heights and weights from both voiced and whispered stimuli . Moreover, listener 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. In a study concerned with the effect of temporal speech alterations on speaker height and weight identification, Lass et a/. (1979b) compared listener estimates on forward-played, backward-played, and time-compressed tapes . They found that temporal alteration by means of backward-playing of the speech signal adversely affected listener judgments of height and weight, evidence of the importance of the temporal alteration of speech in height and weight identification tasks . The results of the above studies have shown that there appear to be adequate perceptual cues in the voice which reflect, at least to some extent, the features of speakers ' heights and weights . However , the issue of which acoustic cue or cues are responsible for height and weight identification has not been definitively resolved. The purpose of the present 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 additional evidence on the specific acoustic cues that function in such identification tasks.
Method Speakers A total of 30 speakers, 15 females and IS males, participated in the experiment. All were students at West Virginia University and ranged in age from 18 to 25 years , with a mean age of 20·8 years . The speakers had normal speech characteristics and no reported hearing difficulty. The heights of all speakers were obtained by means of a tape measure attached to a wall ; the speakers' weights were obtained from a standard floor scale. The same tape measure and scale and identical measurement procedures were employed for height and weight determinations for all speakers in the study. The range of heights was 67·5 - 74·0 in . for males and 61 ·5 - 71·0 in . for females . The range of weights for males was 135 to 225 lbs , and 96 to 165lbs for females. Construction of master tapes The speakers' readings of the first paragraph of Fairbanks' (I 960) The Rainbow Passage were recorded in a sound-treated room using a Nagra model IV-D tape recorder and an Alte c model 681 A condenser microphone . A total of three master tapes were constructed , one for each of the three experimental conditions in the study : an unfiltered tape , a 255 Hz low-pass filtered tape . and a 2 55 Hz
Filtered speech on height and weight identification
93
high-pass ftltered tape. On all tapes the recorded readings were arranged in a random order.
In addition to the 30 readings, 10 were randomly selected and repeated at the end of each tape for estimation of listener reliability. Therefore, each tape contained a total of 40 readings of the same prose passage. An 8-second silent interval was inserted between each reading to allow sufficient time for listener judgments. The filtered tapes were prepared by playing the unftltered tape through an Allison model 2AB variable filter with the appropriate cutoff settings (30 dB/octave attenuation).
Experimental sessions A total of 30 persons, 20 females and 10 males, served as judges in the study. All were students at West Virginia University with no reported hearing difficulty. They ranged in age from 18 to 30 years, with a mean age of 20·5 years. The judges were unfamiliar with the speakers in the study as determined by their responses to a list of names of the speakers prior to their participation in the experiment. Each judge participated in a total of three sessions, one for each of the three master tapes employed in the study. The order of presentation of the three tapes was counterbalanced so that six orders were used, with five judges in each of the six order groups . In all experimental sessions, the listeners were asked to make direct estimations of the height and weight of the speakers of each of the 40 readings. In addition, they were asked to indicate the overall confidence for their height and weight judgments at the end of each of the three experimental sessions by means of a seven-point confidence rating scale (Coleman, 1971) in which a rating of 1 represented a guess and a rating of 7 indicated complete confidence in their decisions . Intermediate values represented degrees of confidence between these two extremes. To provide the judges with a perceptual frame of reference upon which to base their decisions , they were presented with the middle sentence of each of the 40 readings prior to making any specific judgments in each session. In addition, to avoid fatigue, a brief rest period was given to all subjects at the end of the twentieth auditory stimulus on each master tape . All tapes were presented binaurally in a sound-treated room using a Nagra model IV-D tape recorder and matched Sharpe model HA-10A headphones. Results
Weight identification Figures 1 and 2 display the actual and mean estimated weights and Table 1 contains a summary of the means and standard deviations for actual and estimated weights of the female and male speakers under the three experimental conditions. The figures and table indicate that there are differences between actual and mean estimated weights of the two 190 ~--------------------------------------------,
150
r
Actual • Estimated (unfiltered) " Estimated ( 255 Hz low - pass filtered) o Est i mated (255Hz high · pass f i ltered)
90 70 2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
II
12
13
14
15
Female speakers
Figure I
Actual and mean estimated weights for the 15 female speakers in the unfiltered and filtered conditions.
94
N. J. Lass et al. 220 2 00 V>
o Act ua l
• Est ima te d (un f il ter ed ) " Estim a ted (255 Hz la w - pa ss fil t e r e d )
Esti ma ted (255 Hz hi gh ·pass filt ere d)
a
180
.D
160 .c: 0'
140
"' 3: 120 100 2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
II
12
13
14
15
Mal e sp eake rs
Figure 2
Actual and mean estimated weight s for the 15 male speaker s in the unfiltered and filt ered co nditions. Table l Mean and standard deviation values for actual and estimated weights (in lbs) for female and male speakers in the unfiltered and filtered conditions
X Actual weights Female speakers Male speakers Estimated weights
S.D.
129 ·00 165 ·8 0
16 ·55 22 ·5 2
Female speakers Unfiltered 2 55 Hz low-pass filtered 2 55 Hz high-pass filtered
126· 81 123·18 124·42
8·5 2 8 ·25 9 ·77
Male speakers Unfiltered 2 55 Hz low-pass filtered 255 Hz high-pass filtered
171 ·88 17 2· 6 7 170 ·67
10-45 11 ·24 11 ·0 8
speaker sex groups for the three experimental tasks . Based on average figures , female speakers' weights are underestimated in all three conditions , with listener accuracy highest for the unfiltered tape , followed by the 255 Hz high-pass filt ered tape, and lowest for the 255 Hz low-pass filtered tape condition . Male speakers' weights are also overestimated in all three experimental conditions,with listener accuracy being highest for the 255Hz high-pass filtered condition , followed by the unfiltered condition , and lowest for the 255 Hz low-pass filtered condition. However , the average difference between actual and mean estimated weights for both speaker sex groups is·, relatively small for all three tapes. For female speakers, the average difference is 4 ·20 lb , with a range of 2 ·19 lb (unfiltered tape) to 5 ·82 lb (255 Hz low-pass filtered tape) . The average difference for male speakers is 5 ·94 lb and the range .is 4·87 lb (255Hz high-pass filtered tape) to 6 ·87 lb (255Hz low-pass filtered tape). In addition to differences between actual and mean estimated weights of speakers , differences also exist in listeners' estimates among the three experimental conditions. However, all differences are very small. For female speakers , the average difference among the three tapes is 2-42 lb and the range is 1 ·24 lb (255 Hz low-pass vs. 255 Hz high-pass filtered tapes) to 3 ;63 lb (unfiltered vs. low-pass filtered tapes) . For male speakers, the average difference is 1·33 lb , with a range of 0 ·79 lb (unfiltered vs. 255 Hz low-pass filtered tapes) to 2·00 lb (255 Hz low-pass vs . 255 Hz high-pass filtered tapes) .
Filtered speech on height and weight identification
95
To determine if the observed differences among the three experimental conditions were statistically significant or chance occurrences, a Friedman two-way analysis of variance by ranks (Siegel , 1956) was computed. Results of the inferential analysis indicated that, based on an overall analysis of listeners' judgments of the 15 female and 15 male speakers, there were no statistically significant differences among the three experimental conditions (xr 2 =3·59 , d.f.= 2, P > 0·05). Table 2 contains a summary of the means and standard deviations of the listeners' confidence ratings for their weight judgments on each of the three master tapes. The table shows that the judges were equally confident in their weight judgments on the unfiltered and 255 Hz high-pass filtered tapes, but showed considerably less confidence on the 255 Hz low-pass filtered tape. Table 2 Mean and standard deviation values for the judges' confidence ratings of their weight judgments in the unfiltered and filtered conditions
Tape Unfiltered 255Hz low -p ass filtered 255 Hz high-pass filtered
S.D.
4·03 3·03 4 ·03
1-45 1·33 1·35
Intra-judge reliability was determined by use of difference scores, which represent the differences between listeners' first and second weight estimates of the I 0 repeated speech samples on each of the three master tapes. Table 3 contains the means and standard deviations of the di fference scores for the three tapes . It indicates that , although there are differences among the three conditions, the obtained difference scores are small for all conditions (average difference sc ore = 6·64 lb ), indicative of a high degree of intra-judge reliability. Table 3 Mean and standard deviation values for difference scores (in lbs) based on the judges' first and second weight estimates of the repeated speech samples on the unfiltered and filtered tapes
Tape Unfiltered 25 5 Hz low-pass filtered 255 Hz high-p ass filtered
S.D .
7·21 7·10 5·61
6-44 4 ·59 3·14
Height identification Figures 3 and 4 display the actual and mean estimated heights and Table 4 contains a summary of the means and standard deviations for actual and estimated heights of the female and· male speakers under the three experimental conditions . The figures and table indicate that there are differences between actual and mean estimated heights of the two speaker sex groups for the three experimental tasks. Based on average figures, female speakers' heights are underestimated in all three conditions, with listener accuracy highest for the unfiltered tape , followed by the 255 Hz low-pass filtered tape,and lowest for the 255 Hz high-pass filtered tape. Male speakers' heights are also underestimated under all three conditions, with listener accuracy highest for the 255 Hz high-pass filtered tape, followed by the 255 Hz low-pass filtered tape , and lowest for the unfiltered tape. However, the average diffe rence between actual and mean estimated heights for both speaker sex groups is small for all three experimental conditions. For female speakers , the average difference is 2·88 in, with a range of 1·18 in (unfiltered tape) to 5·75 in (255Hz high-pass ftltered tape). The
96
N J. Lass et a/.
average difference for male speakers is 0·51 in, and the range is 0{)9 in (255 Hz high-pass filtered tape) to 0·88 in (unfiltered tape).
80 .!:
70
o Actual • Estimated ( unfiltered) • Estimated ( 255Hz low· pass filtered)
o Estimated (255Hz high-pass filtered )
.r:.
""
., 60 I
50 2
3
4
5
6
7
Female
Figure 3
8
9
10
II
12
13
14
15
speakers
Actual and mean estimated heights for the 15 female speakers in the unfiltered and filtered conditions.
80
" :;::
.,""
o Actual • Estimated (unfiltered) • Estimated (255Hz low· pass filtered)
o Estimated (255Hz high- pass filtered)
7fJ 60
I
50 2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
II
12
13
14
I5
Male speakers
Figure 4
Actual and mean estimated heights for the 15 male speakers in the unfiltered and filtered conditions. Table 4 Mean and standard deviation values for actual and estimated heights (in in.) for female and male speakers in the unfiltered and filtered conditions
Actual heights Female speakers Male speakers Estimated heights Female speakers Unfiltered 255 Hz low-pass filtered 255 Hz high-pass filtered Male speakers Unfiltered 25 5 Hz low-pass filtered 255 Hz high-pass filtered
x
S.D.
66·00 70·87
3·25 2·13
64·82 64·28 60·25
1·14 0·99 1·54
69·99 70·31 70·78
2·97 1·39 1·26
In addition to differences between actual and mean estimated heights of speakers, differences also exist in listeners' estimates among the three experimental conditions, However, all differences are very smalL For female speakers, the average difference among the three tapes is 3·05 in and the range is 0·54 in (unfiltered vs. 255 Hz low-pass filtered tapes) to 4·57 in (unfiltered vs. 255 Hz high-pass filtered tapes). For male speakers, the average difference is 0·53 in, with a range of0·32 in (unfiltered vs. 255Hz low-pass filtered tapes) to 0·79 in (unfiltered vs. 255 Hz high-pass filtered tapes).
Filtered speech on height and weight identification
97
Inferential statistical analysis, consisting of a Friedman two-way analysis of variance by ranks (Siegel, 1956) based on an overall analysis of listeners' judgments of the 15 female and 15 male speakers, was computed to determine if the observed differences among the three experimental tasks were statistically significant or chance occurrences. Results of the analysis indicated that there were no statistically significant differences among the three experimental conditions (xr 2 =3·80 , d.f.=2,P> 0·05). Table 5 contains a summary of the means and standard deviations for the listeners' confidence ratings for their height judgments on each of the three master tapes. The table indicates that the judges showed similar confidence in their height judgments for the unfiltered and 255 Hz high-pass filtered tapes, but showed considerably less confidence on the 255Hz low-pass flltered tape. Table 5 Mean and standard deviation values for the judges' confidence ratings of their height judgments in the unfiltered and filtered conditions
Tape Unfiltered 25 5 Hz low-pass filtered 255 Hz high-pass filtered
S.D. 4· 10 3·03 4·13
1·26 1·27 1·28
Intra-judge reliability was determined by use of difference scores which represent the differences between listeners' first and second height estimates of the 10 repeated speech samples on each of the three master tapes . Table 6 contains the means and standard deviations of the difference scores for the three tapes. It indicates that, although there are differences among the three conditions, the obtained difference s~ores are very small for all conditions (average difference score = 0·73 in), indicative of a high degree of intra-judge reliability. Table 6 Mean and standard deviation values for difference scores (in in.) based on the judges' first and second height estimates of the repeated speech samples on the unfiltered and filtered tapes
Tape Unfiltered 255 Hz low-pass filtered 255 Hz high-pass filtered
S.D. 0·57 0·89 0·73
0·51 0·79 0·60
Discussion The results of this investigation indicate that listeners are capable of accurately indentifying the approximate heights and weights of speakers when presented with their normal, ondistorted speech samples . The average difference between actual and estimated heights and . weights for all speakers and listeners in the unfiltered condition was only 1·03 in . and 4 ·14 lb , respectively . This finding corroborates those obtained in previous studies (Lass & Davis, 1976 : Lass et al., 1980a, 1978, Lass & Colt, 1980) and leads to the same conclusion: there appear to be sufficient perceptual cues in the voice which reflect, at least to some extent, the physical features of speakers' heights and weights. The present findings also indicate that speaker height and weight identification is not significantly affected by flltering of the speech signal, as evidenced by only slight differences in listener judgments among the filtered and unfiltered conditions in the stugy. For weight identification the average difference among the three conditions for ;ill speakers and listeners was 1·88 lb; for height identification, the average difference was 1·79 in. Furthermore, listener accuracy for all three coftditions was very high; the average difference between
98
N. J. Lass et al.
actual and estimated height s and weights across all cond itions, speakers, and listeners was 1·70 in and 5 ·07 lb , respectively. Thus apparently different portions of the broadband speech spectrum contain adeq uate acoustic cues for accurate height and weight ind entification. The speakers' vocal tract reso nance chara cteristics (i.e . for mants) appear to play an equally important role in these tasks as their lary ngeal fund amental (/0 ). In low-pass filt erin g with a 255 Hz cutoff settin g, it was believed that all , or almost all , formant in format ion was eliminated from the speech samples , sin ce the lowest F 1 (which occurs for the vowel /i/) is, on the average , 270 Hz for male speakers and eve n higher for female speakers (Peterson & Barney , 1952) . In h igh-pass filtering with a 255 Hz cutoff se ttin g. it was believed that all , or almost all , fundame ntal frequen cy (/0 ) information was eliminated from the speech samp les, sin ce th e average fundame nt al frequency for female speakers is 240 Hz and approximately one octave lower for males (Peterson & Barney , 1952). Since listener accuracy for height and weight judgments was not sign ificantly affected by f11tering of the speech signal, the avail ab le acoustic cues both above and below 255 Hz (viz., vocal tract forma nt and lary ngeal fundamental information) appea r to play a role in height and weight iden tification tasks and appear to fun ction indepe ndently of eJch oth er to contribute to liste ner accuracy in these judgmen tal tasks. It is suggested that future research ex plore more specific , narrower regions above and below 255 Hz in order to delineate more specifi c regions of importa nce in the broadband speech spect rum th at contrib ut e to listener accuracy in height and weight ind en tification tasks. The resul ts of the present investigation as well as those of previous studies are sufficientl y co nclusive to warrant continued study of speaker height and we ight indentification . It is suggested th at future research , through expe riment al manipulation of the acoustic signal , continue to attempt to isolate and defi ne the important acoust ic cues in the vo ice which , either alone or in combination, accurate ly convey information on speakers' heights and weights. The mt ormation ob tained from such experimentation will help determin e what specific perceptual cues are employed by listeners in these tasks and , co nsequently, could provide a mechanism for training improvement in listen er height and weight identification accuracy. This evidence , in conjunctio n with similar evidence available on other speake r characte ristics , including age (Ptacek & Sander , 1966; Shipp & Hollien , 1969 ; Ryan & Burk , 1972 ; Burk et a!., 1975; Hartmann & Danhauer, 1976), sex (Schwart z, 1968 ; Schwart z & Rine, 1968; Inge mann , 1968 ; Co leman , 1971 , 1973a, 1976: Lass eta/. , 1976 ; Lass eta!. , 1979c; Lass , Mert z & Kimm el, 1978 ; Lass et al., 1980c, race (St roud , 1956; Hibl er, 1960 ; Dickens & Sawyer, 1962; Larson & Larson, 1966 ; Bryden , 1968 ; Alvarenga , 19 7 1: Abrams , 1975 ; Lass et al., 1979c, Lass , Mert z & Kimmel , 1978 ; Lass ct al. , 1980c). socioecono mic status (Harms, 1961, 1963), personality (Stagner, 1936; Eisenbe rg & Zalowit z, 1938: Markel , Eisler & Reece . 1967), specific id entity (McGehee, 1937 ; Pollack , Pickett & Sum by, 1954 ; Compton, 1963 ; Yoiers , 1964; Clarke , Becker & Nixon, 1966; Bricker & Pruza nsky, 1966 ; Holmgren , 1967 ; St evens et al., 1968 ; Clarke & Becker, 1969: Co leman , 1973b). and facial features (Lass & Harvey , 1976) , may provid e very useful info rmation in a variety of future theoretical and applied areas of investiga tion. A poster session paper based partially on this st ud y was presented at the Annual Convention of the American Speech and Hearing Associat ion , November I 8- 2 1, 1978 , San Francisco , California , U.S.A.
References Abrams, A. S. (1975). Auditory cue s and rac ial identification. Pa per presented at th e Annual Com,ention Of th e American Speech and Hearing Association , 21 - 24 Nov., Washington, D.C. Alvarenga, J. A. (1971) . An investiga tion of the ability of listeners to diffe rentiate race o n th e basis of tape recorded evidence. Maste r's thesis, Herbert H. Leh man Co llege ( un published) .
Filtered speech on height and weight identification
99
Bricker, P. D. & Pruzansk y, S. (1966) . Effects of stim ulus co ntent and duratio n o n talker id entifi cat io n. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 40, 1441 - 1449. Bryden , J. D. (1968) . An aco ust ic and socia l dialect analysis of perceptual var iab les in listener identificat io n and rating of Negro speakers. Doctoral dissertation, Universit y of Virginia, (unpublished). Burk, K. W., Hoyer , E. A., Fey, M. & Cha rlip, W. S. (1975). Percept ual and aco usti c co rrelates of aging in th e female vo ice. Paper presented at the Annual Co nventio n of the American Speech and Hearing Associat io n, 21 - 24 Nov . Washingto n, D.C. Clarke , F. R. & Becker, R. W. (1969). Co mpariso n of techniques for discriminating amo ng talkers. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research 12, 74 7 - 76 1. Clarke, F. R., Becker , R. W. & NLxon, J . C. (196 6). Characteristics that determine speaker recogn ition. Report ES D-TR-66-636, Electro ni cs Systems Division, Air Force Systems Co mmand, Hanscom Field. Co leman, R. 0. (1971). Male and female voice qualit y and its relationship to vowel fo rmant frequencies. Journal of Speech and Hearing R esearch 14, 565 - 577 . Co leman , R. 0 . ( 197 3a). A compariso n of the co ntribu tio ns of two vocal characteristics to the perception of maleness and fe maleness in the voice. Paper presented at the Annual Co nventio n of the American Speech and Hearing Association, Det roit , MI. Co le man , R. 0. ( 1973b). Speaker id entification in the ab sence of intersubj ect differences in glottal so urce character istics. Journal of th e Acoustical Society of A merica 53, 1741 - 1743. Co leman, R. 0. (1976). A co mpariso n of the co ntributions of two voice quality chara cte ristics to the perception of m aleness and fe maleness in the voice. Jo urnal of Speech and Hearing R esearch 19, 16 8- 180. Co mpton , A. J . ( 1963). Effects of filter ing and vocal duration upon the id entification of speakers, aurally. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 35, 1748- 1752. Dickens_,)\1. & Sawyer, G. M. ( 1962). An ex perimental comparison of vocal quality amo ng mi xed groups of Whites and Negroes. South ern Speech Journal 18, 178- 185. Eisenberg, P. & Zalowit z, F. ( 1938). Judging expressive movements. III. Judgments o f dominance-feeling from phonograph record s of voice. Journal of Applied Psychology 22, 620 - 631. Fa irba nks, G. ( 1960). Vo ice and Articulation Drillbook, New York: Harper & Row. Harms, L. S. (1961). Liste ner judgmen t s of sta tus cues in speech. Quarterly Journal of Speech 4 7, 164 - 16 8. Harms, L. S. ( 1963). Li stener co mphrehension of speakers of three stat us groups. Language and Speech 4 , 109 - 112. Ha rtm ann , D. E. & Danh auer, J . L. (1976). Percep tual features of speech fo r males in four perceived age decades. Journal of th e Acoustical Society of America 59, 713 - 715 . Hibler , M. B. (J 960). A co mparative st udy of speech patterns of selected Negro and White kindergarten children. Doctoral dissert a tion, Universit y of Southern Ca lifo rnia, (unpublished). Holmgren , G. L. ( 196 7). Physi cal and psychological co rrelates of speaker recog nition. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research I 0, 57 - 66. lngemann , F. ( 1968). lndentificatio n of the speaker's sex from vo ice less fricatives. Journal of th e Acoustical Society of America 44, 114 2 - 1144. Larso n, V. S. & Larson, C. H. ( 1966). Reactions to pronunciation. In R. I. McDavid, & W. M. Austin Communication Barriers to th e Culturally Deprived. Washington DC: U.S. Office of Education, Coo p. Res. Proj . No. 2107 . Lass, N.J. Almerino , C. A., J ordan , L. F. & Walsh , J . M. (1980c) . The effect of filtered speech on speaker ra ce and sex identifi cat ions Journal of Phonetics. 12Lass, N. J. , Barry , P. J. , Reed, R. A. Walsh, J . M. & Amuso, T . A. (1979b ). The effect of temporal speech alt erat ions on speaker height and weight identification. West Virginia University. Lass, N.J. , Beverly , A. S. , Nicosia, D. K. & Simpson, L. A. (1978). An investigation of speaker height and weight identification by mea ns of direct estimations. Journal of Phonetics 6, 69-76. Lass, N. J ., Brong, G. W. , Cicco lella, S. A. , Walters, S.C. & Maxwell, E. L. (1980). An investigatio n of speaker height and weight discriminatio ns by means of paired compariso n judgments. Journal of
Phonetics 12, Lass, N. J . & Co lt , E. G . (1980) . A co mparative study of the effect of visua l and auditory cues on speaker height and weight id entillcation. West Virginia University. Lass, N. J . & Davis, M. ( 1976). An investigat ion of speaker height and weight identification. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 60, 700- 703. Lass, N. J ., DiCo la , G. A., Beverly , A. S. Barbera, C., Henry , K. G. & Badali, M. K. (1978b). The effect of phonetic complexity on speaker height and weight identificatio n. West Virgina University. Lass, N.J . & Harvey, L. A. (1976). An investigation of speaker photograph identification. Journal of the Acoustical Societv of A merica 59, 1232 - 1236 . Lass, N. J., Hughes, K. R. Bowyer, M. U. , Waters, L. T. & Bourne, V. T. (1976). Speaker sex identification from vo iced , whispered and filtered iso lated vowels. Journal of th e Acoustical Society of America 59, 675 - 678 .
100
N.J. Lass et al.
Lass, N.J., Kelly. D. T., Cunningham, C. M. & Sheridan, K. J . (1980b). A comparative study of speaker height and weight identification from voiced and whispered speech. West Virginia University Journal of Phone_tics 12, Lass, N. J ., Mertz, P. J. & Kimmel, K. L. (1978). The effect of temporal speech alterations on speaker race and sex identifications. Language and Speech 21, 279-290. Lass, N. J., Tecca, J . E. , Mancuso, R. A. & Black, W. I. (1979c). The effect of phonetic complexity on speaker race and sex identifications. Journal of Phonetics 7, 105- 118. Markel, N., Eisler, R. M. & Reese, H. W. (1967). Judging personality from dialect. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior 6, 33 - 35 . McGehee, F. (1937). The reliability of the identification of the human voice. Journal of General Psychology 17, 249-271. Pollack, I., Pickett, J. M. & Sumby, W. H. (1954). On the identification of speakers by voice. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 26, 403- 406. Ptacek , P. H. & Sander, E. K. (1966). Age recognition from voice. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research 9, 273-277. Peterson, G. E. & Barney, H. L. (1952). Control methods used in a study of the vowels. Journal of the Acoustical Society of Amercia 24, 175 - 184. Ryan, W. J. & Burk, K. W. (1972). Predictors of age in the male voice. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 53, 345 (A). Schwartz, M. F. (1968). Identification of speaker sex from isolated, voiceless fricatives. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 43, 1178-1179. Schwartz, M. F. & Rine, H. E. (1968). Identification of speaker sex from isolated, whispered vowels. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 44, 1736 - 1737 . Shipp, F. T. & Hollien, H. (~69) . Perception of the aging male voice. Journal of Speech and Hearing Reseprch U. 703-_710. Siegel, S. (1956). Nonparametric Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences. New York : McGraw-Hill. Stagner, R. (1936). Judgments of voice and personality. Journal of Educational Ps~chology 27, 272-277. Stevens, K. N., Williams, C. E., Carbonell, J. R. & Woods, B. (1968) . Speaker authenticatio-n and identification : a comparison of spectrographic and auditory presentations of speech material. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 44, 1596-1607. Stroud, R. V. (1956). A study of the relation between social distance and speech differences of White and Negro high school students of Dayton. Ohio . Master's thesis (Bowling Green State University) (unpublished). Voiers, W. D. (1964). Perceptual bases of speaker identity. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 36, 1065-1073.
The effect of filtered speech on speaker height and weight identification Norman J. Lass, Jon K. Phillips and Cynthia A. Bruchey Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology, West Virginia University , Morgantown, West Virginia 26506, U.S.A. Received 14th July 1978
Abstract:
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 , 25 5 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 .
Introduction Contemporary research on speaker identification has also included the study of speaker height and weight identification . Recent research has shown that , on the basis of perceptual cues obtained from recorded speech samples, listeners are capable of accurate judgments of speakers' heights and weights. In a study by Lass & Davis (1976) , in which subjects were given a multiple-choice response task , it was found that listeners were capable of accurately identifying the heights and weights of speakers at better than chance levels. In another study, Lass et al . (1978) attempted to determine if listeners were also capable of the more demanding task of making direct estimations of speakers' heights and weights from recorded speech samples , without the use of multiple-choice responses. They, too , found that listeners were capable of accurately identifying the approximate heights and weights of speakers at better than chance levels. Lass et al., (1980a) , in an experiment concerned with determining if listeners were capable of making accurate comparative judgments of height and weight when presented with pairs of recorded speech samples, found that listeners were able to make such discriminative judgments of speakers' heights and weights at better than chance levels. 0095-4470/80/010091+10 $02.00/0
© 1980 Academic Press Inc. (London) Ltd.
92
N. J. Lass et a/.
Lass & Colt ( 1980), in comparing the effect of visual and auditory cues on speaker height and weight identification, had their subjects make height and weight judgments under two different experimental conditions. In one condition, they listened to recorded readings and in another condition they saw photographic slides of the speakers. Only slight differences in height and weight estimations between the visual and auditory conditions were found, leading the investigators to conclude that the voice alone appears to convey similarly accurate information concerning speakers' heights and weights as visual clues alone. In a study concerned with the effect of phonetic complexity on speaker height and weight identification, Lass eta/. (1979a) discovered that listeners were capable of accurate height and weight judgments at different levels of phonetic complexity, including isolated vowels, monosyllabic words , bisyllabic words, and sentences . Moreover , there was no regular progressive trend in listener accuracy from the simplest to the most complex auditory stimuli, indicating that phonetic complexity does not appear to play a significant role in listeners' height and weight judgments. Lass et al. (I980b) compared speaker height and weight identification from voiced and whispered stimuli in an attempt to determine the effect of vocal pitch on such identification tasks. They found that listeners were capable of accurately identifying speaker heights and weights from both voiced and whispered stimuli . Moreover, listener 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. In a study concerned with the effect of temporal speech alterations on speaker height and weight identification, Lass et a/. (1979b) compared listener estimates on forward-played, backward-played, and time-compressed tapes . They found that temporal alteration by means of backward-playing of the speech signal adversely affected listener judgments of height and weight, evidence of the importance of the temporal alteration of speech in height and weight identification tasks . The results of the above studies have shown that there appear to be adequate perceptual cues in the voice which reflect, at least to some extent, the features of speakers ' heights and weights . However , the issue of which acoustic cue or cues are responsible for height and weight identification has not been definitively resolved. The purpose of the present 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 additional evidence on the specific acoustic cues that function in such identification tasks.
Method Speakers A total of 30 speakers, 15 females and IS males, participated in the experiment. All were students at West Virginia University and ranged in age from 18 to 25 years , with a mean age of 20·8 years . The speakers had normal speech characteristics and no reported hearing difficulty. The heights of all speakers were obtained by means of a tape measure attached to a wall ; the speakers' weights were obtained from a standard floor scale. The same tape measure and scale and identical measurement procedures were employed for height and weight determinations for all speakers in the study. The range of heights was 67·5 - 74·0 in . for males and 61 ·5 - 71·0 in . for females . The range of weights for males was 135 to 225 lbs , and 96 to 165lbs for females. Construction of master tapes The speakers' readings of the first paragraph of Fairbanks' (I 960) The Rainbow Passage were recorded in a sound-treated room using a Nagra model IV-D tape recorder and an Alte c model 681 A condenser microphone . A total of three master tapes were constructed , one for each of the three experimental conditions in the study : an unfiltered tape , a 255 Hz low-pass filtered tape . and a 2 55 Hz
Filtered speech on height and weight identification
93
high-pass ftltered tape. On all tapes the recorded readings were arranged in a random order.
In addition to the 30 readings, 10 were randomly selected and repeated at the end of each tape for estimation of listener reliability. Therefore, each tape contained a total of 40 readings of the same prose passage. An 8-second silent interval was inserted between each reading to allow sufficient time for listener judgments. The filtered tapes were prepared by playing the unftltered tape through an Allison model 2AB variable filter with the appropriate cutoff settings (30 dB/octave attenuation).
Experimental sessions A total of 30 persons, 20 females and 10 males, served as judges in the study. All were students at West Virginia University with no reported hearing difficulty. They ranged in age from 18 to 30 years, with a mean age of 20·5 years. The judges were unfamiliar with the speakers in the study as determined by their responses to a list of names of the speakers prior to their participation in the experiment. Each judge participated in a total of three sessions, one for each of the three master tapes employed in the study. The order of presentation of the three tapes was counterbalanced so that six orders were used, with five judges in each of the six order groups . In all experimental sessions, the listeners were asked to make direct estimations of the height and weight of the speakers of each of the 40 readings. In addition, they were asked to indicate the overall confidence for their height and weight judgments at the end of each of the three experimental sessions by means of a seven-point confidence rating scale (Coleman, 1971) in which a rating of 1 represented a guess and a rating of 7 indicated complete confidence in their decisions . Intermediate values represented degrees of confidence between these two extremes. To provide the judges with a perceptual frame of reference upon which to base their decisions , they were presented with the middle sentence of each of the 40 readings prior to making any specific judgments in each session. In addition, to avoid fatigue, a brief rest period was given to all subjects at the end of the twentieth auditory stimulus on each master tape . All tapes were presented binaurally in a sound-treated room using a Nagra model IV-D tape recorder and matched Sharpe model HA-10A headphones. Results
Weight identification Figures 1 and 2 display the actual and mean estimated weights and Table 1 contains a summary of the means and standard deviations for actual and estimated weights of the female and male speakers under the three experimental conditions. The figures and table indicate that there are differences between actual and mean estimated weights of the two 190 ~--------------------------------------------,
150
r
Actual • Estimated (unfiltered) " Estimated ( 255 Hz low - pass filtered) o Est i mated (255Hz high · pass f i ltered)
90 70 2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
II
12
13
14
15
Female speakers
Figure I
Actual and mean estimated weights for the 15 female speakers in the unfiltered and filtered conditions.
94
N. J. Lass et al. 220 2 00 V>
o Act ua l
• Est ima te d (un f il ter ed ) " Estim a ted (255 Hz la w - pa ss fil t e r e d )
Esti ma ted (255 Hz hi gh ·pass filt ere d)
a
180
.D
160 .c: 0'
140
"' 3: 120 100 2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
II
12
13
14
15
Mal e sp eake rs
Figure 2
Actual and mean estimated weight s for the 15 male speaker s in the unfiltered and filt ered co nditions. Table l Mean and standard deviation values for actual and estimated weights (in lbs) for female and male speakers in the unfiltered and filtered conditions
X Actual weights Female speakers Male speakers Estimated weights
S.D.
129 ·00 165 ·8 0
16 ·55 22 ·5 2
Female speakers Unfiltered 2 55 Hz low-pass filtered 2 55 Hz high-pass filtered
126· 81 123·18 124·42
8·5 2 8 ·25 9 ·77
Male speakers Unfiltered 2 55 Hz low-pass filtered 255 Hz high-pass filtered
171 ·88 17 2· 6 7 170 ·67
10-45 11 ·24 11 ·0 8
speaker sex groups for the three experimental tasks . Based on average figures , female speakers' weights are underestimated in all three conditions , with listener accuracy highest for the unfiltered tape , followed by the 255 Hz high-pass filt ered tape, and lowest for the 255 Hz low-pass filtered tape condition . Male speakers' weights are also overestimated in all three experimental conditions,with listener accuracy being highest for the 255Hz high-pass filtered condition , followed by the unfiltered condition , and lowest for the 255 Hz low-pass filtered condition. However , the average difference between actual and mean estimated weights for both speaker sex groups is·, relatively small for all three tapes. For female speakers, the average difference is 4 ·20 lb , with a range of 2 ·19 lb (unfiltered tape) to 5 ·82 lb (255 Hz low-pass filtered tape) . The average difference for male speakers is 5 ·94 lb and the range .is 4·87 lb (255Hz high-pass filtered tape) to 6 ·87 lb (255Hz low-pass filtered tape). In addition to differences between actual and mean estimated weights of speakers , differences also exist in listeners' estimates among the three experimental conditions. However, all differences are very small. For female speakers , the average difference among the three tapes is 2-42 lb and the range is 1 ·24 lb (255 Hz low-pass vs. 255 Hz high-pass filtered tapes) to 3 ;63 lb (unfiltered vs. low-pass filtered tapes) . For male speakers, the average difference is 1·33 lb , with a range of 0 ·79 lb (unfiltered vs. 255 Hz low-pass filtered tapes) to 2·00 lb (255 Hz low-pass vs . 255 Hz high-pass filtered tapes) .
Filtered speech on height and weight identification
95
To determine if the observed differences among the three experimental conditions were statistically significant or chance occurrences, a Friedman two-way analysis of variance by ranks (Siegel , 1956) was computed. Results of the inferential analysis indicated that, based on an overall analysis of listeners' judgments of the 15 female and 15 male speakers, there were no statistically significant differences among the three experimental conditions (xr 2 =3·59 , d.f.= 2, P > 0·05). Table 2 contains a summary of the means and standard deviations of the listeners' confidence ratings for their weight judgments on each of the three master tapes. The table shows that the judges were equally confident in their weight judgments on the unfiltered and 255 Hz high-pass filtered tapes, but showed considerably less confidence on the 255 Hz low-pass filtered tape. Table 2 Mean and standard deviation values for the judges' confidence ratings of their weight judgments in the unfiltered and filtered conditions
Tape Unfiltered 255Hz low -p ass filtered 255 Hz high-pass filtered
S.D.
4·03 3·03 4 ·03
1-45 1·33 1·35
Intra-judge reliability was determined by use of difference scores, which represent the differences between listeners' first and second weight estimates of the I 0 repeated speech samples on each of the three master tapes. Table 3 contains the means and standard deviations of the di fference scores for the three tapes . It indicates that , although there are differences among the three conditions, the obtained difference scores are small for all conditions (average difference sc ore = 6·64 lb ), indicative of a high degree of intra-judge reliability. Table 3 Mean and standard deviation values for difference scores (in lbs) based on the judges' first and second weight estimates of the repeated speech samples on the unfiltered and filtered tapes
Tape Unfiltered 25 5 Hz low-pass filtered 255 Hz high-p ass filtered
S.D .
7·21 7·10 5·61
6-44 4 ·59 3·14
Height identification Figures 3 and 4 display the actual and mean estimated heights and Table 4 contains a summary of the means and standard deviations for actual and estimated heights of the female and· male speakers under the three experimental conditions . The figures and table indicate that there are differences between actual and mean estimated heights of the two speaker sex groups for the three experimental tasks. Based on average figures, female speakers' heights are underestimated in all three conditions, with listener accuracy highest for the unfiltered tape , followed by the 255 Hz low-pass filtered tape,and lowest for the 255 Hz high-pass filtered tape. Male speakers' heights are also underestimated under all three conditions, with listener accuracy highest for the 255 Hz high-pass filtered tape, followed by the 255 Hz low-pass filtered tape , and lowest for the unfiltered tape. However, the average diffe rence between actual and mean estimated heights for both speaker sex groups is small for all three experimental conditions. For female speakers , the average difference is 2·88 in, with a range of 1·18 in (unfiltered tape) to 5·75 in (255Hz high-pass ftltered tape). The
96
N J. Lass et a/.
average difference for male speakers is 0·51 in, and the range is 0{)9 in (255 Hz high-pass filtered tape) to 0·88 in (unfiltered tape).
80 .!:
70
o Actual • Estimated ( unfiltered) • Estimated ( 255Hz low· pass filtered)
o Estimated (255Hz high-pass filtered )
.r:.
""
., 60 I
50 2
3
4
5
6
7
Female
Figure 3
8
9
10
II
12
13
14
15
speakers
Actual and mean estimated heights for the 15 female speakers in the unfiltered and filtered conditions.
80
" :;::
.,""
o Actual • Estimated (unfiltered) • Estimated (255Hz low· pass filtered)
o Estimated (255Hz high- pass filtered)
7fJ 60
I
50 2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
II
12
13
14
I5
Male speakers
Figure 4
Actual and mean estimated heights for the 15 male speakers in the unfiltered and filtered conditions. Table 4 Mean and standard deviation values for actual and estimated heights (in in.) for female and male speakers in the unfiltered and filtered conditions
Actual heights Female speakers Male speakers Estimated heights Female speakers Unfiltered 255 Hz low-pass filtered 255 Hz high-pass filtered Male speakers Unfiltered 25 5 Hz low-pass filtered 255 Hz high-pass filtered
x
S.D.
66·00 70·87
3·25 2·13
64·82 64·28 60·25
1·14 0·99 1·54
69·99 70·31 70·78
2·97 1·39 1·26
In addition to differences between actual and mean estimated heights of speakers, differences also exist in listeners' estimates among the three experimental conditions, However, all differences are very smalL For female speakers, the average difference among the three tapes is 3·05 in and the range is 0·54 in (unfiltered vs. 255 Hz low-pass filtered tapes) to 4·57 in (unfiltered vs. 255 Hz high-pass filtered tapes). For male speakers, the average difference is 0·53 in, with a range of0·32 in (unfiltered vs. 255Hz low-pass filtered tapes) to 0·79 in (unfiltered vs. 255 Hz high-pass filtered tapes).
Filtered speech on height and weight identification
97
Inferential statistical analysis, consisting of a Friedman two-way analysis of variance by ranks (Siegel, 1956) based on an overall analysis of listeners' judgments of the 15 female and 15 male speakers, was computed to determine if the observed differences among the three experimental tasks were statistically significant or chance occurrences. Results of the analysis indicated that there were no statistically significant differences among the three experimental conditions (xr 2 =3·80 , d.f.=2,P> 0·05). Table 5 contains a summary of the means and standard deviations for the listeners' confidence ratings for their height judgments on each of the three master tapes. The table indicates that the judges showed similar confidence in their height judgments for the unfiltered and 255 Hz high-pass filtered tapes, but showed considerably less confidence on the 255Hz low-pass flltered tape. Table 5 Mean and standard deviation values for the judges' confidence ratings of their height judgments in the unfiltered and filtered conditions
Tape Unfiltered 25 5 Hz low-pass filtered 255 Hz high-pass filtered
S.D. 4· 10 3·03 4·13
1·26 1·27 1·28
Intra-judge reliability was determined by use of difference scores which represent the differences between listeners' first and second height estimates of the 10 repeated speech samples on each of the three master tapes . Table 6 contains the means and standard deviations of the difference scores for the three tapes. It indicates that, although there are differences among the three conditions, the obtained difference s~ores are very small for all conditions (average difference score = 0·73 in), indicative of a high degree of intra-judge reliability. Table 6 Mean and standard deviation values for difference scores (in in.) based on the judges' first and second height estimates of the repeated speech samples on the unfiltered and filtered tapes
Tape Unfiltered 255 Hz low-pass filtered 255 Hz high-pass filtered
S.D. 0·57 0·89 0·73
0·51 0·79 0·60
Discussion The results of this investigation indicate that listeners are capable of accurately indentifying the approximate heights and weights of speakers when presented with their normal, ondistorted speech samples . The average difference between actual and estimated heights and . weights for all speakers and listeners in the unfiltered condition was only 1·03 in . and 4 ·14 lb , respectively . This finding corroborates those obtained in previous studies (Lass & Davis, 1976 : Lass et al., 1980a, 1978, Lass & Colt, 1980) and leads to the same conclusion: there appear to be sufficient perceptual cues in the voice which reflect, at least to some extent, the physical features of speakers' heights and weights. The present findings also indicate that speaker height and weight identification is not significantly affected by flltering of the speech signal, as evidenced by only slight differences in listener judgments among the filtered and unfiltered conditions in the stugy. For weight identification the average difference among the three conditions for ;ill speakers and listeners was 1·88 lb; for height identification, the average difference was 1·79 in. Furthermore, listener accuracy for all three coftditions was very high; the average difference between
98
N. J. Lass et al.
actual and estimated height s and weights across all cond itions, speakers, and listeners was 1·70 in and 5 ·07 lb , respectively. Thus apparently different portions of the broadband speech spectrum contain adeq uate acoustic cues for accurate height and weight ind entification. The speakers' vocal tract reso nance chara cteristics (i.e . for mants) appear to play an equally important role in these tasks as their lary ngeal fund amental (/0 ). In low-pass filt erin g with a 255 Hz cutoff settin g, it was believed that all , or almost all , formant in format ion was eliminated from the speech samples , sin ce the lowest F 1 (which occurs for the vowel /i/) is, on the average , 270 Hz for male speakers and eve n higher for female speakers (Peterson & Barney , 1952) . In h igh-pass filtering with a 255 Hz cutoff se ttin g. it was believed that all , or almost all , fundame ntal frequen cy (/0 ) information was eliminated from the speech samp les, sin ce th e average fundame nt al frequency for female speakers is 240 Hz and approximately one octave lower for males (Peterson & Barney , 1952). Since listener accuracy for height and weight judgments was not sign ificantly affected by f11tering of the speech signal, the avail ab le acoustic cues both above and below 255 Hz (viz., vocal tract forma nt and lary ngeal fundamental information) appea r to play a role in height and weight iden tification tasks and appear to fun ction indepe ndently of eJch oth er to contribute to liste ner accuracy in these judgmen tal tasks. It is suggested that future research ex plore more specific , narrower regions above and below 255 Hz in order to delineate more specifi c regions of importa nce in the broadband speech spect rum th at contrib ut e to listener accuracy in height and weight ind en tification tasks. The resul ts of the present investigation as well as those of previous studies are sufficientl y co nclusive to warrant continued study of speaker height and we ight indentification . It is suggested th at future research , through expe riment al manipulation of the acoustic signal , continue to attempt to isolate and defi ne the important acoust ic cues in the vo ice which , either alone or in combination, accurate ly convey information on speakers' heights and weights. The mt ormation ob tained from such experimentation will help determin e what specific perceptual cues are employed by listeners in these tasks and , co nsequently, could provide a mechanism for training improvement in listen er height and weight identification accuracy. This evidence , in conjunctio n with similar evidence available on other speake r characte ristics , including age (Ptacek & Sander , 1966; Shipp & Hollien , 1969 ; Ryan & Burk , 1972 ; Burk et a!., 1975; Hartmann & Danhauer, 1976), sex (Schwart z, 1968 ; Schwart z & Rine, 1968; Inge mann , 1968 ; Co leman , 1971 , 1973a, 1976: Lass eta/. , 1976 ; Lass eta!. , 1979c; Lass , Mert z & Kimm el, 1978 ; Lass et al., 1980c, race (St roud , 1956; Hibl er, 1960 ; Dickens & Sawyer, 1962; Larson & Larson, 1966 ; Bryden , 1968 ; Alvarenga , 19 7 1: Abrams , 1975 ; Lass et al., 1979c, Lass , Mert z & Kimmel , 1978 ; Lass ct al. , 1980c). socioecono mic status (Harms, 1961, 1963), personality (Stagner, 1936; Eisenbe rg & Zalowit z, 1938: Markel , Eisler & Reece . 1967), specific id entity (McGehee, 1937 ; Pollack , Pickett & Sum by, 1954 ; Compton, 1963 ; Yoiers , 1964; Clarke , Becker & Nixon, 1966; Bricker & Pruza nsky, 1966 ; Holmgren , 1967 ; St evens et al., 1968 ; Clarke & Becker, 1969: Co leman , 1973b). and facial features (Lass & Harvey , 1976) , may provid e very useful info rmation in a variety of future theoretical and applied areas of investiga tion. A poster session paper based partially on this st ud y was presented at the Annual Convention of the American Speech and Hearing Associat ion , November I 8- 2 1, 1978 , San Francisco , California , U.S.A.
References Abrams, A. S. (1975). Auditory cue s and rac ial identification. Pa per presented at th e Annual Com,ention Of th e American Speech and Hearing Association , 21 - 24 Nov., Washington, D.C. Alvarenga, J. A. (1971) . An investiga tion of the ability of listeners to diffe rentiate race o n th e basis of tape recorded evidence. Maste r's thesis, Herbert H. Leh man Co llege ( un published) .
Filtered speech on height and weight identification
99
Bricker, P. D. & Pruzansk y, S. (1966) . Effects of stim ulus co ntent and duratio n o n talker id entifi cat io n. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 40, 1441 - 1449. Bryden , J. D. (1968) . An aco ust ic and socia l dialect analysis of perceptual var iab les in listener identificat io n and rating of Negro speakers. Doctoral dissertation, Universit y of Virginia, (unpublished). Burk, K. W., Hoyer , E. A., Fey, M. & Cha rlip, W. S. (1975). Percept ual and aco usti c co rrelates of aging in th e female vo ice. Paper presented at the Annual Co nventio n of the American Speech and Hearing Associat io n, 21 - 24 Nov . Washingto n, D.C. Clarke , F. R. & Becker, R. W. (1969). Co mpariso n of techniques for discriminating amo ng talkers. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research 12, 74 7 - 76 1. Clarke, F. R., Becker , R. W. & NLxon, J . C. (196 6). Characteristics that determine speaker recogn ition. Report ES D-TR-66-636, Electro ni cs Systems Division, Air Force Systems Co mmand, Hanscom Field. Co leman, R. 0. (1971). Male and female voice qualit y and its relationship to vowel fo rmant frequencies. Journal of Speech and Hearing R esearch 14, 565 - 577 . Co leman , R. 0 . ( 197 3a). A compariso n of the co ntribu tio ns of two vocal characteristics to the perception of maleness and fe maleness in the voice. Paper presented at the Annual Co nventio n of the American Speech and Hearing Association, Det roit , MI. Co le man , R. 0. ( 1973b). Speaker id entification in the ab sence of intersubj ect differences in glottal so urce character istics. Journal of th e Acoustical Society of A merica 53, 1741 - 1743. Co leman, R. 0. (1976). A co mpariso n of the co ntributions of two voice quality chara cte ristics to the perception of m aleness and fe maleness in the voice. Jo urnal of Speech and Hearing R esearch 19, 16 8- 180. Co mpton , A. J . ( 1963). Effects of filter ing and vocal duration upon the id entification of speakers, aurally. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 35, 1748- 1752. Dickens_,)\1. & Sawyer, G. M. ( 1962). An ex perimental comparison of vocal quality amo ng mi xed groups of Whites and Negroes. South ern Speech Journal 18, 178- 185. Eisenberg, P. & Zalowit z, F. ( 1938). Judging expressive movements. III. Judgments o f dominance-feeling from phonograph record s of voice. Journal of Applied Psychology 22, 620 - 631. Fa irba nks, G. ( 1960). Vo ice and Articulation Drillbook, New York: Harper & Row. Harms, L. S. (1961). Liste ner judgmen t s of sta tus cues in speech. Quarterly Journal of Speech 4 7, 164 - 16 8. Harms, L. S. ( 1963). Li stener co mphrehension of speakers of three stat us groups. Language and Speech 4 , 109 - 112. Ha rtm ann , D. E. & Danh auer, J . L. (1976). Percep tual features of speech fo r males in four perceived age decades. Journal of th e Acoustical Society of America 59, 713 - 715 . Hibler , M. B. (J 960). A co mparative st udy of speech patterns of selected Negro and White kindergarten children. Doctoral dissert a tion, Universit y of Southern Ca lifo rnia, (unpublished). Holmgren , G. L. ( 196 7). Physi cal and psychological co rrelates of speaker recog nition. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research I 0, 57 - 66. lngemann , F. ( 1968). lndentificatio n of the speaker's sex from vo ice less fricatives. Journal of th e Acoustical Society of America 44, 114 2 - 1144. Larso n, V. S. & Larson, C. H. ( 1966). Reactions to pronunciation. In R. I. McDavid, & W. M. Austin Communication Barriers to th e Culturally Deprived. Washington DC: U.S. Office of Education, Coo p. Res. Proj . No. 2107 . Lass, N.J. Almerino , C. A., J ordan , L. F. & Walsh , J . M. (1980c) . The effect of filtered speech on speaker ra ce and sex identifi cat ions Journal of Phonetics. 12Lass, N. J. , Barry , P. J. , Reed, R. A. Walsh, J . M. & Amuso, T . A. (1979b ). The effect of temporal speech alt erat ions on speaker height and weight identification. West Virginia University. Lass, N.J. , Beverly , A. S. , Nicosia, D. K. & Simpson, L. A. (1978). An investigation of speaker height and weight identification by mea ns of direct estimations. Journal of Phonetics 6, 69-76. Lass, N. J ., Brong, G. W. , Cicco lella, S. A. , Walters, S.C. & Maxwell, E. L. (1980). An investigatio n of speaker height and weight discriminatio ns by means of paired compariso n judgments. Journal of
Phonetics 12, Lass, N. J . & Co lt , E. G . (1980) . A co mparative study of the effect of visua l and auditory cues on speaker height and weight id entillcation. West Virginia University. Lass, N. J . & Davis, M. ( 1976). An investigat ion of speaker height and weight identification. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 60, 700- 703. Lass, N. J ., DiCo la , G. A., Beverly , A. S. Barbera, C., Henry , K. G. & Badali, M. K. (1978b). The effect of phonetic complexity on speaker height and weight identificatio n. West Virgina University. Lass, N.J . & Harvey, L. A. (1976). An investigation of speaker photograph identification. Journal of the Acoustical Societv of A merica 59, 1232 - 1236 . Lass, N. J., Hughes, K. R. Bowyer, M. U. , Waters, L. T. & Bourne, V. T. (1976). Speaker sex identification from vo iced , whispered and filtered iso lated vowels. Journal of th e Acoustical Society of America 59, 675 - 678 .
100
N.J. Lass et al.
Lass, N.J., Kelly. D. T., Cunningham, C. M. & Sheridan, K. J . (1980b). A comparative study of speaker height and weight identification from voiced and whispered speech. West Virginia University Journal of Phone_tics 12, Lass, N. J ., Mertz, P. J. & Kimmel, K. L. (1978). The effect of temporal speech alterations on speaker race and sex identifications. Language and Speech 21, 279-290. Lass, N. J., Tecca, J . E. , Mancuso, R. A. & Black, W. I. (1979c). The effect of phonetic complexity on speaker race and sex identifications. Journal of Phonetics 7, 105- 118. Markel, N., Eisler, R. M. & Reese, H. W. (1967). Judging personality from dialect. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior 6, 33 - 35 . McGehee, F. (1937). The reliability of the identification of the human voice. Journal of General Psychology 17, 249-271. Pollack, I., Pickett, J. M. & Sumby, W. H. (1954). On the identification of speakers by voice. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 26, 403- 406. Ptacek , P. H. & Sander, E. K. (1966). Age recognition from voice. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research 9, 273-277. Peterson, G. E. & Barney, H. L. (1952). Control methods used in a study of the vowels. Journal of the Acoustical Society of Amercia 24, 175 - 184. Ryan, W. J. & Burk, K. W. (1972). Predictors of age in the male voice. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 53, 345 (A). Schwartz, M. F. (1968). Identification of speaker sex from isolated, voiceless fricatives. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 43, 1178-1179. Schwartz, M. F. & Rine, H. E. (1968). Identification of speaker sex from isolated, whispered vowels. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 44, 1736 - 1737 . Shipp, F. T. & Hollien, H. (~69) . Perception of the aging male voice. Journal of Speech and Hearing Reseprch U. 703-_710. Siegel, S. (1956). Nonparametric Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences. New York : McGraw-Hill. Stagner, R. (1936). Judgments of voice and personality. Journal of Educational Ps~chology 27, 272-277. Stevens, K. N., Williams, C. E., Carbonell, J. R. & Woods, B. (1968) . Speaker authenticatio-n and identification : a comparison of spectrographic and auditory presentations of speech material. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 44, 1596-1607. Stroud, R. V. (1956). A study of the relation between social distance and speech differences of White and Negro high school students of Dayton. Ohio . Master's thesis (Bowling Green State University) (unpublished). Voiers, W. D. (1964). Perceptual bases of speaker identity. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 36, 1065-1073.