922 research outputs found
Face and voice attractiveness judgments change during adolescence
Attractivenessjudgments are thought to underpin adaptive mate choice decisions. We investigated how these judgmentschange during adolescence when mate choice is becoming relevant. Adolescents aged 11â15 evaluated faces and voices manipulated along dimensions that affect adults' judgments of attractiveness and that are thought to cue mate value. Facial stimuli consisted of pairs of faces that were more or less average, more or less feminine, or more or less symmetric. The adolescents selected the more average, symmetric, and feminine faces as more attractive more often than chance, but judgments of some facial traits differed significantly with rater age and sex, indicating a role of development in judgments of facial cues. Vocal stimuli consisted of pairs of voices manipulated to raise or lower perceived pitch. The older but not younger girls selected the lower-pitched male voices as more attractive at rates above chance, while the younger but not older boys selected the higher-pitched female voices as more attractive. Controlling for rater age, increased pubertal development was associated with increased selection of lower-pitched boys' voices by girls and decreased selection of feminized male faces by boys. Our results are the first to demonstrate that adolescents show somewhat similar attractivenessjudgments to adults in age-matched stimuli and that age, sex, and pubertal development have measurable effects on adolescents' attractivenessjudgments. They suggest that attractivenessjudgments in humans, at least for some traits, are facultatively calibrated to the individual's life stage, only reaching adult values upon sexual maturity when mate choice decisions become relevant
Voice pitch preferences of adolescents: Do changes across time indicate a shift towards potentially adaptive adult-like preferences?
An evolutionary approach to attractiveness judgments emphasises that many human trait preferences exist in order to assist adaptive mate choice. Here we test an adaptive development hypothesis, whereby voice pitch preferences indicating potential mate quality might arise or strengthen significantly during adolescence (when mate choice becomes adaptive). We used a longitudinal study of 250 adolescents to investigate changes in preference for voice pitch, a proposed marker of mate quality. We found significantly stronger preferences for lower-pitched opposite-sex voices in the older age group compared with the younger age group (using different sets of age-matched stimuli), and marginally increased preferences for lower-pitched opposite-sex voices comparing within-participant preferences for the same set of stimuli over the course of 1 year. We also found stability in individual differences in preferences across adolescence: controlling for age, the raters who had stronger preferences than their peers for lower pitched
voices when first tested, retained stronger preferences for lower-pitched voices relative to their peers about 1 year later. Adolescence provides a useful arena for evaluating adaptive hypotheses and testing the cues that might give rise to adaptive behaviour
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Perceptual and acoustic gender differences in the speech of 4 1/2 - 5 1/2 year old children.
The linguistic factors which identify a speaker as being either male or female are reasonably well understood and documented when we are considering adult speakers. Many of these factors become apparent at puberty when the sexes diverge along predictable anatomical and physiological paths. It might be expected, therefore, that prepubertal children should appear relatively undifferentiated in terms of gender and that young boys' and girls' speech should be sexually homogenous.
This study has confirmed, however, that adult listeners can correctly identify the sex of a prepubertal child from samples of speech. Results of the present study yielded correct identification rates which varied between 66% (using isolated vowels as the sample) and 76% (using sentences as the sample) - all of these rates were significantly greater than chance. Girls were shown to be better identified by listeners than boys and female listeners tended to be more accurate at identifying gender than male listeners.
During the acoustic phase of the study, a number of parameters were selected for measurement which were regarded as likely to be involved in the gender-identification process. Overall, there was a surprisingly large number of negative results, with only a very few parameters yielding significantly sex-different outcomes. No differences were found in Fo between the sexes and only 5 out of 18 comparisons of formant frequency showed significant differences. An investigation into vocal breathiness indicated that, on the basis of this parameter, children could be assigned into perceptual groupings ('most / least male-like') better than into biological sex groupings ('boy / girl'). The conclusion reached is that listeners may use different acoustic cues to identify children's sex from speech than adult's sex, alternatively or additionally, they may be able to focus their perceptive skills more finely on the small acoustic inequalities that exist.
The concept of gender-specific speech is discussed in a general commentary of the various influences exerted in the formation of gendered-identities
Control of voice gender in pre-pubertal children
Adult listeners are capable of identifying the gender of speakers as young as 4 years old from their voice. In the absence of a clear anatomical dimorphism in the dimensions of pre-pubertal boys' and girls' vocal apparatus, the observed gender differences may reflect children's regulation of their vocal behaviour. A detailed acoustic analysis was conducted of the utterances of 34 6- to 9-year-old children, in their normal voices and also when asked explicitly to speak like a boy or a girl. Results showed statistically significant shifts in fundamental and formant frequency values towards those expected from the sex dimorphism in adult voices. Directions for future research on the role of vocal behaviours in pre-pubertal children's expression of gender are considered
Expression of gender in the human voice: investigating the âgender codeâ
We can easily and reliably identify the gender of an unfamiliar interlocutor over
the telephone. This is because our voice is âsexually dimorphicâ: men typically speak
with a lower fundamental frequency (F0 - lower pitch) and lower vocal tract resonances
(ÎF â âdeeperâ timbre) than women. While the biological bases of these differences are
well understood, and mostly down to size differences between men and women, very
little is known about the extent to which we can play with these differences to
accentuate or de-emphasise our perceived gender, masculinity and femininity in a range
of social roles and contexts.
The general aim of this thesis is to investigate the behavioural basis of gender
expression in the human voice in both children and adults. More specifically, I
hypothesise that, on top of the biologically determined sexual dimorphism, humans use
a âgender codeâ consisting of vocal gestures (global F0 and ÎF adjustments) aimed at
altering the gender attributes conveyed by their voice. In order to test this hypothesis, I
first explore how acoustic variation of sexually dimorphic acoustic cues (F0 and ÎF)
relates to physiological differences in pre-pubertal speakers (vocal tract length) and
adult speakers (body height and salivary testosterone levels), and show that voice
gender variation cannot be solely explained by static, biologically determined
differences in vocal apparatus and body size of speakers. Subsequently, I show that both
children and adult speakers can spontaneously modify their voice gender by lowering
(raising) F0 and ÎF to masculinise (feminise) their voice, a key ability for the
hypothesised control of voice gender. Finally, I investigate the interplay between voice
gender expression and social context in relation to cultural stereotypes. I report that
listeners spontaneously integrate stereotypical information in the auditory and visual
domain to make stereotypical judgments about childrenâs gender and that adult actors
manipulate their gender expression in line with stereotypical gendered notions of
homosexuality. Overall, this corpus of data supports the existence of a âgender codeâ in
human nonverbal vocal communication. This âgender codeâ provides not only a
methodological framework with which to empirically investigate variation in voice
gender and its role in expressing gender identity, but also a unifying theoretical
structure to understand the origins of such variation from both evolutionary and social
perspectives
Singing and vocal development
Musical development begins pre-birth through the fetal experiences of the melody-like contouring of our motherâs voice. These earliest experiences form the foundation for subsequent musical, vocal, and linguistic behavior. Ongoing interactions between our individual neuropsychobiological development and the sounds and expectations of the maternal sociocultural environment continue to shape the development of vocal skills, including singing, throughout childhood and into adolescence. By puberty, self-identity (whether tending toward the positive or negative) in relation to the art and expectations of singing in different contexts is firmly established. If exposed to an appropriately nurturing environment, considerable singing skills are normally evidenced. The experience of negative comments during childhood, particularly from adults such as parents and teachers, can have a detrimental impact on singing behaviors and the realization of musical potential. Throughout these formative years from birth onward, individual singing development is usually incremental and positive, but can be inhibited by sociocultural factors
Toward a music theater vocal pedagogy for emerging adult female singers
Thesis (D.M.A.)--Boston UniversityThe purpose of this study was to develop a case of contemporary belting pedagogy for emerging adult, female singers. Informants for the case included Jeannette LoVetri and Lisa Popeil, two well-respected pedagogues in both contemporary commercial and classical styles of singing. Data were collected through interviews with the pedagogues and observations of their teaching. The pedagogues' practices confirmed findings from prior research that three facets of singing differentiated contemporary belt singing from classical singing: (a) increased subglottal pressure coupled with increased closed quotient; (b) thyroarytenoid-dominant vocal production; and (c) resonance strategies involving a narrowed pharynx or oral cavity. LoVetri and Popeil characterized pedagogy for emerging adult singers as similar to pedagogy for classical singing in that it ought to be built on breath support and avoidance of vocal fold pressing. Further, the pedagogues recommended utilizing repertoire with moderate demands. However, they emphasized beginning with resonance strategies such as widening the mouth and lowering the velum.
To teach emerging adult female singers, vocal music educators must: (a) be able to model appropriate music theater sounds for their students, (b) understand the shows and repertoire of music theater, (c) assign developmentally appropriate music theater literature to individual students; (d) expose students to a variety of musical styles, and (e) impart a functional understanding of voice science related to music theater vocal pedagogy in a way that emerging adult singers can understand. Emerging adult students should commit to performing in a healthy and sustainable way, and voice teachers should be a primary resource for reliable information about vocal health. Beyond this foundational pedagogy, teachers who prepare emerging adults for a career in music theater must ensure that their students receive significant training in acting and dance in addition to singing. Teachers must also help such students gain understanding of the casting process and their own casting strengths. Finally, because music theater is such a challenging industry, teachers should encourage their students to develop skills related to music theater so that they can earn a living, and teachers should highlight the importance of strong emotional, psychological, and financial support systems
Olfaction scaffolds the developing human from neonate to adolescent and beyond
The impact of the olfactory sense is regularly apparent across development. The foetus is bathed in amniotic fluid that conveys the motherâs chemical ecology. Transnatal olfactory continuity between the odours of amniotic fluid and milk assists in the transition to nursing. At the same time, odours emanating from the mammary areas provoke appetitive responses in newborns. Odours experienced from the motherâs diet during breastfeeding, and from practices such as pre-mastication, may assist in the dietary transition at weaning. In parallel, infants are attracted to and recognise their motherâs odours; later, children are able to recognise other kin and peers based on their odours. Familiar odours, such as those of the mother, regulate the childâs emotions, and scaffold perception and learning through non-olfactory senses. During adolescence, individuals become more sensitive to some bodily odours, while the timing of adolescence itself has been speculated to draw from the chemical ecology of the family unit. Odours learnt early in life and within the family niche continue to influence preferences as mate choice becomes relevant. Olfaction thus appears significant in turning on, sustaining and, in cases when mother odour is altered, disturbing adaptive reciprocity between offspring and caregiver during the multiple transitions of development between birth and adolescence
The Developing Female Chorister Voice:Case-Study Evidence of Musical Development
The human singing voice changes throughout the lifespan and there are gender-specific variations that need to be taken into account. Life changes in terms of voice are different for females and males and this paper concentrates on the female singing voice in the context of choral singing. Case-study data from three choristers are presented relating to the changing female voice during puberty as part of a longitudinal study of female choristers in a major English Cathedral Choir School. In addition, discussion is presented on important considerations with respect to the female choral singing voice with a particular focus on specific choral aspects during rehearsals and performance
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