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 “gender code”

We can easily and reliably identify the gender of an unfamiliar interlocutor over the telephone. This is because our voice is “sexually dimorphic”: men typically speak with a lower fundamental frequency (F0 - lower pitch) and lower vocal tract resonances (ΔF – “deeper” 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 “gender code” consisting of vocal gestures (global F0 and ΔF 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 ΔF) 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 ΔF 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 children’s 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 “gender code” in human nonverbal vocal communication. This “gender code” 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

Carmelina Cartei

Students in Prof. Minnie Chiu\u27s Fall 2021 American Studies 102 class at Pace University conducted an oral history interview with Carmelina Cartei. In the interview Cartei discussed her work as an activist, professor and performer

What makes a voice masculine: physiological and acoustical correlates of women's ratings of men's vocal masculinity

Men's voices contain acoustic cues to body size and hormonal status, which have been found to affect women's ratings of speaker size, masculinity and attractiveness. However, the extent to which these voice parameters mediate the relationship between speakers' fitness-related features and listener's judgments of their masculinity has not yet been investigated. We audio-recorded 37 adult heterosexual males performing a range of speech tasks and asked 20 adult heterosexual female listeners to rate speakers' masculinity on the basis of their voices only. We then used a two-level (speaker within listener) path analysis to examine the relationships between the physiological (testosterone, height), acoustic (fundamental frequency or F0, and resonances or ΔF) and perceptual dimensions (listeners' ratings) of speakers' masculinity. Overall, results revealed that male speakers who were taller and had higher salivary testosterone levels also had lower F0 and ΔF, and were in turn rated as more masculine. The relationship between testosterone and perceived masculinity was essentially mediated by F0, while that of height and perceived masculinity was partially mediated by both F0 and ΔF. These observations confirm that women listeners attend to sexually dimorphic voice cues to assess the masculinity of unseen male speakers. In turn, variation in these voice features correlate with speakers' variation in stature and hormonal status, highlighting the interdependence of these physiological, acoustic and perceptual dimensions

Why stopping acid attacks is a matter of chemical weapons control

The use of acid as part of violent crime is apparently on the rise in the UK, and various efforts are being made to reverse what’s become a very disturbing trend

What Happens before Syncope? Study of the Time Frame Preceding Vasovagal Syncope

Objective. The events characterizing the very last part of the vasovagal crisis has not been determined. The aim of the study was to analyze the variations in respiratory pattern preceding the vaso-vagal syncope full-blown and the relationship between cardiovascular functions in order to assess the temporal sequence. Methods. Eleven consecutive patients were studied. Heart rate, arterial pressure, respiratory frequency, tidal volume, carbon dioxide, and oxygen saturation in time domain from supine and standing recordings were analyzed. Results. The respiratory activity is different in the time frame preceding syncope, both in VT and breathing rate, and that the increase of the lung ventilation does not influence the baroreflex control during the presyncopal period but may be cause of the baroreflex failure during the full-blown syncope

Le strategie di trading in relazione ai diversi orizzonti temporali. Una verifica empirica

Con il presente lavoro, ho effettuato una classificazione dei trader e relative strategie operative in base all’orizzonte temporale di investimento, al fine di mettere in evidenza le differenze nel modus operandi, le quali sono dovute al diverso time frame. Dopo un excursus sulla psicologia, la quale ricopre un ruolo fondamentale nell’attività di trading, è stata data particolare attenzione al money management, elemento fondamentale di ogni strategia, del quale sono state dettagliatamente analizzate entrambe le sue componenti di position sizing e risk management. La parte teorica, si conclude con un breve capitolo relativo alla tassazione del trading, dopodiché si passa alla parte pratica, in cui tramite delle operazioni reali sono state messe in luce le differenze tra i vari stili di trading, facendone anche un’analisi di redditività. Dai risultati dei casi pratici, sono emerse delle relazioni tra orizzonte temporale di investimento e redditività e tra beta/volatilità dei titoli e profitti ottenuti

Una Scuola dell’infanzia accogliente, tra aspettative delle famiglie immigrate ed esperienze in atto

L’articolo ha inteso delineare un quadro sulla condizione dei bambini di cittadinanza non italiana, che trovano nella scuola dell’infanzia un primo spazio di incontro tra il contesto privato della casa e della famiglia e quello pubblico della società di accoglienza. Sono state individuate le aspettative della famiglia immigrata nei confronti della scuola fino alla complessa fase evolutiva dell’adolescenza, ma anche quelle della scuola verso la famiglia. In questa prospettiva la scuola dell’infanzia diventa il contesto di incontro tra reciproci bisogni per favorire l’accoglienza ,il rispetto della cultura di origine creando al tempo stesso le condizioni per l’esercizio della cittadinanza attiva . Attraverso l’esempio di laboratori interculturali realizzati dalle istituzioni scolastiche toscane, viene definita l’immagine di una scuola capace di dare, progettualmente, risposte qualificate alle esigenze dei bambini di scoprire se stessi e gli altri, di confrontare culture diverse, di imparare a gestire conflitti attraverso regole condivise, il dialogo, l’interazione, al di là di qualsiasi differenza di etnia, provenienza geografica, confessione religiosa

Orbetello _ oltre le mura. Un progetto di riqualificazione per l'area dell'ex Idroscalo

Orbetello si trova nel sud della Toscana, al centro di una laguna. Fondata dagli Etruschi, la sua strategica posizione è stata contesa nei secoli dalle principale potenze Europee fino al 1559 quando è diventata la capitale del piccolo Stato dei Presidi. Da quel momento le fortificazioni urbane furono continuamente oggetto di modifiche e ampliamenti, fino al loro definitivo assetto nel XVII secolo. Il corrente stato di generale abbandono e la recente espansione urbana della città ha gravemente compromesso l’integrità di queste fortificazioni. Questo lavoro riporta i risultati di una ricerca che, partendo da un’approfondita analisi storico – urbanistica, ha evidenziato come il recupero del fronte bastionato non è possibile se non inserito all’interno di un progetto su più ampia scala che coinvolga tutto il centro storico. Nello specifico la tesi si è occupata del recupero dell’area ai piedi delle mura dove, negli anni ’20 – ’30 del Novecento è sorto l’Idroscalo di Orbetello. Ormai lontana la gloria raggiunta dalla base nel mondo con le Trasvolate Atlantiche oggi il sito versa in pessime condizioni. Il progetto prevede, perciò, la creazione di un grande parco urbano, il Parco delle Mura, che faccia da cerniera tra il centro storico e i quartieri di più recente espansione, e recuperi i valori architettonici e paesaggistici unendoli ad attività turistico ricettive, in un continuum verde organico ed ecosostenibile