Teija Waaramaa - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Teija Waaramaa

Research paper thumbnail of Emotions in voice. Acoustic and perceptual analysis of voice quality in the vocal expression of emotions

The role of F3 in the vocal expression of emotions.

Research paper thumbnail of Ylen tv-uutistenlukijoiden puheääni ennen ja jälkeen sosiaalisen median

Research paper thumbnail of Monialainen viestintä : puheesta peleihin

Vaasan yliopisto eBooks, Mar 31, 2021

Vaasan yliopiston raportteja 21, verkkoaineisto) Sivumäärä Kieli 99 suomi Julkaisun nimike Monial... more Vaasan yliopiston raportteja 21, verkkoaineisto) Sivumäärä Kieli 99 suomi Julkaisun nimike Monialainen viestintä: puheesta peleihin Kannen kuva Background photo created by creativeart-www.freepik.com

Research paper thumbnail of Gender differences in identifying emotions from auditory and visual stimuli

Logopedics Phoniatrics Vocology, Nov 21, 2016

The present study focused on gender differences in emotion identification from auditory and visua... more The present study focused on gender differences in emotion identification from auditory and visual stimuli produced by two male and two female actors. Differences in emotion identification from nonsense samples, language samples and prolonged vowels were investigated. It was also studied whether auditory stimuli can convey the emotional content of speech without visual stimuli, and whether visual stimuli can convey the emotional content of speech without auditory stimuli. The aim was to get a better knowledge of vocal attributes and a more holistic understanding of the nonverbal communication of emotion. Females tended to be more accurate in emotion identification than males. Voice quality parameters played a role in emotion identification in both genders. The emotional content of the samples was best conveyed by nonsense sentences, better than by prolonged vowels or shared native language of the speakers and participants. Thus, vocal non-verbal communication tends to affect the interpretation of emotion even in the absence of language. The emotional stimuli were better recognized from visual stimuli than auditory stimuli by both genders. Visual information about speech may not be connected to the language; instead, it may be based on the human ability to understand the kinetic movements in speech production more readily than the characteristics of the acoustic cues.

Research paper thumbnail of Perception of emotional nonsense sentences in China, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, Russia, Sweden, and the USA

Logopedics Phoniatrics Vocology, May 27, 2014

The present study focused on the identification of emotions in cross-cultural conditions on diffe... more The present study focused on the identification of emotions in cross-cultural conditions on different continents and among subjects with divergent language backgrounds. The aim was to investigate whether the perception of the basic emotions from nonsense vocal samples was universal, dependent on voice quality, musicality, and/or gender. Listening tests for 350 participants were conducted on location in a variety of cultures: China, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, Russia, Sweden, and the USA. The results suggested that the voice quality parameters played a role in the identification of emotions without the linguistic content. Cultural background may affect the interpretation of the emotions more than the presumed universality. Musical interest tended to facilitate emotion identification. No gender differences were found.

Research paper thumbnail of Uutisankkurina Suomessa

Research paper thumbnail of Monialainen viestintä : puheesta peleihin

Vaasan yliopisto eBooks, Mar 31, 2021

Vaasan yliopiston raportteja 21, verkkoaineisto) Sivumäärä Kieli 99 suomi Julkaisun nimike Monial... more Vaasan yliopiston raportteja 21, verkkoaineisto) Sivumäärä Kieli 99 suomi Julkaisun nimike Monialainen viestintä: puheesta peleihin Kannen kuva Background photo created by creativeart-www.freepik.com

Research paper thumbnail of Gender differences in identifying emotions from auditory and visual stimuli

Logopedics Phoniatrics Vocology, 2016

The present study focused on gender differences in emotion identification from auditory and visua... more The present study focused on gender differences in emotion identification from auditory and visual stimuli produced by two male and two female actors. Differences in emotion identification from nonsense samples, language samples and prolonged vowels were investigated. It was also studied whether auditory stimuli can convey the emotional content of speech without visual stimuli, and whether visual stimuli can convey the emotional content of speech without auditory stimuli. The aim was to get a better knowledge of vocal attributes and a more holistic understanding of the nonverbal communication of emotion. Females tended to be more accurate in emotion identification than males. Voice quality parameters played a role in emotion identification in both genders. The emotional content of the samples was best conveyed by nonsense sentences, better than by prolonged vowels or shared native language of the speakers and participants. Thus, vocal non-verbal communication tends to affect the interpretation of emotion even in the absence of language. The emotional stimuli were better recognized from visual stimuli than auditory stimuli by both genders. Visual information about speech may not be connected to the language; instead, it may be based on the human ability to understand the kinetic movements in speech production more readily than the characteristics of the acoustic cues.

Research paper thumbnail of Perception of emotional nonsense sentences in China, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, Russia, Sweden, and the USA

Logopedics Phoniatrics Vocology, 2014

The present study focused on the identification of emotions in cross-cultural conditions on diffe... more The present study focused on the identification of emotions in cross-cultural conditions on different continents and among subjects with divergent language backgrounds. The aim was to investigate whether the perception of the basic emotions from nonsense vocal samples was universal, dependent on voice quality, musicality, and/or gender. Listening tests for 350 participants were conducted on location in a variety of cultures: China, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, Russia, Sweden, and the USA. The results suggested that the voice quality parameters played a role in the identification of emotions without the linguistic content. Cultural background may affect the interpretation of the emotions more than the presumed universality. Musical interest tended to facilitate emotion identification. No gender differences were found.

Research paper thumbnail of Emosfääri : teoreettinen näkökulma ihmisen tunneviestintään kulttuurisessa kontekstissa

Kasvatus & Aika, 2015

The paper introduces a theory of “emosphere”. It is based on Yuri Lotman’s concept of semiosphere... more The paper introduces a theory of “emosphere”. It is based on Yuri Lotman’s concept of semiosphere, where signs get their meanings only in the dialogue across and over their boundaries. This is also the case with the emosphere: the dialogic sphere of emotions exists before a single emotion, e.g. anger becomes anger only when it is distinguished from fear or joy. This dialogue, a continuous process of changes, a layered universe of emotions, forms a hermeneutic circle: new knowledge is filtered by the previously earned knowledge, and vice versa, new knowledge modifies earlier knowledge. The theory of emosphere aims to conceptualize some basic communicational and wider social questions (nature vs. culture, individual vs. universal, and especially their interaction) and to show that sense precedes emotions.

Research paper thumbnail of Tunne-etsivät-pelin vaikuttavuus lasten sosioemotionaalisen kehityksen tukemisessa

Effectiveness of the game Tunne etsivät (Emotion Detectives) in supporting children's social-emot... more Effectiveness of the game Tunne etsivät (Emotion Detectives) in supporting children's social-emotional develop ment. Helsinki: Social Insurance Institution of Finland, Social security and health reports 8, 2018. 87 pp. ISBN 978-952-284-037-0 (pdf). This study explored the recognition of facial and vocal emotions and some other social-emotional skills in 6-to 10-year-old chil dren diagnosed with certain types of communication difficulties. The experimental group comprised 35 children with a commu nication disorder: autism spectrum (most often Asperger's syn drome), ADHD, specific language impairment, or hearing impair ment. Parents, speech or occupational therapists, or teachers had reported that these children had difficulties in emotion recogni tion, and the skills tested were compared with those of typically developing age peers (N = 101). The children used the Emotion Detectives Game, an Internet-based freeware app, approximately one hour a week for two months. They were tested before the two month intervention period, immediately after it, and one month after the play period had ended. Parents provided information about the everyday social-emotional skills of the children by filling out questionnaires twice: the Strengths and Difficulties Question naire (SDQ) and a questionnaire measuring emotion recognition on the visual analogue scale (VAS). Before the intervention, the mean performance of the experimental group was significantly lower than that of the age peers in all emotion recognition tasks they were tested with. After the two-month play period, the abil ity to recognize both facial and vocal emotions had improved sig nificantly. The improvement was, on average, 5 to 19 percentage points, and after the intervention the skills of the experimental group matched those of the age peers in all but one task. This im provement was also maintained one month after the intervention period. The parental judgments on the VAS and the SDQ did not change as a function of the intervention. Before the play period, the parental VAS judgments did not correspond to their child's meas ured proficiency in emotion recognition, but after the intervention they moderately matched the children's emotion recognition in the FEFA2 test and in a task using facial expressions in photographs.

Research paper thumbnail of It's Not Only What You Say, But How You Say It: Investors' Responses to Cooperative Communication

Academy of Management Proceedings, 2015

Guided by principle of cooperative communication, our paper theorized how the structure top manag... more Guided by principle of cooperative communication, our paper theorized how the structure top managers’ earnings conference call communications would influence investors’ market responses. We tested ...

Research paper thumbnail of Has the Prevalence of Creaky Voice Increased Among Finnish University Students From the 1990′S to the 2010′S?

Journal of Voice

Everyday observations indicate that creaky voice has become common in Finland in recent years. Pr... more Everyday observations indicate that creaky voice has become common in Finland in recent years. Previous studies suggest that this trend is also occurring in other countries. This cross-sectional study investigates the use of creaky voice among Finnish university students from the 1990's to the 2010's. Material was obtained from a sound archive. It consisted of 200 samples from normophonic speakers (95 males, 105 females; mean age 23.7 years, SD 3.3 years, range 19-35 years). Normophonia was checked by two speech therapists in a preliminary perceptual analysis. Thereafter, two voice specialists rated the amount of creak and strain. A scale of 0-4 was used (0 = none, 4 = a lot). The inter- and intrarater reliability for the listening evaluations were satisfactory (for creaky phonation, rho = 0.611, P < 0.001 for interrater reliability and rho = 0.540, P < 0.001 for intrarater reliability; for strain, rho = 0.463, P < 0.001 and rho = 0.697, P < 0.001 for inter- and intrarater reliability, respectively). These results revealed a significant increase in the amount of perceived creak in females (from 1.04, SD 0.69 to 1.55, SD 1.06; P < 0.05, Mann-Whitney U test). In males, no significant change was found. However, the frequency of creaky voice use increased in both genders. No male speakers from the 1990's were rated as using "a lot" of creaky voice, but 2.3% of male speakers from the 2010's received this rating. Male speakers who were rated "quite a lot" increased from 5.9% in the 1990's to 18.1% in the 2010's. Female speakers rated "a lot" increased from 0% to 6%, and female speakers rated "quite a lot" increased from 7% to 25.8% over the studied time periods. Creaky phonation and strain correlated slightly in males (rho = 0.24, P < 0.05) and moderately in females (rho = 0.55, P < 0.001). Age did not correlate with the amount of creaky phonation (rho = 0.005, P > 0.10 for males, rho = -0.011, P > 0.10 for females). It can be concluded that the prevalence of creaky voice has increased among young Finnish speakers, particularly females.

Research paper thumbnail of Nuorten suomalaisten miesten luennan perustaajuus 1990- ja 2010-luvuilla

Puhe ja kieli

Puhekorkeus vaihtelee yksilön, tilanteen ja kulttuurin mukaan. Puhekorkeudessa tapahtuvat muutoks... more Puhekorkeus vaihtelee yksilön, tilanteen ja kulttuurin mukaan. Puhekorkeudessa tapahtuvat muutokset eri aikakausina saattavat heijastaa kulttuurin muutoksia. Koska puheen sisältö ja puhetilanne vaikuttavat puhekorkeuteen, on neutraalin tekstiluennan perustaajuuskeskiarvoa käytetty väljästi puhujan totunnaisen neutraalin puhekorkeuden estimaattina. Viimeaikaisessa tutkimuksessamme havaitsimme, että nuorten suomalaisten yliopistossa opiskelevien naisten luennan perustaajuus on merkitsevästi noussut viimeksi kuluneiden vuosikymmenten aikana. Tämä tutkimus keskittyy miehiin. Valitsimme Puheen ja äänen tutkimuksen laboratorion studioäänitearkistosta satunnaisesti 40–60 sekunnin mittaisen luentanäytteen 95:ltä mieheltä (ikä Md 24v, VV 19-30 v) 1990-luvulta ja 2010-luvulta. Miehillä ei ollut tiedossa olevia äänen tai kuulon häiriöitä, ja heidän äänensä arvioitiin kuunteluanalyysillä normaaliksi. Näytteiden perustaajuusanalyysi suoritettiin Praat-ohjelmalla. Miesten perustaajuus oli 1990-lu...

Research paper thumbnail of Voice Quality in Identifying Emotions by Children with Normal and with Impaired Hearing

Voice quality and vocal characteristics in identification of emotions were studied in 12 year-old... more Voice quality and vocal characteristics in identification of emotions were studied in 12 year-old children (n = 18) with normal hearing (NH) and in 8-17 year-old children (n = 25) with impaired hearing (IH) and using cochlear implants (CIs). A listening test for emotion identification was organized for the NH children as a group in their classroom during a school day. The IH children were tested singularly in a soundproof studio during their biannual control visit to the hospital. The vocal stimuli were produced by five professional actors and student actors (2 males, 3 females). The samples consisted of nonsense sentences and prolonged vowels /a:/, /i:/ and /u:/ (N = 32). Four emotions were expressed: anger, contentment, excitement and fear. The acoustic characteristics of the samples were analyzed using Praat software and statistics were studied using SPSS software. The NH children identified the emotions with 75% accuracy and valence (a positive, neutral or negative emotion) with...

Research paper thumbnail of The role of voice in the expression and perception of emotions

Research paper thumbnail of 8 Judgments of the Affective Valence of Spontaneous Vocalizations : The Influence of Situational Context 109

Speech production can be represented as the combination of a sound source and an acoustic filter.... more Speech production can be represented as the combination of a sound source and an acoustic filter. For vowels and vowellike sounds, the sound source is the periodic airflow signal generated by the vibration of the vocal folds, whereas the filter is formed by the vocal tract airspace. Although the goal of speech production is to transmit a linguistic message to a listener, the structure and idiosyncratic use of the speech organs impose unique variations on both the source signal and filtering properties (formant frequencies) provided by the vocal tract.These variations create the acoustic characteristics that give rise to the “emotional quality” of the speech. In this chapter, a computational speech production model is used to demonstrate how structural modifications of the vocal tract can generate changes in the quality of the resultant speech. The results suggest that combining this type of modeling with psychoacoustic experiments could eventually provide a powerful means for learni...

Research paper thumbnail of Training the Vocal Expression of Emotions in Singing: Effects of Including Acoustic Research-Based Elements in the Regular Singing Training of Acting Students

Journal of Voice, 2021

OBJECTIVES This study examines the effects of including acoustic research-based elements of the v... more OBJECTIVES This study examines the effects of including acoustic research-based elements of the vocal expression of emotions in the singing lessons of acting students during a seven-week teaching period. This information may be useful in improving the training of interpretation in singing. STUDY DESIGN Experimental comparative study. METHODS Six acting students participated in seven weeks of extra training concerning voice quality in the expression of emotions in singing. Song samples were recorded before and after the training. A control group of six acting students were recorded twice within a seven-week period, during which they participated in ordinary training. All participants sang on the vowel [a:] and on a longer phrase expressing anger, sadness, joy, tenderness, and neutral states. The vowel and phrase samples were evaluated by 34 listeners for the perceived emotion. Additionally, the vowel samples were analyzed for formant frequencies (F1-F4), sound pressure level (SPL), spectral structure (Alpha ratio = SPL 1500-5000 Hz - SPL 50-1500 Hz), harmonic-to-noise ratio (HNR), and perturbation (jitter, shimmer). RESULTS The number of correctly perceived expressions improved in the test group's vowel samples, while no significant change was observed in the control group. The overall recognition was higher for the phrases than for the vowel samples. Of the acoustic parameters, F1 and SPL significantly differentiated emotions in both groups, and HNR specifically differentiated emotions in the test group. The Alpha ratio was found to statistically significantly differentiate emotion expression after training. CONCLUSIONS The expression of emotion in the singing voice improved after seven weeks of voice quality training. The F1, SPL, Alpha ratio, and HNR differentiated emotional expression. The variation in acoustic parameters became wider after training. Similar changes were not observed after seven weeks of ordinary voice training.

Research paper thumbnail of Suomalaisten naisopiskelijoiden luennan perustaajuuden muutos 1990-luvulta 2010-luvulle

Puhe ja kieli, 2020

Puhekorkeus on sekä yksilöllinen ja tilannekohtainen että myös sosiaalinen muuttuja. Eri maissa o... more Puhekorkeus on sekä yksilöllinen ja tilannekohtainen että myös sosiaalinen muuttuja. Eri maissa on viimeisen sadan vuoden aikana raportoitu naisten puhekorkeuden laskua. Puhekorkeuden muutoksen oletetaan heijastelevan yhteiskunnallisia muutoksia. Keskimääräistä puhekorkeutta mitataan usein perustaajuuden keskiarvolla ja mediaanilla. Tässä tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan suomalaisten yliopistossa opiskelevien naisten perustaajuuden (fo) keskiarvoa ja mediaania 160-sanaisessa, noin minuutin mittaisessa neutraalissa tekstiluennassa, joka on äänitetty 1990- ja 2010-luvuilla. Tutkimuksen aineisto on peräisin Tampereen yliopiston Puheen ja äänen tutkimuksen laboratorion äänitearkistosta. Tutkimukseen valittiin satunnaisesti 136 (N) 20–25-vuotiasta naista, joilla ei ollut tiedossa ääntöelimistön tai kuulon sairauksia, ja joiden ääni oli kuulonvaraisesti arvioituna normaali. Näytteet oli taltioitu vaimennetussa äänitysstudiossa digitaalisesti mittamikrofonia käyttäen, ja ne analysoitiin Praat-o...

Research paper thumbnail of Comparing Contemporary Commercial and Classical Styles: Emotion Expression in Singing

Journal of Voice, 2019

This study examines the acoustic correlates of the vocal expression of emotions in contemporary c... more This study examines the acoustic correlates of the vocal expression of emotions in contemporary commercial music (CCM) and classical styles of singing. This information may be useful in improving the training of interpretation in singing. Study Design. This is an experimental comparative study. Methods. Eleven female singers with a minimum of 3 years of professional-level singing training in CCM, classical, or both styles participated. They sang the vowel [ɑ:] at three pitches (A 3 220Hz, E 4 330Hz, and A 4 440Hz) expressing anger, sadness, joy, tenderness, and a neutral voice. Vowel samples were analyzed for fundamental frequency (fo) formant frequencies (F1-F5), sound pressure level (SPL), spectral structure (alpha ratio = SPL 1500-5000 Hz-SPL 50-1500 Hz), harmonics-to-noise ratio (HNR), perturbation (jitter, shimmer), onset and offset duration, sustain time, rate and extent of fo variation in vibrato, and rate and extent of amplitude vibrato. Results. The parameters that were statistically significantly (RM-ANOVA, P ≤ 0.05) related to emotion expression in both genres were SPL, alpha ratio, F1, and HNR. Additionally, for CCM, significance was found in sustain time, jitter, shimmer, F2, and F4. When fo and SPL were set as covariates in the variance analysis, jitter, HNR, and F4 did not show pure dependence on expression. The alpha ratio, F1, F2, shimmer apq5, amplitude vibrato rate, and sustain time of vocalizations had emotion-related variation also independent of fo and SPL in the CCM style, while these parameters were related to fo and SPL in the classical style. Conclusions. The results differed somewhat for the CCM and classical styles. The alpha ratio showed less variation in the classical style, most likely reflecting the demand for a more stable voice source quality. The alpha ratio, F1, F2, shimmer, amplitude vibrato rate, and the sustain time of the vocalizations were related to fo and SPL control in the classical style. The only common independent sound parameter indicating emotional expression for both styles was SPL. The CCM style offers more freedom for expression-related changes in voice quality.

Research paper thumbnail of Emotions in voice. Acoustic and perceptual analysis of voice quality in the vocal expression of emotions

The role of F3 in the vocal expression of emotions.

Research paper thumbnail of Ylen tv-uutistenlukijoiden puheääni ennen ja jälkeen sosiaalisen median

Research paper thumbnail of Monialainen viestintä : puheesta peleihin

Vaasan yliopisto eBooks, Mar 31, 2021

Vaasan yliopiston raportteja 21, verkkoaineisto) Sivumäärä Kieli 99 suomi Julkaisun nimike Monial... more Vaasan yliopiston raportteja 21, verkkoaineisto) Sivumäärä Kieli 99 suomi Julkaisun nimike Monialainen viestintä: puheesta peleihin Kannen kuva Background photo created by creativeart-www.freepik.com

Research paper thumbnail of Gender differences in identifying emotions from auditory and visual stimuli

Logopedics Phoniatrics Vocology, Nov 21, 2016

The present study focused on gender differences in emotion identification from auditory and visua... more The present study focused on gender differences in emotion identification from auditory and visual stimuli produced by two male and two female actors. Differences in emotion identification from nonsense samples, language samples and prolonged vowels were investigated. It was also studied whether auditory stimuli can convey the emotional content of speech without visual stimuli, and whether visual stimuli can convey the emotional content of speech without auditory stimuli. The aim was to get a better knowledge of vocal attributes and a more holistic understanding of the nonverbal communication of emotion. Females tended to be more accurate in emotion identification than males. Voice quality parameters played a role in emotion identification in both genders. The emotional content of the samples was best conveyed by nonsense sentences, better than by prolonged vowels or shared native language of the speakers and participants. Thus, vocal non-verbal communication tends to affect the interpretation of emotion even in the absence of language. The emotional stimuli were better recognized from visual stimuli than auditory stimuli by both genders. Visual information about speech may not be connected to the language; instead, it may be based on the human ability to understand the kinetic movements in speech production more readily than the characteristics of the acoustic cues.

Research paper thumbnail of Perception of emotional nonsense sentences in China, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, Russia, Sweden, and the USA

Logopedics Phoniatrics Vocology, May 27, 2014

The present study focused on the identification of emotions in cross-cultural conditions on diffe... more The present study focused on the identification of emotions in cross-cultural conditions on different continents and among subjects with divergent language backgrounds. The aim was to investigate whether the perception of the basic emotions from nonsense vocal samples was universal, dependent on voice quality, musicality, and/or gender. Listening tests for 350 participants were conducted on location in a variety of cultures: China, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, Russia, Sweden, and the USA. The results suggested that the voice quality parameters played a role in the identification of emotions without the linguistic content. Cultural background may affect the interpretation of the emotions more than the presumed universality. Musical interest tended to facilitate emotion identification. No gender differences were found.

Research paper thumbnail of Uutisankkurina Suomessa

Research paper thumbnail of Monialainen viestintä : puheesta peleihin

Vaasan yliopisto eBooks, Mar 31, 2021

Vaasan yliopiston raportteja 21, verkkoaineisto) Sivumäärä Kieli 99 suomi Julkaisun nimike Monial... more Vaasan yliopiston raportteja 21, verkkoaineisto) Sivumäärä Kieli 99 suomi Julkaisun nimike Monialainen viestintä: puheesta peleihin Kannen kuva Background photo created by creativeart-www.freepik.com

Research paper thumbnail of Gender differences in identifying emotions from auditory and visual stimuli

Logopedics Phoniatrics Vocology, 2016

The present study focused on gender differences in emotion identification from auditory and visua... more The present study focused on gender differences in emotion identification from auditory and visual stimuli produced by two male and two female actors. Differences in emotion identification from nonsense samples, language samples and prolonged vowels were investigated. It was also studied whether auditory stimuli can convey the emotional content of speech without visual stimuli, and whether visual stimuli can convey the emotional content of speech without auditory stimuli. The aim was to get a better knowledge of vocal attributes and a more holistic understanding of the nonverbal communication of emotion. Females tended to be more accurate in emotion identification than males. Voice quality parameters played a role in emotion identification in both genders. The emotional content of the samples was best conveyed by nonsense sentences, better than by prolonged vowels or shared native language of the speakers and participants. Thus, vocal non-verbal communication tends to affect the interpretation of emotion even in the absence of language. The emotional stimuli were better recognized from visual stimuli than auditory stimuli by both genders. Visual information about speech may not be connected to the language; instead, it may be based on the human ability to understand the kinetic movements in speech production more readily than the characteristics of the acoustic cues.

Research paper thumbnail of Perception of emotional nonsense sentences in China, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, Russia, Sweden, and the USA

Logopedics Phoniatrics Vocology, 2014

The present study focused on the identification of emotions in cross-cultural conditions on diffe... more The present study focused on the identification of emotions in cross-cultural conditions on different continents and among subjects with divergent language backgrounds. The aim was to investigate whether the perception of the basic emotions from nonsense vocal samples was universal, dependent on voice quality, musicality, and/or gender. Listening tests for 350 participants were conducted on location in a variety of cultures: China, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, Russia, Sweden, and the USA. The results suggested that the voice quality parameters played a role in the identification of emotions without the linguistic content. Cultural background may affect the interpretation of the emotions more than the presumed universality. Musical interest tended to facilitate emotion identification. No gender differences were found.

Research paper thumbnail of Emosfääri : teoreettinen näkökulma ihmisen tunneviestintään kulttuurisessa kontekstissa

Kasvatus & Aika, 2015

The paper introduces a theory of “emosphere”. It is based on Yuri Lotman’s concept of semiosphere... more The paper introduces a theory of “emosphere”. It is based on Yuri Lotman’s concept of semiosphere, where signs get their meanings only in the dialogue across and over their boundaries. This is also the case with the emosphere: the dialogic sphere of emotions exists before a single emotion, e.g. anger becomes anger only when it is distinguished from fear or joy. This dialogue, a continuous process of changes, a layered universe of emotions, forms a hermeneutic circle: new knowledge is filtered by the previously earned knowledge, and vice versa, new knowledge modifies earlier knowledge. The theory of emosphere aims to conceptualize some basic communicational and wider social questions (nature vs. culture, individual vs. universal, and especially their interaction) and to show that sense precedes emotions.

Research paper thumbnail of Tunne-etsivät-pelin vaikuttavuus lasten sosioemotionaalisen kehityksen tukemisessa

Effectiveness of the game Tunne etsivät (Emotion Detectives) in supporting children's social-emot... more Effectiveness of the game Tunne etsivät (Emotion Detectives) in supporting children's social-emotional develop ment. Helsinki: Social Insurance Institution of Finland, Social security and health reports 8, 2018. 87 pp. ISBN 978-952-284-037-0 (pdf). This study explored the recognition of facial and vocal emotions and some other social-emotional skills in 6-to 10-year-old chil dren diagnosed with certain types of communication difficulties. The experimental group comprised 35 children with a commu nication disorder: autism spectrum (most often Asperger's syn drome), ADHD, specific language impairment, or hearing impair ment. Parents, speech or occupational therapists, or teachers had reported that these children had difficulties in emotion recogni tion, and the skills tested were compared with those of typically developing age peers (N = 101). The children used the Emotion Detectives Game, an Internet-based freeware app, approximately one hour a week for two months. They were tested before the two month intervention period, immediately after it, and one month after the play period had ended. Parents provided information about the everyday social-emotional skills of the children by filling out questionnaires twice: the Strengths and Difficulties Question naire (SDQ) and a questionnaire measuring emotion recognition on the visual analogue scale (VAS). Before the intervention, the mean performance of the experimental group was significantly lower than that of the age peers in all emotion recognition tasks they were tested with. After the two-month play period, the abil ity to recognize both facial and vocal emotions had improved sig nificantly. The improvement was, on average, 5 to 19 percentage points, and after the intervention the skills of the experimental group matched those of the age peers in all but one task. This im provement was also maintained one month after the intervention period. The parental judgments on the VAS and the SDQ did not change as a function of the intervention. Before the play period, the parental VAS judgments did not correspond to their child's meas ured proficiency in emotion recognition, but after the intervention they moderately matched the children's emotion recognition in the FEFA2 test and in a task using facial expressions in photographs.

Research paper thumbnail of It's Not Only What You Say, But How You Say It: Investors' Responses to Cooperative Communication

Academy of Management Proceedings, 2015

Guided by principle of cooperative communication, our paper theorized how the structure top manag... more Guided by principle of cooperative communication, our paper theorized how the structure top managers’ earnings conference call communications would influence investors’ market responses. We tested ...

Research paper thumbnail of Has the Prevalence of Creaky Voice Increased Among Finnish University Students From the 1990′S to the 2010′S?

Journal of Voice

Everyday observations indicate that creaky voice has become common in Finland in recent years. Pr... more Everyday observations indicate that creaky voice has become common in Finland in recent years. Previous studies suggest that this trend is also occurring in other countries. This cross-sectional study investigates the use of creaky voice among Finnish university students from the 1990's to the 2010's. Material was obtained from a sound archive. It consisted of 200 samples from normophonic speakers (95 males, 105 females; mean age 23.7 years, SD 3.3 years, range 19-35 years). Normophonia was checked by two speech therapists in a preliminary perceptual analysis. Thereafter, two voice specialists rated the amount of creak and strain. A scale of 0-4 was used (0 = none, 4 = a lot). The inter- and intrarater reliability for the listening evaluations were satisfactory (for creaky phonation, rho = 0.611, P < 0.001 for interrater reliability and rho = 0.540, P < 0.001 for intrarater reliability; for strain, rho = 0.463, P < 0.001 and rho = 0.697, P < 0.001 for inter- and intrarater reliability, respectively). These results revealed a significant increase in the amount of perceived creak in females (from 1.04, SD 0.69 to 1.55, SD 1.06; P < 0.05, Mann-Whitney U test). In males, no significant change was found. However, the frequency of creaky voice use increased in both genders. No male speakers from the 1990's were rated as using "a lot" of creaky voice, but 2.3% of male speakers from the 2010's received this rating. Male speakers who were rated "quite a lot" increased from 5.9% in the 1990's to 18.1% in the 2010's. Female speakers rated "a lot" increased from 0% to 6%, and female speakers rated "quite a lot" increased from 7% to 25.8% over the studied time periods. Creaky phonation and strain correlated slightly in males (rho = 0.24, P < 0.05) and moderately in females (rho = 0.55, P < 0.001). Age did not correlate with the amount of creaky phonation (rho = 0.005, P > 0.10 for males, rho = -0.011, P > 0.10 for females). It can be concluded that the prevalence of creaky voice has increased among young Finnish speakers, particularly females.

Research paper thumbnail of Nuorten suomalaisten miesten luennan perustaajuus 1990- ja 2010-luvuilla

Puhe ja kieli

Puhekorkeus vaihtelee yksilön, tilanteen ja kulttuurin mukaan. Puhekorkeudessa tapahtuvat muutoks... more Puhekorkeus vaihtelee yksilön, tilanteen ja kulttuurin mukaan. Puhekorkeudessa tapahtuvat muutokset eri aikakausina saattavat heijastaa kulttuurin muutoksia. Koska puheen sisältö ja puhetilanne vaikuttavat puhekorkeuteen, on neutraalin tekstiluennan perustaajuuskeskiarvoa käytetty väljästi puhujan totunnaisen neutraalin puhekorkeuden estimaattina. Viimeaikaisessa tutkimuksessamme havaitsimme, että nuorten suomalaisten yliopistossa opiskelevien naisten luennan perustaajuus on merkitsevästi noussut viimeksi kuluneiden vuosikymmenten aikana. Tämä tutkimus keskittyy miehiin. Valitsimme Puheen ja äänen tutkimuksen laboratorion studioäänitearkistosta satunnaisesti 40–60 sekunnin mittaisen luentanäytteen 95:ltä mieheltä (ikä Md 24v, VV 19-30 v) 1990-luvulta ja 2010-luvulta. Miehillä ei ollut tiedossa olevia äänen tai kuulon häiriöitä, ja heidän äänensä arvioitiin kuunteluanalyysillä normaaliksi. Näytteiden perustaajuusanalyysi suoritettiin Praat-ohjelmalla. Miesten perustaajuus oli 1990-lu...

Research paper thumbnail of Voice Quality in Identifying Emotions by Children with Normal and with Impaired Hearing

Voice quality and vocal characteristics in identification of emotions were studied in 12 year-old... more Voice quality and vocal characteristics in identification of emotions were studied in 12 year-old children (n = 18) with normal hearing (NH) and in 8-17 year-old children (n = 25) with impaired hearing (IH) and using cochlear implants (CIs). A listening test for emotion identification was organized for the NH children as a group in their classroom during a school day. The IH children were tested singularly in a soundproof studio during their biannual control visit to the hospital. The vocal stimuli were produced by five professional actors and student actors (2 males, 3 females). The samples consisted of nonsense sentences and prolonged vowels /a:/, /i:/ and /u:/ (N = 32). Four emotions were expressed: anger, contentment, excitement and fear. The acoustic characteristics of the samples were analyzed using Praat software and statistics were studied using SPSS software. The NH children identified the emotions with 75% accuracy and valence (a positive, neutral or negative emotion) with...

Research paper thumbnail of The role of voice in the expression and perception of emotions

Research paper thumbnail of 8 Judgments of the Affective Valence of Spontaneous Vocalizations : The Influence of Situational Context 109

Speech production can be represented as the combination of a sound source and an acoustic filter.... more Speech production can be represented as the combination of a sound source and an acoustic filter. For vowels and vowellike sounds, the sound source is the periodic airflow signal generated by the vibration of the vocal folds, whereas the filter is formed by the vocal tract airspace. Although the goal of speech production is to transmit a linguistic message to a listener, the structure and idiosyncratic use of the speech organs impose unique variations on both the source signal and filtering properties (formant frequencies) provided by the vocal tract.These variations create the acoustic characteristics that give rise to the “emotional quality” of the speech. In this chapter, a computational speech production model is used to demonstrate how structural modifications of the vocal tract can generate changes in the quality of the resultant speech. The results suggest that combining this type of modeling with psychoacoustic experiments could eventually provide a powerful means for learni...

Research paper thumbnail of Training the Vocal Expression of Emotions in Singing: Effects of Including Acoustic Research-Based Elements in the Regular Singing Training of Acting Students

Journal of Voice, 2021

OBJECTIVES This study examines the effects of including acoustic research-based elements of the v... more OBJECTIVES This study examines the effects of including acoustic research-based elements of the vocal expression of emotions in the singing lessons of acting students during a seven-week teaching period. This information may be useful in improving the training of interpretation in singing. STUDY DESIGN Experimental comparative study. METHODS Six acting students participated in seven weeks of extra training concerning voice quality in the expression of emotions in singing. Song samples were recorded before and after the training. A control group of six acting students were recorded twice within a seven-week period, during which they participated in ordinary training. All participants sang on the vowel [a:] and on a longer phrase expressing anger, sadness, joy, tenderness, and neutral states. The vowel and phrase samples were evaluated by 34 listeners for the perceived emotion. Additionally, the vowel samples were analyzed for formant frequencies (F1-F4), sound pressure level (SPL), spectral structure (Alpha ratio = SPL 1500-5000 Hz - SPL 50-1500 Hz), harmonic-to-noise ratio (HNR), and perturbation (jitter, shimmer). RESULTS The number of correctly perceived expressions improved in the test group's vowel samples, while no significant change was observed in the control group. The overall recognition was higher for the phrases than for the vowel samples. Of the acoustic parameters, F1 and SPL significantly differentiated emotions in both groups, and HNR specifically differentiated emotions in the test group. The Alpha ratio was found to statistically significantly differentiate emotion expression after training. CONCLUSIONS The expression of emotion in the singing voice improved after seven weeks of voice quality training. The F1, SPL, Alpha ratio, and HNR differentiated emotional expression. The variation in acoustic parameters became wider after training. Similar changes were not observed after seven weeks of ordinary voice training.

Research paper thumbnail of Suomalaisten naisopiskelijoiden luennan perustaajuuden muutos 1990-luvulta 2010-luvulle

Puhe ja kieli, 2020

Puhekorkeus on sekä yksilöllinen ja tilannekohtainen että myös sosiaalinen muuttuja. Eri maissa o... more Puhekorkeus on sekä yksilöllinen ja tilannekohtainen että myös sosiaalinen muuttuja. Eri maissa on viimeisen sadan vuoden aikana raportoitu naisten puhekorkeuden laskua. Puhekorkeuden muutoksen oletetaan heijastelevan yhteiskunnallisia muutoksia. Keskimääräistä puhekorkeutta mitataan usein perustaajuuden keskiarvolla ja mediaanilla. Tässä tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan suomalaisten yliopistossa opiskelevien naisten perustaajuuden (fo) keskiarvoa ja mediaania 160-sanaisessa, noin minuutin mittaisessa neutraalissa tekstiluennassa, joka on äänitetty 1990- ja 2010-luvuilla. Tutkimuksen aineisto on peräisin Tampereen yliopiston Puheen ja äänen tutkimuksen laboratorion äänitearkistosta. Tutkimukseen valittiin satunnaisesti 136 (N) 20–25-vuotiasta naista, joilla ei ollut tiedossa ääntöelimistön tai kuulon sairauksia, ja joiden ääni oli kuulonvaraisesti arvioituna normaali. Näytteet oli taltioitu vaimennetussa äänitysstudiossa digitaalisesti mittamikrofonia käyttäen, ja ne analysoitiin Praat-o...

Research paper thumbnail of Comparing Contemporary Commercial and Classical Styles: Emotion Expression in Singing

Journal of Voice, 2019

This study examines the acoustic correlates of the vocal expression of emotions in contemporary c... more This study examines the acoustic correlates of the vocal expression of emotions in contemporary commercial music (CCM) and classical styles of singing. This information may be useful in improving the training of interpretation in singing. Study Design. This is an experimental comparative study. Methods. Eleven female singers with a minimum of 3 years of professional-level singing training in CCM, classical, or both styles participated. They sang the vowel [ɑ:] at three pitches (A 3 220Hz, E 4 330Hz, and A 4 440Hz) expressing anger, sadness, joy, tenderness, and a neutral voice. Vowel samples were analyzed for fundamental frequency (fo) formant frequencies (F1-F5), sound pressure level (SPL), spectral structure (alpha ratio = SPL 1500-5000 Hz-SPL 50-1500 Hz), harmonics-to-noise ratio (HNR), perturbation (jitter, shimmer), onset and offset duration, sustain time, rate and extent of fo variation in vibrato, and rate and extent of amplitude vibrato. Results. The parameters that were statistically significantly (RM-ANOVA, P ≤ 0.05) related to emotion expression in both genres were SPL, alpha ratio, F1, and HNR. Additionally, for CCM, significance was found in sustain time, jitter, shimmer, F2, and F4. When fo and SPL were set as covariates in the variance analysis, jitter, HNR, and F4 did not show pure dependence on expression. The alpha ratio, F1, F2, shimmer apq5, amplitude vibrato rate, and sustain time of vocalizations had emotion-related variation also independent of fo and SPL in the CCM style, while these parameters were related to fo and SPL in the classical style. Conclusions. The results differed somewhat for the CCM and classical styles. The alpha ratio showed less variation in the classical style, most likely reflecting the demand for a more stable voice source quality. The alpha ratio, F1, F2, shimmer, amplitude vibrato rate, and the sustain time of the vocalizations were related to fo and SPL control in the classical style. The only common independent sound parameter indicating emotional expression for both styles was SPL. The CCM style offers more freedom for expression-related changes in voice quality.