Summary
Objectives/Hypothesis
This study aims to analyze the effect of telephone transmission on the voice quality
perception of subjects with dysphonia and seeks to contribute to the use of perceptual
voice analysis in forensic context. The main hypothesis is that the auditory perception
of voice quality differs according to the acoustic quality of the speech material.
Study Design
Eight male speakers were simultaneously recorded directly by a digital recorder and
over a mobile phone.
Materials and Methods
A perceptual experiment containing 21 speech samples was used. The samples were analyzed
via an online adaptation of the Vocal Profile Analysis Scheme (VPAS) into Brazilian
Portuguese by a group of six voice-specialized professionals. Data analysis included
the relative frequency of the 10 most evaluated VPAS settings in both recording conditions,
and the relative frequency of the VPAS groups of features. A multidimensional scaling
technique was applied to investigate the perceptual distance between stimuli pairs
from both recording conditions. This was followed by a nonparametric multiple linear
regression analysis that aimed to comprehend the underlying variables that motivated
the spatial arrangement of the stimuli.
Results
The telephone transmission effect may have an influence on assessing correctly the
supralaryngeal, laryngeal, prosodic, and temporal VPAS settings. The perceptual distance
between stimuli pairs were mainly motivated by the rating of velopharyngeal system,
respiratory support, laryngeal tension, speech rate, and creaky voice.
Conclusions
The auditory perception differences between the stimuli pairs with different acoustic
qualities could be related to the mobile phone bandwidth and data compression, and
to telephone interaction characteristics. A group of laryngeal, supralaryngeal, temporal,
and respiratory settings was mainly related to the dissimilarities reported. In terms
of the application of VPAS in forensic context, the protocol was considered a relevant
scientific tool that enables standardizing and analysis comparison among different
groups of forensic specialists.
Key Words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: August 23, 2018
Accepted:
April 27,
2018
Identification
Copyright
© 2018 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
