The role of rate, pitch height, and intensity in the perception and experience of affect: A music and speech evaluation.
Published: 2006
Language: eng
Number of pages: 246
ISBN-13: 9780494220290
Description: The role of rate, pitch height, and intensity in the perception and experience of affect: a music and speech evaluation. Research on the auditory communication of affect has included many studies of music and speech prosody, but rarely have these domains been compared. This thesis involved a direct comparison of the affective consequences of manipulating auditory features in music and speech. In Experiments 1 and 2, I examined how pitch and rate operate within each domain: how upward and downward shifts in pitch and rate are registered by our perceptual system and the limits within which pitch and rate can be shifted without music and speech sounding artificial. Results suggest that there is convergence between music and speech in terms of how pitch and rate operate perceptually. In Experiment 3, I examined the effects of manipulating rate, pitch, and intensity in brief presentations of music and speech on three dimensions of affect: valence, energetic-arousal, and tension-arousal. Some manipulations of auditory attributes influenced affective appraisals of music and speech in similar ways, with all three dimensions of affect influenced by at least one auditory attribute. Differences were also observed. In Experiment 4, I examined the effects of prolonged exposure to music and speech prosody on mood and arousal. Again, I examined the relevance of rate, pitch, and intensity to these effects and compared their effects in music and speech prosody. Each auditory manipulation resulted in specific valence, energetic-arousal, and/or tension-arousal states. The results suggest that parallels can be drawn between the affective consequences of short- (6 seconds) and long-term (7 minutes) exposure to music and speech prosody, although some important differences between perception and experience were also noted. Finally, I examined whether affective states induced by means of these basic auditory properties influence subsequent performance on nonmusical tasks. Tasks tapping attention and creativity were significantly influenced by prolonged exposure to music and speech prosody, corroborating previous evidence that cognition is powerfully affected by affective states. Similarities and differences between vocal and musical communication of affect are discussed along with the need to distinguish between two types of arousal: energy and tension and the capacity for music and speech prosody to induce changes in mood valence, energetic arousal, and tension arousal.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-01, Section: B, page: 0642.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Toronto, 2006.

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