To examine sex differences in persuasiveness, we conducted a meta-analysis of seven studies from ... more To examine sex differences in persuasiveness, we conducted a meta-analysis of seven studies from our laboratory on reactions to human versus computer-synthesized speech. We tested three hypotheses: (1) people would be more persuaded by human speech than by computer-synthesized speech, (2) women would be slightly more persuaded than men, and (3) the sex difference would be more pronounced for human speech than for synthetic speech. While there was support for the first two hypotheses, there was none for the third. Also, no consistent support was found for a moderating effect of mode of presentation, audio versus video.
A pool of single-word adjectives representing smoking outcome expectancies was derived and tested... more A pool of single-word adjectives representing smoking outcome expectancies was derived and tested in two studies. In Study One, smoking-related words were generated and then clustered together to form 39 categories representing smoking expectancy nodes. Analysis of the number of times words in each category were generated indicated that expectancies varied as a function of smoking status (measured at two levels: Ever smoked daily vs. never smoked daily), smoking history (current vs. past smoker), and dependence (nondependent vs. dependent). In Study Two, participants rated the words in terms of expectations of smoking outcomes. A principal components analysis of the ratings indicated that three components accounted for 74.10% of the variance in participants' ratings: Component 1 (adverse effects), 30.92%; component 2 (positive image), 28.08%; and component 3 (positive mood), 15.09%. Further analyses revealed that ratings of words comprising the three components differed as a function of smoking status (measured at three levels: Never smoked daily, daily nondependent smoker, daily dependent smoker), with dependent smokers rating the outcomes associated with all three components as occurring more frequently when they smoked compared with nondependent smokers or those who never smoked daily. The results suggest that the single-word adjectives are appropriate for use in research investigating smoking outcome expectancies.
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 1995
The perceptual representation of voice gender was examined with two experimental paradigms: ident... more The perceptual representation of voice gender was examined with two experimental paradigms: identification/discrimination and selective adaptation. The results from the identification and discrimination of a synthetic male-female voice continuum indicated that voice gender perception was not categorical. In addition, results from selective adaptation experiments with natural and synthetic voice stimuli indicated that the perceptual representation of voice adapted is an auditory-based representation. Overall, these findings suggest that the perceptual representation of voice gender is auditory based and is qualitatively different from the representation of phonetic information.
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 1987
To investigate the extent and locus of integral processing in speech perception, a speeded classi... more To investigate the extent and locus of integral processing in speech perception, a speeded classification task was utilized with a set of noise-tone analogs of the fricative-vowel syllables (fae), (integral of ae), (fu), and (integral of u). Unlike the stimuli used in previous studies of selective perception of syllables, these stimuli did not contain consonant-vowel transitions. Subjects were asked to classify on the basis of one of the two syllable components. Some subjects were told that the stimuli were computer generated noise-tone sequences. These subjects processed the noise and tone separably. Irrelevant variation of the noise did not affect reaction times (RTs) for the classification of the tone, and vice versa. Other subjects were instructed to treat the stimuli as speech. For these subjects, irrelevant variation of the fricative increased RTs for the classification of the vowel, and vice versa. A second experiment employed naturally spoken fricative-vowel syllables with the same task. Classification RTs showed a pattern of integrality in that irrelevant variation of either component increased RTs to the other. These results indicate that knowledge of coarticulation (or its acoustic consequences) is a basic element of speech perception. Furthermore, the use of this knowledge in phonetic coding is mandatory, even in situations where the stimuli do not contain coarticulatory information.
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 2002
Researchers have suggested that human voices are represented in memory in terms of prototypes [e.... more Researchers have suggested that human voices are represented in memory in terms of prototypes [e.g., Kreiman and Papcun (1991); Papcun et al. (1989)]. Others have suggested that speech utterances are stored in memory via detailed exemplar-based representations [e.g., Lachs et al. (2000)]. The goal of the present study was to provide the first step toward assessing the viability of a
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 1990
Four experiments investigate printed word frequency and subjective rated familiarity. Words of va... more Four experiments investigate printed word frequency and subjective rated familiarity. Words of varied printed frequency and subjective familiarity were presented. A reaction time advantage for high-familiarity and high-frequency words was found in visual (Experiment 1) and auditory (Experiment 2) lexical decision. In Experiments 3 and 4, a cued naming task elicited a naming response after a specified delay after presentation. In Experiment 3, naming of visual words showed a frequency effect with no naming delay. The frequency effect diminished at longer delay intervals. Naming times for auditorily presented words (Experiment 4) showed no frequency effect at any delay. Both naming experiments showed familiarity effects. The relevance of these results are discussed in terms of the role of printed frequency for theories of lexical access, task- and modality-specific effects, and the nature of subjective familiarity.
Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, 1999
Is computer-synthesized speech as persuasive as the human voice when presenting an argument? Afte... more Is computer-synthesized speech as persuasive as the human voice when presenting an argument? After completing an attitude pretest, 193 participants were randomly assigned to listen to a persuasive appeal under three conditions: a high-quality synthesized speech system (DECtalk Express), a low-quality synthesized speech system (Monologue), and a tape recording of a human voice. Following the appeal, participants completed a posttest attitude survey and a series of questionnaires designed to assess perceptions of speech qualities, perceptions of the speaker, and perceptions of the message. The human voice was generally perceived more favorably than the computer-synthesized voice, and the speaker was perceived more favorably when the voice was a human voice than when it was computer synthesized. There was, however, no evidence that computerized speech, as compared with the human voice, affected persuasion or perceptions of the message. Actual or potential applications of this research include issues that should be considered when designing synthetic speech systems.
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 1985
Two alternative conceptualizations of selective adaptation with speech have recently received att... more Two alternative conceptualizations of selective adaptation with speech have recently received attention. The adaptation level theory (AL) outlined by Diehl (1981) and a two-stage model outlined by Sawusch and Jusczyk (1981) can both account for much of the adaptation and paired-comparison data. Recently, Diehl, Kluender, and Parker (1985) proposed that all adaptation and contrast data can be accounted for by AL theory. They reported the results of a study that showed evidence of streaming in selective adaptation and claimed that their results provide a counterdemonstration to recent studies that have argued against the AL approach. In the present article, an outline of how the Diehl et al. results can be accounted for by both the two-stage model and AL theory is presented. In addition, a new set of results comparing adaptation and paired-comparison procedures is presented. These results are precisely as predicted by the two-stage model, but they can not be handled by AL theory.
To examine sex differences in persuasiveness, we conducted a meta-analysis of seven studies from ... more To examine sex differences in persuasiveness, we conducted a meta-analysis of seven studies from our laboratory on reactions to human versus computer-synthesized speech. We tested three hypotheses: (1) people would be more persuaded by human speech than by computer-synthesized speech, (2) women would be slightly more persuaded than men, and (3) the sex difference would be more pronounced for human speech than for synthetic speech. While there was support for the first two hypotheses, there was none for the third. Also, no consistent support was found for a moderating effect of mode of presentation, audio versus video.
A pool of single-word adjectives representing smoking outcome expectancies was derived and tested... more A pool of single-word adjectives representing smoking outcome expectancies was derived and tested in two studies. In Study One, smoking-related words were generated and then clustered together to form 39 categories representing smoking expectancy nodes. Analysis of the number of times words in each category were generated indicated that expectancies varied as a function of smoking status (measured at two levels: Ever smoked daily vs. never smoked daily), smoking history (current vs. past smoker), and dependence (nondependent vs. dependent). In Study Two, participants rated the words in terms of expectations of smoking outcomes. A principal components analysis of the ratings indicated that three components accounted for 74.10% of the variance in participants' ratings: Component 1 (adverse effects), 30.92%; component 2 (positive image), 28.08%; and component 3 (positive mood), 15.09%. Further analyses revealed that ratings of words comprising the three components differed as a function of smoking status (measured at three levels: Never smoked daily, daily nondependent smoker, daily dependent smoker), with dependent smokers rating the outcomes associated with all three components as occurring more frequently when they smoked compared with nondependent smokers or those who never smoked daily. The results suggest that the single-word adjectives are appropriate for use in research investigating smoking outcome expectancies.
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 1995
The perceptual representation of voice gender was examined with two experimental paradigms: ident... more The perceptual representation of voice gender was examined with two experimental paradigms: identification/discrimination and selective adaptation. The results from the identification and discrimination of a synthetic male-female voice continuum indicated that voice gender perception was not categorical. In addition, results from selective adaptation experiments with natural and synthetic voice stimuli indicated that the perceptual representation of voice adapted is an auditory-based representation. Overall, these findings suggest that the perceptual representation of voice gender is auditory based and is qualitatively different from the representation of phonetic information.
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 1987
To investigate the extent and locus of integral processing in speech perception, a speeded classi... more To investigate the extent and locus of integral processing in speech perception, a speeded classification task was utilized with a set of noise-tone analogs of the fricative-vowel syllables (fae), (integral of ae), (fu), and (integral of u). Unlike the stimuli used in previous studies of selective perception of syllables, these stimuli did not contain consonant-vowel transitions. Subjects were asked to classify on the basis of one of the two syllable components. Some subjects were told that the stimuli were computer generated noise-tone sequences. These subjects processed the noise and tone separably. Irrelevant variation of the noise did not affect reaction times (RTs) for the classification of the tone, and vice versa. Other subjects were instructed to treat the stimuli as speech. For these subjects, irrelevant variation of the fricative increased RTs for the classification of the vowel, and vice versa. A second experiment employed naturally spoken fricative-vowel syllables with the same task. Classification RTs showed a pattern of integrality in that irrelevant variation of either component increased RTs to the other. These results indicate that knowledge of coarticulation (or its acoustic consequences) is a basic element of speech perception. Furthermore, the use of this knowledge in phonetic coding is mandatory, even in situations where the stimuli do not contain coarticulatory information.
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 2002
Researchers have suggested that human voices are represented in memory in terms of prototypes [e.... more Researchers have suggested that human voices are represented in memory in terms of prototypes [e.g., Kreiman and Papcun (1991); Papcun et al. (1989)]. Others have suggested that speech utterances are stored in memory via detailed exemplar-based representations [e.g., Lachs et al. (2000)]. The goal of the present study was to provide the first step toward assessing the viability of a
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 1990
Four experiments investigate printed word frequency and subjective rated familiarity. Words of va... more Four experiments investigate printed word frequency and subjective rated familiarity. Words of varied printed frequency and subjective familiarity were presented. A reaction time advantage for high-familiarity and high-frequency words was found in visual (Experiment 1) and auditory (Experiment 2) lexical decision. In Experiments 3 and 4, a cued naming task elicited a naming response after a specified delay after presentation. In Experiment 3, naming of visual words showed a frequency effect with no naming delay. The frequency effect diminished at longer delay intervals. Naming times for auditorily presented words (Experiment 4) showed no frequency effect at any delay. Both naming experiments showed familiarity effects. The relevance of these results are discussed in terms of the role of printed frequency for theories of lexical access, task- and modality-specific effects, and the nature of subjective familiarity.
Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, 1999
Is computer-synthesized speech as persuasive as the human voice when presenting an argument? Afte... more Is computer-synthesized speech as persuasive as the human voice when presenting an argument? After completing an attitude pretest, 193 participants were randomly assigned to listen to a persuasive appeal under three conditions: a high-quality synthesized speech system (DECtalk Express), a low-quality synthesized speech system (Monologue), and a tape recording of a human voice. Following the appeal, participants completed a posttest attitude survey and a series of questionnaires designed to assess perceptions of speech qualities, perceptions of the speaker, and perceptions of the message. The human voice was generally perceived more favorably than the computer-synthesized voice, and the speaker was perceived more favorably when the voice was a human voice than when it was computer synthesized. There was, however, no evidence that computerized speech, as compared with the human voice, affected persuasion or perceptions of the message. Actual or potential applications of this research include issues that should be considered when designing synthetic speech systems.
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 1985
Two alternative conceptualizations of selective adaptation with speech have recently received att... more Two alternative conceptualizations of selective adaptation with speech have recently received attention. The adaptation level theory (AL) outlined by Diehl (1981) and a two-stage model outlined by Sawusch and Jusczyk (1981) can both account for much of the adaptation and paired-comparison data. Recently, Diehl, Kluender, and Parker (1985) proposed that all adaptation and contrast data can be accounted for by AL theory. They reported the results of a study that showed evidence of streaming in selective adaptation and claimed that their results provide a counterdemonstration to recent studies that have argued against the AL approach. In the present article, an outline of how the Diehl et al. results can be accounted for by both the two-stage model and AL theory is presented. In addition, a new set of results comparing adaptation and paired-comparison procedures is presented. These results are precisely as predicted by the two-stage model, but they can not be handled by AL theory.
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Papers by John Mullennix