Vocal modulation during courtship increases proceptivity even in naive listeners

Resumen

Speakers modulate their voice when talking to infants but we know little about subtle variation in acoustic parameters during normal adult speech, and investigation is impeded by listeners’ understanding of semantic content. Here we circumvent this problem by analysing speech in simulated courtship scenarios and testing responses in naïve listeners, across both a Germanic (English) and a Slavic (Czech) language. Acoustic analysis revealed striking similarity across the two languages in patterns of social context-dependent variability in fundamental frequency (F0) but not in other parameters. Both sexes varied F0 most when responding to attractive individuals. We then show that speech directed towards these attractive individuals increased proceptivity in naïve listeners of either language, even when voices were stripped of all acoustic properties except F0 by low-pass filtering, which renders speech unintelligible. Our results demonstrate that modulating F0 is a critical parameter in human courtship, independently of semantic content.

Juan David Leongómez

Profesor Asociado

Mis intereses de investigación incluyen los procesos de selección de pareja y la comunicación vocal en humanos, con una aspiración hacia la comprensión de la musicalidad. También estoy interesado en bioacústica y psicoacústica, así como en estadística y programación en .

Jan Havlíček

Profesor Titular

Profesor e investigador principal del grupo de investigación de Etología Humana (Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, Praga, República Checa) y vicepresidente de la International Society for Human Ethology (ISHE).

S. Craig Roberts

Profesor Titular

Profesor Titular de Etología Humana (Division of Psychology, University of Stirling, Stirling, Reino Unido), y expresidente de la International Society for Human Ethology (ISHE).