The effects of emotionally worded synthesized speech on the ratings of emotions and voice quality

Abstract

The present research investigated how the verbal content of synthetic messages affects participants' emotional responses and the ratings of voice quality. 28 participants listened to emotionally worded sentences produced by a monotonous and a prosodic tone of voice while the activity of corrugator supercilii facial muscle was measured. Ratings of emotions and voice quality were also collected. The results showed that the ratings of emotions were significantly affected by the emotional contents of the sentences. The prosodic tone of voice evoked more emotion-relevant ratings of arousal than the monotonous voice. Corrugator responses did not seem to reflect emotional reactions. Interestingly, the quality of the same voice was rated higher when the content of the sentences was positive as compared to the neutral and negative sentences. Thus, the emotional content of the spoken messages can be used to regulate users' emotions and to evoke positive feelings about the voices. © 2011 Springer-Verlag.