Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Semester of Degree Completion

1990

Thesis Director

Robert M. Augustine

Abstract

The ability of trained listeners to make judgments of voice quality has been well documented. This study is designed to investigate untrained listeners' ability to make quality judgments of male and female produced normal, breathy, harsh, and hypernasal voice qualities. Research purposes are as follows:

1. To test if untrained listeners tend to reliably assign specific positive or negative descriptive adjectives according to vocal quality.

2. To determine if specific disordered vocal qualities carry more negative rating than others.

A series of actors and actresses were trained to produce the disordered voice qualities of breathy, harsh, and hypernasal according to specific guidelines. Provisions were made to insure consistency in the recording and playback of the voice samples. Actors were used to produce the voice qualities to insure distinct differences.

A total of 32 untrained listeners rated male- and female-produced normal, breathy, harsh, and hypernasal voice quality samples on a bipolar positive/negative rating scale.

An analysis of variance indicated that untrained listeners rate normal and disordered voice qualities differently, but a similarity exists in the ratings of the three disordered voice qualities. Findings also show that male-produced voice qualities are rated in a different manner than female-produced voice qualities.

Implications toward future research in related directions are presented. These include investigation of differences between ratings of male and female speakers and substantiation of the extent to which a disordered voice may inhibit interpersonal relations based on initial speaker/listener contact. Future related studies should improve validity by eliminating the extraneous variables identified by this study.

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