skip to main content


Title: Age- and Gender-Related Differences in Speech Alignment Toward Humans and Voice-AI
Speech alignment is where talkers subconsciously adopt the speech and language patterns of their interlocutor. Nowadays, people of all ages are speaking with voice-activated, artificially-intelligent (voice-AI) digital assistants through phones or smart speakers. This study examines participants’ age (older adults, 53–81 years old vs. younger adults, 18–39 years old) and gender (female and male) on degree of speech alignment during shadowing of (female and male) human and voice-AI (Apple’s Siri) productions. Degree of alignment was assessed holistically via a perceptual ratings AXB task by a separate group of listeners. Results reveal that older and younger adults display distinct patterns of alignment based on humanness and gender of the human model talkers: older adults displayed greater alignment toward the female human and device voices, while younger adults aligned to a greater extent toward the male human voice. Additionally, there were other gender-mediated differences observed, all of which interacted with model talker category (voice-AI vs. human) or shadower age category (OA vs. YA). Taken together, these results suggest a complex interplay of social dynamics in alignment, which can inform models of speech production both in human-human and human-device interaction.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1911855
NSF-PAR ID:
10275348
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ;
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Frontiers in Communication
Volume:
5
ISSN:
2297-900X
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. null (Ed.)
    More and more, humans are engaging with voice-activated artificially intelligent (voice-AI) systems that have names (e.g., Alexa), apparent genders, and even emotional expression; they are in many ways a growing ‘social’ presence. But to what extent do people display sociolinguistic attitudes, developed from human-human interaction, toward these disembodied text-to-speech (TTS) voices? And how might they vary based on the cognitive traits of the individual user? The current study addresses these questions, testing native English speakers’ judgments for 6 traits (intelligent, likeable, attractive, professional, human-like, and age) for a naturally-produced female human voice and the US-English default Amazon Alexa voice. Following exposure to the voices, participants completed these ratings for each speaker, as well as the Autism Quotient (AQ) survey, to assess individual differences in cognitive processing style. Results show differences in individuals’ ratings of the likeability and human-likeness of the human and AI talkers based on AQ score. Results suggest that humans transfer social assessment of human voices to voice-AI, but that the way they do so is mediated by their own cognitive characteristics. 
    more » « less
  2. null (Ed.)
    Purpose The larynx plays a role in swallowing, respiration, and voice production. All three functions change during ontogeny. We investigated ontogenetic shape changes using a mouse model to inform our understanding of how laryngeal form and function are integrated. We understand the characterization of developmental changes to larynx anatomy as a critical step toward using rodent models to study human vocal communication disorders. Method Contrast-enhanced micro-computed tomography image stacks were used to generate three-dimensional reconstructions of the CD-1 mouse ( Mus musculus ) laryngeal cartilaginous framework. Then, we quantified size and shape in four age groups: pups, weanlings, young, and old adults using a combination of landmark and linear morphometrics. We analyzed postnatal patterns of growth and shape in the laryngeal skeleton, as well as morphological integration among four laryngeal cartilages using geometric morphometric methods. Acoustic analysis of vocal patterns was employed to investigate morphological and functional integration. Results Four cartilages scaled with negative allometry on body mass. Additionally, thyroid, arytenoid, and epiglottic cartilages, but not the cricoid cartilage, showed shape change associated with developmental age. A test for modularity between the four cartilages suggests greater independence of thyroid cartilage shape, hinting at the importance of embryological origin during postnatal development. Finally, mean fundamental frequency, but not fundamental frequency range, varied predictably with size. Conclusion In a mouse model, the four main laryngeal cartilages do not develop uniformly throughout the first 12 months of life. High-dimensional shape analysis effectively quantified variation in shape across development and in relation to size, as well as clarifying patterns of covariation in shape among cartilages and possibly the ventral pouch. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.12735917 
    more » « less
  3. Abstract Objectives

    Previous studies associate females who died in young adulthood with narrower obstetric pelvic dimensions, presumably in association with obstetric insufficiency (though this causal relationship is unresolved). In this study, we examine whether females within groups living at higher latitudes present this pattern, as high‐latitude groups have larger pelvic dimensions than groups previously examined. These patterns are compared with males. We assess whether there is evidence for younger ages‐at‐death in females to have been in response to natural selection against narrower true pelvis dimensions.

    Methods

    We measured 14 pelvic dimensions in 327 adults (188 females, 139 males), representing archaeological sites from mid‐latitude and high‐latitude North America. Individuals were placed into a “young” or “not young” age‐at‐death category. Latitude, sex, and age‐at‐death groups were compared using ANOVAs and scaled variance, and evidence for selection was examined withF‐tests.

    Results

    Pelvic dimensions were larger in high‐latitude females and males. Females but not males who died at younger ages had smaller pelvic canals than older individuals, especially in the mediolateral inlet and anteroposterior outlet dimensions. Variance in all pelvic dimensions is equal between the two female age‐at‐death groups.

    Conclusions

    We found narrower obstetrical dimensions in the female pelvis among individuals who died at younger ages. However, statistically equivalent variances in the two female age‐at‐death groups does not support natural selection on pelvic dimensions as leading to younger ages at death. We instead argue that this difference is result of continued growth due to remodeling in the pelvis occurring in females, but not males, after early adulthood.

     
    more » « less
  4. Background Research has shown the feasibility of human activity recognition using wearable accelerometer devices. Different studies have used varying numbers and placements for data collection using sensors. Objective This study aims to compare accuracy performance between multiple and variable placements of accelerometer devices in categorizing the type of physical activity and corresponding energy expenditure in older adults. Methods In total, 93 participants (mean age 72.2 years, SD 7.1) completed a total of 32 activities of daily life in a laboratory setting. Activities were classified as sedentary versus nonsedentary, locomotion versus nonlocomotion, and lifestyle versus nonlifestyle activities (eg, leisure walk vs computer work). A portable metabolic unit was worn during each activity to measure metabolic equivalents (METs). Accelerometers were placed on 5 different body positions: wrist, hip, ankle, upper arm, and thigh. Accelerometer data from each body position and combinations of positions were used to develop random forest models to assess activity category recognition accuracy and MET estimation. Results Model performance for both MET estimation and activity category recognition were strengthened with the use of additional accelerometer devices. However, a single accelerometer on the ankle, upper arm, hip, thigh, or wrist had only a 0.03-0.09 MET increase in prediction error compared with wearing all 5 devices. Balanced accuracy showed similar trends with slight decreases in balanced accuracy for the detection of locomotion (balanced accuracy decrease range 0-0.01), sedentary (balanced accuracy decrease range 0.05-0.13), and lifestyle activities (balanced accuracy decrease range 0.04-0.08) compared with all 5 placements. The accuracy of recognizing activity categories increased with additional placements (accuracy decrease range 0.15-0.29). Notably, the hip was the best single body position for MET estimation and activity category recognition. Conclusions Additional accelerometer devices slightly enhance activity recognition accuracy and MET estimation in older adults. However, given the extra burden of wearing additional devices, single accelerometers with appropriate placement appear to be sufficient for estimating energy expenditure and activity category recognition in older adults. 
    more » « less
  5. Abstract Objective

    Collisions between bicycles and motor vehicles are one of the leading risk factors for injury and death in childhood and adolescence. We examined longitudinal and concurrent effortful control (EC) as predictors of risky bicycling behavior in early- to mid-adolescence, with age and gender as moderators. We also examined whether EC was associated with parent-reported real-world bicycling behavior and all lifetime unintentional injuries.

    Methods

    Parent-reported EC measures were collected when children (N = 85) were 4 years old and when they were either 10 years (N = 42) or 15 years (N = 43) old. We assessed risky bicycling behavior by asking the adolescents to bicycle across roads with high-density traffic in an immersive virtual environment. Parents also reported on children’s real-world bicycling behavior and lifetime unintentional injuries at the time of the bicycling session.

    Results

    We found that both longitudinal and concurrent EC predicted adolescents’ gap choices, though these effects were moderated by age and gender. Lower parent-reported early EC in younger and older girls predicted a greater willingness to take tight gaps (3.5 s). Lower parent-reported concurrent EC in older boys predicted a greater willingness to take gaps of any size. Children lower in early EC started bicycling earlier and were rated as less cautious bicyclists as adolescents. Adolescents lower in concurrent EC were also rated as less cautious bicyclists and had experienced more lifetime unintentional injuries requiring medical attention.

    Conclusion

    Early measures of child temperament may help to identify at-risk populations who may benefit from parent-based interventions.

     
    more » « less