Age-Related Differences in the Perception of Emotion in Spoken Language: the Relative Roles of Prosody and Semantics

Autor/inn/en	Ben-David, Boaz M.; Gal-Rosenblum, Sarah; van Lieshout, Pascal H. H. M.; Shakuf, Vered
Titel	Age-Related Differences in the Perception of Emotion in Spoken Language: the Relative Roles of Prosody and Semantics
Quelle	In: Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 62 (2019) 4, S.1188-1202 (15 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1092-4388
Schlagwörter	Age Differences; Intonation; Semantics; Suprasegmentals; Task Analysis; Emotional Response; Auditory Perception; Speech Communication; Tests; Older Adults; Psychological Patterns; Sentences; Identification; Attention Control; Comparative Analysis; Young Adults; Role + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Age; Difference; Age difference; Altersunterschied; Semantik; Aufgabenanalyse; Emotionales Verhalten; Auditive Wahrnehmung; Akustische Wahrnehmung; Akustik; Examination; Prüfung; Examen; Älterer Erwachsener; Sentence analysis; Satzanalyse; Identifikation; Identifizierung; Aufmerksamkeitstest; Young adult; Junger Erwachsener; Rollen
Abstract	Purpose: We aim to identify the possible sources for age-related differences in the perception of emotion in speech, focusing on the distinct roles of semantics (words) and prosody (tone of speech) and their interaction. Method: We implement the Test for Rating of Emotions in Speech (Ben-David, Multani, Shakuf, Rudzicz, & van Lieshout, 2016). Forty older and 40 younger adults were presented with spoken sentences made of different combinations of 5 emotional categories (anger, fear, happiness, sadness, and neutral) presented in the prosody and semantics. In separate tasks, listeners were asked to attend to the sentence as a whole, integrating both speech channels, or to focus on 1 channel only (prosody/semantics). Their task was to rate how much they agree the sentence is conveying a predefined emotion. Results: (a) Identification of emotions: both age groups identified presented emotions. (b) Failure of selective attention: both age groups were unable to selectively attend to 1 channel when instructed, with slightly larger failures for older adults. (c) Integration of channels: younger adults showed a bias toward prosody, whereas older adults showed a slight bias toward semantics. Conclusions: Three possible sources are suggested for age-related differences: (a) underestimation of the emotional content of speech, (b) slightly larger failures to selectively attend to 1 channel, and (c) different weights assigned to the 2 speech channels. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. 2200 Research Blvd #250, Rockville, MD 20850. Tel: 301-296-5700; Fax: 301-296-8580; e-mail: slhr@asha.org; Web site: http://jslhr.pubs.asha.org
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01