Effects of segmentation patterns on the perception of deception

Subjects viewed videotapes of truthful and deceptive messages. Channels presented were either face or body with or without speech. Subjects were instructed to segment each message into either large, medium, or small units; following the segmentation of a message, subjects rated its truthfulness. Results showed that subjects who organized the behavior into small units perceived the messages as more truthful than those who organized the behavior into either medium or large units. In addition, when speech was available, accuracy of lie detection was highest when the behavior was segmented into medium units; when speech was not available, accuracy of lie detection was highest when the behavior was segmented into small units. The effects of observation set on the perception of deception were discussed.     

What sounds beautiful is good: The vocal attractiveness stereotype

Two studies examined the effects of attractiveness of voice and physical appearance on impressions of personality. Subject-senders were videotaped as they read a standard-content text (Study 1) or randomly selected texts (Study 2). Judges rated the senders' vocal attractiveness from the auditory portion of the tape and their physical attractiveness from the visual portion of the tape. Other judges rated the senders' personality on the basis of their voice, face, or face plus voice. Senders with more attractive voices were rated more favorably in both the voice and face plus voice conditions; senders with more attractive faces were rated more favorably in both the face and face plus voice conditions. The effects of both vocal and physical attractiveness were more pronounced in the single channels (voice condition and face condition, respectively) than in the multiple channel (face plus voice condition). Possible antecedents and consequences of the vocal attractiveness stereotype are discussed. p]Her voice was ever soft, gentle, and low, an excellent thing in woman.Shakespeare (King Lear, Act V, Sc. 3)This research was supported in part by National Institute Mental Health Grant RO1 MH40498-01A2. The authors would like to thank Thomas J. Hernandez, James R. Laguzza, Andrea Lurier, and Mary Elizabeth Sementilli for running the videotaping sessions in Study 1, and Craig B. Partyka, Kimberly A. Radoane, and Kelly B. Sanborn for running the videotaping sessions in Study 2. Grateful acknowledgment is extended to Kate Johnson and Michael Zygmuntowicz for running rating sessions in Study 2, to BiancaMaria Penati for running rating sessions and coding data in Study 2, and to Bradley C. Olson for his assistance with data analysis.     

Sibling resemblances in nonverbal skill and style

This study explored the hypothesis that siblings display a tendency for family resemblance in nonverbal decoding skills. Thirty-seven sibling pairs between the ages of 9 and 15 were administered the videotaped Nonverbal Discrepancy Test. This audiovisual test assesses (1) decoding accuracy—the extent to which subjects are able to identify affects (positivity and dominance) from face, body, and tone of voice cues; (2) discrepancy accuracy—the extent to which subjects recognize the degree of discrepancy between audio and video cues; and (3) video primacy—the extent to which subjects are more influenced by video (face or body) than by audio cues. Brother-brother pairs showed family resemblances in all three nonverbal indices, whereas brother-sister pairs displayed family similarity only in discrepancy accuracy. Overall, sibling pairs showed a tendency for family resemblance in nonverbal decoding. The processes that might lead siblings to develop similar patterns of nonverbal skills were discussed.     

When Physical and Vocal Attractiveness Differ: Effects on Favorability of Interpersonal Impressions

Previous research has shown that targets whose physical and vocal attractiveness do not match (one channel being high and the other being low in attractiveness) elicit more negative impressions. The present study replicated this result and showed that the mediator and, hence, the reason for this effect is not simply a perception that the face and voice are discrepant but rather some disappointment with the less attractive channel. The finding that perceivers are overly disappointed with the less attractive channel is consistent with a large literature indicating that effects of negative events such as unattractive face or voice are stronger than effects of positive events.     

Learning to detect deception from three communication channels

A Lie Detection Test—a videotape of senders delivering truthful and deceptive messages—was administered to subjects via one of three channels: Face only, speech only, or face plus speech. Feedback information, identifying the messages as truthful or deceptive, was given to some subjects (learning condition) but not to others (control). It was found that subjects in the learning condition performed better overall relative to control subjects, regardless of the channel presented to them. In addition, however, accuracy of subjects in the learning condition improved progressively over the course of the test (relative to control), for the speech only and face plus speech channels but not for the face only channel. This effect was interpreted in terms of the limited number of deception cues offered by the face.     

Household formation,affordability, and housing policy

Over the past several decades, in Canada as elsewhere, governments have sought to provide decent, affordable housing for every household. However, viewed in aggregate, the size and extent of the affordability problem in Canada may well have worsened. This paper argues that changes in housing affordability are linked to the changing pace and character of household formation and that household formation has been responsive to a variety of public policies generally, and to housing programs in particular. Over the last four decades or so, changes in household formation have reflected policy inducements, price movements and income growth, and the substantial elasticity of demand for separate living arrangements. Even worsening indicators of affordability may actually indicate the success of modern housing policy, although this raises questions about the appropriateness of the measures, about the goals of housing programs, and about the ultimate costs of eliminating the affordability problem.     

Discrepancy as a cue to actual and perceived deception

Discrepancy between information emitted by face and speech was examined in three modes of communication: truth, concealment, and deception. It was found that communications designed either to conceal or distort the truth (concealment and deception modes) appeared more discrepant than communications that revealed the truth, particularly when full speech rather than filtered speech was presented. In addition, there were weak but consistently positive correlations between discrepancy and judgment of concealment and deception. That is, senders who appeared more discrepant were more likely to be judged as concealing or distorting information, regardless of the mode in which they had actually communicated.     

The attractive voice: What makes it so?

Previous research has shown that more attractive voices are associated with more favorable personality impressions. The present study examined which acoustic characteristics make a voice attractive. Segments of recorded voices were rated on various dimensions of voice quality, attractiveness, and personality impressions. Objective measures of voice quality were obtained from spectrogram analysis. Overall, the subjective ratings of voice quality predicted vocal attractiveness better than the objective measures. When vocal attractiveness was regressed onto both subjective and objective measures, the final regression equation included 8 subjective measures, which together accounted for 74% of the variance of the attractiveness scores. It also was found that the measures of voice quality accounted for variance in favorableness of personality impressions above and beyond the contribution of vocal attractiveness. Thus, attractiveness captures an important dimension of the voice but does not cover all aspects of voice quality.This research was supported by National Institute of Mental Health Grant MH40498.