Speak, Think, Act: A phonetic analysis of the combinatorial effects of respiratory mask, physical and cognitive stress on phonation and articulation

Stress is perceptible in speech, but on which basis and in which way all the different stress types shine through and combine in the acoustic speech signal is only vaguely understood by now. This study addresses these questions and additionally examines how stress types in speech can be determined and quantified by means of acoustic-phonetic parameters. We used several stressors that form a taxonomy of stress factors according to Murray et al. [1]. Pink noise served as an external stressor. A further stress factor, cognitive load, was created by asking quiz questions. Physiological stressors were induced by training on an ergometer and the application of a respirator mask (full face mask). The speech signals produced by male German native speakers while answering the quiz and further reference questions were analyzed in terms of a number of prosodic F0 and duration measures. The results of our acoustic analysis allow drawing conclusions on if and how stress factors can be distinguished from each other, interfere with each other, and/or add up in the speech signal. Furthermore, we touch upon the issue whether measurable stress can increase ad infinitum or whether there is an upper limit for the manifestation of stress in speech. Speak, Think, Act: A phonetic analysis of the combinatorial effects of respiratory mask, physical and cognitive stress on phonation and articulation (PDF Download Available). Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/315892441_Speak_Think_Act_A_phonetic_analysis_of_the_combinatorial_effects_of_respiratory_mask_physical_and_cognitive_stress_on_phonation_and_articulation [accessed Dec 20 2017].