Research Projects

• Audiovisual Perception of Emotion and Speech in Hearing Individuals and Cochlear Implant Users

  We are investigating audiovisual perception in both hearing individuals and cochlear implant users, focusing on the neurocognitive mechanisms underlying emotional communication.

  

• Basic and applied Aspects of Voice Learning and Recogntion

  In this project we address basic questions regarding mechanisms and relevant information, but also applied aspects, mainly in the context of forensic psychology.

  

• "The Acoustic and Perceptual Correlates of Gender in Children's Voices"

  The aim of the project is to identify perceptual and acoustic correlates in prepubertal voices that lead to robust or ambivalent gender judgments; aswell as the children's gender role self-concept.

  

• Gender-pecific Phonetic Variability: Hormonal Influences and Occupational Environment

  This interdisciplinary project examines gender-specific linguistic variability due to biological and social factors. What is the phonetic and linguistic implementation of the construct "gender" today?

  

• Kinship Recognition in the Human Voice

  Although, there are number of studies on kinship recognition in faces, little is known about kinship recognition in voices. We are currently working on two projects on this topic.

  

• Personality in Voices

  Personality impressions in voices are often misleading. This DFG-funded project investigated relevant listener and speaker parameters of a personality impression, including Autistic traits of the listener.

  

• Perception of Naturalness in Voices

  We propose a concise conceptual framework for the definition of voice naturalness, which allows enough flexibility to be applicable across diverse empirical designs, while promoting comparability.

  

• Representation of Gender in Advertisement through Voice and Speech Characteristics

  Do the stereotypes in advertising reflect reality or perpetuate outdated assumptions? Are gender role stereotypes present in voices in advertisements, and do they reflect the values of modern society?

  

• Sexual orientation in voices: Acoustic analysis and auditory perception

  The goal of this research project is to explain under which conditions stereotypical speech is used to mark sexual orientations and which voice parameters signal a particular sexual orientation.

  

• The Role of Musicality in Vocal Emotion Perception

  In this project, we have investigated the mechanisms underlying perception of Emotion in the human voice. Our findings suggest that musicians are tuned to the pitch contour of vocal emotions.

  

• Telling Women's Pregnancy Status by their Voices

  How can small differences in women’s voices due to pregnancy be detected by others? We assume pregnancy status could also impact the assessment of the speaker’s femininity, fatigue, and competence.

  

Archive of past research projects

• Past Research Projects (Archive)

  Here, you can find an archive of past Research Projects which we have previously conducted at the Voice Research Unit.