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Voice Research Unit

Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences

Current topics of the VRU

Research Projects

Ongoing and Recent Research Projects of the Voice Research Unit Jena

Current topics of the VRU

Image: Christine Nussbaum (created with VOSviewer)

Picture: Celina von Eiff

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.
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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.
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"TheAcoustic 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.
Image: Melanie Weirich

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?
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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.
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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.
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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Advertisement through Voice and Speech Characteristics Do the stereotypes in advertising reflect reality or perpetuate outdated assumptions?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?
Picture: Manuel Pöhlmann

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.
Illustration: Christine Nussbaum

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.
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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.

Image: DNB, Stephan Jockel, CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Our Publications
See our publications from over ten years of voice research

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