Trait anxiety modulates the detection sensitivity of negative affect in speech: an online pilot study
Acoustic perception of emotions in speech is relevant for humans to navigate the social environment optimally. While sensory perception is known to be influenced by ambient noise, and bodily internal states (e.g., emotional arousal and anxiety), their relationship to human auditory perception is rel...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2023-09-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnbeh.2023.1240043/full |
| _version_ | 1797690701937377280 |
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| author | Achyuthanand K Saurabh Prasad Mrinmoy Chakrabarty Mrinmoy Chakrabarty |
| author_facet | Achyuthanand K Saurabh Prasad Mrinmoy Chakrabarty Mrinmoy Chakrabarty |
| author_sort | Achyuthanand K |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Acoustic perception of emotions in speech is relevant for humans to navigate the social environment optimally. While sensory perception is known to be influenced by ambient noise, and bodily internal states (e.g., emotional arousal and anxiety), their relationship to human auditory perception is relatively less understood. In a supervised, online pilot experiment sans the artificially controlled laboratory environment, we asked if the detection sensitivity of emotions conveyed by human speech-in-noise (acoustic signals) varies between individuals with relatively lower and higher levels of subclinical trait-anxiety, respectively. In a task, participants (n = 28) accurately discriminated the target emotion conveyed by the temporally unpredictable acoustic signals (signal to noise ratio = 10 dB), which were manipulated at four levels (Happy, Neutral, Fear, and Disgust). We calculated the empirical area under the curve (a measure of acoustic signal detection sensitivity) based on signal detection theory to answer our questions. A subset of individuals with High trait-anxiety relative to Low in the above sample showed significantly lower detection sensitivities to acoustic signals of negative emotions – Disgust and Fear and significantly lower detection sensitivities to acoustic signals when averaged across all emotions. The results from this pilot study with a small but statistically relevant sample size suggest that trait-anxiety levels influence the overall acoustic detection of speech-in-noise, especially those conveying threatening/negative affect. The findings are relevant for future research on acoustic perception anomalies underlying affective traits and disorders. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T02:02:58Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-22c3d9b467bb4fea8610194b3426e306 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1662-5153 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T02:02:58Z |
| publishDate | 2023-09-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience |
| spelling | doaj.art-22c3d9b467bb4fea8610194b3426e3062023-09-07T07:59:26ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience1662-51532023-09-011710.3389/fnbeh.2023.12400431240043Trait anxiety modulates the detection sensitivity of negative affect in speech: an online pilot studyAchyuthanand K0Saurabh Prasad1Mrinmoy Chakrabarty2Mrinmoy Chakrabarty3Department of Computational Biology, Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology Delhi, New Delhi, IndiaDepartment of Computer Science and Engineering, Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology Delhi, New Delhi, IndiaDepartment of Social Sciences and Humanities, Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology Delhi, New Delhi, IndiaCentre for Design and New Media, Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology Delhi, New Delhi, IndiaAcoustic perception of emotions in speech is relevant for humans to navigate the social environment optimally. While sensory perception is known to be influenced by ambient noise, and bodily internal states (e.g., emotional arousal and anxiety), their relationship to human auditory perception is relatively less understood. In a supervised, online pilot experiment sans the artificially controlled laboratory environment, we asked if the detection sensitivity of emotions conveyed by human speech-in-noise (acoustic signals) varies between individuals with relatively lower and higher levels of subclinical trait-anxiety, respectively. In a task, participants (n = 28) accurately discriminated the target emotion conveyed by the temporally unpredictable acoustic signals (signal to noise ratio = 10 dB), which were manipulated at four levels (Happy, Neutral, Fear, and Disgust). We calculated the empirical area under the curve (a measure of acoustic signal detection sensitivity) based on signal detection theory to answer our questions. A subset of individuals with High trait-anxiety relative to Low in the above sample showed significantly lower detection sensitivities to acoustic signals of negative emotions – Disgust and Fear and significantly lower detection sensitivities to acoustic signals when averaged across all emotions. The results from this pilot study with a small but statistically relevant sample size suggest that trait-anxiety levels influence the overall acoustic detection of speech-in-noise, especially those conveying threatening/negative affect. The findings are relevant for future research on acoustic perception anomalies underlying affective traits and disorders.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnbeh.2023.1240043/fullacoustic emotionanxietydisgustfearsignal detection theory |
| spellingShingle | Achyuthanand K Saurabh Prasad Mrinmoy Chakrabarty Mrinmoy Chakrabarty Trait anxiety modulates the detection sensitivity of negative affect in speech: an online pilot study Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience acoustic emotion anxiety disgust fear signal detection theory |
| title | Trait anxiety modulates the detection sensitivity of negative affect in speech: an online pilot study |
| title_full | Trait anxiety modulates the detection sensitivity of negative affect in speech: an online pilot study |
| title_fullStr | Trait anxiety modulates the detection sensitivity of negative affect in speech: an online pilot study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Trait anxiety modulates the detection sensitivity of negative affect in speech: an online pilot study |
| title_short | Trait anxiety modulates the detection sensitivity of negative affect in speech: an online pilot study |
| title_sort | trait anxiety modulates the detection sensitivity of negative affect in speech an online pilot study |
| topic | acoustic emotion anxiety disgust fear signal detection theory |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnbeh.2023.1240043/full |
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