Talking to Dogs: Companion Animal-Directed Speech in a Stress Test.

ABSTRACT: Companion animal-directed speech (CADS) has previously been investigated in comparison to infant-directed speech and adult-directed speech. To investigate the influence of owner caregiving, attachment pattern, and personality on CADS, we used the Ainsworth strange situation procedure. It allowed us to assess voice source parameters of CADS across different contexts. We extracted speech parameters (voicing duration, voice pitch, pitch range, and jitter) from 53 dog owners recorded during the procedure. We found that owner personality and gender but not caregiving/attachment behavior affect their voice's pitch, range, and jitter during CADS. Further, we found a differential and context-specific modification of pitch and range, consistent with the idea that pitch communicates affect, whereas

SUBMITTER: Lesch R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6681105 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature