Categorization of Vocal Emotion Cues Depends on Distributions of Input.

ABSTRACT: Learners use the distributional properties of stimuli to identify environmentally relevant categories in a range of perceptual domains, including words, shapes, faces, and colors. We examined whether similar processes may also operate on affective information conveyed through the voice. In Experiment 1, we tested how adults (18-22-year-olds) and children (8-10-year-olds) categorized affective states communicated by vocalizations varying continuously from "calm" to "upset." We found that the threshold for categorizing both verbal (i.e., spoken word) and nonverbal (i.e., a yell) vocalizations as "upset" depended on the statistical distribution of the stimuli participants encountered. In Experiment 2, we replicated and extended these findings in adults using vocalizations that conveyed multip

SUBMITTER: Woodard K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8035059 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature