Some perceptual dimensions and acoustical correlates of pathologic voices.

Abstract

Perceptual criteria for classifying pathologic voices in comparison with normal voices were studied with the use of the semantic differential technique using 12 pairs of polar-opposite adjectives. The factors extracted from the data by means of the D-method and of the maximum likelihood method were correlated to fundamental frequency, a frequency perturbation quotient, and an amplitude perturbation quotient. The utterances produced by 9 normal and 15 pathologic subjects together with 9 synthesized vowel samples were investigated. The fisrt factor was related to evaluation of voice quality and was also closely related to the amplitude perturbation. The second and the third factors were associated with intensity and fundamental frequency of the stimuli, respectively. Some minor factors other than the three dominant factors were also supposed to be relevant to the distinction of pathologic voices.