Voice pitch is negatively associated with sociosexual behavior in males but not in females.

Acoustic cues play a major role in social interactions in many animal species. In addition to the semantic contents of human speech, voice attributes - e.g., voice pitch, formant position, formant dispersion, etc. - have been proposed to provide critical information for the assessment of potential rivals and mates. However, prior studies exploring the association of acoustic attributes with reproductive success, or some of its proxies, have produced mixed results. Here, we investigate whether the mean fundamental frequency (F0), formant position (Pf), and formant dispersion (Df) - dimorphic attributes of the human voice - are related to sociosexuality, as measured by the Revised Sociosexual Orientation Inventory (SOI-R) - a trait also known to exhibit sex differences - in a sample of native Spanish-speaking students (101 males, 147 females). Analyses showed a significant negative correlation between F0 and sociosexual behavior, and between Pf and sociosexual desire in males but not in females. These correlations remained significant after correcting for false discovery rate (FDR) and controlling for age, a potential confounding variable. Our results are consistent with a role of F0 and Pf serving as cues in the mating domain in males but not in females. Alternatively, the association of voice attributes and sociosexual orientation might stem from the parallel effect of male sex hormones both on the male brain and the anatomical structures involved in voice production.

Vocal Cues to Male Physical Formidability.

Animal vocalizations convey important information about the emitter, including sex, age, biological quality, and emotional state. Early on, Darwin proposed that sex differences in auditory signals and vocalizations were driven by sexual selection mechanisms. In humans, studies on the association between male voice attributes and physical formidability have thus far reported mixed results. Hence, with a view to furthering our understanding of the role of human voice in advertising physical formidability, we sought to identify acoustic attributes of male voices associated with physical formidability proxies. Mean fundamental frequency (F 0), formant dispersion (D f ), formant position (P f ), and vocal tract length (VTL) data from a sample of 101 male voices was analyzed for potential associations with height, weight, and maximal handgrip strength (HGS). F 0 correlated negatively with HGS; P f showed negative correlations with HGS, height and weight, whereas VTL positively correlated with HGS, height and weight. All zero-order correlations remained significant after controlling for false discovery rate (FDR) with the Benjamini-Hochberg method. After controlling for height and weight-and controlling for FDR-the correlation between F 0 and HGS remained significant. In addition, to evaluate the ability of human male voices to advertise physical formidability to potential mates, 151 heterosexual female participants rated the voices of the 10 strongest and the 10 weakest males from the original sample for perceived physical strength, and given that physical strength is a desirable attribute in male partners, perceived attractiveness. Generalized linear mixed model analyses-which allow for generalization of inferences to other samples of both raters and targets-failed to support a significant association of perceived strength or attractiveness from voices alone and actual physical strength. These results add to the growing body of work on the role of human voices in conveying relevant biological information.

Reading Competency, Speech Rate and Rhythm.

BACKGROUND: There is increasing evidence defining reading competency in terms of accuracy, speed and prosody, as well as interest in gaining better understanding of the interrelation as a function of prosodic features. This study aims to analyze the relationship between reading competency, in terms of accuracy and speed of written word recognition, and two attributes related to prosody in oral reading of texts: speech rate and rhythm. METHOD: Oral reading of a narrative text by 141 third and fourth grade Spanish-speaking students was analyzed using an automated acoustic speech procedure and their reading competency was assessed. RESULTS: Reading proficiency was associated with a lower proportion of the number and duration of pauses and greater regularity of syllable intervals, resulting in a higher rate of speech and higher regularity of rhythm. The reading experience improves rhythmic reading with some independence from the levels of automation achieved in written word recognition. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that when there is greater reading competence there is greater speed and rhythmic expressiveness; this improves with reading experience when a sufficient level of automation has been achieved in reading access.

Reading Competency, Speech Rate and Rhythm / Competencia Lectora, Fluidez y Ritmo

Background: There is increasing evidence defining reading competency in terms of accuracy, speed and prosody, as well as interest in gaining better understanding of the interrelation as a function of prosodic features. This study aims to analyze the relationship between reading competency, in terms of accuracy and speed of written word recognition, and two attributes related to prosody in oral reading of texts: speech rate and rhythm. Method: Oral reading of a narrative text by 141 third and fourth grade Spanish-speaking students was analyzed using an automated acoustic speech procedure and their reading competency was assessed. Results: Reading profi ciency was associated with a lower proportion of the number and duration of pauses and greater regularity of syllable intervals, resulting in a higher rate of speech and higher regularity of rhythm. The reading experience improves rhythmic reading with some independence from the levels of automation achieved in written word recognition. Conclusions: The results suggest that when there is greater reading competence there is greater speed and rhythmic expressiveness; this improves with reading experience when a sufficient level of automation has been achieved in reading access. (AU)

Antecedentes: cada vez más evidencias define la competencia lectora en términos de precisión, velocidad y prosodia; así hay interés en comprender esa relación en función de los rasgos prosódicos que se consideren. Este estudio analiza la relación entre precisión y velocidad de reconocimiento de la palabra escrita y dos atributos relacionados con la prosodia en la lectura oral de textos: la velocidad y el ritmo del habla. Método: se analizó la lectura oral de un texto narrativo de 141 estudiantes de habla hispana de tercer y cuarto grado de primaria mediante un procedimiento acústico automatizado del habla, evaluada su competencia lectora. Resultados: la competencia lectora se asocia con una menor proporción en el número y duración de las pausas y con una mayor regularidad de los intervalos silábicos, lo que produce mayor tasa de habla y una mayor regularidad del ritmo. La experiencia lectora mejora la lectura rítmica con cierta independencia de los niveles de automatización alcanzado en el reconocimiento de la palabra escrita. Conclusiones: los resultados sugieren que cuando hay una mayor competencia lectora hay mayor velocidad y expresividad rítmica; que mejora con la experiencia lectora cuando se ha logrado un nivel suficiente de automatización en el acceso lector. (AU)

Soccer players awarded one or more red cards exhibit lower 2D:4D ratios.

Anatomical, cognitive and behavioral sex differences are widely recognized in many species. It has been proposed that some of these differences might result from the organizing effects of prenatal sex steroids. In humans, males usually exhibit higher levels of physical aggression and prowess. In this study, we analyze the relationship between second-to-fourth digit (2D:4D) ratios-a proxy for prenatal androgen levels-and foul play and sporting performance in a sample of junior soccer players from a professional Uruguayan soccer club. Our results show that the most aggressive players (i.e., those awarded one or more red cards) have a more masculine finger pattern (lower 2D:4D ratio), while no relationship could be found between sporting performance and 2D:4D ratios. The results are discussed in the context of previous findings. Aggr. Behav. 42:417-426, 2016. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.