Perception of Nonverbal Acoustic Signals and Resulting Physiological Responses (SINOVE-PER)

Condition(s) studied

Investigational drug(s) / intervention(s)

Psycho-acoustic tests: Listeners' cognitive and biological responses to vocal stimuli will be tested using psycho-acoustic tests. After listening to acoustic stimuli, participants will be asked to judge these stimuli on relevant evaluation criteria (e.g., "how distressed does this person sound?"). These stimuli might be human voices, animal voices or synthetic voices Physiological measures will be simultaneously taken using an array of complimentary, non-invasive techniques such as the Nociception Level (NOL) Index or video pupillometry

Study summary

Like many other animals, humans produce nonverbal signals including screams, grunts, roars, cries and laughter across a variety of contexts.Due to their acoustic structure, nonverbal vocalizations and valanced speech (e.g., yelling) are also likely to elicit predictable physiological, perceptual or behavioural responses in the receiver of the signal (the listener). This is critical if researchers are to gain a comprehensive understanding of the broad range of mechanisms and the evolved functions of acoustic communication.

Therefore, in this research, investigators will examine specifically how exposure to vocal stimuli affects both the cognitive and biological responses of the listener.

Eligibility

Primary outcome measure(s)

• Proportion of correct responses in a forced-choice task after vocal stimuli — Immediately after the vocal stimuli
  Participants will be asked to judge vocal stimuli Example : "Of the two baby cries you listened to, which one do you think shows the most distress"
• Numerical values of judgements along a scale — Immediately after the vocal stimuli
  Participants will be asked to judge vocal stimuli Example : participants may be asked to judge, along a gradient (from 0 to 100), "how consistent the distress of the baby you heard is to you".
• Response time (second) — Immediately after the vocal stimuli
  Participants will be asked to judge vocal stimuli In this case, the participant is instructed to respond as soon as possible. The response time for each stimulus is then systematically measured

Trial sites (1)

More Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Saint Etienne trials in France