Biomaterial Database

Effects of distance on vocal intensity. 1995

D D Michael, and G M Siegel, and H L Pick

Department of Communication Disorders, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA.

The vocal response of speakers to change of distance from a listener is in dispute. Warren (1968) found that speakers obeyed the inverse square law when compensating for distance changes; that is, they decreased their vocal intensity by 6 dB when distance was halved. However, speakers in a study of Johnson, Pick, Siegel, Cicciarelli, and Garber (1981) changed their vocal intensity by much less than 6 dB. This study was an attempt to reconcile the conflicting results and to gain better understanding of what people know implicitly about the effects of distance on intensity. Speakers in the present study significantly changed their vocal intensity to compensate for changes in distance, but by a maximum of 2.46 dB. Possible reasons for the different results are discussed.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008297	Male		Males
D008875	Middle Aged	An adult aged 45 - 64 years.	Middle Age
D004215	Distance Perception	The act of knowing or the recognition of a distance by recollective thought, or by means of a sensory process which is under the influence of a set of prior experiences.	Distance Discrimination,Discrimination, Distance,Discriminations, Distance,Perception, Distance
D005260	Female		Females
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000328	Adult	A person having attained full growth or maturity. Adults are of 19 through 44 years of age. For a person between 19 and 24 years of age, YOUNG ADULT is available.	Adults
D013060	Speech	Communication through a system of conventional vocal symbols.	Public Speaking,Speaking, Public
D013068	Speech Production Measurement	Measurement of parameters of the speech product such as vocal tone, loudness, pitch, voice quality, articulation, resonance, phonation, phonetic structure and prosody.	Measurement, Speech Production,Measurements, Speech Production,Production Measurement, Speech,Production Measurements, Speech,Speech Production Measurements
D014827	Vocal Cords	A pair of cone-shaped elastic mucous membrane projecting from the laryngeal wall and forming a narrow slit between them. Each contains a thickened free edge (vocal ligament) extending from the THYROID CARTILAGE to the ARYTENOID CARTILAGE, and a VOCAL MUSCLE that shortens or relaxes the vocal cord to control sound production.	Vocal Fold,Vocal Folds,Vocal Ligament,Cord, Vocal,Cords, Vocal,Fold, Vocal,Folds, Vocal,Ligament, Vocal,Ligaments, Vocal,Vocal Cord,Vocal Ligaments