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Voice Pitch

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Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science

Synonyms

Vocal fundamental frequency; Voice depth

Definition

The perceived degree of height or depth of the voice.

Introduction

Pitch is the most salient property of the voice and describes its “highness” or “lowness” (Titze 2000). The perception of pitch is influenced by multiple acoustic parameters such as amplitude and resonant (or formant) frequencies; however, the primary determinant of pitch is fundamental frequency (F 0), the rate of vocal fold vibration during phonation (Titze 2000). Indeed, pitch and F 0 are often used as though they are nearly synonymous, though the former is a perceptual feature whereas the latter describes the physical properties of the sound waveform.

Voice Pitch Variation and Modulation

Between-individual variation in habitual speaking F 0is contingent upon differences in vocal fold length and thickness, but individuals also modulate their pitch, both consciously and unconsciously, across contexts. In many animal species, voice pitch is lowered to...

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References

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Correspondence to David Puts .

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Johnson, J., Puts, D. (2017). Voice Pitch. In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_1414-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_1414-2

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

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Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Voice Pitch
    Published:
    03 February 2017

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_1414-2

  2. Original

    Voice Pitch
    Published:
    10 December 2016

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_1414-1