What Do Vocal Bursts Reveal About Human Emotions?

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Recent research from UC Berkeley has identified 24 distinct emotions conveyed through spontaneous vocalizations such as "Oohs" and "Ahhs," expanding the previous understanding of these sounds, which were thought to express only 13 emotions. This study utilized statistical analysis of over 2,000 vocal bursts, revealing their nuanced emotional significance. An interactive map has been created to illustrate these findings, although it may not function well on mobile devices. The discussion also references the concept of "huh?" as a universal term across languages, used to indicate confusion and request clarification. Additionally, cultural variations in expressive sounds, such as the Tamil interjection "Aiyoo," highlight the diversity of emotional expression in different languages. The conversation touches on the implications of vocal cues in communication, including anecdotal insights from law enforcement regarding the use of "huh?" during questioning.
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In a recent article in the American Psychologist:

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2019-02-gasp-audio-oohs-aahs-uh-ohs.html

Researchers have mapped out 24 different emotions expressed as Oohs and Ahhs and related spontaneous sounds:

Ooh, surprise! Those spontaneous sounds we make to express everything from elation (woohoo) to embarrassment (oops) say a lot more about what we're feeling than previously understood, according to new UC Berkeley research.Proving that a sigh is not just a sigh, scientists conducted a statistical analysis of listener responses to more than 2,000 nonverbal exclamations known as "vocal bursts" and found they convey at least 24 kinds of emotion. Previous studies of vocal bursts set the number of recognizable emotions closer to 13.
 
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I saw that in the article but didn't try it out since it didn't work with mobile devices.

Just tried it now, Its pretty cool too.
 
.Scott said:
They created this interactive map:
https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/vocs/map.html#
In 2013, the word "huh?" was called a universal word by a study, meaning that it is the same in all languages.
It is supposed to used to in response to someone saying something which was not clearly understood.
Based upon that, I was able to find huh in the diagram. There are few of them about half way between "confusion" and "interest", which makes sense based on its being a request for clarification.
The huh? article contends that:
Huh? is a universal word not because it is innate but because it is shaped by selective pressures in an interactional environment that all languages share: that of other-initiated repair.
 
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.Scott said:
They created this interactive map:
https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/vocs/map.html#
Oops, I just made the mistake of clicking on "Ecstasy" in the middle of the diagram. I should have thought to turn my PC speakers down first... (I'm at work)

o0)
 
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Male of female voice? Was your office door open or closed? :blushing:
 
Tom.G said:
Male of female voice? Was your office door open or closed? :blushing:
LOL. Female voice, and my current office environment is open top cubicles, with the walls only about 1.5m tall.
 
Way cool. In Southern India, among Tamil & Malayalam speakers, there's an interjection, "Aiyoo!" which, depending on the inflection conveys either positive surprise/approbation or (somewhat) negative surprise/reproval. English has no equivalent, but it's fun to say and useful to convey emotion. I couldn't find the equivalent on the map, but I was somewhat limited by my tablet.

Here's the link to the PNAS article (open access):
https://www.pnas.org/content/114/38/E7900
 
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It is pretty widespread cop lore that if a subject who is being questioned (in a field situation, like a traffic stop or a sidewalk conversation or such) says "Huh?" pretty much anything that follows will be lies.

I am not a cop, and cannot authoritatively confirm this, but I have heard this many times.

diogenesNY
 
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