Talking to Dogs: Companion Animal-Directed Speech in a Stress Test

Autor(en)

Raffaela Lesch, Kurt Kotrschal, Gudrun Iris Schöberl, Andrea Beetz, Judith Solomon, W. Tecumseh Fitch

Abstrakt

Companion animal-directed speech (CADS) has previously been investigated in comparison to infant-directed speech and adult-directed speech. To investigate the influence of owner caregiving, attachment pattern, and personality on CADS, we used the Ainsworth strange situation procedure. It allowed us to assess voice source parameters of CADS across different contexts. We extracted speech parameters (voicing duration, voice pitch, pitch range, and jitter) from 53 dog owners recorded during the procedure. We found that owner personality and gender but not caregiving/attachment behavior affect their voice’s pitch, range, and jitter during CADS. Further, we found a differential and context-specific modification of pitch and range, consistent with the idea that pitch communicates affect, whereas range is more of an attention-getting device. This differential usage, and the increased pitch, emphasize and support the parallels described between CADS and infant-directed speech. For the first time, we also show the effect of personality on CADS and lay the basis for including jitter as a potentially useful measure in CADS.

Organisation(en)

Department für Verhaltens- und Kognitionsbiologie, Core Facility KLF für Verhaltens- und Kognitionsbiologie

Externe Organisation(en)

Universität Rostock

Journal

Animals

Band

9

Anzahl der Seiten

16

ISSN

2076-2615

DOI

https://doi.org/10.3390/ani9070417

Publikationsdatum

07-2019

Peer-reviewed

Ja

ÖFOS 2012

103002 Akustik, 106054 Zoologie

Schlagwörter

ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete

Allgemeine Veterinärmedizin, Animal Science and Zoology

Link zum Portal

https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/de/publications/b6ef28d5-35bf-4a73-8969-5c645dbf147c