Has your wife or girlfriend ever told you that it wasn’t what you said that angered her, but how you said it? Well, turns out she may actually have a valid complaint.
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The human voice can reveal a lot, and researchers have even been able to program a computer to analyze the speech of couples and determine whether a relationship would improve, worsen or stay the same. In a recent study, researchers compared the computerized analysis, which focused solely on sound qualities such as pitch and intensity, to a human assessment that also took into account blame. It turns out that the computer was better able to predict marital improvement or deterioration even better than the trained humans!
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In a recent clinical study, scientists analyzed video recordings of distressed couples who had been married for an average of 10 years. The audio and video recordings of couple’s therapy sessions occurred over a span of 26 weeks. The scientist used their computer to rate the significance of various acoustic features taken from multiple communication sessions to predict the success or failure of their marriage. The acoustic features included loudness, pitch, energy and even shakiness of the voices. This in combination with the words and body language of the couples were used to indicate ratings that reflected changes in the progressive therapy sessions such as no change, increased or decreased instances. The traditional approach taken by psychologists in a therapy session typically rates behavior only. This study emphasizes the significance of other communication channels including visual (head-movement and other face and body gestures) in addition to the non verbal signals that were analyzed in this study.
Right now the technology is only being used to help therapists do a better job at counseling couples with the aim to make talk therapy more effective. Scientists believe that it’s conceivable that one day there could be an app or a stand-alone device that would sound an alarm when troubling tones are heard. In the meantime, it’s probably best to be aware of the verbal and non verbal cues when you talk to your significant other. Clearly, even a computer can detect a tone.
Curated article from:
Wall Street Journal
