Gestural prosody and the expression of emotions: A perceptual and acoustic experiment

This paper presents a perceptual and acoustic experiment and introduces methodological procedures to deal with qualitative and quantitative variables. Its objectives are: investigating the functions of vocal and facial gestures in the appraisal of six basic emotions (Anger, Distaste, Fear, Happiness, Sadness and Shame) and valence (positive, neutral and negative); discussing the interaction between the visual, vocal and semantic dimensions in the evaluation of audio, visual and audiovisual stimuli corresponding to 30 utterances (10 of them semantically positive, 10 neutral and10 negative). The correlation among the variables was made by non-parametric tests applying FAMD and MFA. Among the perceptual and acoustic variables investigated, the most influential for the identification of valence/emotions were found to be the VPAS and the ExpressionEvaluator measures. Judgments concerning the positive, negative and neutral valence of the utterances and the type of emotion varied accordingly to the kind of stimuli (audio, visual or audiovisual).