The One-Voice Expert
- Lisa Rombout, Cognitive Science & Artificial Intelligence, Tilburg University, Tilburg, Netherlands
- Marie Postma, Cognitive Science & Artificial Intelligence, Tilburg University, Tilburg, Netherlands
AbstractProducing and processing speech involves complex feedback loops of sensory and motor signals. Vocal sounds are partially processed as a movement affordance, allowing us to learn speaking patterns through imitation, which can be beneficial for language learning. In this study, we examine this process as a type of social embodiment illusion - the blurring of boundaries between self and other. Participants performed an altered version of a theatrical game called the 'one-voice expert', where they improvised speech in same-gender dyads. Unlike previous studies, we looked separately at the effects of simultaneousness ('speaking at the same time') and synchronicity ('saying the same thing'). These two variables were found to influence vocal characteristics and self-voice recognition in a distinct way, with synchronicity leading to stronger pitch adaptation and simultaneousness to suppression of phonetic convergence. We conclude that linking embodiment processes to joint speech in real world social interactions could be a promising new conceptual framework, with possible applications for language learning.