Voice analysis for the measurement of anxiety.
A recently developed technique for the acoustical analysis of speech is described. Speech is analysed electronically for the presence or absence of a microtremor having a frequency of about 10 Hz. This tremor is said to be attenuated in states of psychological stress. The paper present data supporting the validity of this as a measure of anxiety, using states of both normal and pathological anxiety. An objective scoring system is proposed to overcome some of the problems of unreliability. A number of practical advantages of the voice technique are described.
D000162:Acoustics; D001007:Anxiety / Q000175:diagnosis*; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis; D010698:Phobic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D013637:Tape Recording; D014831:Voice