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• 21. [Article] An exploration into the applicability of a psychological technique for anthropological research

  This thesis purports to explore and describe the types of information that would be obtainable to the anthropological researcher if he used the minimally structured small group (MDMS-SG) technique with ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: An exploration into the applicability of a psychological technique for anthropological research Author: Pierce, Gwendolyn Marie Harris Year: 1971 This thesis purports to explore and describe the types of information that would be obtainable to the anthropological researcher if he used the minimally structured small group (MDMS-SG) technique with members of a selected ethnic group. The approach was tried on Japanese Portland State University students and also on Saudi Arab Portland State University students for six sessions each. They were told that a graduate anthropology student wanted to get to know them and learn what they thought she should know about their countries. The sessions were taped and notes written after each session. This corpus of material was analyzed using the closed corpus technique which necessitates use of the entire corpus and only the corpus. Post-categorization was used, it being especially appropriate in pilot studies and/or in original exploratory research where the emphasis is on induction rather than deduction. The verbal and other behavioral phenomena exhibited by the two “cultural” groups were compared and an attempt made to isolate that which was distinctively Arab or Japanese. Presence-absence counts and the relative frequency with which behavioral items were exhibited determined whether or not an item was differentiating. Those differences occurred in six major areas which included responses to the constants of the total situation, patterns of organization, paralinguistic phenomena exhibited, interaction patterns displayed, emotions expressed and finally the subject matter discussed. These then are areas for or aspects about which the anthropological investigator can expect to obtain data if he uses the MDMS-SG with “cultural” groups. These differences were then compared with information gathered about Arab and Japanese cultures from other sources. The working hypothesis that the Arab group would spontaneously exhibit significant behavioral differences from the Japanese group under MDMS-SG conditions and that these differences would be related to the ethnic background of that larger population of which they are a part was utilized. The two groups were substantially different and these differences were in the direction of the differences between the two ethnic groups from which they come. Therefore the assumption, while not proved, was substantially strengthened. In the Arab and Japanese groups, it was found that the group reactions to the total situation—the physical surroundings, the investigator, the fact of meeting at all, etc.- -almost all coincided with the written literature. It would seem therefore that the MDMS-SG could be used prior to field work with an unstudied group. Organizational patterns are ideally and easily studied through the use of the MDMS-SG. It could be a part of every ethnology besides having practical significance (i.e. in facilitating international communication) but is only rarely studied now. Title: An exploration into the applicability of a psychological technique for anthropological research Author: Pierce, Gwendolyn Marie Harris Year: 1971 This thesis purports to explore and describe the types of information that would be obtainable to the anthropological researcher if he used the minimally structured small group (MDMS-SG) technique with members of a selected ethnic group. The approach was tried on Japanese Portland State University students and also on Saudi Arab Portland State University students for six sessions each. They were told that a graduate anthropology student wanted to get to know them and learn what they thought she should know about their countries. The sessions were taped and notes written after each session. This corpus of material was analyzed using the closed corpus technique which necessitates use of the entire corpus and only the corpus. Post-categorization was used, it being especially appropriate in pilot studies and/or in original exploratory research where the emphasis is on induction rather than deduction. The verbal and other behavioral phenomena exhibited by the two “cultural” groups were compared and an attempt made to isolate that which was distinctively Arab or Japanese. Presence-absence counts and the relative frequency with which behavioral items were exhibited determined whether or not an item was differentiating. Those differences occurred in six major areas which included responses to the constants of the total situation, patterns of organization, paralinguistic phenomena exhibited, interaction patterns displayed, emotions expressed and finally the subject matter discussed. These then are areas for or aspects about which the anthropological investigator can expect to obtain data if he uses the MDMS-SG with “cultural” groups. These differences were then compared with information gathered about Arab and Japanese cultures from other sources. The working hypothesis that the Arab group would spontaneously exhibit significant behavioral differences from the Japanese group under MDMS-SG conditions and that these differences would be related to the ethnic background of that larger population of which they are a part was utilized. The two groups were substantially different and these differences were in the direction of the differences between the two ethnic groups from which they come. Therefore the assumption, while not proved, was substantially strengthened. In the Arab and Japanese groups, it was found that the group reactions to the total situation—the physical surroundings, the investigator, the fact of meeting at all, etc.- -almost all coincided with the written literature. It would seem therefore that the MDMS-SG could be used prior to field work with an unstudied group. Organizational patterns are ideally and easily studied through the use of the MDMS-SG. It could be a part of every ethnology besides having practical significance (i.e. in facilitating international communication) but is only rarely studied now. Close

• 22. [Article] Effects of speaker-sex-difference on listeners' perception of vocal roughness in normal vowel productions

  The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of speaker-sex-difference on listeners' perception of vocal roughness in the vowel [ӕ] produced by normal male and female speakers. In a previous ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Effects of speaker-sex-difference on listeners' perception of vocal roughness in normal vowel productions Author: Phillips, Patsy J Year: 1973 The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of speaker-sex-difference on listeners' perception of vocal roughness in the vowel [ӕ] produced by normal male and female speakers. In a previous investigation by Wendahl (1963) it was found that when listening to two synthesized vowels, of equal aperiodicity, judges tended to rate the lower pitched vowel as being more vocally rough. If this is true for listeners’ perception of human vowel productions as well then it might be advantageous for voice clinicians, when making vocal roughness assessments, to regard male and female speakers as two separate populations in view of the inherent pitch differences between the sexes. In this current investigation, pairs of vowels produced by normal adult male and female speakers were presented to 10 speech pathologists (5 males and 5 females). Each vowel pair contained one male and one female production of the vowel [ӕ] which had been assigned equal roughness ratings in a previous judging task. The 50 vowel pairs contained 10 pairs of vowels at each of five roughness rating levels. The 10 judges were required to listen to each of the 50 pairs and to make a forced choice selection of the most vocally rough production within each pair. The findings in this study revealed that for the 50 vowel pairs the judges selected the vowels produced by males as being more vocally rough a significantly greater proportion of the time. With respect to the five roughness rating levels, judges chose the male produced vowels as being rougher a significantly greater proportion of the time at rating levels one, three and five but illustrated no significant preference between the sexes at rating levels two and four. Further analysis revealed that the five male judges selected the vowels produced by males as being the rougher a significantly greater proportion of' the time for all 50 pairs at each of the five roughness rating levels. The five female judges, on the other hand, illustrated no significant preferences between the sexes for the 50 vowel pairs. They did show a significant preference for the males at rating level one, a significant preference for the females at rating level two but no significant at rating levels three, four and five. In addition, male judges illustrated substantially greater inter-judge agreement and intra-judge reliability for this judging task than did the female judges. Title: Effects of speaker-sex-difference on listeners' perception of vocal roughness in normal vowel productions Author: Phillips, Patsy J Year: 1973 The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of speaker-sex-difference on listeners' perception of vocal roughness in the vowel [ӕ] produced by normal male and female speakers. In a previous investigation by Wendahl (1963) it was found that when listening to two synthesized vowels, of equal aperiodicity, judges tended to rate the lower pitched vowel as being more vocally rough. If this is true for listeners’ perception of human vowel productions as well then it might be advantageous for voice clinicians, when making vocal roughness assessments, to regard male and female speakers as two separate populations in view of the inherent pitch differences between the sexes. In this current investigation, pairs of vowels produced by normal adult male and female speakers were presented to 10 speech pathologists (5 males and 5 females). Each vowel pair contained one male and one female production of the vowel [ӕ] which had been assigned equal roughness ratings in a previous judging task. The 50 vowel pairs contained 10 pairs of vowels at each of five roughness rating levels. The 10 judges were required to listen to each of the 50 pairs and to make a forced choice selection of the most vocally rough production within each pair. The findings in this study revealed that for the 50 vowel pairs the judges selected the vowels produced by males as being more vocally rough a significantly greater proportion of the time. With respect to the five roughness rating levels, judges chose the male produced vowels as being rougher a significantly greater proportion of the time at rating levels one, three and five but illustrated no significant preference between the sexes at rating levels two and four. Further analysis revealed that the five male judges selected the vowels produced by males as being the rougher a significantly greater proportion of' the time for all 50 pairs at each of the five roughness rating levels. The five female judges, on the other hand, illustrated no significant preferences between the sexes for the 50 vowel pairs. They did show a significant preference for the males at rating level one, a significant preference for the females at rating level two but no significant at rating levels three, four and five. In addition, male judges illustrated substantially greater inter-judge agreement and intra-judge reliability for this judging task than did the female judges. Close