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How Old Do You Think I Am? Speech-Language Predictors of Perceived Age and Communicative Competence
Jean K Gordon1,2, Kim Andersen1, Gabriella Perez1
1Department of Communication Sciences & Disorders, University of Iowa, Iowa City.
Summary
Age can be accurately estimated from speech, primarily using vocal cues like speech rate. Judgments of communication skills, however, are influenced by speech and language, not just perceived age.
Area of Science:
- Linguistics
- Gerontology
- Acoustics
Background:
- Spoken language is crucial for social interaction.
- Age-related changes in speech and language can lead to stereotyping.
- Understanding age estimation from speech is important for addressing these stereotypes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the accuracy of age estimation from spoken language samples.
- To identify informative speech and language cues for age estimation.
- To evaluate how perceived age impacts judgments of speakers' communication competence.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of narratives from 84 speakers aged 30-89 years.
- Comparison of age-related linguistic and acoustic differences.
- Age estimation and communication quality judgments by listeners, readers, and voice raters.
Main Results:
- Older speakers exhibited slower speech rates with minimal linguistic differences.
- Accurate age estimation was possible even from short speech samples (10 seconds).
- Acoustic cues (speech rate, vocal characteristics) were key for accurate age estimation, leading to listener superiority over readers.
Conclusions:
- Age estimation from speech relies heavily on acoustic cues, potentially leading to overestimation.
- Communication ratings were more influenced by speech and language features (narrative length, speech rate) than perceived age.
- Speakers are often judged on superficial speech aspects, impacting age-related stereotyping and intervention strategies.
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