The voice research lab studies the interface between vocal production and perception.
Why do people sound the way they sound? Is it because our voice reflects anatomic features, and/or are our perceptions based on biases and pre-conceived notions?
Welcome to the Voice Research Laboratory website. This is the website for the Voice Research Laboratory run by Professor David R. Feinberg at the Department of Psychology, Neuroscience, & Behaviour at McMaster University. Here we foster an inclusive learning environment. We study how voices are perceived in social, cognitive, and perceptual domains. Some of our topics include how attractiveness, trust, and dominance play a role in social issues such as voting, relationships, racism, gender equality, and the legal system. The lab also has a strong focus on Open Science. We've developed open source acoustic analysis software. Many of our projects are also listed on Dr. Feinberg's Open Science Framework page.
Here are some topics we are currently working on:
- Topic modeling of voice impressions.
- Auditory adaptation and voices.
- Trust of Police and Social Workers
- Trust in the courtroom
Online Experiments
Due to COVID-19, we are conducting all research online until further notice.
Online ExperimentsResearch Areas
Trustworthiness
What makes voices sound trustworthy to different people in different scenarios? >Do our biases about voices and dominance affect gender inquality and racial prejudice?
Voice Processing
Are voices with reference to an internal prototype? Does averageness play a special role in voice percecption?
Voice Attractiveness
What makes voices sound attractive? Are there certain things about the voice that everyone prefers, or do these things vary between people?