Transcript The influence of emotional and cognitive processes in the definition of speech rate Marco Tonti Università di Bologna Table of Contents The Therapeutic Cycle Model (TCM) 

The influence of emotional
and cognitive processes in
the definition of speech rate
Marco Tonti
Università di Bologna
Table of Contents
The Therapeutic Cycle Model (TCM)
 Influence of the TCM processes on
the Rate of Speech (Main idea)
 Definition and extraction of data
 Statistical results
 Conclusions

Therapeutic Cycle Model
Defines emotional and
cognitive dynamics
 Based on transcripts
 Divides the text in
blocks of words
 Computes the density
of emotional and
cognitive words
 Abstract words are
markers for cognition
Mergenthaler (1996)

TCM – Prototypical Cycle
Phase I
r elaxi ng
Phase II
exper i enci ng
Phase III
connecti ng
Phase IV
r ef lecti ng
Phase V
r elaxi ng
Abst ract ion
Emot ion
Insight

Word frequencies are standardized
as Z-scored values
TCM – Example
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
AB
ET
0
-0.5
-1
-1.5
-2
-2.5
-3

Word frequencies are standardized
as Z-scored values
Table of Contents
The Therapeutic Cycle Model (TCM)
 Influence of the TCM processes on
the Rate of Speech (Main idea)
 Extraction of data
 Statistical results
 Conclusions

Main idea (TCM and ROS)
Insight
PAB
PET
ROSexp
An high emotion level causes slowdonws
due to hesitations.
 An high cognition level causes slowdowns
due to intense elaboration.
Low ROS is expected to be a marker for
the phenomenon of insight.

TCM and ROS (2)
ET


AB

High
ROS
Low
ROS
Higher ROS in I
quadrant
Average ROS in II
and IV quadrants
Lower ROS in III
quadrant
Mental Processes




Mental processes
as OS processes
Resurces drained
by processes in
need for them
Physical effects of
resource variation
Variation of the
speaking rate
Table of Contents
The Therapeutic Cycle Model (TCM)
 Influence of the TCM processes on
the Rate of Speech (Main idea)
 Definition and extraction of data
 Statistical results
 Conclusions

Defining the ROS

Text-based methods:
Words per second
 Characters per second


Acoustical methods
Phones per second
 Syllables per second

Aligning recording
and transcript
`T was brillig, and t he slit hy t oves did gyre and gimble in t he wabe; All mimsy were t he borogoves, And t he mome rat hs out grabe.
The transcript and the recording have been aligned
on the basis of small segments lasting roughly 2 s
and containing from 1 to 6 words. The ROS has been
computed for each segment. The TCM word blocks
are composed by grouping the segments.
Analyzed session info
36 years old female subject (Romina)
 In therapy for eating disorders
 Psychodynamic therapy, one session
per week
 Treatment lasted for 8 months

This study is based on the 4th session
of the terapy.
Table of Contents
The Therapeutic Cycle Model (TCM)
 Influence of the TCM processes on
the Rate of Speech (Main idea)
 Extraction of data
 Statistical results
 Conclusions

Correlation between
TCM and ROS
3
Word block
175 words
2.5
2
1.5
1
Spearman
-0.58
0.5
0
-0.5
-1
Significance
0.004
(<0.05)
-1.5
-2
-2.5
-3
-3.5
0
500
WPS (ROS)
1000
1500
AB+ET (TCM)
2000
2500
3000
Other statistics

The ROS value varies much more
rapidly than the TCM value.
(The time-scale issue)
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The available amount of data is
small.
(Few word blocks for each session)
Disaggregation of
word blocks


Each word block is composed by small
segments.
The TCM value of each block is inherited
by the composing segments.
A
AA AA AA AA

C
AA A CC CC
CC CC CC CC
D
DD DD DD DD
B
DD D B B B B B B B B B BB
This procedure allows a fine-grained
analysis of the rate of speech.
Inferential statistics
The test has been run on the four
groups of segments belonging to the
phases Relaxing, Experiencing,
Connecting and Reflecting.
 The Kruskal-Wallis test showed a
significant difference, for blocks of
175 words, in the mean ROS (CPS) of
each group:
prob>χ2 = 0.0066 (<0.05)

Table of Contents
The Therapeutic Cycle Model (TCM)
 Influence of the TCM processes on
the Rate of Speech (Main idea)
 Extraction of data
 Statistical results
 Conclusions

Conclusions (1)
This pilot study:
 Tends to confirm a connection between
ROS and TCM.

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Defines low ROS as a marker for insight
phases.
Is based on values that can be
extracted on a purely acoustical
fashion.
Conclusions (2)

Defines a procedure to further the
research in this field, and to improve
the research on TCM.

Could allow to skip the heavy work of
transcribing the sessions.