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Laughter: A Stereotyped Human Vocalization
Author(s) -
Provine Robert R.,
Yong Yvonne L.
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
ethology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.739
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1439-0310
pISSN - 0179-1613
DOI - 10.1111/j.1439-0310.1991.tb00298.x
Subject(s) - laughter , perception , psychology , character (mathematics) , interval (graph theory) , communication , speech production , speech recognition , computer science , social psychology , mathematics , neuroscience , geometry , combinatorics
Laughter is a common, species‐typical human vocal act and auditory signal that is important in social discourse. In this first quantitative description of laughter, we identified stereotyped features of laugh‐note structure, note duration (x̄ = 75 ms), internote interval (x̄ = 210–218 ms), and a decrescendo that contribute to laughter's characteristic sound. Laugh‐notes and internote intervals have sufficient temporal symmetry and regularity to pass the reversal test; recordings of laughter sound laugh‐like when played in reverse. The stereotypic, species‐typical character of laughter facilitates the analysis of the neurobehavioral mechanisms of laugh detection and generation and the more general problems associated with the production, perception, and evolution of human auditory signals of which speech is a special case.