research on accents

Perceptions of Intelligence

Lost in Translation: Intelligence Perception of those with Accents

By: Kaitlyn Personette

Roger Williams University

This proposal a course requirement in Psych. 440.01 Experimental Psychology

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Abstract

Living in the United States gives opportune moments to be enriched with

the knowledge of living in a culturally diverse place. Native U.S English speakers

construct social categories for those who are not “locals.” Linguistic

discrimination takes place between native and non-native speakers. After hearing

those speak with an accent, a U.S Native formulates a perception of intelligence

based on their speech. “Broken” English for example could queue to a native

English speaker, a lower competency level than someone who speaks perfect

English. In the current study we are interested in finding the intelligence level

participants perceive of those with non-English accents.

Keywords: Language, Attitudes, Perceptions, Native, English

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The Role of Accents and Perception of Intelligence

Perceptions of Non-Native English

Gomez and Pearson (1990), studied perceptions of native and non-native

English speakers. Gender and language of the teacher were the independent

variables in this study. Participants were asked to come to the testing site and

they were assigned to one of four possible treatments. They were five-minuet

audiotapes, divided by a male and female American teaching assistant and a

male and female international teaching assistant. The international teaching

assistance’s were of Spanish descent although they spoke fluent,

understandable English. This created generalizability in the study because

Spanish culture is large in the United States. Students were exposed to one

condition followed by a questionnaire that rated their perceptions of the teacher’s

background, attitude on homophily (meaning love of the same, or the ability to

bond and connect with another) character along with competence. Interestingly

enough their study found that the Native English speaking teachers were rated

higher on perceived background homophily scores than the international, as well

as attitude homophily. Perceived credibility and homophily, on a multivariate test

of significance reveled significant results for the main effect of gender. Females

received higher scores than males on character, competence, and backround

homophily but not attitude homophily.

Alford and Strother (1990), did a similar study where they tested student’s

perceptions of non-native English speakers on a US regional language level

throughout the country. Researchers provided tapes of a culturally neutral topics

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of what to do in case of an earthquake read by male and female speakers.

Similar to the current study, although, being from three different regions of the

United States for the students to listen to. They divided the audio recordings by

gender, as well as, northern (New York), southern (South Carolina) and Midwest

(Illinois), accents. Participants were then asked to report their attitudes about

each person in the recording on a Likert scale. They were testing to see how

people feel about characteristics of others based solely on a recorded speech of

those who are bi-lingual and bi-dialectic (a person who can speak easily with two

different accents).

Much like in Gomez and Pearson (1990), researchers Alford and Strother

(1990), were generally interested in the perception of feelings, which stem from

homophily. Intelligence, education, self-confidence, and good family training

being five of the 24 positive and negative personality characteristic’s of each

speaker being evaluated by the listener. While researchers, did not have a

significant finding for gender, they did find that speakers of generic US English

were able to detect regional differences in those with regionally differing accents.

Their subjective ratings of characteristics for each of those regional groups

showed that participants were able to rate their perceptions of speakers

favorableness based on punctuation. This exemplifies that punctuation variability

creates a cultural bias therefore this study provided the prominent, stereotyped

attitudes that we have toward other groups, no matter region-to-region or

country-to-country.

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Researchers, Boucher, Hammock, McLaughlin, and Henry’s (2013),

studied the affect of perceptions of the speaker’s competency with a Southern

accent much like Alford and Strother (1990). “Accented speech reflects

individuals’ characteristics such as race, biological sex, social class, and

education and functions to categorize individuals according to group membership

from which stereotypes arise (27).” Participants listened to an audio recording

similar to the previously mentioned studies. Half of the participants were exposed

to a recording with a southern accent, while the other half was exposed to a non-

accented English. Participants received a questionnaire packet, instructing them

to rate the speaker on competency traits including if they were a reliable source

of information, grammatically correct, unknowledgeable about the subject matter,

if they were an effective instructor, persuasive presenter, unprofessional manner,

articulate speaker, and unsophisticated demeanor, on a scale 1 to 5, 5 being the

highest rating indicated. They selected regional dialects in the United States and

discovered that people have pre-conceived notions and evaluations associated

with them. Much like in the current study, participants were presented with an

audio recording of the different accents and asked to answer questions following;

these participants were presented with a regional accent, which varied at

random. They expected the participants to evaluate, a neutral accent more

positively than a non-neutral accent such as a southerners. As predicted, the

neutral speaker’s accent was perceived to be more competent than the

southerner’s accent.

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In a study of 146 students, researchers Tsalikis, DeShields, and LaTour

(1991), asked students to listen to a tape recording, similar to Alford and Strother

(1990) along with Gomez and Pearson (1990). Although, in this study,

participants were to listen to three presenters who spoke with Greek-accented

English and three who spoke with standard American accents. Like in the current

study and previously mentioned studies, the message context was identical for

all participants. Researchers were attempting to assess the role that accents play

on people’s perceptions on the credibility, effectiveness, competence, and

friendliness of a salesperson. Therefore, the message spoken to participants was

a hypothetical sales pitch that was followed by a series of questions.

Researchers hypothesized that for an English-speaking participant; a

salesperson with a Standard English accent would suggest more favorable

judgments than those with Greek-accented English. This is similar to Gomez and

Pearson, along with Alford and Strother (1990), because it shows a strong

correlation between people rating others higher when they can personally relate

to them. For an American audience, the results did indicate, the standard

American accent evoked more favorable judgments. Tsalikis, DeShields, and

LaTour (1991), hypothesized the role of gender as well, pondering if there would

be any differences in the way that females evaluate accents apposed to their

males counterparts. Researches found some differences between males and

females, although nothing significant to report. On all measured dimensions such

as competence, social attractiveness, and integrity, the American accent was

more favorable than the Greek-accented English. Therefore when addressing an

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English speaking audience, a salesperson with a standard English accent would

inherently be more successful in his or her pursuit to sell their item.

Interestingly, Munro and Derwing’s (2000), study looked deeper into the

variable of language and their results were intriguing. They touch upon the fact

that when learning a second language the main goal is for you to be able to go

that country or region with the ability to communicate with those who speak the

native tongue without problem. Although having a non-native accent can interfere

with this goal, this is not always reason as to why people would think those with

non-native accents are less intelligent. The research on the presence of non-

native accents affects in intelligibility and the notions of ‘heavy accent’ and ‘low

intelligibility’ had often acted against expectations. Researchers played an audio

recording (much like the studies above for the participants to listen to) and asked

them to listen carefully to each utterance followed by the instruction to write out in

a booklet exactly what they had heard word for word. In previous works, Munro

and Derwing, found that in scales of this degree, proved to be effective for

eliciting judgments of nonnative speech. After the participants wrote down what

they heard word for word, they were instructed to rate their perceived

comprehensibility. Participants did this by circling a number 1 to 9, where 1=

extremely easy to understand and 9= impossible to understand. In this study they

found that even heavily accented speech is sometimes perfectly intelligible and

that prosodic (of or relating to the rhythmic aspect of language) appear to be a

more potent force in the loss of intelligibility than phonetic errors.

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Researcher Stephanie Lindemann, (2005) conducted a study entirely

different then those previously mentioned although equally as imperative in

regards to the current study. No audio recordings were involved although the way

researched elicited bias responses was creative and catered to a visual

audience. Researches attempted to discover how native US English speakers

constructed social categories for people outside the US. 79 undergraduate

participants were asked to place labels on individual maps describing the English

spoken by international students. In addition, 208 participants were asked to rate

how well the English language was spoken by students in 58 different countries.

For example on the map, one of the participants put “Kwicky Mart” under India,

and “Harsh” under Germany, going off of their previous notions of people who

are from those countries. Depending on familiarity and socio-political

relationships regarding countries of origin it was found that they played a big role

in perception responses. Most times if not all, people categorized the English to

be “broken” if indicating any difference in their speech compared to an English

Native. Interestingly, respondents were initially asked to describe the various

versions of English but participants had a tendency to evaluate them instead.

When a lack of familiarity was presented to the participants they were less eager

to make responses unless asked by the researches. This allowed them to make

evaluations based on stereotypes due to the fact that they lacked the ability to

counterbalance their perceptions with previous knowledge and facts, which

would neutralize their immediate thoughts.

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In Hill and Tomb (2011), investigated the attitudes, feelings, and

perceptions of Australian consumers and how they perceive attitudes of those

who speak with an accent other than Australian English. In this study,

researchers used face-to-face interviewing methods, which, differs than most of

the studies above, including the current study. Their participants had recently

experienced dealing with service providers with accents that differed from the

standard Australian English Accent. Context revolved around the customer

service interaction that they most recently had. After collecting data from the

interviews with participants, it was found that speaking on the phone with those

who do not have a standard Australian English Accent evoked a negative

predisposition for those with accents, which is what was found in all of the

previous studies mentioned. “The negative stereotype bias seemed to moderated

by accent and service country image and influence by customer emotions in the

service interaction”

Rakic, Steffens, and Mummendey (2011), were interested in social-

cognition and auditory information, which is a basis of impression formation in

Germany. In a series of experiments, researchers tested the perceived

competence, hirability, and socio-intellectual status of people with differing

regional accents such as Saxon, Bavarian, and Berlin. Researches were curious

as to if accents played a role in job interviews. Each participant was given

identical content of statements with the regional diverse German accents, similar

to the current study, although in regards to the different conditions of an alleged

job interview. Researches hypothesized that speakers speaking with the

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standard German accent would be judged as having the higher competency and

chances of being hired. It was found that those who spoke the standard German

dialect were socio-intellectually rated higher than those with other diverse

accents. Their findings indicated that regional accents and faces could be

powerful when individuals can relate on a personal level.

Based on the literature, in the current study we expect to find that listening

to a foreign accent would evoke a lower perception of intelligence than that of the

control accent an American English accent. It is hypothesized that those who

listened to the British (UK English) recording will perceive that accent to be more

intelligent compared to those who will perceive the recording with the Latin

accent to be the least intelligent.

Method

Participants

Participants included 191 undergraduate students (65 males and 126

females) from Roger Williams University with the need to fulfill a one, credit

research requirement. Of the 191 participants there were 52, 18-year-olds; 61,

19-year-olds; 49, 20-year-olds; 24, 21-year-olds; one 22-year-old; one 23-year-

old; and one 25-year-old participated. When asked what the participant’s current

class year was there were 54 freshman, 69 sophomores, 52 juniors, and 15

seniors. Out of the 191 participants there were 175 White/Caucasians, five

Hispanic/Latinos, one Black/African American, and nine classified as “other.”

Participants were granted one credit of completion for their research

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requirements that are mandatory for 300 level psychology classes and below at

Roger Williams University.

Design

The independent variables in this study were type of accent (Hindu,

American English, UK English, and Latin) and gender (male and female) of the

audio recording. The dependent measure was perceived intelligence of the voice

in the audio recording on a Likert type scale (1 through 6). These dimensions

were used because they have demonstrated high reliability in the past and are

most relevant to the purpose of this study. (Gomez and Pearson, 1990)

The independent variable for accent had four levels that were randomly

assigned to the participant. The independent variable for gender had 2 levels and

was also randomly assigned to the participant. Randomization was used to

ensure that each condition would be equally distributed. 77 participants listened

to a male voice when listening to the audio clip, and 114 participants listened to a

female voice. The total participants for each accent condition were 37 for

American English, 46 for Hindu, 60 for Latin and 48 for UK English.

Materials and Procedure

Participants first were instructed to listen to an audio file consisting of one

of eight possible accents. The audio files consisted of four accents, which were

American, Hindu, Latin, and British (UK English) with two levels divided by

gender (male and female). The materials were obtained through the speech

accent archive located at George Mason University’s website

(http://accents.gmu.edu/).

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http://accents.gmu.edu/


For the purposes of this study American, Hindu, Latin, and British (UK

English) accents were used. Each accent was given in a male or female voice,

which participants responded to in an online survey. Participants were informed

that they would be involved in a study exploring comprehensibility of language.

After obtaining informed consent, participants listened to 1 of 8 audio recordings

of an individual (male or female) speaking about a day’s events in one of the four

designated accents. Participants responded to a number of items relating to the

audio recording. Each question was either answered on a scale of 1 through 6, or

a “yes” or “no” response. Although there was no time limit for the study, on a

average, participants completed the study in approximately five minutes.

The current study utilized a 2 (Gender of Speaker: Males V. Female) x 4

(Type of Accent: Hindu v. UK English v. American English v. Latino) between-

subjects factorial design. A non-visual audio recording was used to gauge to

what extent individuals relied on stereotypes when assessing the intelligence

level of the speaker in the recording.

Procedure

After participants signed up for our study, they were instructed to read and

sign an informed consent form. In order to receive credit for participating in the

study, participants were required to include their full name and the class they

needed to fulfill a requirement in. The consent form outlined the purpose of the

study and what their rights were as a participant. All participants were assured of

their anonymity and confidentiality. Because participation was voluntary, the

consent form stated that the participant was free to stop the survey at any time.

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After signing the informed consent form, participants were brought to a new

screen with a randomly selected audio condition. After participants listened to the

audio recording, they were brought to a page of 15 questions pertaining to the

condition and 4 demographics questions. After the participants finished

answering the questions, they were debriefed and thanked for their participation.

Participants were assured in the debriefing that they should not have been

harmed by participating in this study. If they desired more information, they were

directed to contact the supervising researcher.

Results

Demographics

The demographics of the current study include gender, age, current class year,

and ethnicity.

Hypothesis Testing

Our primary dependent variable was perceptions of intelligence. A 2 x 4

ANOVA revealed a significant main effect of accent: F(3, 183)= 2.84, p = .039,

partial eta squared = .044.

As hypothesized, those who listened to the British (UK English) recording

perceived that accent to be more intelligent (M = 4.23) compared to those who

perceived the recording with the Latin accent to be the least intelligent (M=3.73).

Intelligence was rated on a scale of 1 = Not at all intelligent to 6 = Extremely

intelligent.

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A second Univariate ANOVA revealed a significant main effect of accent

on the item: “Do you perceive yourself to be more intelligent than this person”: F

(3, 190) = 2.71, p = .047, partial eta squared = .043.

Scheffe’s test of multiple comparisons found that the American English

accent and the Hindu accent were significant at the .042 level. Participants in the

American English accent condition found themselves to be significantly more

intelligent than the person in the audio recording (M = 3.35). Participants in the

Hindu accent condition said they were significantly less intelligent than the

person in the audio recording (M = 2.54).

Exploratory Analyses

I was interested in looking at the difference of gender between participants

and perception of intelligence. After running an, independent samples T-test we

found a value of p=. 992, therefore there was slim to no difference in how males

and females perceived the intelligence of those with non-native American

accents.

Discussion

After analyzing our statistical data and reviewing a myriad of literature

reviews we have found an immense amount of empirical evidence to back up our

studies significance. We found that there is a large amount of evidence to prove

that people innately do have a preconceived bias that shows when asking to

perceive the intelligence of those with accents via audio recording. As mentioned

in the literature review many of the studies pertaining to this topic, tested using

audio-recorded tapes with differing accents to manipulate the participants into

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reporting their initial perceptions of those with accents. For example Gomez and

Pearson (1990), studied perceptions of native and non-native English speakers

related directly to our study for students were exposed to one condition followed

by a questionnaire that rated their perceptions. Both our study and Gomez and

Pearson (1990) found that people do formulate bias opinions of people strictly

based on their accents although Gomez and Pearson (1990), reported that

females scored higher for competency unlike in the current study where we did

not find a main significant affect of gender of any kind.

Alford and Strother (1990) had an interesting point that we did not touch

much upon in the current study being the exemplification of the variable of

punctuation creating a cultural bias. Since participants in this study were able to

rate their perceptions based off of the audio-recording’s punctuation it made it

clear to me that at times people will base intelligence and various other

perceptions, not off of the specific accent, but off of how proper and correct the

person is speaking. Although, Alford and Strother (1990) strictly tested within US

regional accents, I believe the same theory applies to the current study being that

lack of punctuation creates lack of intelligence credibility.

In the study, tested by Tsalikis, DeShields, and LaTour (1991),

participants were asked to listen to listen to a tape recording, similar to Alford and

Strother (1990) along with Gomez and Pearson (1990). Although, in this study

participants were to listen to three presenters who spoke with Greek-accented

English and three who spoke with standard American accents. It was found that

when people can relate to the person is speaking they will rate them higher for

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reasoning of compatibility. This finding proved insight because in the current

study we had a lack of diversity so I wonder if we had more diversity, and more

people were able to relate to the audio-recordings, if our results would have

differed in a similar way making our study more generalizable. Researchers

(1991) had no significant affect on gender like the current study.

Limitations

The results of this study should not be overgeneralized. Although the

sample size was a large number of 191 participants, there was a relatively small

diverse background. Given that, the results of our study may have been skewed

showing a larger racial bias than expected. Roger Williams University students,

our population, might have a lack of exposure to those of ethnically diverse

backgrounds. Also, we did not ask the students if they could specifically identify

the accent that they heard which would have created another significant variable

for our study.

Implications for Future Research

A number of valuable research studies would add to this attempt to

measure people’s perception of intelligence on those with accents. In addition to

the suggestion to further research, this study should be replicated with

participants from more regionally diverse backgrounds in order to confirm these

findings. With Confirmation, these results would be more accurately

generalizable. Using a non-visual audio recording, we gauged whether and to

what extent individuals relied of stereotypes when assessing intelligence level of

the speaker in the recording. Instead of using a non-visual audio recording, in

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future studies, asking real individuals from these diverse nations to come and

physically speak in front of participants, could create a new level of intelligence

perception.

Conclusion

In this study, the outcomes indicated the important aspects of perceptions

of intelligence. One of the most crucial implications is that accents bring forth

many varying perceptions of intelligence because participants found varying

accents to be more intelligent compared to others. This indicates a complex

nature of accent perception. Finally, it is suggested that this study will contribute

to the analysis of how perceptions of intelligence are affected by varying accents.

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References

Alford, R. L., & Strother, J. B. (1990). Attitudes of native and normative speakerstoward selected regional accents of U.S english. Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages. Inc. (TESOL),24(3), 479-495. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/3587231

Boucher, C. J., Hammock, G. S., McLaughlin, S. D., & Henry, K. N. (2013).Perceptions of competency as a function of accent. 18(1), 27-32.

Gomez, C., & Pearson, J. (1990). Who speaks “broken english”? usundergraduates’ perceptions of non-native english. Communication Research Reports,7(1), 58-62.

Hill, J. H. (1998). Race and white public space.American AnthropologistAssociation, 100(3), 680-689. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/682046

Lindemann, S. (2005). Who speaks 'broken English'? US undergraduates'perceptions of non-native English. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 15(2), 187-212

Munro, M. J., & Derwing, T. M. (2000). Foreign accent, comprehensibility, andintelligibility in the speech of second language learners. Journal of Research in Language Studies, 45(1), 79-97. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-1770.1995.tb00963.x

Rakic, T., Melanie, S., & Mummendey , A. (2011). When it matters how youpronounce it: The influence of regional accents on job interview outcome. British Journal of Psychology, 102(4), 868-883. doi: 10.1111/j.2044-8295.2011.02051.x

Tombs, A., & Hill, S. R. (2011). The effect of accents of service employee oncustomer service evaluation .Managing Service Quality, 21(6), 649-666. doi:10.1108/09604521111185637

Tsalikis, J., DeShields, O. W., & LaTour, M. S. (1991). The role of accent on thecredibility and effectiveness of the salesperson. The Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, 11(1), 31-41. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/40471845

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http://www.jstor.org/stable/40471845


Appendix

Research Protocol Form for New Individual Classroom Research Proposal

Project Description

There has been little research on the effect of foreign accents on perceptions of intelligence, however research has found connections between foreign accents and other types of perceptions. For example, Fuertes et al., (2012) found that individuals that spoke with a standard accent (accepted accent of the majority population) were evaluated or rated much more positively than those individuals that spoke with a non-standard accent (foreign accent to the majority population). These evaluations were based upon the individual’s intelligence/social class, liveliness, and trustworthiness. Even with this in mind, when standard accents are compared to foreign accents there is a wide gap in between the two. With standard accented individuals viewed as more trustworthy or lively than those individuals with a foreign accent. Munro and Derwing (1999) found that foreign accents have almost no effect on comprehensibility and intelligibility. Participants in this study showed no signs of incomprehensibility or intelligibility even when the accent listened to was considered to be a “heavy accent”. For our study, we expect to find that listening to a foreign accent will evoke a lower perception of intelligence than that of the control accent (American English). Participants will listen to a scripted audio recording of one of 4 accents with either a male or female speaker. We will then ask a series of questions regarding gender and intelligence based on the audio recording. We expect to observe differences as a function of type of accent.

Participants

Participants will consist of a minimum of 160 Roger Williams University undergraduate students. Participants will be chosen through SONA systems. Participants will be given research credit for their participation in the study.

Procedures and Methodology

This is an online study in which participants respond to a survey via link to the study’s universal resource locator. Participants will be informed that they will be involved in a study exploring comprehensibility language. After obtaining informed consent, participants will listen to one of eight audio recordings of an individual (male or female speaking about a day’s events). The materials were obtained through the speech accent archive located at George Mason University’s website (http://accent.gmu.edu/.) Participants will then respond to a number of items relating to the audio recording. The study will take approximately 20 minutes. Following completion of the study all participants will be thanked and debriefed for their participation.

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Proposed Analyses

In this study we will utilize a 2 (Gender of Speaker: Male v. Female) x 4 (Type of Accent: Hindi v. UK English v. American English v. Latino) between-subjects factorial design. Using a non-visual audio recording, we will gauge whether and to what extent individuals rely on stereotypes when assessing intelligence level of the speaker in the recording. We are also interested in testing whether certain demographics (gender, etc.) predict levels of intelligences as well as other dependent measures.

Consent Procedures and Data Confidentiality and Anonymity

This study will follow the guidelines set by the American Psychological Association (Smith, 2003)1. The participants will be fully informed of the procedures and told that they may discontinue their participation at any time without prejudice or penalty. As stated previously, potential participants will read through the informed consent form outlining the basic purpose of the study should they decide to participate. Participant name and course will appear on the Informed Consent2. In order to ensure confidentiality, data will be collected in such a way that no one other than the student researchers and the faculty advisor will have access to this information. Data from the study will be downloaded from the online web-based tool Qualtrics in SPSS format and stored on the faculty advisor’s computer (and backed up on a University-owned external drive). The data will be analyzed using ANOVA. When analyzing the data, participant responses will be separated from this information, thereby disassociating identifying information from participants’ responses. Consistent with the guidelines of the American Psychological Association, data will be stored electronically on the faculty advisor’s computer for a minimum of five years.

Risks/Discomfort and Benefits to the Participants

It is believed that participants should experience no risks or discomforts. A potential benefit is that participation will contribute to the goal of the researchers; i.e., obtaining a better understanding of psychological research.

1

2

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Accents and Intelligence: An Empirical Examination

Informed Consent Form

Principal Investigators: Rachel Fatse, Kaitlyn Personette, Phillip McDonald and Judith Platania Ph. D.

1. Purpose of the Study: This is a psychological research project on language comprehensibility. A minimum of 160 participants will be included in this study.

2. Procedures Experienced by Participants: By participating in this study, you will be asked to first read and electronically sign an informed consent describing the study. Then, you will listen to an audio recording and respond to a number of items related to your perceptions of what you have just heard. You will then complete a series of demographic items. Participation should take approximately 20 minutes.

3. Confidentiality and Anonymity: Only the investigators listed above, as well as the supervising professor, will have access to your responses, which will ensure your confidentiality. Additionally, data will be analyzed anonymously, meaning your responses cannot be connected to any of your identifying information. Thus, your responses will remain anonymous.

4. Your Rights: You have the right to decline participation without any penalties or prejudice because participation is strictly voluntary. Additionally, at any point in the study if you do not feel comfortable or no longer want to participate, you have the right to withdraw from the study without prejudice or penalty. If you have any questions during the course of the study you may contact the class professor at the email address and/or telephone number provided on this consent form.

5. Compensation for Participation: Student participation will fulfill a research requirement.

6. Risks and Benefits of being a Participant: No physical, psychological, or emotional risks are associated with this study. At any time during your participation, you are allowed to withdraw from this study without facing any penalties. A potential benefit is that you will contribute to the researchers’ goals of having a better understanding of how psychological research is conducted.

More Information: After participation, please feel free to contact Dr. Judith Platania [email protected] in CAS Room 102, 401 254-5738, should you have any additional questions.

By providing my name below, I certify that I have given my full consent to

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mailto:[email protected]


participate in this study. I am at least 18 years of age or older. I have read this form and fully understand the content.

Text Box for inclusion of participant name

Text Box for inclusion of course name

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Appendix

Regardless of experimental condition, all participants will receive the following directions.

You are about to hear a scripted audio recording. The script used for this study has been previously drafted and recorded. The purpose for this script is to show the range of a person’s phonetic (sounds of human speech) and cognitive skill, not context. Please listen to the following audio recording based on pronunciation and language, not context. After listening to the recording you will respond to a series of questions related to the recording.

*For the purposes of this study, we suggest that you participate in a quiet place.

Audio Script – Experimental Manipulation

British Accent, Latin American Accent, Hindi Accent, and English (United States). In addition this script will either be expressed through a male or female voice.

“Please call Stella. Ask her to bring these things with her from the store: Six spoons of fresh snow peas, five thick slabs of blue cheese, and maybe a snack for her brother Bob. We also need a small plastic snake and a big toy frog for the kids. She can scoop these things into three red bags, and we will go meet her Wednesday at the train station.”

After listening to the video, all participants will respond to each of the following items.

Are you familiar with the accent that you heard in the audio recording?

1 2 3 4 5 6

Not at all familiar Completely familiar

Please rate the level of intelligence of the person in the recording?

1 2 3 4 5 6

Not at all intelligent Extremely intelligent

If a person of the opposite sex read this script would you feel they were any more or less intelligent?

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1 2 3 4 5 6

Less intelligent About the same intelligence More intelligent

How easy was it for you to understand what the person was saying?

1 2 3 4 5 6

Not easy at all to understand Very easy to understand

How credible do you think information would be coming from this person?

1 2 3 4 5 6

Not at all credible Extremely credible

Do you know anyone personally who has this accent?

No Yes

Have you ever had an interaction with someone with this accent?

1 2 3 4 5 6

Never Often

If you have had an interaction, please rate your perception of the interaction:

1 2 3 4 5 6

NegativePositive

How likely would you be to pair up with this person in a college class?

1 2 3 4 5 6

Unlikely Likely Very Likely Was the audio reading that you just heard read by a male or a female?

Male Female

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How well do you think this person would perform well academically in a college course?

1 2 3 4 5 6

Very Poorly Average Very Well

When applying for a job do you think having this accent would improve your chances of getting that job?

1 2 3 4 5 6

Does not improve somewhat improves Greatly improves

Do you perceive yourself to be more intelligent than this person?

1 2 3 4 5 6

Not at all A great deal

(bracketed numbers appear for data entry purposes only)

Please answer the following questions as they apply to you:

Your gender:

£ Male [1]£ Female [2]

What is your age? ______________________

What is your current class year?

£ Freshman [1]£ Sophomore [2]£ Junior [3]£ Senior [4]

What is your ethnicity?

£ White/Caucasian [1]£ Hispanic/Latino [2]£ Black/African-American [3]

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£ Other [4]

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Debriefing

Thank you for participating in this research study. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of gender and accents on perceptions of intelligence of the speaker. In other words, we are interested in seeing if a person’s gender and the way they speak has an effect on how smart you think that person is.

If you are experiencing any difficulty with completing this study please contact the University Counseling Center at 254-3124 or Dr. Judith Platania at 254-5738.

If you are interested in reading about our topic please go to the following website for a short reading on the relation between intelligence and accents:http://debatewise.org/debates/400-does-your-accent-indicate-your-inteligence/

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http://debatewise.org/debates/400-does-your-accent-indicate-your-inteligence/

research on accents

Documents