Face health, Voice attractiveness and Kin detection

Question 1

What are some indicators of face health?

Answer 1

1) symmetry
2) averageness
3) colour and texture (Little et al., 2011; Stephen et al., 2011)

Question 2

Is colour relevant in animal sexual selection?

Answer 2

Yes. It has been found in fishes, birds, mandrills and other primates.

Question 3

Are there cultural differences in the perception of skin health?

Answer 3

Yes. European and Asian cultures do have different perceptions (Han et al., 2018)

Question 4

What are some key terminology in voice attractiveness?

Answer 4

1) Fundamental frequency - affects the pitch of a voice

2) Fromants - affects the timbre and tone of a voice

Question 5

Are there gender differences in voices?

Answer 5

Yes.

1) Women have about twice the pitch of men (Puts et al., 2012)
2) Men are not monotonous. SD of fundamental frequency is lower compared to women (Henton, 1995)
3) Men have lower and more closely spaced formant frequencies (Fitch, 1997)

Question 6

Do voice related sexual dimorphic attributes affect attraction?

Answer 6

Yes. But not at the extremes of the range.

Question 7

How does body size related to voice?

Answer 7

1) Vocal folds grow in tandem with the body, larger bodies will have larger folds. These larger folds vibrate at a slower rate, resulting in lower pitch (Hollien, 2014).
2) Taller people will have longer larynx and this in turn will result in lower formants (lower timbre and tone) (Fitch and Giedd, 1999).

Question 8

Are vocal folds or vocal tract more indicative of body size?

Answer 8

Vocal tracts are more reliable as they depend on the size of the skull (Pisanski et al., 2014).

Question 9

Is there a relationship between voice and strength?

Answer 9

Yes but studies are limited. (Sell et al., 2009)

There are also studies on how proxies of strength are present in the voice (Pisanski & Bryant, 2019)

Question 10

What behaviors are related to kin detection?

Answer 10

1) probability of helping
2) level of balance in a reciprocal relationship
3) optimal mate choice - not mating with kin

Question 11

How does facial self-resemblance affect relationships (Debruine, 2005)?

Answer 11

It increases trustworthiness but not lust worthiness!

Question 12

Does birth order affect ability to identify relatedness (Fasolt et al., 2019)?

Answer 12

No. Overall, identification of relatedness is high but there is no impact of birth order.

Question 13

Does smiling aid kinship detection?

Answer 13

No.

Question 14

Are vocal indicators of body size strong or weak?

Answer 14

Weak.