On How Vocal Cues Impact Dynamic Credibility Judgments: Mouse-Tracking Paradigm Examining Speaker Confidence and Gender Through Voice Morphing

Purpose: This study aimed to explore how vocal cues of confidence and gender influence the dynamic mechanisms involved in reasoning about speaker credibility. Method: Using a mouse-tracking paradigm, 52 participants evaluated speaker credibility based on semantically neutral statements that varied in morphed levels of gender (Experiment 1) and confidence (Experiment 2). Participants' mouse trajectories and reaction times were recorded to assess their credibility judgments. Results: The findings revealed that perceived confidence significantly impacted credibility judgments and mouse trajectories, while gender did not. Higher levels of perceived confidence resulted in more credible assessments, demonstrated by direct mouse trajectories and quicker reaction times. Moreover, mouse trajectories reflected cognitive mediation effects between confidence and credibility judgments, indicating that vocal cues influence both the final judgments and the dynamic inference process during speaker credibility assessment. Conclusions: The study highlights the critical role of vocal cues, particularly confidence, in shaping perceptions of speaker credibility. It suggests that these vocal cues not only affect final credibility judgments but also play a significant role in the dynamic reasoning process involved in social inference. Supplemental Material: https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.30265942