Which of the following is a perceptual speech characteristic evaluated by CAPE-V?

• A. Jitter
• B. Timbre
• C. Roughness
• D. Frequency

Answer: (C)

CAPE-V measures how voice quality is heard by listeners, using perceptual attributes that describe the texture and sustain of the voice. Among these, roughness is a defined perceptual characteristic that captures the perceived irregularity or harsh, creaky texture in vocal fold vibration. Listeners rate how rough the voice sounds on a standardized scale, which is central to CAPE-V’s judgments of voice quality.

Jitter and frequency are objective acoustic measures tied to signal analysis rather than perceptual ratings used in CAPE-V. Timbre refers more broadly to tone color and is not a specific CAPE-V dimension. Roughness, by contrast, directly maps to the perceptual judgments CAPE-V aims to quantify.