The invention provides a method for automatic affective state inference and an automated affective state inference system. The method method comprising the following steps: capturing speech signals ofa target speaker, extracting one or more acoustic voice parameters from the captured speech signals, calibrating voice markers on the basis of the one or more acoustic voice parameters that have beenextracted from the speech signals of the target speaker, and one or more speaker-inherent reference parameters of the target speaker and one or more inter-speaker reference parameters of a sample ofreference speakers, applying at least one set of prediction rules that are based on the appraisal criteria to the calibrated voice markers for inferring two or more appraisal criteria scores relatingto appraisal of affect-eliciting events with which the target speaker is confronted, and assigning one or more affective state terms to the two or more appraisal criteria scores describing the affective state or states most likely experienced by the target speaker before or while the speech signal was produced.
A METHOD FOR AUTOMATIC AFFECTIVE STATE INFERENCE AND AN AUTOMATED AFFECTIVE STATE INFERENCE SYSTEM