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Hilton CB, Moser CJ, Bertolo M, Lee-Rubin H, Amir D, Bainbridge CM, Simson J, Knox D, Glowacki L, Alemu E, Galbarczyk A, Jasienska G, Ross CT, Neff MB, Martin A, Cirelli LK, Trehub SE, Song J, Kim M, Schachner A, Vardy TA, Atkinson QD, Salenius A, Andelin J, Antfolk J, Madhivanan P, Siddaiah A, Placek CD, Salali GD, Keestra S, Singh M, Collins SA, Patton JQ, Scaff C, Stieglitz J, Cutipa SC, Moya C, Sagar RR, Anyawire M, Mabulla A, Wood BM, Krasnow MM, Mehr SA. Acoustic regularities in infant-directed speech and song across cultures. Nat Hum Behav 2022; 6:1545-1556. [PMID: 35851843 PMCID: PMC10101735 DOI: 10.1038/s41562-022-01410-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2022] [Accepted: 06/10/2022] [Indexed: 02/01/2023]
Abstract
When interacting with infants, humans often alter their speech and song in ways thought to support communication. Theories of human child-rearing, informed by data on vocal signalling across species, predict that such alterations should appear globally. Here, we show acoustic differences between infant-directed and adult-directed vocalizations across cultures. We collected 1,615 recordings of infant- and adult-directed speech and song produced by 410 people in 21 urban, rural and small-scale societies. Infant-directedness was reliably classified from acoustic features only, with acoustic profiles of infant-directedness differing across language and music but in consistent fashions. We then studied listener sensitivity to these acoustic features. We played the recordings to 51,065 people from 187 countries, recruited via an English-language website, who guessed whether each vocalization was infant-directed. Their intuitions were more accurate than chance, predictable in part by common sets of acoustic features and robust to the effects of linguistic relatedness between vocalizer and listener. These findings inform hypotheses of the psychological functions and evolution of human communication.
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Affiliation(s)
- Courtney B Hilton
- Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.
- Haskins Laboratories, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.
| | - Cody J Moser
- Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.
- Department of Cognitive and Information Sciences, University of California, Merced, Merced, CA, USA.
| | - Mila Bertolo
- Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Harry Lee-Rubin
- Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Dorsa Amir
- Boston College Department of Psychology, Chestnut Hill, MA, USA
| | - Constance M Bainbridge
- Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Department of Communication, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Jan Simson
- Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Dean Knox
- Operations, Information, and Decisions Department, The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Luke Glowacki
- Department of Anthropology, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
| | | | - Andrzej Galbarczyk
- Department of Environmental Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Krakow, Poland
| | - Grazyna Jasienska
- Department of Environmental Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Krakow, Poland
| | - Cody T Ross
- Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Mary Beth Neff
- School of Psychology, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand
- Department of Philosophy, Classics, History of Art and Ideas, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Alia Martin
- School of Psychology, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand
| | - Laura K Cirelli
- Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Scarborough, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Mississauga, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
| | - Sandra E Trehub
- Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Mississauga, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
| | - Jinqi Song
- Department of Mathematics, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Minju Kim
- Department of Psychology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Adena Schachner
- Department of Psychology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Tom A Vardy
- School of Psychology, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Quentin D Atkinson
- School of Psychology, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
- Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | | | | | - Jan Antfolk
- Department of Psychology, Åbo Akademi, Turku, Finland
| | - Purnima Madhivanan
- Department of Health Promotion Sciences, College of Public Health, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
- Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, College of Medicine, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
- Department of Family & Community Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
- Public Health Research Institute of India, Mysuru, India
| | - Anand Siddaiah
- Public Health Research Institute of India, Mysuru, India
| | - Caitlyn D Placek
- Department of Anthropology, Ball State University, Muncie, IN, USA
| | - Gul Deniz Salali
- Department of Anthropology, University College, London, London, UK
| | - Sarai Keestra
- Department of Anthropology, University College, London, London, UK
- Amsterdam Reproduction & Development, Amsterdam UMC, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Manvir Singh
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse, Toulouse, France
| | - Scott A Collins
- School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
| | - John Q Patton
- Division of Anthropology, California State University, Fullerton, CA, USA
| | - Camila Scaff
- Institute of Evolutionary Medicine, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Jonathan Stieglitz
- Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse, Toulouse, France
- Université Toulouse, Toulouse, France
| | | | - Cristina Moya
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA
- Centre for Culture & Evolution, Brunel University, London, Uxbridge, UK
| | - Rohan R Sagar
- Future Generations University, Circle Ville, WV, USA
- Harpy Eagle Music Foundation, Georgetown, Guyana
| | | | - Audax Mabulla
- Department of Archaeology and Heritage, University of Dar es Salaam, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
| | - Brian M Wood
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Max M Krasnow
- Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Division of Continuing Education, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Samuel A Mehr
- Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.
- Haskins Laboratories, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.
- Data Science Initiative, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.
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Carter G, Schoeppler D, Manthey M, Knörnschild M, Denzinger A. Distress Calls of a Fast-Flying Bat (Molossus molossus) Provoke Inspection Flights but Not Cooperative Mobbing. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0136146. [PMID: 26353118 PMCID: PMC4564210 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0136146] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2015] [Accepted: 07/30/2015] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Many birds and mammals produce distress calls when captured. Bats often approach speakers playing conspecific distress calls, which has led to the hypothesis that bat distress calls promote cooperative mobbing. An alternative explanation is that approaching bats are selfishly assessing predation risk. Previous playback studies on bat distress calls involved species with highly maneuverable flight, capable of making close passes and tight circles around speakers, which can look like mobbing. We broadcast distress calls recorded from the velvety free-tailed bat, Molossus molossus, a fast-flying aerial-hawker with relatively poor maneuverability. Based on their flight behavior, we predicted that, in response to distress call playbacks, M. molossus would make individual passing inspection flights but would not approach in groups or approach within a meter of the distress call source. By recording responses via ultrasonic recording and infrared video, we found that M. molossus, and to a lesser extent Saccopteryx bilineata, made more flight passes during distress call playbacks compared to noise. However, only the more maneuverable S. bilineata made close approaches to the speaker, and we found no evidence of mobbing in groups. Instead, our findings are consistent with the hypothesis that single bats approached distress calls simply to investigate the situation. These results suggest that approaches by bats to distress calls should not suffice as clear evidence for mobbing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gerald Carter
- Biology Department, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - Diana Schoeppler
- Animal Physiology, Institute for Neurobiology, University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Marie Manthey
- Animal Physiology, Institute for Neurobiology, University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany
| | - Mirjam Knörnschild
- Institute of Evolutionary Ecology and Conservation Genomics, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Panama
| | - Annette Denzinger
- Animal Physiology, Institute for Neurobiology, University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany
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