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Zettersten M, Cox C, Bergmann C, Tsui ASM, Soderstrom M, Mayor J, Lundwall RA, Lewis M, Kosie JE, Kartushina N, Fusaroli R, Frank MC, Byers-Heinlein K, Black AK, Mathur MB. Evidence for Infant-directed Speech Preference Is Consistent Across Large-scale, Multi-site Replication and Meta-analysis. Open Mind (Camb) 2024; 8:439-461. [PMID: 38665547 PMCID: PMC11045035 DOI: 10.1162/opmi_a_00134] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2023] [Accepted: 02/19/2024] [Indexed: 04/28/2024] Open
Abstract
There is substantial evidence that infants prefer infant-directed speech (IDS) to adult-directed speech (ADS). The strongest evidence for this claim has come from two large-scale investigations: i) a community-augmented meta-analysis of published behavioral studies and ii) a large-scale multi-lab replication study. In this paper, we aim to improve our understanding of the IDS preference and its boundary conditions by combining and comparing these two data sources across key population and design characteristics of the underlying studies. Our analyses reveal that both the meta-analysis and multi-lab replication show moderate effect sizes (d ≈ 0.35 for each estimate) and that both of these effects persist when relevant study-level moderators are added to the models (i.e., experimental methods, infant ages, and native languages). However, while the overall effect size estimates were similar, the two sources diverged in the effects of key moderators: both infant age and experimental method predicted IDS preference in the multi-lab replication study, but showed no effect in the meta-analysis. These results demonstrate that the IDS preference generalizes across a variety of experimental conditions and sampling characteristics, while simultaneously identifying key differences in the empirical picture offered by each source individually and pinpointing areas where substantial uncertainty remains about the influence of theoretically central moderators on IDS preference. Overall, our results show how meta-analyses and multi-lab replications can be used in tandem to understand the robustness and generalizability of developmental phenomena.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Christopher Cox
- Department of Linguistics, Cognitive Science and Semiotics, School of Communication and Culture, Aarhus University; Interacting Minds Center, School of Culture and Society, Aarhus University
| | | | | | | | - Julien Mayor
- Department of Linguistics and Scandinavian Studies, University of Oslo
| | | | - Molly Lewis
- Department of Psychology/Social and Decision Sciences, Carnegie Mellon University
| | | | | | - Riccardo Fusaroli
- Department of Linguistics, Cognitive Science and Semiotics, School of Communication and Culture, Aarhus University; Interacting Minds Center, School of Culture and Society, Aarhus University
| | | | | | - Alexis K. Black
- School of Audiology and Speech Sciences, University of British Columbia
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2
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Cox C, Dideriksen C, Keren-Portnoy T, Roepstorff A, Christiansen MH, Fusaroli R. Infant-directed speech does not always involve exaggerated vowel distinctions: Evidence from Danish. Child Dev 2023; 94:1672-1696. [PMID: 37307398 DOI: 10.1111/cdev.13950] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2022] [Revised: 03/10/2023] [Accepted: 04/11/2023] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
This study compared the acoustic properties of 26 (100% female, 100% monolingual) Danish caregivers' spontaneous speech addressed to their 11- to 24-month-old infants (infant-directed speech, IDS) and an adult experimenter (adult-directed speech, ADS). The data were collected between 2016 and 2018 in Aarhus, Denmark. Prosodic properties of Danish IDS conformed to cross-linguistic patterns, with a higher pitch, greater pitch variability, and slower articulation rate than ADS. However, an acoustic analysis of vocalic properties revealed that Danish IDS had a reduced or similar vowel space, higher within-vowel variability, raised formants, and lower degree of vowel discriminability compared to ADS. None of the measures, except articulation rate, showed age-related differences. These results push for future research to conduct theory-driven comparisons across languages with distinct phonological systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher Cox
- School of Communication and Culture, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
- Interacting Minds Centre, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
- Department of Language and Linguistic Science, University of York, Vanbrugh College, York, UK
| | - Christina Dideriksen
- School of Communication and Culture, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
- Interacting Minds Centre, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Tamar Keren-Portnoy
- Department of Language and Linguistic Science, University of York, Vanbrugh College, York, UK
| | - Andreas Roepstorff
- School of Communication and Culture, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
- Interacting Minds Centre, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Morten H Christiansen
- School of Communication and Culture, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
- Interacting Minds Centre, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
- Department of Psychology, Cornell University, New York, Ithaca, USA
| | - Riccardo Fusaroli
- School of Communication and Culture, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
- Interacting Minds Centre, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
- Linguistic Data Consortium, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA
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3
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Shi J, Gu Y, Vigliocco G. Prosodic modulations in child-directed language and their impact on word learning. Dev Sci 2022:e13357. [PMID: 36464779 DOI: 10.1111/desc.13357] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2021] [Revised: 09/13/2022] [Accepted: 11/21/2022] [Indexed: 12/07/2022]
Abstract
Child-directed language can support language learning, but how? we addressed two questions: (1) how caregivers prosodically modulated their speech as a function of word familiarity (known or unknown to the child) and accessibility of referent (visually present or absent from the immediate environment); (2) whether such modulations affect children's unknown word learning and vocabulary development. We used data from 38 English-speaking caregivers (from the ECOLANG corpus) talking about toys (both known and unknown to their children aged 3-4 years) both when the toys are present and when absent. We analyzed prosodic dimensions (i.e., speaking rate, pitch and intensity) of caregivers' productions of 6529 toy labels. We found that unknown labels were spoken with significantly slower speaking rate, wider pitch and intensity range than known labels, especially in the first mentions, suggesting that caregivers adjust their prosody based on children's lexical knowledge. Moreover, caregivers used slower speaking rate and larger intensity range to mark the first mentions of toys that were physically absent. After the first mentions, they talked about the referents louder with higher mean pitch when toys were present than when toys were absent. Crucially, caregivers' mean pitch of unknown words and the degree of mean pitch modulation for unknown words relative to known words (pitch ratio) predicted children's immediate word learning and vocabulary size 1 year later. In conclusion, caregivers modify their prosody when the learning situation is more demanding for children, and these helpful modulations assist children in word learning. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: In naturalistic interactions, caregivers use slower speaking rate, wider pitch and intensity range when introducing new labels to 3-4-year-old children, especially in first mentions. Compared to when toys are present, caregivers speak more slowly with larger intensity range to mark the first mentions of toys that are physically absent. Mean pitch to mark word familiarity predicts children's immediate word learning and future vocabulary size.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jinyu Shi
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University College London, London, UK
| | - Yan Gu
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University College London, London, UK.,Department of Psychology, University of Essex, Colchester, UK
| | - Gabriella Vigliocco
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University College London, London, UK
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Understanding why infant-directed speech supports learning: A dynamic attention perspective. DEVELOPMENTAL REVIEW 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.dr.2022.101047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
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5
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Boorom O, Alviar C, Zhang Y, Muñoz VA, Kello CT, Lense MD. Child language and autism diagnosis impact hierarchical temporal structure of parent-child vocal interactions in early childhood. Autism Res 2022; 15:2099-2111. [PMID: 36056678 PMCID: PMC9995224 DOI: 10.1002/aur.2804] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2022] [Accepted: 08/15/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Timing is critical to successful social interactions. The temporal structure of dyadic vocal interactions emerges from the rhythm, timing, and frequency of each individuals' vocalizations and reflects how the dyad dynamically organizes and adapts during an interaction. This study investigated the temporal structure of vocal interactions longitudinally in parent-child dyads of typically developing (TD) infants (n = 49; 9-18 months; 48% male) and toddlers with ASD (n = 23; 27.2 ± 5.0 months; 91.3% male) to identify how developing language and social skills impact the temporal dynamics of the interaction. Acoustic hierarchical temporal structure (HTS), a measure of the nested clustering of acoustic events across multiple timescales, was measured in free play interactions using Allan Factor. HTS reflects a signal's temporal complexity and variability, with greater HTS indicating reduced flexibility of the dyadic system. Child expressive language significantly predicted HTS (ß = -0.2) longitudinally across TD infants, with greater dyadic HTS associated with lower child language skills. ASD dyads exhibited greater HTS (i.e., more rigid temporal structure) than nonverbal matched (d = 0.41) and expressive language matched TD dyads (d = 0.28). Increased HTS in ASD dyads occurred at timescales >1 s, suggesting greater structuring of pragmatic aspects of interaction. Results provide a new window into how language development and social reciprocity serve as constraints to shape parent-child interaction dynamics and showcase a novel automated approach to characterizing vocal interactions across multiple timescales during early childhood.
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Affiliation(s)
- Olivia Boorom
- Department of Speech-Language-Hearing: Sciences and Disorders, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Camila Alviar
- Department of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
- Cognitive and Information Sciences, University of California, Merced, Merced, CA, USA
| | - Yumeng Zhang
- Department of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
- Department of Medicine, Health, and Society, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Valerie A. Muñoz
- Department of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
- School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Christopher T. Kello
- Cognitive and Information Sciences, University of California, Merced, Merced, CA, USA
| | - Miriam D. Lense
- Department of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
- Vanderbilt Kennedy Center, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
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Chen F, Cheung CCH, Peng G. Linguistic Tone and Non-Linguistic Pitch Imitation in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Cross-Linguistic Investigation. J Autism Dev Disord 2021; 52:2325-2343. [PMID: 34109462 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-021-05123-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 05/30/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
The conclusions on prosodic pitch features in autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have primarily been derived from studies in non-tonal language speakers. This cross-linguistic study evaluated the performance of imitating Cantonese lexical tones and their non-linguistic (nonspeech) counterparts by Cantonese- and Mandarin-speaking children with and without ASD. Acoustic analyses showed that, compared with typically developing peers, children with ASD exhibited increased pitch variations when imitating lexical tones, while performed similarly when imitating the nonspeech counterparts. Furthermore, Mandarin-speaking children with ASD failed to exploit the phonological knowledge of segments to improve the imitation accuracy of non-native lexical tones. These findings help clarify the speech-specific pitch processing atypicality and phonological processing deficit in tone-language-speaking children with ASD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fei Chen
- School of Foreign Languages, Hunan University, Changsha, China.
| | - Candice Chi-Hang Cheung
- Research Centre for Language, Cognition, and Neuroscience, & Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Gang Peng
- Research Centre for Language, Cognition, and Neuroscience, & Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR, China.
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Chen F, Zhang H, Ding H, Wang S, Peng G, Zhang Y. Neural coding of formant-exaggerated speech and nonspeech in children with and without autism spectrum disorders. Autism Res 2021; 14:1357-1374. [PMID: 33792205 DOI: 10.1002/aur.2509] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2020] [Revised: 03/09/2021] [Accepted: 03/16/2021] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
The presence of vowel exaggeration in infant-directed speech (IDS) may adapt to the age-appropriate demands in speech and language acquisition. Previous studies have provided behavioral evidence of atypical auditory processing towards IDS in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), while the underlying neurophysiological mechanisms remain unknown. This event-related potential (ERP) study investigated the neural coding of formant-exaggerated speech and nonspeech in 24 4- to 11-year-old children with ASD and 24 typically-developing (TD) peers. The EEG data were recorded using an alternating block design, in which each stimulus type (exaggerated/non-exaggerated sound) was presented with equal probability. ERP waveform analysis revealed an enhanced P1 for vowel formant exaggeration in the TD group but not in the ASD group. This speech-specific atypical processing in ASD was not found for the nonspeech stimuli which showed similar P1 enhancement in both ASD and TD groups. Moreover, the time-frequency analysis indicated that children with ASD showed differences in neural synchronization in the delta-theta bands for processing acoustic formant changes embedded in nonspeech. Collectively, the results add substantiating neurophysiological evidence (i.e., a lack of neural enhancement effect of vowel exaggeration) for atypical auditory processing of IDS in children with ASD, which may exert a negative effect on phonetic encoding and language learning. LAY SUMMARY: Atypical responses to motherese might act as a potential early marker of risk for children with ASD. This study investigated the neural responses to such socially relevant stimuli in the ASD brain, and the results suggested a lack of neural enhancement responding to the motherese even in individuals without intellectual disability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fei Chen
- School of Foreign Languages, Hunan University, Changsha, China.,Research Centre for Language, Cognition, and Neuroscience & Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR, China.,Department of Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences & Center for Neurobehavioral Development, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, Minnesota, USA
| | - Hao Zhang
- Speech-Language-Hearing Center, School of Foreign Languages, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
| | - Hongwei Ding
- Speech-Language-Hearing Center, School of Foreign Languages, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
| | - Suiping Wang
- School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Gang Peng
- Research Centre for Language, Cognition, and Neuroscience & Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Yang Zhang
- Department of Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences & Center for Neurobehavioral Development, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, Minnesota, USA
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8
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Outters V, Schreiner MS, Behne T, Mani N. Maternal input and infants' response to infant-directed speech. INFANCY 2020; 25:478-499. [PMID: 32744790 DOI: 10.1111/infa.12334] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2019] [Revised: 03/18/2020] [Accepted: 03/25/2020] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Caregivers typically use an exaggerated speech register known as infant-directed speech (IDS) in communication with infants. Infants prefer IDS over adult-directed speech (ADS) and IDS is functionally relevant in infant-directed communication. We examined interactions among maternal IDS quality, infants' preference for IDS over ADS, and the functional relevance of IDS at 6 and 13 months. While 6-month-olds showed a preference for IDS over ADS, 13-month-olds did not. Differences in gaze following behavior triggered by speech register (IDS vs. ADS) were found in both age groups. The degree of infants' preference for IDS (relative to ADS) was linked to the quality of maternal IDS infants were exposed to. No such relationship was found between gaze following behavior and maternal IDS quality and infants' IDS preference. The results speak to a dynamic interaction between infants' preference for different kinds of social signals and the social cues available to them.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vivien Outters
- Department for Psychology of Language, University of Goettingen, Göttingen, Germany.,Leibniz ScienceCampus "Primate Cognition", Göttingen, Germany
| | - Melanie S Schreiner
- Department for Psychology of Language, University of Goettingen, Göttingen, Germany.,Leibniz ScienceCampus "Primate Cognition", Göttingen, Germany.,Clinic for Cognitive Neurology, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.,Department of Neurology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Tanya Behne
- Leibniz ScienceCampus "Primate Cognition", Göttingen, Germany.,Department of Developmental Psychology, University of Goettingen, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Nivedita Mani
- Department for Psychology of Language, University of Goettingen, Göttingen, Germany.,Leibniz ScienceCampus "Primate Cognition", Göttingen, Germany
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9
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Wang Y, Jung J, Bergeson TR, Houston DM. Lexical Repetition Properties of Caregiver Speech and Language Development in Children With Cochlear Implants. JOURNAL OF SPEECH, LANGUAGE, AND HEARING RESEARCH : JSLHR 2020; 63:872-884. [PMID: 32155107 PMCID: PMC7229711 DOI: 10.1044/2019_jslhr-19-00227] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2019] [Revised: 07/31/2019] [Accepted: 12/02/2019] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
Purpose Early language input plays an important role in child language and cognitive development (e.g., Gilkerson et al., 2018; Hart & Risley, 1995). In this study, we examined the effects of child's hearing status on lexical repetition properties of speech produced by their caregivers with normal hearing (NH). In addition, we investigated the relationship between maternal lexical repetition properties and later language skills in English-learning infants with cochlear implants (CIs). Method In a free-play session, 17 mothers and their prelingually deaf infants who received CIs before 2 years of age (CI group) were recorded at two post-CI intervals: 3 and 6 months postactivation; 18 hearing experience-matched infants with NH and their mothers and 14 chronological age-matched infants with NH group and their mothers were matched to the CI group. Maternal speech was transcribed from the recordings, and measures of maternal lexical repetition were obtained. Standardized language assessments were administered on children with CIs approximately two years after CI activation. Results The findings indicated that measures of lexical repetition were similar among the three groups of mothers, regardless of the hearing status of their infants. In addition, lexical repetition measures were correlated with later language skills in infants with CIs. Conclusions Infants with CIs receive the language input that contains similar lexical repetition properties as that in the speech received by their peers with NH, which is likely to play an important role in child speech processing and language development. These findings provide the knowledge for professionals to coach parents to implement specific language intervention strategies to support language development in infants with hearing loss. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.11936322.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuanyuan Wang
- Department of Otolaryngology—Head & Neck Surgery, The Ohio State University, Columbus
| | - Jongmin Jung
- Department of Otolaryngology—Head & Neck Surgery, The Ohio State University, Columbus
| | - Tonya R. Bergeson
- Communication Sciences & Disorders, Butler University, Indianapolis, IN
| | - Derek M. Houston
- Department of Otolaryngology—Head & Neck Surgery, The Ohio State University, Columbus
- Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, OH
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10
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Frank MC, Alcock KJ, Arias-Trejo N, Aschersleben G, Baldwin D, Barbu S, Bergelson E, Bergmann C, Black AK, Blything R, Böhland MP, Bolitho P, Borovsky A, Brady SM, Braun B, Brown A, Byers-Heinlein K, Campbell LE, Cashon C, Choi M, Christodoulou J, Cirelli LK, Conte S, Cordes S, Cox C, Cristia A, Cusack R, Davies C, de Klerk M, Delle Luche C, Ruiter LD, Dinakar D, Dixon KC, Durier V, Durrant S, Fennell C, Ferguson B, Ferry A, Fikkert P, Flanagan T, Floccia C, Foley M, Fritzsche T, Frost RLA, Gampe A, Gervain J, Gonzalez-Gomez N, Gupta A, Hahn LE, Kiley Hamlin J, Hannon EE, Havron N, Hay J, Hernik M, Höhle B, Houston DM, Howard LH, Ishikawa M, Itakura S, Jackson I, Jakobsen KV, Jarto M, Johnson SP, Junge C, Karadag D, Kartushina N, Kellier DJ, Keren-Portnoy T, Klassen K, Kline M, Ko ES, Kominsky JF, Kosie JE, Kragness HE, Krieger AAR, Krieger F, Lany J, Lazo RJ, Lee M, Leservoisier C, Levelt C, Lew-Williams C, Lippold M, Liszkowski U, Liu L, Luke SG, Lundwall RA, Macchi Cassia V, Mani N, Marino C, Martin A, Mastroberardino M, Mateu V, Mayor J, Menn K, Michel C, Moriguchi Y, Morris B, Nave KM, Nazzi T, Noble C, Novack MA, Olesen NM, John Orena A, Ota M, Panneton R, Esfahani SP, Paulus M, Pletti C, Polka L, Potter C, Rabagliati H, Ramachandran S, Rennels JL, Reynolds GD, Roth KC, Rothwell C, Rubez D, Ryjova Y, Saffran J, Sato A, Savelkouls S, Schachner A, Schafer G, Schreiner MS, Seidl A, Shukla M, Simpson EA, Singh L, Skarabela B, Soley G, Sundara M, Theakston A, Thompson A, Trainor LJ, Trehub SE, Trøan AS, Tsui ASM, Twomey K, Von Holzen K, Wang Y, Waxman S, Werker JF, Wermelinger S, Woolard A, Yurovsky D, Zahner K, Zettersten M, Soderstrom M. Quantifying Sources of Variability in Infancy Research Using the Infant-Directed-Speech Preference. ADVANCES IN METHODS AND PRACTICES IN PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE 2020. [DOI: 10.1177/2515245919900809] [Citation(s) in RCA: 76] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Psychological scientists have become increasingly concerned with issues related to methodology and replicability, and infancy researchers in particular face specific challenges related to replicability: For example, high-powered studies are difficult to conduct, testing conditions vary across labs, and different labs have access to different infant populations. Addressing these concerns, we report on a large-scale, multisite study aimed at (a) assessing the overall replicability of a single theoretically important phenomenon and (b) examining methodological, cultural, and developmental moderators. We focus on infants’ preference for infant-directed speech (IDS) over adult-directed speech (ADS). Stimuli of mothers speaking to their infants and to an adult in North American English were created using seminaturalistic laboratory-based audio recordings. Infants’ relative preference for IDS and ADS was assessed across 67 laboratories in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia using the three common methods for measuring infants’ discrimination (head-turn preference, central fixation, and eye tracking). The overall meta-analytic effect size (Cohen’s d) was 0.35, 95% confidence interval = [0.29, 0.42], which was reliably above zero but smaller than the meta-analytic mean computed from previous literature (0.67). The IDS preference was significantly stronger in older children, in those children for whom the stimuli matched their native language and dialect, and in data from labs using the head-turn preference procedure. Together, these findings replicate the IDS preference but suggest that its magnitude is modulated by development, native-language experience, and testing procedure.
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11
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McFayden TC, Panneton RK, Bruce M, Taylor C. Exploring priming effects of social and non-social attention getters on older infants' preferences for infant-directed speech. Infant Behav Dev 2020; 59:101431. [PMID: 32142952 DOI: 10.1016/j.infbeh.2020.101431] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2019] [Revised: 02/24/2020] [Accepted: 02/26/2020] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
In infant research, various auditory/visual events are often used as attention getters to orient infants to a screen and alert them to upcoming information for their detection, discrimination, and/or recognition. Importantly, the influence of attention-getters on infants' performance has rarely been systematically evaluated, even though these attention cues could be affecting subsequent information processing. This study investigated whether specific attention-getters could prime infants' preferences for infant-directed speech (IDS) compared to adult-directed speech (ADS). Both a non-social and a social prime were chosen with the prediction that the social prime would strengthen infants' attention to IDS on a subsequent trial, but the non-social prime would have no differential effect on subsequent attention to either speech type. A total of 20 12- to 18-month old infants were presented with either a nonsocial (rotating form + chimes) or social (smiling female + voice) prime in an infant-controlled, speech preference procedure with both IDS and ADS speech types. Given previous research, we predicted that infants would show significantly more attention on trials during which looking produced IDS, but that this preference would be significantly augmented for infants in the condition receiving a social attention-getter before each trial. Results did not bear out this prediction, although we found a consistent, robust preference for IDS. The results will be discussed in terms of why these attention getters did not affect subsequent processing of two very different speech types, and what future modifications may be necessary in order to examine roles of attention getters in affecting experimental outcomes in infancy research. A secondary benefit of the findings is that we empirically established a growing preference for IDS in infants as old as 18-months of age.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tyler C McFayden
- Virginia Tech, 460 Turner St NW Suite 207, Blacksburg, 24060, United States.
| | - Robin K Panneton
- Virginia Tech, 460 Turner St NW Suite 207, Blacksburg, 24060, United States
| | - Madeleine Bruce
- Virginia Tech, 460 Turner St NW Suite 207, Blacksburg, 24060, United States
| | - Caroline Taylor
- Virginia Tech, 460 Turner St NW Suite 207, Blacksburg, 24060, United States
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12
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DE Pablo I, Murillo E, Romero A. The effect of infant-directed speech on early multimodal communicative production in Spanish and Basque. JOURNAL OF CHILD LANGUAGE 2020; 47:457-471. [PMID: 31426871 DOI: 10.1017/s0305000919000412] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
We analyzed the effect of infant-directed speech (IDS) on multimodal communicative production of children at the beginning of the second year of life in two different languages: Spanish and Basque. Twelve Spanish and twelve Basque children aged between 12 and 15 months observed two versions of an audiovisual story: one version was narrated with IDS and the other with adult-directed speech (ADS). We analyzed the use of gaze and the communicative behaviors produced by children. The time spent looking at the story increases in the IDS condition regardless of the language of the narration. Children produced more multimodal communicative behaviors while watching the IDS version both in Spanish and in Basque. These results suggest that IDS increases attention and social engagement promoting joint attention episodes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Irati DE Pablo
- Departamento de Didáctica de la Lengua y la Literatura, Universidad del País Vasco, Spain
| | - Eva Murillo
- Departamento de Psicología Básica, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain
| | - Asier Romero
- Departamento de Didáctica de la Lengua y la Literatura, Universidad del País Vasco, Spain
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Rosen ML, Amso D, McLaughlin KA. The role of the visual association cortex in scaffolding prefrontal cortex development: A novel mechanism linking socioeconomic status and executive function. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2019; 39:100699. [PMID: 31446376 PMCID: PMC6783336 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2019.100699] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2018] [Revised: 07/22/2019] [Accepted: 08/05/2019] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Socioeconomic status (SES) is associated with executive function (EF) and prefrontal cortex (PFC) development. However, understanding of the specific aspects of SES that influence development of EF and the PFC remains limited. We briefly review existing literature on proposed mechanisms linking SES with EF. Then, we present a novel conceptual model arguing that early cognitive stimulation shapes EF and PFC development. We propose that cognitive stimulation drives lower-level sensory and perceptual processes that may impact EF and PFC development through reciprocal connections between the ventral visual stream and PFC. We argue that caregivers guide attention and associative learning, which provides children the opportunity to regulate attention and gain semantic knowledge. This experience in turn allows for opportunities to train the PFC to resolve conflict between stimuli with overlapping features and engage in increasingly complex computations as visual processing systems develop; this may lay the groundwork for development of EF. We review existing evidence for this model and end by highlighting how this conceptual model could launch future research questions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maya L Rosen
- Department of Psychology, University of Washington, United States; Department of Psychology, Harvard University, United States.
| | - Dima Amso
- Cognitive, Linguistics, and Psychological Sciences, Brown University, United States
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Bergelson E, Casillas M, Soderstrom M, Seidl A, Warlaumont AS, Amatuni A. What Do North American Babies Hear? A large-scale cross-corpus analysis. Dev Sci 2019; 22:e12724. [PMID: 30369005 PMCID: PMC6294666 DOI: 10.1111/desc.12724] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2018] [Revised: 06/11/2018] [Accepted: 07/03/2018] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
A range of demographic variables influences how much speech young children hear. However, because studies have used vastly different sampling methods, quantitative comparison of interlocking demographic effects has been nearly impossible, across or within studies. We harnessed a unique collection of existing naturalistic, day-long recordings from 61 homes across four North American cities to examine language input as a function of age, gender, and maternal education. We analyzed adult speech heard by 3- to 20-month-olds who wore audio recorders for an entire day. We annotated speaker gender and speech register (child-directed or adult-directed) for 10,861 utterances from female and male adults in these recordings. Examining age, gender, and maternal education collectively in this ecologically valid dataset, we find several key results. First, the speaker gender imbalance in the input is striking: children heard 2-3× more speech from females than males. Second, children in higher-maternal education homes heard more child-directed speech than those in lower-maternal education homes. Finally, our analyses revealed a previously unreported effect: the proportion of child-directed speech in the input increases with age, due to a decrease in adult-directed speech with age. This large-scale analysis is an important step forward in collectively examining demographic variables that influence early development, made possible by pooled, comparable, day-long recordings of children's language environments. The audio recordings, annotations, and annotation software are readily available for reuse and reanalysis by other researchers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elika Bergelson
- 417 Chapel Dr., Campus Box 90086, Psychology & Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708, USA
| | - Marisa Casillas
- Language Development Department, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, PO Box 310, 6500 AH, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | | | - Amanda Seidl
- Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, Purdue University, USA
| | | | - Andrei Amatuni
- 417 Chapel Dr., Campus Box 90086, Psychology & Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708, USA
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Stubbs RM. A review of attachment theory and internal working models as relevant to music therapy with children hospitalized for life threatening illness. ARTS IN PSYCHOTHERAPY 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.aip.2017.10.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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Schwab JF, Rowe ML, Cabrera N, Lew-Williams C. Fathers' repetition of words is coupled with children's vocabularies. J Exp Child Psychol 2018; 166:437-450. [PMID: 29055826 PMCID: PMC5696106 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2017.09.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2017] [Revised: 08/07/2017] [Accepted: 09/11/2017] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Differences in vocabulary size among children can be explained in part by differences in parents' language input, but features of caregivers' input can be more or less beneficial depending on children's language abilities. The current study focused on a specific feature of infant-directed speech: parents' repetition of words across utterances. Although previous work with infants showed a positive relation between repetition and children's vocabulary, we predicted that this would not be the case later in development. Instead, parents may use less repetition as their children become increasingly proficient language learners. In the current study, we examined the extent to which low-income fathers of 24-month-olds (N=41) repeat words to their children using three indices: type-token ratio, automated repetition index, and partial repetition of open-class words. The same finding emerged across all measures of repetition: Fathers whose children had larger vocabularies at 24months repeated wordslessoften, suggesting a developmental coupling of fathers' input and children's language proficiency.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica F Schwab
- Department of Psychology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA.
| | - Meredith L Rowe
- Graduate School of Education, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
| | - Natasha Cabrera
- Department of Human Development, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
| | - Casey Lew-Williams
- Department of Psychology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA
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Foursha-Stevenson C, Schembri T, Nicoladis E, Eriksen C. The Influence of Child-Directed Speech on Word Learning and Comprehension. JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLINGUISTIC RESEARCH 2017; 46:329-343. [PMID: 27339226 DOI: 10.1007/s10936-016-9441-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
This paper describes an investigation into the function of child-directed speech (CDS) across development. In the first experiment, 10-21-month-olds were presented with familiar words in CDS and trained on novel words in CDS or adult-directed speech (ADS). All children preferred the matching display for familiar words. However, only older toddlers in the CDS condition preferred the matching display for novel words. In Experiment 2, children 3-6 years of age were presented with a sentence comprehension task in CDS or ADS. Older children performed better overall than younger children with 5- and 6-year-olds performing above chance regardless of speech condition, while 3- and 4-year-olds only performed above chance when the sentences were presented in CDS. These findings provide support for the theory that CDS is most effective at the beginning of acquisition for particular constructions (e.g. vocabulary acquisition, syntactic comprehension) rather than at a particular age or for a particular task.
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