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Griebel U, Oller DK. From emotional signals to symbols. Front Psychol 2024; 15:1135288. [PMID: 38629043 PMCID: PMC11020113 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1135288] [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: 12/31/2022] [Accepted: 03/13/2024] [Indexed: 04/19/2024] Open
Abstract
The quest for the origins of language is a diverse enterprise, where research from a variety of disciplines brings area-specific ideas and area-specific terminology to bear. This variety often results in misunderstandings and misconceptions about communication in various species. In the present paper, we argue for focus on emotional systems as the primary motivators for social signals in animals in general. This focus can help resolve discrepancies of interpretation among different areas of inquiry and can illuminate distinctions among different social signals as well as their phylogenetic origins in animals and especially in humans. We advocate, following Jaak Panksepp, a view wherein the Seeking System, the endogenous tendency to search and explore, is the most fundamental emotional motivation. The Seeking System forms the basis for flexible, voluntary, and exploratory control of motor systems and makes much of learning possible. The relative lack of vocal learning and expression in nonhuman primates contrasted with extensive vocal learning and expression in humans began, we propose, with the evolution in ancient hominins of a necessary foundation for the many subsequent capabilities required for language. That foundation was, according to the reasoning, naturally selected in the form of neurological connections between the Seeking System and mechanisms of glottal/phonatory control. The new connections allowed ancient hominins to develop flexible, endogenous vocal fitness signals produced at very high rates and including large numbers of discrete syllables, recombinable to form syllable combinations with many prosodic variations. The increasing sociality of hominins supported evolution of massive expansion in the utilization of these flexible vocal forms to allow development of words and sentences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ulrike Griebel
- School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, The University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, United States
- The Institute for Intelligent Systems, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, United States
- The Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research, Klosterneuburg, Austria
| | - D. Kimbrough Oller
- School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, The University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, United States
- The Institute for Intelligent Systems, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, United States
- The Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research, Klosterneuburg, Austria
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2
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Su PL, Yoo H, Ramsay G, Long HL, Bene ER, Klaiman C, Pulver SL, Richardson S, Pileggi ML, Brane N, Oller DK. Foundations of Vocal Category Development in Autistic Infants. J Autism Dev Disord 2024:10.1007/s10803-024-06267-9. [PMID: 38403868 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-024-06267-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/23/2024] [Indexed: 02/27/2024]
Abstract
The present study compared the infant's tendency in the first year of life to produce clusters of particular vocal types (squeals, vocants, and growls) in typically developing (TD) and autistic infants. Vocal clustering provides evidence of vocal category formation and may establish a foundation for speech development. Specifically, we compared the extent of vocal clustering across outcome groups and age groups. We also examined the associations between the extent of vocal clustering and later outcomes at 2 years within the autistic group. Randomly selected 5-min segments (27,153 5-min segments total) from 1293 all-day home recordings from 103 TD infants and 44 autistic infants across the first year were humancoded (about 9.75 h of data coded per infant on average) to derive vocal clustering patterns. Fisher's exact tests were used to compare the occurrence of squeals versus vocants, as well as growls versus vocants, across coded segments. Infants in both groups demonstrated clear clustering patterns of squeals and growls across all age groups. The extent of vocal clustering in the autistic group did not correlate significantly with later language, repetitive behavior, or autism severity outcomes. These findings highlight the robustness of the systematic production of vocal categories across the first year of life. The similarity of the clustering patterns in the TD and autistic groups suggests that vocal category formation through active infant vocal exploration is a robust feature of early speech development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pumpki Lei Su
- Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing, School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX, USA.
- Callier Center for Communication Disorders, The University of Texas at Dallas, Dallas, TX, USA.
| | - Hyunjoo Yoo
- Department of Communicative Disorders, College of Arts & Sciences, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, USA
| | - Gordon Ramsay
- Marcus Autism Center, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, Atlanta, GA, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Emory School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Helen L Long
- Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Edina R Bene
- Origin of Language Laboratories, School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Cheryl Klaiman
- Marcus Autism Center, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, Atlanta, GA, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Emory School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Stormi L Pulver
- Marcus Autism Center, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, Atlanta, GA, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Emory School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Shana Richardson
- Marcus Autism Center, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Moira L Pileggi
- Marcus Autism Center, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Natalie Brane
- Marcus Autism Center, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - D Kimbrough Oller
- Origin of Language Laboratories, School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, USA
- Institute for Intelligent Systems, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, USA
- Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research, Klosterneuburg, Austria
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Yoo H, Su PL, Ramsay G, Long HL, Bene ER, Kimbrough Oller D. Infant vocal category exploration as a foundation for speech development. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.01.17.576142. [PMID: 38293228 PMCID: PMC10827196 DOI: 10.1101/2024.01.17.576142] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/01/2024]
Abstract
Non-random exploration of infant speech-like vocalizations (e.g., squeals, growls, and vowel- like sounds or "vocants") is pivotal in speech development. This type of vocal exploration, often noticed when infants produce particular vocal types in clusters, serves two crucial purposes: it establishes a foundation for speech because speech requires formation of new vocal categories, and it serves as a basis for vocal signaling of wellness and interaction with caregivers. Despite the significance of clustering, existing research has largely relied on subjective descriptions and anecdotal observations regarding early vocal category formation. In this study, we aim to address this gap by presenting the first large-scale empirical evidence of vocal category exploration and clustering throughout the first year of life. We observed infant vocalizations longitudinally using all-day home recordings from 130 typically developing infants across the entire first year of life. To identify clustering patterns, we conducted Fisher's exact tests to compare the occurrence of squeals versus vocants, as well as growls versus vocants. We found that across the first year, infants demonstrated clear clustering patterns of squeals and growls, indicating that these categories were not randomly produced, but rather, it seemed, infants actively engaged in practice of these specific categories. The findings lend support to the concept of infants as manifesting active vocal exploration and category formation, a key foundation for vocal language.
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Taylor D, Gustafsson E, Dezecache G, Davila-Ross M. Vocal functional flexibility in the grunts of young chimpanzees. iScience 2023; 26:107791. [PMID: 37727737 PMCID: PMC10505970 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.107791] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2023] [Revised: 04/27/2023] [Accepted: 08/29/2023] [Indexed: 09/21/2023] Open
Abstract
All living things communicate yet only humans can be said to communicate using language. How this came to be the case is a fundamental mystery unsolved by contemporary science. Within a human lifetime, language emerges from a complex developmental process. As such, understanding chimpanzee vocal development is essential to understanding the evolutionary roots of language. In human development, language is directly built upon the early capacity for "vocal functional flexibility"-the ability to flexibly express the same vocalizations in different ways to achieve different functions. Primate vocalizations, by contrast, have long been believed to be relatively inflexible regarding both production and function. In this paper, we break new ground by providing evidence for vocal functional flexibility in one of the first systematic studies of early chimpanzee vocal production and function. This finding implies the developmental foundations for language are rooted in our primate evolutionary heritage.
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Affiliation(s)
- Derry Taylor
- University of Portsmouth, Psychology Department, King Henry Building, Portsmouth PO1 2DY, UK
- University of Neuchâtel, Institute of Biology, Department of Comparative Cognition, Rue Emile-Argand 11, 2000 Neuchâtel, Switzerland
| | - Erik Gustafsson
- University of Portsmouth, Psychology Department, King Henry Building, Portsmouth PO1 2DY, UK
| | - Guillaume Dezecache
- Université Clermont Auvergne LAPSCO CNRS, Bâtiment Paul Collomp, TSA 60401, 34, Avenue Carnot, 63037 Clermont-Ferrand, France
| | - Marina Davila-Ross
- University of Portsmouth, Psychology Department, King Henry Building, Portsmouth PO1 2DY, UK
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Sclafani V, De Pascalis L, Bozicevic L, Sepe A, Ferrari PF, Murray L. Similarities and differences in the functional architecture of mother- infant communication in rhesus macaque and British mother-infant dyads. Sci Rep 2023; 13:13164. [PMID: 37574499 PMCID: PMC10423724 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-39623-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2023] [Accepted: 07/27/2023] [Indexed: 08/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Similarly to humans, rhesus macaques engage in mother-infant face-to-face interactions. However, no previous studies have described the naturally occurring structure and development of mother-infant interactions in this population and used a comparative-developmental perspective to directly compare them to the ones reported in humans. Here, we investigate the development of infant communication, and maternal responsiveness in the two groups. We video-recorded mother-infant interactions in both groups in naturalistic settings and analysed them with the same micro-analytic coding scheme. Results show that infant social expressiveness and maternal responsiveness are similarly structured in humans and macaques. Both human and macaque mothers use specific mirroring responses to specific infant social behaviours (modified mirroring to communicative signals, enriched mirroring to affiliative gestures). However, important differences were identified in the development of infant social expressiveness, and in forms of maternal responsiveness, with vocal responses and marking behaviours being predominantly human. Results indicate a common functional architecture of mother-infant communication in humans and monkeys, and contribute to theories concerning the evolution of specific traits of human behaviour.
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Affiliation(s)
- V Sclafani
- Winnicott Research Unit, Department of Psychology, University of Reading, Reading, UK.
- College of Social Sciences, School of Psychology, University of Lincoln, Brayford Pool, Lincoln, LN6 7TS, UK.
| | - L De Pascalis
- Winnicott Research Unit, Department of Psychology, University of Reading, Reading, UK.
- Department of Psychology, Institute of Population Health, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK.
- Department of Psychology, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
| | - L Bozicevic
- Winnicott Research Unit, Department of Psychology, University of Reading, Reading, UK
- Department of Primary Care & Mental Health, Institute of Population Health, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, Merseyside, UK
| | - A Sepe
- Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Parma, Parma, Italy
- Laboratory of Neuro- and Psychophysiology, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven Medical School, Leuven, Belgium
| | - P F Ferrari
- Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Parma, Parma, Italy
- Institut des Sciences Cognitives 'Marc Jeannerod', CNRS, Bron, and Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Lyon, France
| | - L Murray
- Winnicott Research Unit, Department of Psychology, University of Reading, Reading, UK
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Johnson KT, Narain J, Quatieri T, Maes P, Picard RW. ReCANVo: A database of real-world communicative and affective nonverbal vocalizations. Sci Data 2023; 10:523. [PMID: 37543663 PMCID: PMC10404278 DOI: 10.1038/s41597-023-02405-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2022] [Accepted: 07/24/2023] [Indexed: 08/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Nonverbal vocalizations, such as sighs, grunts, and yells, are informative expressions within typical verbal speech. Likewise, individuals who produce 0-10 spoken words or word approximations ("minimally speaking" individuals) convey rich affective and communicative information through nonverbal vocalizations even without verbal speech. Yet, despite their rich content, little to no data exists on the vocal expressions of this population. Here, we present ReCANVo: Real-World Communicative and Affective Nonverbal Vocalizations - a novel dataset of non-speech vocalizations labeled by function from minimally speaking individuals. The ReCANVo database contains over 7000 vocalizations spanning communicative and affective functions from eight minimally speaking individuals, along with communication profiles for each participant. Vocalizations were recorded in real-world settings and labeled in real-time by a close family member who knew the communicator well and had access to contextual information while labeling. ReCANVo is a novel database of nonverbal vocalizations from minimally speaking individuals, the largest available dataset of nonverbal vocalizations, and one of the only affective speech datasets collected amidst daily life across contexts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kristina T Johnson
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT Media Lab, Cambridge, MA, USA.
| | - Jaya Narain
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT Media Lab, Cambridge, MA, USA.
| | - Thomas Quatieri
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Lincoln Laboratory, Lexington, MA, USA
| | - Pattie Maes
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT Media Lab, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Rosalind W Picard
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT Media Lab, Cambridge, MA, USA
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Oller DK, Gilkerson J, Richards JA, Hannon S, Griebel U, Bowman DD, Brown JA, Yoo H, Warren SF. Sex differences in infant vocalization and the origin of language. iScience 2023; 26:106884. [PMID: 37378320 PMCID: PMC10291326 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.106884] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2022] [Revised: 12/06/2022] [Accepted: 05/11/2023] [Indexed: 06/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Seeking to discern the earliest sex differences in language-related activities, our focus is vocal activity in the first two years of life, following up on recent research that unexpectedly showed boys produced significantly more speech-like vocalizations (protophones) than girls during the first year of life.We now bring a much larger body of data to bear on the comparison of early sex differences in vocalization, data based on automated analysis of all-day recordings of infants in their homes. The new evidence, like that of the prior study, also suggests boys produce more protophones than girls in the first year and offers additional basis for informed speculation about biological reasons for these differences. More broadly, the work offers a basis for informed speculations about foundations of language that we propose to have evolved in our distant hominin ancestors, foundations also required in early vocal development of modern human infants.
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Affiliation(s)
- D Kimbrough Oller
- University of Memphis, School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Memphis, TN 38152, USA
- Institute for Intelligent Systems, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN 38152, USA
- Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research, 3400 Klosterneuburg, Austria
| | | | | | | | - Ulrike Griebel
- University of Memphis, School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Memphis, TN 38152, USA
- Institute for Intelligent Systems, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN 38152, USA
- Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research, 3400 Klosterneuburg, Austria
| | - Dale D Bowman
- University of Memphis, School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Memphis, TN 38152, USA
| | - Jane A Brown
- University of Memphis, School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Memphis, TN 38152, USA
- Institute for Intelligent Systems, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN 38152, USA
| | - Hyunjoo Yoo
- University of Alabama, Communicative Disorders, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487, USA
| | - Steven F Warren
- University of Kansas, Speech-Language-Hearing: Sciences and Disorders, Lawrence, KS 66045, USA
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Margolis AE, Lee SH, Liu R, Goolsby L, Champagne F, Herbstman J, Beebe B. Associations between prenatal exposure to second hand smoke and infant self-regulation in a New York city longitudinal prospective birth cohort. ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2023; 227:115652. [PMID: 36894114 DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2023.115652] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2022] [Revised: 02/11/2023] [Accepted: 03/06/2023] [Indexed: 05/08/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Prenatal exposure to active or passive maternal smoking -also referred to as second hand smoke (SHS) exposure - are associated with externalizing behaviors, hyperactivity and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, problems which derive in part from altered self-regulation. OBJECTIVES Determine the influence of prenatal SHS on infant self-regulation using direct measures of infant behavior in 99 mothers from the Fair Start birth cohort followed at the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health. METHODS Self-regulation was operationalized with self-contingency, the likelihood of maintaining/changing behavior from second-to-second, measured via split-screen video recordings of mothers playing with their 4-month infants. Mother and infant facial and vocal affect, gaze-on/-off partner, and mother touch were coded on a 1 s time-base. Third trimester prenatal SHS was assessed via self-report of a smoker in the home. Weighted-lag time-series models tested conditional effects of SHS-exposure (vs. non-exposure) on infant self-contingency for eight modality-pairings (e.g., mother gaze-infant gaze). Individual-seconds time-series models and analysis of predicted values at t0 interrogated significant weighted-lag findings. Because prior findings link developmental risk factors with lowered self-contingency, we hypothesized that prenatal SHSSHS would predict lowered infant self-contingency. RESULTS Relative to non-exposed infants, those who were prenatally exposed to SHS had lower self-contingency (more variable behavior) in all eight models. Follow-up analyses showed that, given infants were likely to be in the most negative facial or vocal affect, those with prenatal SHS were more likely to make larger behavioral changes, moving into less negative or more positive affect and to alternate between gaze-on and off mother. Mothers who were exposed to SHS during pregnancy (vs. non-exposed) showed a similar, albeit less prevalent, pattern of larger changes out of negative facial affect. CONCLUSION These findings extend prior work linking prenatal SHS with youth dysregulated behavior, showing similar effects in infancy, a critically important period that sthe stage for future child development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amy E Margolis
- Department of Psychiatry, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA; Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY 10032, USA.
| | - Sang Han Lee
- Center for Biomedical Imaging and Neuromodulation, The Nathan Kline Institute, Orangeburg, NY, 10962, USA
| | - Ran Liu
- Department of Psychiatry, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA
| | - Lindsay Goolsby
- Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY 10032, USA
| | - Frances Champagne
- Department of Psychology, University of Texas, Austin, TX, 78712, USA
| | - Julie Herbstman
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA
| | - Beatrice Beebe
- Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY 10032, USA
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Elmlinger SL, Schwade JA, Vollmer L, Goldstein MH. Learning how to learn from social feedback: The origins of early vocal development. Dev Sci 2023; 26:e13296. [PMID: 35737680 DOI: 10.1111/desc.13296] [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: 07/28/2021] [Revised: 06/02/2022] [Accepted: 06/06/2022] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Infants' prelinguistic vocalizations reliably organize vocal turn-taking with social partners, creating opportunities for learning to produce the sound patterns of the ambient language. This social feedback loop supporting early vocal learning is well-documented, but its developmental origins have yet to be addressed. When do infants learn that their non-cry vocalizations influence others? To test developmental changes in infant vocal learning, we assessed the vocalizations of 2- and 5-month-old infants in a still-face interaction with an unfamiliar adult. During the still-face, infants who have learned the social efficacy of vocalizing increase their babbling rate. In addition, to assess the expectations for social responsiveness that infants build from their everyday experience, we recorded caregiver responsiveness to their infants' vocalizations during unstructured play. During the still-face, only 5-month-old infants showed an increase in vocalizing (a vocal extinction burst) indicating that they had learned to expect adult responses to their vocalizations. Caregiver responsiveness predicted the magnitude of the vocal extinction burst for 5-month-olds. Because 5-month-olds show a vocal extinction burst with unfamiliar adults, they must have generalized the social efficacy of their vocalizations beyond their familiar caregiver. Caregiver responsiveness to infant vocalizations during unstructured play was similar for 2- and 5-month-olds. Infants thus learn the social efficacy of their vocalizations between 2 and 5 months of age. During this time, infants build associations between their own non-cry sounds and the reactions of adults, which allows learning of the instrumental value of vocalizing.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Laura Vollmer
- Department of Psychology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA
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Marschik PB, Widmann CAA, Lang S, Kulvicius T, Boterberg S, Nielsen-Saines K, Bölte S, Esposito G, Nordahl-Hansen A, Roeyers H, Wörgötter F, Einspieler C, Poustka L, Zhang D. Emerging Verbal Functions in Early Infancy: Lessons from Observational and Computational Approaches on Typical Development and Neurodevelopmental Disorders. ADVANCES IN NEURODEVELOPMENTAL DISORDERS 2022; 6:369-388. [PMID: 36540761 PMCID: PMC9762685 DOI: 10.1007/s41252-022-00300-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/13/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Research on typically developing (TD) children and those with neurodevelopmental disorders and genetic syndromes was targeted. Specifically, studies on autism spectrum disorder, Down syndrome, Rett syndrome, fragile X syndrome, cerebral palsy, Angelman syndrome, tuberous sclerosis complex, Williams-Beuren syndrome, Cri-du-chat syndrome, Prader-Willi syndrome, and West syndrome were searched. The objectives are to review observational and computational studies on the emergence of (pre-)babbling vocalisations and outline findings on acoustic characteristics of early verbal functions. METHODS A comprehensive review of the literature was performed including observational and computational studies focusing on spontaneous infant vocalisations at the pre-babbling age of TD children, individuals with genetic or neurodevelopmental disorders. RESULTS While there is substantial knowledge about early vocal development in TD infants, the pre-babbling phase in infants with neurodevelopmental and genetic syndromes is scarcely scrutinised. Related approaches, paradigms, and definitions vary substantially and insights into the onset and characteristics of early verbal functions in most above-mentioned disorders are missing. Most studies focused on acoustic low-level descriptors (e.g. fundamental frequency) which bore limited clinical relevance. This calls for computational approaches to analyse features of infant typical and atypical verbal development. CONCLUSIONS Pre-babbling vocalisations as precursor for future speech-language functions may reveal valuable signs for identifying infants at risk for atypical development. Observational studies should be complemented by computational approaches to enable in-depth understanding of the developing speech-language functions. By disentangling features of typical and atypical early verbal development, computational approaches may support clinical screening and evaluation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter B. Marschik
- Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Göttingen, Germany and Leibniz ScienceCampus Primate Cognition, University Medical Center Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
- iDN - Interdisciplinary Developmental Neuroscience, Division of Phoniatrics, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria
| | - Claudius A. A. Widmann
- Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Göttingen, Germany and Leibniz ScienceCampus Primate Cognition, University Medical Center Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Sigrun Lang
- Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Göttingen, Germany and Leibniz ScienceCampus Primate Cognition, University Medical Center Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Tomas Kulvicius
- Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Göttingen, Germany and Leibniz ScienceCampus Primate Cognition, University Medical Center Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Sofie Boterberg
- Research in Developmental Disorders Lab, Department of Experimental Clinical and Health Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Karin Nielsen-Saines
- Department of Pediatrics, David Geffen UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Sven Bölte
- Center of Neurodevelopmental Disorders (KIND), Centre for Psychiatry Research, Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Region Stockholm, Karolinska Institutet & Stockholm Health Care Services, Stockholm, Sweden
- Curtin Autism Research Group, Curtin School of Allied Health, Curtin University, Perth, WA, Austria
| | - Gianluca Esposito
- Affiliative Behavior and Physiology Lab, Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science, University of Trento, Trento, Italy
| | - Anders Nordahl-Hansen
- Department of Education, ICT and Learning, Østfold University College, Halden, Norway
| | - Herbert Roeyers
- Research in Developmental Disorders Lab, Department of Experimental Clinical and Health Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Florentin Wörgötter
- Third Institute of Physics-Biophysics, Georg-August University Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
- Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Christa Einspieler
- iDN - Interdisciplinary Developmental Neuroscience, Division of Phoniatrics, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria
| | - Luise Poustka
- Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Göttingen, Germany and Leibniz ScienceCampus Primate Cognition, University Medical Center Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Dajie Zhang
- Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Göttingen, Germany and Leibniz ScienceCampus Primate Cognition, University Medical Center Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
- iDN - Interdisciplinary Developmental Neuroscience, Division of Phoniatrics, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria
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Taylor D, Clay Z, Dahl CD, Zuberbühler K, Davila-Ross M, Dezecache G. Vocal functional flexibility: what it is and why it matters. Anim Behav 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2022.01.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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12
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Oller DK, Ramsay G, Bene E, Long HL, Griebel U. Protophones, the precursors to speech, dominate the human infant vocal landscape. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2021; 376:20200255. [PMID: 34482735 PMCID: PMC8419580 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0255] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 06/15/2021] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Human infant vocalization is viewed as a critical foundation for vocal learning and language. All apes share distress sounds (shrieks and cries) and laughter. Another vocal type, speech-like sounds, common in human infants, is rare but not absent in other apes. These three vocal types form a basis for especially informative cross-species comparisons. To make such comparisons possible we need empirical research documenting the frequency of occurrence of all three. The present work provides a comprehensive portrayal of these three vocal types in the human infant from longitudinal research in various circumstances of recording. Recently, the predominant vocalizations of the human infant have been shown to be speech-like sounds, or 'protophones', including both canonical and non-canonical babbling. The research shows that protophones outnumber cries by a factor of at least five based on data from random-sampling of all-day recordings across the first year. The present work expands on the prior reports, showing the protophones vastly outnumber both cry and laughter in both all-day and laboratory recordings in various circumstances. The data provide new evidence of the predominance of protophones in the infant vocal landscape and illuminate their role in human vocal learning and the origin of language. This article is part of the theme issue 'Vocal learning in animals and humans'.
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Affiliation(s)
- D. Kimbrough Oller
- School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, USA
- Institute for Intelligent Systems, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, USA
- Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research, Klosterneuburg, Austria
| | - Gordon Ramsay
- Department of Pediatrics, Emory University School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
- Marcus Autism Center, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Edina Bene
- School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Helen L. Long
- School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Ulrike Griebel
- School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, USA
- Institute for Intelligent Systems, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, USA
- Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research, Klosterneuburg, Austria
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13
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Burkhardt-Reed MM, Long HL, Bowman DD, Bene ER, Oller DK. The origin of language and relative roles of voice and gesture in early communication development. Infant Behav Dev 2021; 65:101648. [PMID: 34628105 DOI: 10.1016/j.infbeh.2021.101648] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2020] [Revised: 09/10/2021] [Accepted: 09/12/2021] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
Both vocalization and gesture are universal modes of communication and fundamental features of language development. The gestural origins theory proposes that language evolved out of early gestural use. However, evidence reported here suggests vocalization is much more prominent in early human communication than gesture is. To our knowledge no prior research has investigated the rates of emergence of both gesture and vocalization across the first year in human infants. We evaluated the rates of gestures and speech-like vocalizations (protophones) in 10 infants at 4, 7, and 11 months of age using parent-infant laboratory recordings. We found that infant protophones outnumbered gestures substantially at all three ages, ranging from >35 times more protophones than gestures at 3 months, to >2.5 times more protophones than gestures at 11 months. The results suggest vocalization, not gesture, is the predominant mode of communication in human infants in the first year.
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Affiliation(s)
- Megan M Burkhardt-Reed
- School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, USA; Institute for Intelligent Systems, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, USA.
| | - Helen L Long
- Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Dale D Bowman
- School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, USA; Department of Mathematics, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, USA; Institute for Intelligent Systems, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Edina R Bene
- School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - D Kimbrough Oller
- School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, USA; Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research, Klosterneuburg, Austria; Institute for Intelligent Systems, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, USA
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14
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Gultekin YB, Hildebrand DGC, Hammerschmidt K, Hage SR. High plasticity in marmoset monkey vocal development from infancy to adulthood. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2021; 7:7/27/eabf2938. [PMID: 34193413 PMCID: PMC8245035 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abf2938] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2020] [Accepted: 05/17/2021] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
The vocal behavior of human infants undergoes marked changes across their first year while becoming increasingly speech-like. Conversely, vocal development in nonhuman primates has been assumed to be largely predetermined and completed within the first postnatal months. Contradicting this assumption, we found a dichotomy between the development of call features and vocal sequences in marmoset monkeys, suggestive of a role for experience. While changes in call features were related to physical maturation, sequences of and transitions between calls remained flexible until adulthood. As in humans, marmoset vocal behavior developed in stages correlated with motor and social development stages. These findings are evidence for a prolonged phase of plasticity during marmoset vocal development, a crucial primate evolutionary preadaptation for the emergence of vocal learning and speech.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yasemin B Gultekin
- Neurobiology of Social Communication, Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Medical Center, University of Tübingen, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
- Werner Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neuroscience, University of Tübingen, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
| | - David G C Hildebrand
- Laboratory of Neural Systems, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Kurt Hammerschmidt
- Cognitive Ethology Laboratory, German Primate Center, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
| | - Steffen R Hage
- Neurobiology of Social Communication, Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Medical Center, University of Tübingen, 72076 Tübingen, Germany.
- Werner Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neuroscience, University of Tübingen, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
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15
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Oller DK, Griebel U. Functionally Flexible Signaling and the Origin of Language. Front Psychol 2021; 11:626138. [PMID: 33574785 PMCID: PMC7870697 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.626138] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2020] [Accepted: 12/30/2020] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
At the earliest break of ancient hominins from their primate relatives in vocal communication, we propose a selection pressure on vocal fitness signaling by hominin infants. Exploratory vocalizations, not tied to expression of distress or immediate need, could have helped persuade parents of the wellness and viability of the infants who produced them. We hypothesize that hominin parents invested more in infants who produced such signals of fitness plentifully, neglecting or abandoning them less often than infants who produced the sounds less frequently. Selection for such exploratory vocalization provided a critically important inclination and capability relevant to language, we reason, because the system that encouraged spontaneous vocalization also made vocalization functionally flexible to an extent that has not been observed in any other animal. Although this vocal flexibility did not by itself create language, it provided an essential foundation upon which language would evolve through a variety of additional steps. In evaluating this speculation, we consider presumable barriers to evolving language that are thought to be implications of Darwinian Theory. It has been claimed that communication always involves sender self-interest and that self-interest leads to deceit, which is countered through clever detection by receivers. The constant battle of senders and receivers has been thought to pose an insuperable challenge to honest communication, which has been viewed as a requirement of language. To make communication honest, it has been proposed that stable signaling requires costly handicaps for the sender, and since language cannot entail high cost, the reasoning has suggested an insurmountable obstacle to the evolution of language. We think this presumed honesty barrier is an illusion that can be revealed by recognition of the fact that language is not inherently honest and in light of the distinction between illocutionary force and semantics. Our paper also considers barriers to the evolution of language (not having to do with honesty) that we think may have actually played important roles in preventing species other than humans from evolving language.
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Affiliation(s)
- D. Kimbrough Oller
- School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, The University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, United States
- Institute for Intelligent Systems, The University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, United States
- Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research, Klosterneuburg, Austria
| | - Ulrike Griebel
- School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, The University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, United States
- Institute for Intelligent Systems, The University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, United States
- Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research, Klosterneuburg, Austria
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16
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Long HL, Bowman DD, Yoo H, Burkhardt-Reed MM, Bene ER, Oller DK. Social and endogenous infant vocalizations. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0224956. [PMID: 32756591 PMCID: PMC7406057 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0224956] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2019] [Accepted: 07/20/2020] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Research on infant vocal development has provided notable insights into vocal interaction with caregivers, elucidating growth in foundations for language through parental elicitation and reaction to vocalizations. A role for infant vocalizations produced endogenously, potentially providing raw material for interaction and a basis for growth in the vocal capacity itself, has received less attention. We report that in laboratory recordings of infants and their parents, the bulk of infant speech-like vocalizations, or "protophones", were directed toward no one and instead appeared to be generated endogenously, mostly in exploration of vocal abilities. The tendency to predominantly produce protophones without directing them to others occurred both during periods when parents were instructed to interact with their infants and during periods when parents were occupied with an interviewer, with the infants in the room. The results emphasize the infant as an agent in vocal learning, even when not interacting socially and suggest an enhanced perspective on foundations for vocal language.
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Affiliation(s)
- Helen L. Long
- Origins of Language Laboratory, School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Memphis, Memphis, Tennessee, United States of America
| | - Dale D. Bowman
- Department of Mathematics, University of Memphis, Memphis, Tennessee, United States of America
| | - Hyunjoo Yoo
- Department of Communicative Disorders, College of Arts & Sciences, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States of America
| | - Megan M. Burkhardt-Reed
- Origins of Language Laboratory, School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Memphis, Memphis, Tennessee, United States of America
| | - Edina R. Bene
- Origins of Language Laboratory, School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Memphis, Memphis, Tennessee, United States of America
| | - D. Kimbrough Oller
- Origins of Language Laboratory, School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Memphis, Memphis, Tennessee, United States of America
- Institute for Intelligent Systems, University of Memphis, Memphis, Tennessee, United States of America
- Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research, Klosterneuburg, Austria
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17
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Preterm and full term infant vocalization and the origin of language. Sci Rep 2019; 9:14734. [PMID: 31611607 PMCID: PMC6791864 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-51352-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/10/2019] [Accepted: 09/27/2019] [Indexed: 02/03/2023] Open
Abstract
How did vocal language originate? Before trying to determine how referential vocabulary or syntax may have arisen, it is critical to explain how ancient hominins began to produce vocalization flexibly, without binding to emotions or functions. A crucial factor in the vocal communicative split of hominins from the ape background may thus have been copious, functionally flexible vocalization, starting in infancy and continuing throughout life, long before there were more advanced linguistic features such as referential vocabulary. 2-3 month-old modern human infants produce "protophones", including at least three types of functionally flexible non-cry precursors to speech rarely reported in other ape infants. But how early in life do protophones actually appear? We report that the most common protophone types emerge abundantly as early as vocalization can be observed in infancy, in preterm infants still in neonatal intensive care. Contrary to the expectation that cries are the predominant vocalizations of infancy, our all-day recordings showed that protophones occurred far more frequently than cries in both preterm and full-term infants. Protophones were not limited to interactive circumstances, but also occurred at high rates when infants were alone, indicating an endogenous inclination to vocalize exploratorily, perhaps the most fundamental capacity underlying vocal language.
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18
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Long HL, Oller DK, Bowman DA. Reliability of Listener Judgments of Infant Vocal Imitation. Front Psychol 2019; 10:1340. [PMID: 31244735 PMCID: PMC6579846 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01340] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2019] [Accepted: 05/23/2019] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
There are many theories surrounding infant imitation; however, there is no research to our knowledge evaluating the reliability of listener perception of vocal imitation in prelinguistic infants. This paper evaluates intra- and inter-rater judgments on the degree of "imitativeness" in utterances of infants below 12 months of age. 18 listeners were presented audio segments selected from naturalistic recordings to represent in each case a parent vocal model followed by an infant utterance ranging from low to high degrees of imitativeness. The naturalistic data suggested vocal imitation occurred rarely across the first year, but strong intra- and inter-rater correlations were found for judgments of imitativeness. Our results suggest salience of the infant's vocal imitation despite its rare occurrence as well as active perception by listeners of the imitative signal. We discuss infant vocal imitation as a potential signal of well-being as perceived by caregivers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Helen L. Long
- Infant Vocalizations Laboratory, School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, United States
| | - D. Kimbrough Oller
- Infant Vocalizations Laboratory, School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, United States
- Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research, Klosterneuburg, Austria
- Institute for Intelligent Systems, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, United States
| | - Dale A. Bowman
- Department of Mathematical Sciences HL, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, United States
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Yoo H, Buder EH, Bowman DD, Bidelman GM, Oller DK. Acoustic Correlates and Adult Perceptions of Distress in Infant Speech-Like Vocalizations and Cries. Front Psychol 2019; 10:1154. [PMID: 31191389 PMCID: PMC6548812 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01154] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2018] [Accepted: 05/02/2019] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Prior research has not evaluated acoustic features contributing to perception of human infant vocal distress or lack thereof on a continuum. The present research evaluates perception of infant vocalizations along a continuum ranging from the most prototypical intensely distressful cry sounds ("wails") to the most prototypical of infant sounds that typically express no distress (non-distress "vocants"). Wails are deemed little if at all related to speech while vocants are taken to be clear precursors to speech. We selected prototypical exemplars of utterances representing the whole continuum from 0 and 1 month-olds. In this initial study of the continuum, our goals are to determine (1) listener agreement on level of vocal distress across the continuum, (2) acoustic parameters predicting ratings of distress, (3) the extent to which individual listeners maintain or change their acoustic criteria for distress judgments across the study, (4) the extent to which different listeners use similar or different acoustic criteria to make judgments, and (5) the role of short-term experience among the listeners in judgments of infant vocalization distress. Results indicated that (1) both inter-rater and intra-rater listener agreement on degree of vocal distress was high, (2) the best predictors of vocal distress were number of vibratory regimes within utterances, utterance duration, spectral ratio (spectral concentration) in vibratory regimes within utterances, and mean pitch, (3) individual listeners significantly modified their acoustic criteria for distress judgments across the 10 trial blocks, (4) different listeners, while showing overall similarities in ratings of the 42 stimuli, also showed significant differences in acoustic criteria used in assigning the ratings of vocal distress, and (5) listeners who were both experienced and inexperienced in infant vocalizations coding showed high agreement in rating level of distress, but differed in the extent to which they relied on the different acoustic cues in making the ratings. The study provides clearer characterization of vocal distress expression in infants based on acoustic parameters and a new perspective on active adult perception of infant vocalizations. The results also highlight the importance of vibratory regime segmentation and analysis in acoustically based research on infant vocalizations and their perception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hyunjoo Yoo
- Department of Communicative Disorders, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, United States
| | - Eugene H. Buder
- School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, The University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, United States
- Institute for Intelligent Systems, The University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, United States
| | - Dale D. Bowman
- Institute for Intelligent Systems, The University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, United States
- Department of Mathematical Sciences, The University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, United States
| | - Gavin M. Bidelman
- School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, The University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, United States
- Institute for Intelligent Systems, The University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, United States
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, United States
| | - D. Kimbrough Oller
- School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, The University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, United States
- Institute for Intelligent Systems, The University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, United States
- Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research, Klosterneuburg, Austria
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20
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Oller DK, Griebel U, Iyer SN, Jhang Y, Warlaumont AS, Dale R, Call J. Language Origins Viewed in Spontaneous and Interactive Vocal Rates of Human and Bonobo Infants. Front Psychol 2019; 10:729. [PMID: 31001176 PMCID: PMC6455048 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00729] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2019] [Accepted: 03/15/2019] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
From the first months of life, human infants produce "protophones," speech-like, non-cry sounds, presumed absent, or only minimally present in other apes. But there have been no direct quantitative comparisons to support this presumption. In addition, by 2 months, human infants show sustained face-to-face interaction using protophones, a pattern thought also absent or very limited in other apes, but again, without quantitative comparison. Such comparison should provide evidence relevant to determining foundations of language, since substantially flexible vocalization, the inclination to explore vocalization, and the ability to interact socially by means of vocalization are foundations for language. Here we quantitatively compare data on vocalization rates in three captive bonobo (Pan paniscus) mother-infant pairs with various sources of data from our laboratories on human infant vocalization. Both humans and bonobos produced distress sounds (cries/screams) and laughter. The bonobo infants also produced sounds that were neither screams nor laughs and that showed acoustic similarities to the human protophones. These protophone-like sounds confirm that bonobo infants share with humans the capacity to produce vocalizations that appear foundational for language. Still, there were dramatic differences between the species in both quantity and function of the protophone and protophone-like sounds. The bonobo protophone-like sounds were far less frequent than the human protophones, and the human protophones were far less likely to be interpreted as complaints and more likely as vocal play. Moreover, we found extensive vocal interaction between human infants and mothers, but no vocal interaction in the bonobo mother-infant pairs-while bonobo mothers were physically responsive to their infants, we observed no case of a bonobo mother vocalization directed to her infant. Our cross-species comparison focuses on low- and moderate-arousal circumstances because we reason the roots of language entail vocalization not triggered by excitement, for example, during fighting or intense play. Language appears to be founded in flexible vocalization, used to regulate comfortable social interaction, to share variable affective states at various levels of arousal, and to explore vocalization itself.
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Affiliation(s)
- D. Kimbrough Oller
- School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, United States
- Institute for Intelligent Systems, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, United States
- Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research, Klosterneuburg, Austria
| | - Ulrike Griebel
- School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, United States
- Institute for Intelligent Systems, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, United States
- Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research, Klosterneuburg, Austria
| | - Suneeti Nathani Iyer
- Department of Communication Sciences and Special Education, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, United States
| | - Yuna Jhang
- Department of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan
| | - Anne S. Warlaumont
- Department of Communication, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Rick Dale
- Department of Communication, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Josep Call
- School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews, United Kingdom
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
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Yoo H, Bowman DA, Oller DK. The Origin of Protoconversation: An Examination of Caregiver Responses to Cry and Speech-Like Vocalizations. Front Psychol 2018; 9:1510. [PMID: 30197615 PMCID: PMC6117422 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01510] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2018] [Accepted: 07/31/2018] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Turn-taking is a universal and fundamental feature of human vocal communication. Through protoconversation, caregivers play a key role for infants in helping them learn the turn-taking system. Infants produce both speech-like vocalizations (i.e., protophones) and cries from birth. Prior research has shown that caregivers take turns with infant protophones. However, no prior research has investigated the timing of caregiver responses to cries. The present work is the first to systematically investigate different temporal patterns of caregiver responses to protophones and to cries. Results showed that, even in infants' first 3 months of life, caregivers were more likely to take turns with protophones and to overlap with cries. The study provides evidence that caregivers are intuitively aware that protophones and cries are functionally different: protophones are treated as precursors to speech, whereas cries are treated as expressions of distress.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hyunjoo Yoo
- Department of Communicative Disorders, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, United States
| | - Dale A Bowman
- Department of Mathematical Sciences, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, United States.,Institute for Intelligent Systems, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, United States
| | - D Kimbrough Oller
- Institute for Intelligent Systems, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, United States.,School of Communication Sciences & Disorders, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, United States.,Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research, Klosterneuburg, Austria
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22
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Hadders-Algra M. Early human motor development: From variation to the ability to vary and adapt. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2018; 90:411-427. [PMID: 29752957 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2018.05.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 131] [Impact Index Per Article: 21.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2018] [Revised: 05/01/2018] [Accepted: 05/04/2018] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
This review summarizes early human motor development. From early fetal age motor behavior is based on spontaneous neural activity: activity of networks in the brainstem and spinal cord that is modulated by supraspinal activity. The supraspinal activity, first primarily brought about by the cortical subplate, later by the cortical plate, induces movement variation. Initially, movement variation especially serves exploration; its associated afferent information is primarily used to sculpt the developing nervous system, and less to adapt motor behavior. In the next phase, beginning at function-specific ages, movement variation starts to serve adaptation. In sucking and swallowing, this phase emerges shortly before term age. In speech, gross and fine motor development, it emerges from 3 to 4 months post-term onwards, i.e., when developmental focus in the primary sensory and motor cortices has shifted to the permanent cortical circuitries. With increasing age and increasing trial-and-error exploration, the infant improves its ability to use adaptive and efficicient forms of upright gross motor behavior, manual activities and vocalizations belonging to the native language.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mijna Hadders-Algra
- University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Dept. Pediatrics - Section Developmental Neurology, Groningen, The Netherlands.
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Jhang Y, Franklin B, Ramsdell-Hudock HL, Oller DK. Differing Roles of the Face and Voice in Early Human Communication: Roots of Language in Multimodal Expression. FRONTIERS IN COMMUNICATION 2017; 2:10. [PMID: 29423398 PMCID: PMC5798486 DOI: 10.3389/fcomm.2017.00010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Seeking roots of language, we probed infant facial expressions and vocalizations. Both have roles in language, but the voice plays an especially flexible role, expressing a variety of functions and affect conditions with the same vocal categories-a word can be produced with many different affective flavors. This requirement of language is seen in very early infant vocalizations. We examined the extent to which affect is transmitted by early vocal categories termed "protophones" (squeals, vowel-like sounds, and growls) and by their co-occurring facial expressions, and similarly the extent to which vocal type is transmitted by the voice and co-occurring facial expressions. Our coder agreement data suggest infant affect during protophones was most reliably transmitted by the face (judged in video-only), while vocal type was transmitted most reliably by the voice (judged in audio-only). Voice alone transmitted negative affect more reliably than neutral or positive affect, suggesting infant protophones may be used especially to call for attention when the infant is in distress. By contrast, the face alone provided no significant information about protophone categories. Indeed coders in VID could scarcely recognize the difference between silence and voice when coding protophones in VID. The results suggest that partial decoupling of communicative roles for face and voice occurs even in the first months of life. Affect in infancy appears to be transmitted in a way that audio and video aspects are flexibly interwoven, as in mature language.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuna Jhang
- Department of Speech Language Pathology and Audiology, Chung Shan University, Taichung, Taiwan
| | - Beau Franklin
- The Institute for Research and Rehabilitation, Memorial Hermann Healthcare, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Heather L. Ramsdell-Hudock
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Idaho State University, Pocatello, ID, United States
| | - D. Kimbrough Oller
- School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, The University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, United States
- Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research, Klosterneuburg, Austria
- Institute for Intelligent Systems, The University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, United States
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