Infant vocal responses to questions and declaratives in maternal speech
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Date
2013-08-22
Authors
Reimchen, Melissa C.
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Abstract
Infants are perceptually sensitive to rising pitch over falling pitch (Sullivan & Horowitz, 1983) and this is reflected in their ability to discriminate between questions and declaratives in maternal speech (Soderstrom, Ko, & Nevzorova, 2011). Questions are proposed to play a fundamental role in the acquisition process by soliciting vocalization on the part of the infant (Snow, 1977). In the current study, we explored whether infant vocal responses to questions were distinct from those to declaratives; in particular, whether the use of questions by mothers encouraged greater vocalization by infants. Contrary to our hypothesis, infant vocalizations were no more likely to occur in response to questions. Infants responded more to questions when they were defined by rising pitch contours rather than falling ones. Infants did not respond more to declaratives with rising pitch contours. Questions, in combination with rising pitch contour, may provide especially salient response cues for infants. We propose that infants rely on these perceptual cues to learn when to respond during vocal exchanges with their mothers.
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Keywords
vocalization, development, speech, infant, maternal