Mothers' singing to infants and preschool children

Tonya Bergeson, Sandra E. Trehub, Tonya Bergeson-Dana

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Mothers were recorded singing two versions of the same song, one to their infants and the other to their preschool children. In Experiment 1, naive adult listeners accurately identified the infant-directed versions from each pair of mothers' songs. Pitch was higher for the infant-directed versions but tempo and intensity did not differ across contexts. In Experiment 2, naive listeners judged which version of each pair sounded more “loving” and which had clearer enunciation of lyrics. The versions sung to preschoolers were rated as more clearly enunciated than those sung to infants. Although there were no differences in “loving” tone of voice, “loving” ratings of infant-directed versions predicted identification accuracy.

Original languageAmerican English
JournalInfant Behavior and Development
Volume22
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 1999

Keywords

  • age-differences
  • infants
  • mothers
  • preschool
  • singing

Disciplines

  • Communication Sciences and Disorders

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