This study investigated prosodic and structural characteristics of infant-directed speech to hearing-impaired infants as they gain hearing experience with a cochlear implant over a 12-month period of time. Mothers were recorded during a play interaction with their HI infants (N = 27, mean age 18.4 months) at 3, 6, and 12 months post-implantation. Two separate control groups of mothers with age-matched normal-hearing infants (NH-AM) (N = 21, mean age 18.1 months) and hearing experience-matched normal-hearing infants (NH-EM) (N = 24, mean age 3.1 months) were recorded at three testing sessions. Mothers produced less exaggerated pitch characteristics, a larger number of syllables per utterance, and faster speaking rate when interacting with NH-AM as compared to HI infants. Mothers also produced more syllables and demonstrated a trend suggesting faster speaking rate in speech to NH-EM relative to HI infants. Age-related modifications included decreased pitch standard deviation and increased number of syllables in speech to NH-AM infants and increased number of syllables in speech to HI and NH-EM infants across the 12-month period. These results suggest that mothers are sensitive to the hearing status of their infants and modify characteristics of infant-direct speech over time.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.