Adults' Tolerance of Cries: An Experimental Investigation of Acoustic Features

Bisping, Rudolf; Steingrueber, Hans Joachim; Oltmann, Martine; Wenk, Christine B.

doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.1990.tb02855.x

Cited by 8 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 21 publications

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“…Particular characteristics of the cry itself are also known to influence perceived aversiveness. For example, cries with higher fundamental frequencies are perceived as more aversive (Bisping et al 1990; Gustafson and Green 1989). Other cry characteristics, such as roughness, a quality that contributes to the aversiveness of human screams and artificial alarm signals, might also play a role (Arnal et al 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Explaining individual variation in paternal brain responses to infant cries

Horta

Mascaro

et al. 2018

Physiology & Behavior

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Crying is the principal means by which newborn infants shape parental behavior to meet their needs. While this mechanism can be highly effective, infant crying can also be an aversive stimulus that leads to parental frustration and even abuse. Fathers have recently become more involved in direct caregiving activities in modern, developed nations, and fathers are more likely than mothers to physically abuse infants. In this study, we attempt to explain variation in the neural response to infant crying among human fathers, with the hope of identifying factors that are associated with a more or less sensitive response. We imaged brain function in 39 first-time fathers of newborn infants as they listened to both their own and a standardized unknown infant cry stimulus, as well as auditory control stimuli, and evaluated whether these neural responses were correlated with measured characteristics of fathers and infants that were hypothesized to modulate these responses. Fathers also provided subjective ratings of each cry stimulus on multiple dimensions. Fathers showed widespread activation to both own and unknown infant cries in neural systems involved in empathy and approach motivation. There was no significant difference in the neural response to the own vs. unknown infant cry, and many fathers were unable to distinguish between the two cries. Comparison of these results with previous studies in mothers revealed a high degree of similarity between first-time fathers and first-time mothers in the pattern of neural activation to newborn infant cries. Further comparisons suggested that younger infant age was associated with stronger paternal neural responses, perhaps due to hormonal or novelty effects. In our sample, older fathers found infant cries less aversive and had an attenuated response to infant crying in both the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) and the anterior insula, suggesting that compared with younger fathers, older fathers may be better able to avoid the distress associated with empathic over-arousal in response to infant cries. A principal components analysis revealed that fathers with more negative emotional reactions to the unknown infant cry showed decreased activation in the thalamus and caudate nucleus, regions expected to promote positive parental behaviors, as well as increased activation in the hypothalamus and dorsal ACC, again suggesting that empathic over-arousal might result in negative emotional reactions to infant crying. In sum, our findings suggest that infant age, paternal age and paternal emotional reactions to infant crying all modulate the neural response of fathers to infant crying. By identifying neural correlates of variation in paternal subjective reactions to infant crying, these findings help lay the groundwork for evaluating the effectiveness of interventions designed to increase paternal sensitivity and compassion.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Explaining individual variation in paternal brain responses to infant cries

Horta

Mascaro

et al. 2018

Physiology & Behavior

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Infant cry as a graded signal: Experimental modifications of durations of pauses and expiratory sounds alter mothers' perceptions

1993

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The purpose of this study was to examine experimentally the effects of the temporal structure of infant crying on mothers' perceptions. Eighteen mothers of young infants rated variations of a IO-sec cry in which durations of all expiratory sounds and pauses were digitally lengthened and shortened by 50%. Results showed a general monotonic effect in which cries with increasingly shorter pauses were perceived to be more arousing, aversive, informative, and rough. Similarly, cries with short expirations were perceived to be more rhythmic and rough than cries with long expirations. The strength of the monotonic effect for pause duration on ratings of urgency interacted with the duration of expiratory sounds such that the combination of short pauses and short expirations created the greatest perceived urgency. This study replicates and extends previous findings which show that gradations in acoustic features of crying are associated with gradations in the intensity of adults' perceptions.

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Parental selection of vocal behavior

Locke

2006

Hum Nat

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Although all natural languages are spoken, there is no accepted account of the evolution of a skill prerequisite to language-control of the movements of speech. If selection applied at sexual maturity, individuals achieving some command of articulate vocal behavior in previous stages would have enjoyed unusual advantages in adulthood. I offer a parental selection hypothesis, according to which hominin parents apportioned care, in part, on the basis of their infants' vocal behavior. Specifically, it is suggested that persistent or noxious crying reduced care to individuals who would have had difficulty learning complex behaviors, and that cooing and babbling increased social interaction and care as well as control over complex oralmotor activity of the sort required by spoken language. Several different tests of the hypothesis are suggested.

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Adults' Tolerance of Cries: An Experimental Investigation of Acoustic Features

Cited by 8 publications

References 21 publications

Explaining individual variation in paternal brain responses to infant cries

Explaining individual variation in paternal brain responses to infant cries

Infant cry as a graded signal: Experimental modifications of durations of pauses and expiratory sounds alter mothers' perceptions

Parental selection of vocal behavior

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