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

Zeskind, Philip Sanford; Wilhite, Adam; Marshall, Timothy R.

doi:10.1002/edp.2430020204

Cited by 10 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Consistent with current notions of infant crying as a graded signal ͑Zeskind et Zeskind et al, 1993;Harris, 1990͒, Porter et al ͑1986͒ found that durational as well as F 0 -related characteristics are correlated with the severity of the procedure that the infant was undergoing at the time and that adult listeners were able to correctly assess the urgency of a cry. In addition, acoustic features have been found to correlate with situationally defined cry ''types,'' which presumably reflect the infant's state.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 64%

Perceptual differences in infant cries revealed by modifications of acoustic features

Protopapas

Eimas

1997

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America

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Previous studies of infant cry acoustics and their perceptual significance have remained inconclusive as to the graded nature of cry production and perception and to the exact role and importance of particular acoustic features. In this study, a set of infant cries were digitally analyzed and resynthesized to form natural-sounding cries with varying fundamental frequency (F0), degrees of jitter (period to period variations in F0), and rise time (time for F0 to reach its maximum value). In a perceptual rating task, higher-F0 cries as well as cries with larger amounts of jitter tended to be given more negative ratings than were lower-F0 cries and cries with less jitter, respectively. The perceptual ratings of the rise time manipulations were inconclusive. This study demonstrated a perceptual effect of F0 and jitter independently of other parameters, consistent with current notions of infant cry gradedness. It was also shown that digital signal processing techniques can be fruitfully applied to infant cry research.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 64%

Perceptual differences in infant cries revealed by modifications of acoustic features

Protopapas

Eimas

1997

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America

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“…More contemporary perspectives have pointed to the cry of young infants as a graded signal which varies in acoustic features (Murray, 1979;Lester & Zeskind, 1982). Recent empirical work indicates that the temporal morphology of this graded signal corresponds to changes in the infant's level of arousal and that these changes in temporal morphology provide the basis for perceptual information (Zeskind, Klein, & Marshall, 1992;Zeskind, Wilhite, & Marshall, 1993). Future study of the dynamic relation between temporal morphology and infant arousal may clarify the biological and social significance of within-cry variations in sound.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rhythmic organization of the sound of infant crying

Zeskind

Parker-Price

Barr

1993

Developmental Psychobiology

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The purpose of the present study was to examine the temporal morphology and rhythmic structure underlying the repeated bursts of expiratory sounds in a sustained bout of crying of twenty-three 1-month-old infants. Durations of expiratory sounds and bursts were determined from a 90-s bout of naturally occurring cries recorded in the home before feeding. Results indicated wide individual differences in temporal morphology between infants and within infant cry sounds. Binary spectrum analysis of the presence of expiratory sounds in the cry sound detected rhythms in temporal organization at a wide range of dominant frequencies. Spectral complexity (higher numbers of peaks in the power spectrum) was related to a longer time since infants were last fed and shorter expiratory sounds. Results emphasize the importance of viewing cries of young infants as dynamic signals. An ontogenetic history of the rhythms of infant cry sounds may contribute to understanding organismic and environmental experiences which contribute to development.

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“…26 The most audibly intense 30 second segments of these pre-feed cries were selected for comparison with the colic segments. The mean length of the pre-feed crying bouts from which the segments were selected, 12.15 minutes, is similar to that of the crying bouts in general (10 minutes) 10…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

What is distinct about infants' "colic" cries? Commentary

James‐Roberts

1999

Archives of Disease in Childhood

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Aims-To investigate (1) whether colic cries are acoustically distinct from prefeed "hunger" cries; (2) the role of the acoustic properties of these cries versus their other properties in accounting for parents' concerns about colic. Design-From a community sample, infants were selected who met Wessel colic criteria for amounts of crying and whose mothers identified colic bouts. Using acoustic analyses, the most intense segments of nine colic bouts were compared with matched segments from pre-feed cries presumed to reflect hunger. Results-The colic cries did not have a higher pitch or proportion of dysphonation than the pre-feed cries. They did contain more frequent shorter utterances, but these resembled normal cries investigated in other studies. There is no evidence that colic cries have distinct acoustic features that are reproducible across samples and studies, which identify a discrete clinical condition, and which are identified accurately by parents. Conclusions-The most reliable finding is that colic cries convey diVuse acoustic and audible information that a baby is highly aroused or distressed. Non-acoustic features, including the prolonged, hard to soothe, and unexplained nature of the cries may be specific to colic cries and more important for parents. These properties might reflect temperament-like dispositions. (Arch Dis Child 1999;80:56-62)

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

Cited by 10 publications

References 23 publications

Perceptual differences in infant cries revealed by modifications of acoustic features

Perceptual differences in infant cries revealed by modifications of acoustic features

Rhythmic organization of the sound of infant crying

What is distinct about infants' "colic" cries? Commentary

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