Turn taking affects the quality of infant vocalizations

Bloom, Kathleen; Russell, Ann F.; Wassenberg, Karen

doi:10.1017/s0305000900012897

Cited by 198 publications

(147 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…Thus the infants altered the quality of their sounds when the communicative context changed. This finding supports results by Bloom et al (1987) indicating that when adults maintained a 'conversational' pattern, infants produced a higher ratio of 'speechlike' vocalizations containing variable pitch contours than when they responded at random to the vocalizations of the infants.…”

supporting

confidence: 90%

People and objects affect the quality of vocalizations in infants with down syndrome

1992

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The vocalizations of eight infants with Down syndrome were recorded longitudinally in relation to different social and non-social contexts. The infants were observed biweekly from 8 to 24 weeks and monthly up to 40 weeks. At each visit the infants were presented with their mother, a female stranger, and a rattle puppet, each alternately active and passive. Each condition lasted 60 sec. The results showed that by 4 months of age, the infants produced different types of vocal sounds in relation to environmental contexts. They produced significantly more melodic (speechlike) sounds, vocalic (non-speechlike) sounds, and emotional (crying, laughing and fussing) sounds when facing people than objects. By 6 months of age, these utterances began to be distinguished between mother and female stranger and active and passive adults. However, within the communicative context the overall amount of vocalic (nonspeechlike) sounds produced was larger than the amount of melodic (speechlike) sounds. It is suggested that this low output of melodic sounds in the overall vocal production of these infants may adversely affect the development of more appropriate vocal behaviour.

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supporting

confidence: 90%

People and objects affect the quality of vocalizations in infants with down syndrome

1992

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“…For example, visual and acoustic information provided by adults during interactions with infants, as well as reciprocal vocal interactions between adults and infants, are hypothesized to enhance attention to and acquisition of speech sounds (1,2,6,7,10). Furthermore, changes to the acoustic and prosodic structure of speech when adults direct speech to infants (e.g., slower speed, greater repetition, higher and more variable pitch) could similarly serve to enhance attention and promote vocal learning (11,12).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Mechanisms underlying the social enhancement of vocal learning in songbirds

Chen

Matheson

Sakata

2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

172

181

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Social processes profoundly influence speech and language acquisition. Despite the importance of social influences, little is known about how social interactions modulate vocal learning. Like humans, songbirds learn their vocalizations during development, and they provide an excellent opportunity to reveal mechanisms of social influences on vocal learning. Using yoked experimental designs, we demonstrate that social interactions with adult tutors for as little as 1 d significantly enhanced vocal learning. Social influences on attention to song seemed central to the social enhancement of learning because socially tutored birds were more attentive to the tutor's songs than passively tutored birds, and because variation in attentiveness and in the social modulation of attention significantly predicted variation in vocal learning. Attention to song was influenced by both the nature and amount of tutor song: Pupils paid more attention to songs that tutors directed at them and to tutors that produced fewer songs. Tutors altered their song structure when directing songs at pupils in a manner that resembled how humans alter their vocalizations when speaking to infants, that was distinct from how tutors changed their songs when singing to females, and that could influence attention and learning. Furthermore, social interactions that rapidly enhanced learning increased the activity of noradrenergic and dopaminergic midbrain neurons. These data highlight striking parallels between humans and songbirds in the social modulation of vocal learning and suggest that social influences on attention and midbrain circuitry could represent shared mechanisms underlying the social modulation of vocal learning.birdsong | catecholamines | attention | social influences | speech

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“…In addition, the interactions between infants and experimenters were highly constrained, because infants were placed in cribs or chairs with little else to do except attend to the persons sitting or standing in front of them. The relationship between social interaction and developmental transitions has rarely been studied, although the amount of mutual engagement between 2-to 6-month-old infants and social partners has been shown to be related to the number of speech-like vocalizations produced (21,22).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Social interaction shapes babbling: Testing parallels between birdsong and speech

Goldstein

King²,

West³

2003

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

529

421

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Birdsong is considered a model of human speech development at behavioral and neural levels. Few direct tests of the proposed analogs exist, however. Here we test a mechanism of phonological development in human infants that is based on social shaping, a selective learning process first documented in songbirds. By manipulating mothers' reactions to their 8-month-old infants' vocalizations, we demonstrate that phonological features of babbling are sensitive to nonimitative social stimulation. Contingent, but not noncontingent, maternal behavior facilitates more complex and mature vocal behavior. Changes in vocalizations persist after the manipulation. The data show that human infants use social feedback, facilitating immediate transitions in vocal behavior. Social interaction creates rapid shifts to developmentally more advanced sounds. These transitions mirror the normal development of speech, supporting the predictions of the avian social shaping model. These data provide strong support for a parallel in function between vocal precursors of songbirds and infants. Because imitation is usually considered the mechanism for vocal learning in both taxa, the findings introduce social shaping as a general process underlying the development of speech and song.

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Turn taking affects the quality of infant vocalizations

Cited by 198 publications

References 40 publications

People and objects affect the quality of vocalizations in infants with down syndrome

People and objects affect the quality of vocalizations in infants with down syndrome

Mechanisms underlying the social enhancement of vocal learning in songbirds

Social interaction shapes babbling: Testing parallels between birdsong and speech

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