Intonation Preferences in Infants
Abstract
Intonation preferences of two groups of young male and female children were investigated. The first group's four members had a mean age of 14 months while the four infants in Group 2 were an average of 8.5 weeks of age. Two versions of identically worded sentences, differing only in inflection, were presented on separate channels of a two-channel tape recorder. One version accented alternate syllables while the second delivered the material in a flat monotone. The two-way choice test-toy design was employed with the older group while for Group 2 a head-turning response was conditioned. Insufficient data were produced by the older group to analyze for preference, but all infants in Group 2 evidenced a preference for the monotone delivery. Implications of this preference are discussed in terms of a possible interest in discrepant or novel auditory stimuli by young children.
Description
Program year: 1977-1978Digitized from print original stored in HDR
Citation
Janak, Beverly (1978). Intonation Preferences in Infants. University Undergraduate Fellows. Available electronically from https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /CAPSTONE -JanakB _1978.