Mothers' singing to infants and preschool children

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

January 1999

Publication Title

Infant Behavior and Development

First Page

51

Last Page

64

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0163-6383(99)80005-8

Abstract

Mothers were recorded singing two versions of the same song, one to their infants and the other to their preschool children. In Experiment 1, naive adult listeners accurately identified the infant-directed versions from each pair of mothers' songs. Pitch was higher for the infant-directed versions but tempo and intensity did not differ across contexts. In Experiment 2, naive listeners judged which version of each pair sounded more “loving” and which had clearer enunciation of lyrics. The versions sung to preschoolers were rated as more clearly enunciated than those sung to infants. Although there were no differences in “loving” tone of voice, “loving” ratings of infant-directed versions predicted identification accuracy.

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