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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 15, 2026

Infant Auditory Processing and Event-related Brain Oscillations

Infant Auditory Processing and Event-related Brain Oscillations

Published on: July 1, 2015

Musical predispositions in infancy.

¹Department of Psychology, University of Toronto at Mississauga, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada L5L 1C6. sandra.trehub@utoronto.ca

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences

|July 19, 2001

Summary

Infants possess innate musical processing abilities, recognizing melodies and rhythms early in life. Maternal singing, with its unique characteristics, captures infant attention and influences their arousal levels.

Area of Science:

Cognitive Science
Developmental Psychology
Music Cognition

Background:

Music is considered a complex human adaptation by some scholars.
Focus is on the processing predispositions for music in early development.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate infants' early receptive musical skills and processing predispositions.
To examine infant responses to musical patterns and maternal singing.

Main Methods:

Observational studies on infant processing of pitch and temporal patterns.
Analysis of infant attention and preference for maternal singing versus speech.

Main Results:

Infants demonstrate relational processing of pitch and temporal musical patterns.

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Melodic contour is salient, but infants detect interval changes and prefer specific scales/rhythms.

Infants prefer maternal singing style, showing more attention and moderated arousal.

Conclusions:

Early musical skills suggest innate predispositions for music processing.
Maternal singing plays a significant role in infant development and attention.
Findings offer insights into the evolutionary origins of music.