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Infant Auditory Processing and Event-related Brain Oscillations
Published on: July 1, 2015
Developmental change in auditory preferences for speech stimuli in Japanese infants
A Hayashi1, Y Tamekawa, S Kiritani
1The Research Institute for the Education of Exceptional Children, Tokyo Gakugei University, Koganei-shi, Japan. aki@u-gakugei.ac.jp
Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research : JSLHR
|January 5, 2002
Summary
Japanese infants show a U-shaped preference for infant-directed speech, shifting from early preference to a temporary decrease, then a renewed preference. This developmental change in auditory preferences was observed in infants aged 4-14 months.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Auditory Perception
- Linguistics
Background:
- Infants' auditory preferences are crucial for language acquisition.
- Early research suggests infants prefer infant-directed (ID) speech over adult-directed (AD) speech.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate developmental changes in auditory preferences for speech stimuli in Japanese infants.
- To compare preferences for infant-directed versus adult-directed speech and native versus non-native speech.
Main Methods:
- Three experiments were conducted with Japanese infants aged 4-14 months.
- The head-turn preference procedure was used to measure listening preferences.
- Stimuli included infant-directed (ID) and adult-directed (AD) speech, as well as native (Japanese) and non-native (English) speech.
Main Results:
- Infants demonstrated a U-shaped developmental shift in preference for ID speech over AD speech across three stages.
- A tendency for increased preference for native speech over non-native speech was observed, but without a U-shaped pattern.
- Developmental changes in listening preferences were evident for both speech types.
Conclusions:
- Infant auditory preferences for speech stimuli undergo significant developmental changes.
- The developmental trajectory of speech preference differs between infant-directed/adult-directed and native/non-native speech pairs.
- These findings contribute to understanding early language perception development.
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