Attention-Grabbing Vocal Signals: Impact on Information Processing and Expectations

Adults listened to children's verbalizations that differed in fundamental frequency (fo) or pitch, a vocal quality that has potential attention-eliciting properties. Undergraduate women listened to child messages in anticipation of a teaching interaction. As predicted, higher recall was shown for child messages accompanied by high fo than low fo; this advantage was, however, limited to younger children. Additionally, listeners showed differential expectations for their teaching success on the combined basis of child fo and their own perceptions of perceived social control (PC). As predicted, low-PC teachers expected that interactions with high-fo children would be relatively unsuccessful, whereas interactions with low-fo children would be relatively easy. Results are interpreted as reflecting differential reactions to the demands of dependent others based on cognitive representations of such relationships.