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Relationship between rhythmic behavior and canonical babbling in infant vocal development
1Department of Psychology, Ochanomizu University, Tokyo, Japan. ejiri@cc.ocha.ac.jp
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Infants
Area of Science:
- Developmental psychology
- Speech and language development
- Auditory neuroscience
Background:
- Canonical babbling (CB) is a crucial stage in infant vocal development.
- Previous studies suggest a link between CB onset and peak rhythmic activity periods.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between rhythmic motor activities and the onset of canonical babbling in infants.
- To determine if auditory feedback influences motor control during this developmental phase.
Main Methods:
- Longitudinal observation of 28 Japanese infants aged 5-9 months.
- Experimental sessions involving audible and inaudible rattles to assess motor responses.
- Observational sessions of spontaneous rhythmic activities under natural conditions.
Main Results:
- Rhythmic activities peaked around the onset of canonical babbling.
- Infants initially shook rattles regardless of sound.
- Subsequently, infants preferentially shook audible rattles, indicating auditory feedback influence.
Conclusions:
- Infant rhythmic motor control develops in conjunction with auditory feedback.
- This auditory-motor integration is critical for the emergence of canonical babbling and spoken language acquisition.
Abstract:
The onset of canonical babbling (CB) is a landmark event in infants' vocal development for spoken language. Previous research has suggested that the onset of CB coincides with the peak period of rhythmic activities. To examine this phenomenon in detail, 28 Japanese infants (14 girls, 14 boys) were observed longitudinally from the age of 5 to 9 months. In the experimental sessions, an audible or an inaudible rattle was placed into a hand of each tested infant. Then the number of times that the infant shook the rattle was counted. In the observational sessions, infants' spontaneous rhythmic activities under natural conditions were observed. The result shows that rhythmic activities reached their peak around the onset of CB. When the infants began to babble, they shook whichever rattle was in their hand, regardless of its audibility. After this period, they shook the audible rattles more frequently than the inaudible ones. These findings suggest that, around the onset of CB, infants learn to control their motor activities based on auditory feedback.