The song, not the singer: Infants prefer to listen to familiar songs, regardless of singer identity.
Dev Sci
; 25(1): e13149, 2022 01.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-34241934
Parent's infant-directed vocalizations are highly dynamic and emotive compared to their adult-directed counterparts, and correspondingly, more effectively capture infants' attention. Infant-directed singing is a specific type of vocalization that is common throughout the world. Parents tend to sing a small handful of songs in a stereotyped way, and a number of recent studies have highlighted the significance of familiar songs in young children's social behaviors and evaluations. To date, no studies have examined whether infants' responses to familiar versus unfamiliar songs are modulated by singer identity (i.e., whether the singer is their own parent). In the present study, we investigated 9- to 12-month-old infants' (N = 29) behavioral and electrodermal responses to relatively familiar and unfamiliar songs sung by either their own mother or another infant's mother. Familiar songs recruited more attention and rhythmic movement, and lower electrodermal levels relative to unfamiliar songs. Moreover, these responses were robust regardless of whether the singer was their mother or a stranger, even when the stranger's rendition differed greatly from their mothers' in mean fundamental frequency and tempo. Results indicate that infants' interest in familiar songs is not limited to idiosyncratic characteristics of their parents' song renditions, and points to the potential for song as an effective early signifier of group membership.
Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Canto
Límite:
Adult
/
Child
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Child, preschool
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Humans
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Infant
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Dev Sci
Asunto de la revista:
PSICOLOGIA
Año:
2022
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Canadá
Pais de publicación:
Reino Unido