Acoustic regularities in infant-directed speech and song across cultures

Hilton, Courtney B.; Moser, Cody J.; Bertolo, Mila; Lee-Rubin, Harry; Amir, Dorsa; Bainbridge, Constance M.; Simson, Jan; Knox, Dean; Glowacki, Luke; Alemu, Elias; Galbarczyk, Andrzej; Jasienska, Grazyna; Ross, Cody T.; Neff, Mary Beth; Martin, Alia; Cirelli, Laura K.; Trehub, Sandra E.; Song, Jinqi; Kim, Minju; Schachner, Adena; Vardy, Tom A.; Atkinson, Quentin D.; Salenius, Amanda; Andelin, Jannik; Antfolk, Jan; Madhivanan, Purnima; Siddaiah, Anand; Placek, Caitlyn D.; Salali, Gul Deniz; Keestra, Sarai; Singh, Manvir; Collins, Scott A.; Patton, John Q.; Scaff, Camila; Stieglitz, Jonathan; Cutipa, Silvia Ccari; Moya, Cristina; Sagar, Rohan R.; Anyawire, Mariamu; Mabulla, Audax; Wood, Brian M.; Krasnow, Max M.; Mehr, Samuel A.

Acoustic regularities in infant-directed speech and song across cultures

Courtney B. Hilton (), Cody J. Moser (), Mila Bertolo, Harry Lee-Rubin, Dorsa Amir, Constance M. Bainbridge, Jan Simson, Dean Knox, Luke Glowacki, Elias Alemu, Andrzej Galbarczyk, Grazyna Jasienska, Cody T. Ross, Mary Beth Neff, Alia Martin, Laura K. Cirelli, Sandra E. Trehub, Jinqi Song, Minju Kim, Adena Schachner, Tom A. Vardy, Quentin D. Atkinson, Amanda Salenius, Jannik Andelin, Jan Antfolk, Purnima Madhivanan, Anand Siddaiah, Caitlyn D. Placek, Gul Deniz Salali, Sarai Keestra, Manvir Singh, Scott A. Collins, John Q. Patton, Camila Scaff, Jonathan Stieglitz, Silvia Ccari Cutipa, Cristina Moya, Rohan R. Sagar, Mariamu Anyawire, Audax Mabulla, Brian M. Wood, Max M. Krasnow and Samuel A. Mehr ()
Additional contact information
Courtney B. Hilton: Harvard University
Cody J. Moser: Harvard University
Mila Bertolo: Harvard University
Harry Lee-Rubin: Harvard University
Dorsa Amir: Boston College Department of Psychology
Constance M. Bainbridge: Harvard University
Jan Simson: Harvard University
Dean Knox: The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
Luke Glowacki: Boston University
Elias Alemu: Jinka University
Andrzej Galbarczyk: Jagiellonian University Medical College
Grazyna Jasienska: Jagiellonian University Medical College
Cody T. Ross: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Mary Beth Neff: Victoria University of Wellington
Alia Martin: Victoria University of Wellington
Laura K. Cirelli: University of Toronto, Scarborough
Sandra E. Trehub: University of Toronto, Mississauga
Jinqi Song: University of California, Los Angeles
Minju Kim: University of California, San Diego
Adena Schachner: University of California, San Diego
Tom A. Vardy: University of Auckland
Quentin D. Atkinson: University of Auckland
Amanda Salenius: Åbo Akademi
Jannik Andelin: Åbo Akademi
Jan Antfolk: Åbo Akademi
Purnima Madhivanan: College of Public Health, University of Arizona
Anand Siddaiah: Public Health Research Institute of India
Caitlyn D. Placek: Ball State University
Gul Deniz Salali: University College, London
Sarai Keestra: University College, London
Manvir Singh: Harvard University
Scott A. Collins: Arizona State University
John Q. Patton: California State University
Camila Scaff: University of Zurich
Jonathan Stieglitz: Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse
Silvia Ccari Cutipa: Universidad Nacional del Altiplano Puno
Cristina Moya: University of California, Davis
Rohan R. Sagar: Future Generations University
Mariamu Anyawire: Mang’ola
Audax Mabulla: University of Dar es Salaam
Brian M. Wood: University of California, Los Angeles
Max M. Krasnow: Harvard University
Samuel A. Mehr: Harvard University

Nature Human Behaviour, 2022, vol. 6, issue 11, 1545-1556

Abstract: Abstract When interacting with infants, humans often alter their speech and song in ways thought to support communication. Theories of human child-rearing, informed by data on vocal signalling across species, predict that such alterations should appear globally. Here, we show acoustic differences between infant-directed and adult-directed vocalizations across cultures. We collected 1,615 recordings of infant- and adult-directed speech and song produced by 410 people in 21 urban, rural and small-scale societies. Infant-directedness was reliably classified from acoustic features only, with acoustic profiles of infant-directedness differing across language and music but in consistent fashions. We then studied listener sensitivity to these acoustic features. We played the recordings to 51,065 people from 187 countries, recruited via an English-language website, who guessed whether each vocalization was infant-directed. Their intuitions were more accurate than chance, predictable in part by common sets of acoustic features and robust to the effects of linguistic relatedness between vocalizer and listener. These findings inform hypotheses of the psychological functions and evolution of human communication.

Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1038/s41562-022-01410-x

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