Fundamental frequency variation within neonatal crying: Does ambient language matter?

Wermke, Kathleen; Teiser, Johanna; Yovsi, Eunice; Kohlenberg, Paul Joscha; Wermke, Peter; Robb, Michael P.; Keller, Heidi; Lamm, Bettina

doi:10.1080/2050571x.2016.1187903

Cited by 25 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…Thus, individual differences in F 0 transposition range may reflect voluntary control over cry melody, which, in turn, contributes to later non-cry vocalizations such as babbling and expressive language ( Lieberman, 1985 ). In practice, during language acquisition, the ability to transpose a melody across different frequency levels is assumed to be necessary for imitating simple melodies and speech sounds in one’s ambient language beginning in the neonatal period ( Kuhl and Meltzoff, 1996 ; Mampe et al, 2009 ; Wermke and Mende, 2009 ; Gratier and Devouche, 2011 ; Wermke et al, 2016 ). Importantly, the effects of F 0 transposition range at term on language development at 18 months are independent of confounding factors such as gestational age and IUGR ( Hille et al, 2007 ; Aarnoudse-Moens et al, 2009 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…On the other hand, melody (i.e., time variation in F 0 ) is considered to be one of the most crucial acoustic features of infant cries. In term infants, spontaneous cries exhibit rich melodic features even during the neonatal period ( Mampe et al, 2009 ; Wermke et al, 2016 ) and their cry melodies are reported to become increasingly more variable ( Prescott, 1975 ) and complex ( Wermke et al, 2002 , 2007 ) across the first months of life. For example, developmental changes have been observed in the spontaneous cries of term infants such that F 0 variability (i.e., standard deviation [ SD ]) within a cry utterance increases from 28 Hz at 1–2 weeks of age to 53 Hz at 6–9 months of age ( Prescott, 1975 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This assumption is consistent with observations of the high sensitivity to melodic features of adult speech during the fetal ( Kisilevsky et al, 2009 ; Partanen et al, 2013 ; Webb et al, 2015 ) and neonatal ( Kujala et al, 2004 ; Naoi et al, 2013 ) periods. Additionally, infant cry melody is shaped by ambient language during these periods ( Mampe et al, 2009 ; Wermke et al, 2016 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Fundamental Frequency Variation of Neonatal Spontaneous Crying Predicts Language Acquisition in Preterm and Term Infants

et al. 2017

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Spontaneous cries of infants exhibit rich melodic features (i.e., time variation of fundamental frequency [F0]) even during the neonatal period, and the development of these characteristics might provide an essential base for later expressive prosody in language. However, little is known about the melodic features of spontaneous cries in preterm infants, who have a higher risk of later language-related problems. Thus, the present study investigated how preterm birth influenced melodic features of spontaneous crying at term-equivalent age as well as how these melodic features related to language outcomes at 18 months of corrected age in preterm and term infants. At term, moderate-to-late preterm (MLP) infants showed spontaneous cries with significantly higher F0 variation and melody complexity than term infants, while there were no significant differences between very preterm (VP) and term infants. Furthermore, larger F0 variation within cry series at term was significantly related to better language and cognitive outcomes, particularly expressive language skills, at 18 months. On the other hand, no other melodic features at term predicted any developmental outcomes at 18 months. The present results suggest that the additional postnatal vocal experience of MLP preterm infants increased F0 variation and the complexity of spontaneous cries at term. Additionally, the increases in F0 variation may partly reflect the development of voluntary vocal control, which, in turn, contributes to expressive language in infancy.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Fundamental Frequency Variation of Neonatal Spontaneous Crying Predicts Language Acquisition in Preterm and Term Infants

et al. 2017

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“…Babies respond to both prosody and facial gesture from early on. In fact, human neonates have access to prosodic information in utero , with recent studies showing that even infant cries reflect the prosodic patterns of a child’s ambient language (Mampe, Friederici, Christophe, & Wermke, 2009; Wermke et al, 2016). Newborns have been shown to use prosodic information to discriminate between languages from different rhythmic classes (Nazzi, Bertoncini, & Mehler, 1998).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Developmental and cognitive aspects of children’s disbelief comprehension through intonation and facial gesture

et al. 2018

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This article investigates how children leverage intonational and gestural cues to an individual's belief state through unimodal (intonation-only or facial gesture-only) and multimodal (intonation + facial gesture) cues. A total of 187 preschoolers (ages 3-5) participated in a disbelief comprehension task and were assessed for Theory of Mind (ToM) ability using a false belief task. Significant predictors included age, condition and success on the ToM task. Performance improved with age, and was significantly better for the multimodal condition compared to both unimodal conditions, suggesting that even though unimodal cues were useful to children, the presence of reinforcing information for the multimodal condition was more effective for detecting disbelief. However, results also point to the development of intonational and gestural comprehension in tandem. Children that passed the ToM task significantly outperformed those that failed

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“…In our study, fundamental frequency and its auditory counterpart pitch, played only a secondary role in the differentiation between typical and atypical verbal behaviour. Interestingly, the fundamental frequency often remains the only measured descriptor in acoustic studies on early vocalisations (e.g., Esposito & Venuti, 2010; Sheinkopf, Iverson, Rinaldi, & Lester, 2012; Wermke et al, 2016). The potential of combining a number of thoroughly selected acoustic features for specific classification tasks is indicated in Figure 2.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Typical vs. atypical: Combining auditory Gestalt perception and acoustic analysis of early vocalisations in Rett syndrome

Pokorny

Bartl-Pokorny

Einspieler

et al. 2018

Research in Developmental Disabilities

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Fundamental frequency variation within neonatal crying: Does ambient language matter?

Cited by 25 publications

References 52 publications

Fundamental Frequency Variation of Neonatal Spontaneous Crying Predicts Language Acquisition in Preterm and Term Infants

Fundamental Frequency Variation of Neonatal Spontaneous Crying Predicts Language Acquisition in Preterm and Term Infants

Developmental and cognitive aspects of children’s disbelief comprehension through intonation and facial gesture

Typical vs. atypical: Combining auditory Gestalt perception and acoustic analysis of early vocalisations in Rett syndrome

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