How plausible is the <b><i>motherese</i></b> hypothesis?

Bouissac, Paul

doi:10.1017/s0140525x04250117

Cited by 24 publications

(5 citation statements)

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“…Motherese has been found to occur in cultures globally (Gogate, Maganti, & Bahrick, 2015; Grieser & Kuhl, 1988; Papoušek, Papoušek, & Symmes, 1991; Trehub, Unyk, & Trainor, 1993a, 1993b). This has led to suggestions that it evolved as a way of supporting mother–infant interactions and facilitating nurturing while babies are at a relatively early stage of neurological development (Bouissac, 2004), with the simple melodic arches of motherese being cognitively easier to process than words. In support of this, infants have been shown to engage their attention more in response to motherese rather than standard talking (Fernald, 1985; Kitamura, Guellaï, & Kim, 2014; Pegg, Werker, & McLeod, 1992; Santarcangelo & Dyer, 1988), as well as respond with vocalizations (Pelaez, Virués-Ortega, & Gewirtz, 2011), and demonstrate emotional synchronicity with their mothers (Saint-Georges et al, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effects of mother–infant singing on emotional closeness, affect, anxiety, and stress hormones

Fancourt

Perkins

2018

Music & Science

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Among mammals who invest in the production of a relatively small number of offspring, bonding is a critical strategy for survival. Mother–infant bonding among humans is not only linked with the infant’s survival but also with a range of protective psychological, biological, and behavioral responses in both mothers and infants in the post-birth period and across the life span. Anthropological theories suggest that one behavior that may have evolved with the aim of enhancing mother–infant bonding is infant-directed singing. However, to date, despite mother–infant singing being practiced across cultures, there remains little quantitative demonstration of any effects on mothers or their perceived closeness to their infants. This within-subjects study, comparing the effects of mother–infant singing with other mother–infant interactions among 43 mothers and their infants, shows that singing is associated with greater increases in maternal perceptions of emotional closeness in comparison to social interactions. Mother–infant singing is also associated with greater increases in positive affect and greater decreases in negative affect as well as greater decreases in both psychological and biological markers of anxiety. This supports previous findings about the effects of singing on closeness and social bonding in other populations. Furthermore, associations between changes in closeness and both affect and anxiety support previous research suggesting associations between closeness, bonding, and wider mental health.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effects of mother–infant singing on emotional closeness, affect, anxiety, and stress hormones

Fancourt

Perkins

2018

Music & Science

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“…Motherese and singing have simple melodic arches which are cognitively easier to process than words. Both are therefore able to support mother-infant communication and language development while newborns are at a relatively early stage of neurological development (Bouissac, 2004).…”

Section: The Power Of Musicmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Power of Music

Hallam¹,

Himonides²

2022

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Evangelos HimonidesDr Evangelos Himonides held the University of London's first ever lectureship in music technology education and now holds the country's first ever Chair in Technology, Education, and Music. Evangelos works at University College London, where he leads a number of courses and supervises doctoral and post-doctoral research. At postgraduate level, he has led and now serves the MA in Music Education programme at UCL, with courses in 'Music Technology in Education' and 'Choral Conducting, Leadership and Communication'. At undergraduate level, Evangelos developed UCL's first ever music-related course in the Institution's near two-century history, which is called 'Interactions of Music & Science' and offered under the innovative Bachelors of Arts and Sciences (BASc) programme. He is fellow of the RSA and Chartered Fellow (FBCS CITP) of the British Computer Society. As a musician, technologist and educator, Evangelos has had an ongoing career in experimental research in the fields of Psychoacoustics, Music Perception, Music Cognition, IT, Human-Computer Interaction, Special Needs, the Singing Voice & Singing Development. Publications currently number over two hundred in high-profile international journals, such as Frontiers of Psychology and Cognitive Science, Psychology of Music, IJME, RSME, Journal of Voice, Logopedics Phoniatrics Vocology. Evangelos has been working on numerous funded research projects for leading UK Research Councils such as the AHRC, ESRC, EPSRC, grant-making foundations/charities such as The Paul Hamlyn Foundation, RNIB, the AmberTrust and the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, government agencies/departments (such as DfES, QCA) and also the European Union. Evangelos is associate editor for the Journal of Music, Technology and Education (Intellect), associate editor of Frontiers in Psychology, past associate editor for the Journal Logopedics Phoniatrics Vocology xv Author Biographies (Informa Healthcare), reviews editor for Psychology of Music (SAGE), editor of the Society for Education and Music Psychology Research (SEMPRE) Conference Series, and section editor for 'technology' for the Oxford Handbook of Music Education. Evangelos has co-edited, with Andrew King, two key volumes in Technology, Music and Education, published by Routledge.As a sound engineer and researcher, Evangelos has recorded in numerous venues (including York Minster, St.Paul's, RCM), with various artists such as Derek Lee Ragin (Farinelli), Vanessa Mae (SONY BMG) and Jarvis Cocker (Pulp) and for numerous media productions (for the BBC, Ch5, Discovery Channel, RTL, CBS, PBS, History Channel).Evangelos has developed the free online technologies for Sounds of Intent, Inspire-Music and the Online Afghan Rubab Tutor. In his spare time, Evangelos likes to record music, play guitar, and handcraft musical instruments in order to raise funds for his charitable work. Intellectual, Social and Personal Development of Children and Young People (2015). As the evidence was collated, it became clear that much more research had be...

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“…Music plays an important part in language development. The simple melodic arches used in singing and motherese are cognitively easier to process than words, so they support mother-infant communication and language development while babies are at a relatively early stage of neurological development (116). Reports of benefits for language development extend across early years and childhood (117,118), as well as benefits for auditory skills development (including auditory discrimination and attention (119)), reading ability (120) and language skills (including pitch perception (121-123)).…”

Section: Speech and Languagementioning

confidence: 99%

Artwork from military personnel, Veterans, and their family members

2022

Journal of Military, Veteran and Family Health

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Over the past two decades, there has been a major increase in research into the effects of the arts on health and well-being, alongside developments in practice and policy activities in different countries across the WHO European Region and further afield. This report synthesizes the global evidence on the role of the arts in improving health and well-being, with a specific focus on the WHO European Region. Results from over 3000 studies identified a major role for the arts in the prevention of ill health, promotion of health, and management and treatment of illness across the lifespan. The reviewed evidence included study designs such as uncontrolled pilot studies, case studies, small-scale cross-sectional surveys, nationally representative longitudinal cohort studies, community-wide ethnographies and randomized controlled trials from diverse disciplines. The beneficial impact of the arts could be furthered through acknowledging and acting on the growing evidence base; promoting arts engagement at the individual, local and national levels; and supporting cross-sectoral collaboration.

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How plausible is the motherese hypothesis?

Cited by 24 publications

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The effects of mother–infant singing on emotional closeness, affect, anxiety, and stress hormones

The effects of mother–infant singing on emotional closeness, affect, anxiety, and stress hormones

The Power of Music

Artwork from military personnel, Veterans, and their family members

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