Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-fv566 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-16T20:05:51.108Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Adult judgments of age and linguistic differences in infant vocalization*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 September 2008

Rachel L. Olney  and
Ellin K. Scholnick
Rachel L. Olney
Affiliation:
University of Maryland
Ellin K. Scholnick
Affiliation:
University of Maryland
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

College students judged the relative ages of pairs of vocalizations sampled either from a Chinese infant at 0; 6, 1; 0 and 1; 6 or from an American infant at the same ages. The judgments were 88% accurate, with the easiest judgments contrasting the 0; 6 and 1; 6 samples (96% accurate). With one exception, age contrasts for the Chinese infant were as easy to judge as those for the American infant. However, a second sample of college students was unable to judge the linguistic community of the vocalizer when age was held constant, whether the data were drawn from infant samples of 0; 6, 1; 0 or 1; 6 or from adults babbling to babies. These data led to speculations on the kinds of cues speakers of different languages use to discriminate infant vocalizations, and whether these cues are age-specific or language-specific. The data presently suggest the former, but the present study has methodological limitations, and generalizations are limited to one specific language contrast, English and Chinese.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Child Language , Volume 3 , Issue 2 , June 1976 , pp. 145 - 155
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1976

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Atkinson, K. (1968). Language identification from nonsegmental cues. JASA 44. 378.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Atkinson, K., MacWhinney, B. & Stoel, C. (1968). An experiment on the recognition of babbling. Language Behavior Research Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, Working Paper 14.Google Scholar
Bullowa, M., Jones, L. G. & Bever, T. G. (1964). The development from vocal to verbal behavior in children. In Bellugi, U. & Brown, R. (eds), The acquisition of language. Monogr. Soc. Res. Ch. Devel. 29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crystal, D. (1973). Non-segmental phonology in language acquisition: a review of the issues. Lingua 32. 1–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dingwall, W. O. (1975). Species-specificity of speech. Paper presented at the Twenty-Sixth Annual Georgetown Round Table Conference,Georgetown University.Google Scholar
Gleason, J. B. (1973). Code switching in children's language. In Moore, T. (ed.), Cognitive development and the acquisition of language. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Jakobson, R. (1968). Child language, aphasia, and phonological universals. The Hague: Mouton.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lenneberg, E. H. (1967). Biological foundations of language. New York: Wiley.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martin, J. G. (1972). Rhythmic (hierarchical) vs. serial structure in speech and other behavior. PsychRev 79. 487–509.Google Scholar
Mattingly, I. (1973). Phonetic prerequisites for first-language acquisition. Haskins Laboratories Status Report on Speech Research SR-34.Google Scholar
Nakazima, S. (1962). A comparative study of the speech development of Japanese and American English in childhood. StudPhonol 2. 27–39.Google Scholar
Nakazima, S. (1964). A comparative study of the speech development of Japanese and American English in childhood: Part II. StudPhonol 4. 37–55.Google Scholar
Olney, R. L. (1974). Discrimination of babbling: tests of the pre-linguistic, universal content of infant vocalization. Unpublished master's thesis, Department of Psychology, University of Maryland.Google Scholar
Pierce, J. (1974). A study of 750 Portland, Oregon children during the first year. PRCLD 8. 19–25.Google Scholar
Staats, A. W. & Staats, C. K. (1963). Complex human behavior: a systematic extension of learning principles. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weir, R. (1966). Some questions on the child's learning of phonology. In Smith, F. & Miller, G. A. (eds), The genesis of language. Cambridge, Mass.: M.I.T.Google Scholar
Whitaker, H. (1973). Comments on the innateness of language. In Shuy, R. (ed.), Some new directions in linguistics. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press.Google Scholar