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Children's songs to infant siblings: parallels with speech*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 September 2008

Sandra E. Trehub ,
Anna M. Unyk  and
Joanna L. Henderson
Sandra E. Trehub*
Affiliation:
University of Toronto
Anna M. Unyk
Affiliation:
University of Toronto
Joanna L. Henderson
Affiliation:
University of Toronto
*
Centre for Research in Human Development, University of Toronto, Erindale Campus, Mississauga, Ontario, CanadaL5L 1C6.
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Abstract

Children aged 2;11 to 8;3 sang informally, once in the presence of their infant sibling and once when the infant was out of view. Paired excerpts from 22 children were presented to adult listeners, who were required to identify the infant-directed excerpt in each pair. Listeners' accuracy was above chance levels but below what would be expected for mothers' singing in comparable contexts. Children altered their singing style in the infant's presence by singing at a higher pitch level and with a different vocal quality.

Type
Note
Information
Journal of Child Language , Volume 21 , Issue 3 , October 1994 , pp. 735 - 744
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1994

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Footnotes

[*]

This research was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and The University of Toronto. We thank E. Glenn Schellenberg for helpful comments on an earlier draft of the manuscript.

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