Name:Meyha, Chhatwal

School/Affiliation:University of Toronto

Co-Authors:Dr. Christina Vanden Bosch der Nederlanden

Virtual or In-person:In-person

Abstract:

Caregivers regularly use both speech and song when communicating with infants. While adults from around the world can usually distinguish between speech and song rather effortlessly, it is still unclear as to when exactly this ability emerges in development. Several studies show evidence for infants preferring infant-directed (ID) song over ID speech (Nakata & Trehub, 2004; Tsang et al., 2016), while some show no preference for either modality (Corbeil et al., 2013; Costa-Giomi & Ilari, 2014). Other studies suggest that infants generally prefer happier-sounding stimuli irrespective of whether it is spoken or sung (Corbeil et al., 2013). In our study, we discern infants’ ability to discriminate between speech and song using a modified Stimulus Alternating Preference Procedure (SAPP), which is founded upon the principle that infants will exhibit more attention to complex than simple stimuli (Houston et al., 2007). We examine infants of two age groups: 4- to 5-month-olds and 11- to 12-month-olds. In line with our predictions, our preliminary results (n = 8) show that the younger infants do not differentiate between speech and song while the older infants do, suggesting the emergence of domain-specific processing before or around the first birthday. This work is important for furthering our understanding of the developmental trajectory for the cognitive and perceptual processes behind music and language perception in infants.