Work

Judgment of infant cry: The roles of acoustic characteristics and sociodemographic characteristics

Year: 2014

Type: article

Abstract: Adult judgments of infant cry are determined by both acoustic properties of the cry and listener sociodemographic characteristics. The main purpose of this research was to investigate how these two sources shape adult judgments of infant cry. We systematically manipulated both the acoustic properties of infant cries and contrasted listener sociodemographic characteristics. Then, we asked participants to listen to several acoustic manipulations of infant cries and to judge the level of distress the infant was expressing and the level of distress participants felt when listening. Finally, as a contrasting condition, participants estimated the age of the crying infant. Using tree-based models, we found that judgments of the level of distress the infant was expressing as well as the level of distress listeners felt are mainly accounted for by select acoustic properties of infant cry (proportion of sound/pause, fundamental frequency, and number of utterances), whereas age estimates of a crying infant are determined mainly by listener sociodemographic characteristics (gender and parental status). Implications for understanding infant cry and its effects as well as early caregiver-infant interactions are discussed.

Source: Japanese Psychological Research

DOI: 10.1111/jpr.12072

Authors: Gianluca Esposito, Jun Nakazawa, Paola Venuti, Marc H. Bornstein

Institutions: University of Trento, Chiba University, National Institutes of Health, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development

Language: English

Topic: Infant Health and Development

Subfield: Pharmacy

Field: Health Professions

Domain: Health Sciences

Open Access status: bronze

Funders: National Institutes of Health, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science

Awards: Cultural developmental psychopathology: Cognitive regulation and emotional regulation in peer relation, G1667031398, The Effects of Early Childhood Self-Regulation on Following School Adaptation in Childhood: Hot/Cool Regulation., Infant Calming Responses during Maternal Carrying in Humans and Mice