Dataset Information

Infant Directed Speech Enhances Statistical Learning in Newborn Infants: An ERP Study.

ABSTRACT: Statistical learning and the social contexts of language addressed to infants are hypothesized to play important roles in early language development. Previous behavioral work has found that the exaggerated prosodic contours of infant-directed speech (IDS) facilitate statistical learning in 8-month-old infants. Here we examined the neural processes involved in on-line statistical learning and investigated whether the use of IDS facilitates statistical learning in sleeping newborns. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded while newborns were exposed to12 pseudo-words, six spoken with exaggerated pitch contours of IDS and six spoken without exaggerated pitch contours (ADS) in ten alternating blocks. We examined whether ERP amplitudes for syllable position within a pseudo-word (word-initial vs. word-medial vs. word-final, indicating statistical word learning) and speech register (ADS vs. IDS) would interact. The ADS and IDS registers elicited similar ERP patterns for syllable position in an early 0-100 ms component but elicited different ERP effects in both the polarity and topographical distribution at 200-400 ms and 450-650 ms. These results provide the first evidence that the exaggerated pitch contours of IDS result in differences in brain activity linked to on-line statistical learning in sleeping newborns.

SUBMITTER: Bosseler AN

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5019490 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Infant Directed Speech Enhances Statistical Learning in Newborn Infants: An ERP Study.

Bosseler Alexis N AN Teinonen Tuomas T Tervaniemi Mari M Huotilainen Minna M

PloS one 20160912 9

Statistical learning and the social contexts of language addressed to infants are hypothesized to play important roles in early language development. Previous behavioral work has found that the exaggerated prosodic contours of infant-directed speech (IDS) facilitate statistical learning in 8-month-old infants. Here we examined the neural processes involved in on-line statistical learning and investigated whether the use of IDS facilitates statistical learning in sleeping newborns. Event-related ...[more]

PMID: 27617967

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Project description:PurposeIt is well established that (a) infants prefer listening to infant-directed speech (IDS) over adult-directed speech (ADS), and (b) IDS facilitates speech, language, and cognitive development, compared with ADS. The main purpose of this study was to determine whether infants with hearing aids (HAs), similar to their peers with normal hearing (NH), show a listening preference for IDS over ADS.MethodA total of 42 infants participated in the study. In Experiment 1, 9 infants with hearing loss, who had approximately 12 months of experience (mean chronological age of 17.57 months) with HAs, and 9 infants with NH, who had similar chronological age (17.54 months), were tested. In Experiment 2, 10 infants with hearing loss, who had approximately 4 months of experience (mean chronological age of 9.86 months) with HAs, and 14 infants with NH, who had similar chronological age (9.09 months), were tested. Infants were tested on their listening preference in 3 randomized blocks: IDS versus silence, ADS versus silence, and IDS versus ADS blocks, using the central fixation preference procedure.ResultsExperiment 1 showed that infants with HAs, similar to their peers with NH, listened longer to both IDS and ADS relative to silence; however, neither infants with HAs nor infants with NH showed a listening preference for IDS over ADS. In Experiment 2, both infants with HAs and infants with NH showed a listening preference for IDS and ADS relative to silence; in addition, both groups preferred listening to IDS over ADS.ConclusionsInfants with HAs appear to have sufficient access to the acoustic cues in the speech that allow them to develop an age-equivalent IDS preference. This may be attributed to a combination of being able to use the hearing they do have before receiving HAs and early device fitting. Given previously demonstrated positive associations between IDS preference and language development, this research encourages early interventions focusing on maximizing early auditory experience in infants with hearing loss.Supplemental materialhttps://doi.org/10.23641/asha.6906365.

Project description:ObjectivesRelatively little is known about how young children with hearing impairment (HI) learn novel words in infant- and adult-directed speech (ADS). Infant-directed speech (IDS) supports word learning in typically developing infants relative to ADS. This study examined how children with normal hearing (NH) and children with HI learn novel words in IDS and ADS. It was predicted that IDS would support novel word learning in both groups of children. In addition, children with HI were expected to be less proficient word learners as compared with their NH peers.DesignA looking-while-listening paradigm was used to measure novel word learning in 16 children with sensorineural HI (age range 23.2 to 42.1 months) who wore either bilateral hearing aids (n = 10) or bilateral cochlear implants (n = 6) and 16 children with NH (age range 23.1 to 42.1 months) who were matched for gender, chronological age, and maternal education level. Two measures of word learning were assessed (accuracy and reaction time). Each child participated in two experiments approximately 1 week apart, one in IDS and one in ADS.ResultsBoth groups successfully learned the novel words in both speech type conditions, as evidenced by children looking at the correct picture significantly above chance. As a group, children with NH outperformed children with HI in the novel word learning task; however, there were no significant differences between performance on IDS versus ADS. More fine-grained time course analyses revealed that children with HI, and particularly children who use hearing aids, had more difficulty learning novel words in ADS, compared with children with NH.ConclusionsThe pattern of results observed in the children with HI suggests that they may need extended support from clinicians and caregivers, through the use of IDS, during novel word learning. Future research should continue to focus on understanding the factors (e.g., device type and use, age of intervention, audibility, acoustic characteristics of input, etc.) that may influence word learning in children with HI in both IDS and ADS.

Dataset Information

Infant Directed Speech Enhances Statistical Learning in Newborn Infants: An ERP Study.

Publications

Infant Directed Speech Enhances Statistical Learning in Newborn Infants: An ERP Study.

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