ADULT PERCEPTIONS OF VOCALIZING INFANTS

The timing and quality of adult vocal responses affect the social vocalizations of prelinguistic infants. This study was designed to determine if, in turn, the quality of early infant vocalizations affects the adult. Sixty adults viewed videotapes of 24 3-month-old infants who were engaged in social vocalization. Of the 24 infants, 3 represented each of the eight possible combinations of three dichotomous characteristics: vocal quality (syllabic/vocalic), attractiveness (high/low), gender (female/male). After viewing each infant, the adults rated the infant on one of two scales of perceived favorableness (Questionnaire 1, n = 30; Questionnaire 2, n = 30). In general, adults preferred infants who produced syllabic, as compared with vocalic, sounds. © 1990.