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Prelinguistic pitch patterns expressing ‘communication’ and ‘apprehension’

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 February 2006

CHRISTINA F. PAPAELIOU  and
COLWYN TREVARTHEN
CHRISTINA F. PAPAELIOU
Affiliation:
Department of the Preschool Education and of the Educational Planning, University of the Aegean, Rhodes, Greece
COLWYN TREVARTHEN
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
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Abstract

This study examined whether pitch patterns of prelinguistic vocalizations could discriminate between social vocalizations, uttered apparently with the intention to communicate, and ‘private’ speech, related to solitary activities as an expression of ‘thinking’. Four healthy ten month old English-speaking infants (2 boys and 2 girls) were simultaneously video- and audiorecorded in their homes under two conditions: (A) when the infant was playing with mother, and (B) when the infant was alone. One hundred and fifty-six vocalizations were classified as ‘communicative’, if accompanied by non-vocal communicative behaviour, or as ‘investigative’, if accompanied by explorative activities. For the acoustic analysis, an automatic PITCH PATTERN RECOGNITION (PPR) software system was developed. The PPR-system could distinguish ‘communicative’ from ‘investigative’ vocalizations with an overall accuracy of 91·67%. These findings confirm that prelinguistic vocalizations might serve both as means of purposeful communication and as a tool of thought. These are the functions later assumed by language.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Child Language , Volume 33 , Issue 1 , February 2006 , pp. 163 - 178
Copyright
© 2006 Cambridge University Press

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Footnotes

I am indebted to Professor D. Cavouras and his collaborator Mr. G. Minadakis for their invaluable help and great support in the acoustic analysis of the vocalizations.