Modified spectral tilt affects infants' native-language discrimination of approximants and vowels

Elizabeth Francis Beach; William Noble; Christine Kitamura

doi:10.1121/1.4929732

Modified spectral tilt affects infants' native-language discrimination of approximants and vowels

Elizabeth Francis Beach, William Noble, Christine Kitamura

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

This study's aim was to determine if 6- and 9-month-old infants discriminate approximants and vowels when the spectral shape is modified to emphasize high- or low-frequency information. Infants were presented with /r/-/l/ and /É”/-/É/ in three conditions: (a) unmodified; (b) -6 dB/octave tilt; and (c) +6 dB/octave tilt. Six-month-olds discriminated /É”/-/É/ in conditions (a) and (b), and /r/-/l/ in conditions (a) and (c), but 9-month-olds only discriminated when unmodified. The results reflect native-language attunement. Six-month-olds discriminate spectrally modified sounds that emphasize relevant cues, but by 9 months, infants are sensitive to the native spectral profiles of speech.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	EL352-EL358
Number of pages	7
Journal	Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
Volume	138
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1121/1.4929732
Publication status	Published - 2015

Keywords

infants
native language
speech perception
vowels

Access to Document

10.1121/1.4929732

Cite this

@article{388478a6817a40e683d85886a1ac99ce,

title = "Modified spectral tilt affects infants' native-language discrimination of approximants and vowels",

abstract = "This study's aim was to determine if 6- and 9-month-old infants discriminate approximants and vowels when the spectral shape is modified to emphasize high- or low-frequency information. Infants were presented with /r/-/l/ and /{\'E}”/-/{\'E}/ in three conditions: (a) unmodified; (b) -6 dB/octave tilt; and (c) +6 dB/octave tilt. Six-month-olds discriminated /{\'E}”/-/{\'E}/ in conditions (a) and (b), and /r/-/l/ in conditions (a) and (c), but 9-month-olds only discriminated when unmodified. The results reflect native-language attunement. Six-month-olds discriminate spectrally modified sounds that emphasize relevant cues, but by 9 months, infants are sensitive to the native spectral profiles of speech.",

keywords = "infants, native language, speech perception, vowels",

author = "Beach, {Elizabeth Francis} and William Noble and Christine Kitamura",

year = "2015",

doi = "10.1121/1.4929732",

language = "English",

volume = "138",

pages = "EL352--EL358",

journal = "Journal of the Acoustical Society of America",

issn = "0001-4966",

publisher = "Acoustical Society of America",

number = "3",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Modified spectral tilt affects infants' native-language discrimination of approximants and vowels

AU - Beach, Elizabeth Francis

AU - Noble, William

AU - Kitamura, Christine

PY - 2015

Y1 - 2015

N2 - This study's aim was to determine if 6- and 9-month-old infants discriminate approximants and vowels when the spectral shape is modified to emphasize high- or low-frequency information. Infants were presented with /r/-/l/ and /É”/-/É/ in three conditions: (a) unmodified; (b) -6 dB/octave tilt; and (c) +6 dB/octave tilt. Six-month-olds discriminated /É”/-/É/ in conditions (a) and (b), and /r/-/l/ in conditions (a) and (c), but 9-month-olds only discriminated when unmodified. The results reflect native-language attunement. Six-month-olds discriminate spectrally modified sounds that emphasize relevant cues, but by 9 months, infants are sensitive to the native spectral profiles of speech.

AB - This study's aim was to determine if 6- and 9-month-old infants discriminate approximants and vowels when the spectral shape is modified to emphasize high- or low-frequency information. Infants were presented with /r/-/l/ and /É”/-/É/ in three conditions: (a) unmodified; (b) -6 dB/octave tilt; and (c) +6 dB/octave tilt. Six-month-olds discriminated /É”/-/É/ in conditions (a) and (b), and /r/-/l/ in conditions (a) and (c), but 9-month-olds only discriminated when unmodified. The results reflect native-language attunement. Six-month-olds discriminate spectrally modified sounds that emphasize relevant cues, but by 9 months, infants are sensitive to the native spectral profiles of speech.

KW - infants

KW - native language

KW - speech perception

KW - vowels

UR - http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/uws:32361

U2 - 10.1121/1.4929732

DO - 10.1121/1.4929732

M3 - Article

SN - 0001-4966

VL - 138

SP - EL352-EL358

JO - Journal of the Acoustical Society of America

JF - Journal of the Acoustical Society of America

IS - 3

ER -

Modified spectral tilt affects infants' native-language discrimination of approximants and vowels

Abstract

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Cite this