Verbal and behavioral responsiveness to the cries of atypical infants.
A total of 176 subjects (53 male students, 65 female students, and 58 mothers) were exposed to 1 of 6 types of infant cries coming from an adjacent room while their behavioral and affective responses were observed. The cries were the pain cries of 2 normal newborns, 1 infant with maladie du cri du chat, 1 with Down syndrome, 1 asphyxiated infant with brain damage, and one asphyxiated infant without brain damage. Subsequently the subjects rated the overhead cry on a series of affective, attributional, and perceptual dimensions. The results indicated that the 6 cries differentially affected the subjects' affective, self-reported, and behavioral responses, as well as their tendency to report not hearing the cry. In general, the findings suggested that the highest- pitched cries (those of the asphyxiated infants), in comparison to the lowest-pitched cries (those of the normal and Down infants), elicited less optimal responses from the listeners.
Frodi
A
A
University of Rochester, NY.
Senchak
M
M
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001238:Asphyxia Neonatorum / Q000523:psychology; D001925:Brain Damage, Chronic / Q000523:psychology; D003410:Cri-du-Chat Syndrome / Q000523:psychology; D003448:Crying; D004314:Down Syndrome / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D011571:Psychoacoustics