Does the message matter? The effect of song type on infants' pitch preferences for lullabies and playsongs.
Preverbal infants are attuned to the different emotional messages contained in playsongs and lullabies. However, it is unclear which performance properties of singing underlie infants' perception of the communicative intent of infant-directed singing. Volkova, Trehub, and Schellenberg (2006) recently demonstrated that 6- and 7-month-old infants preferred low-pitched to high-pitched renditions of lullabies, suggesting that pitch may be one performance characteristic that conveys the communicative intent in infant-directed singing. In the current study, we evaluated 6- and 7-month-old infants' natural preferences for unfamiliar, expressive lullabies and playsongs as a function of pitch using a head-turn preference procedure. Infants preferred low-pitched over high-pitched versions of lullabies and high-pitched over low-pitched versions of playsongs. Results suggest that the overall pitch of a song is communicative to infants and that the affective nature of music can have an effect on infants' pitch preferences. That is, infants' preferences for pitch are context-dependent.
Tsang
Christine D
CD
Department of Psychology, Huron University College at the University of Western Ontario, 1349 Western Road, London, Ontario, Canada N6G 1H3. ctsang33@huron.uwo.ca
Conrad
Nicole J
NJ
D001288:Attention; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D033182:Intention; D007804:Language Development; D008297:Male; D009146:Music / Q000523:psychology*; D010898:Pitch Perception; D010988:Play and Playthings; D012016:Reference Values; D012938:Social Perception