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

^*Corresponding author for this work

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

1 Citation (Scopus)

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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 /ɔ/-/ɐ/ in three conditions: (a) unmodified; (b) -6 dB/octave tilt; and (c) +6 dB/octave tilt. Six-month-olds discriminated /ɔ/-/ɐ/ 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 - 1 Sep 2015
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

Copyright 2015 Acoustical Society of America. This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the Acoustical Society of America. The following article appeared in Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 138(3), pp. EL352 - EL358 and may be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1121/1.4929732.

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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 /ɔ/-/ɐ/ in three conditions: (a) unmodified; (b) -6 dB/octave tilt; and (c) +6 dB/octave tilt. Six-month-olds discriminated /ɔ/-/ɐ/ 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.",

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