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Fathers' Infant‐Directed Speech in a Small‐Scale Society
Author(s) -
Broesch Tanya,
Bryant Gregory A.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1467-8624
pISSN - 0009-3920
DOI - 10.1111/cdev.12768
Subject(s) - psychology , developmental psychology , scale (ratio) , speech communication , linguistics , geography , philosophy , cartography
When speaking to infants, mothers often alter their speech compared to how they speak to adults, but findings for fathers are mixed. This study examined interactions ( N = 30) between fathers and infants ( M age ± SD = 7.8 ± 4.3 months) in a small‐scale society in Vanuatu and two urban societies in North America. Fundamental frequency ( F 0 ) and speech rate were measured in infant‐directed and adult‐directed speech. When speaking to infants, fathers in both groups increased their F 0 range, yet only Vanuatu fathers increased their average F 0 . Conversely, North American fathers slowed down their speech rate to infants, whereas Vanuatu fathers did not. Behavioral traits can vary across distant cultures while still potentially solving similar communicative problems.