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Listening to language at birth: evidence for a bias for speech in neonates
Author(s) -
Vouloumanos Athena,
Werker Janet F.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
developmental science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.801
H-Index - 127
eISSN - 1467-7687
pISSN - 1363-755X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-7687.2007.00549.x
Subject(s) - active listening , psychology , speech perception , language development , preference , cognitive psychology , human language , language acquisition , developmental psychology , perception , communication , linguistics , neuroscience , philosophy , mathematics education , economics , microeconomics
The nature and origin of the human capacity for acquiring language is not yet fully understood. Here we uncover early roots of this capacity by demonstrating that humans are born with a preference for listening to speech. Human neonates adjusted their high amplitude sucking to preferentially listen to speech, compared with complex non‐speech analogues that controlled for critical spectral and temporal parameters of speech. These results support the hypothesis that human infants begin language acquisition with a bias for listening to speech. The implications of these results for language and communication development are discussed.