Classification of Infant Vocalizations by Untrained Listeners

What is it about?

The purpose of this study was to determine how caregivers describe clinician/researcher-classified vowel, growl, raspberry, squeal, cry, and laugh vocalizations produced by infants. Findings indicated that while caregivers may not use the same terms that clinicians/researchers use upon first instinct, when they do use these terms, they are using them in a similar manner to clinicians/researchers. Additionally, it appears that listeners prefer to label vocalizations by attempting to interpret meaning or emotion. For example, cry stimuli were most often classified by caregivers as “upset,” “unhappy,” and “frustrated”. It is important to recognize that while assigning emotional meaning to utterances, the top-provided responses for cry carry a negative connotation, which is consistent with how cry vocalizations are interpreted across settings.

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