A Multilab Study of Bilingual Infants: Exploring the Preference for Infant-Directed Speech

Krista Byers-Heinlein; Angeline Sin Mei Tsui; Christina Bergmann; Alexis K. Black; Anna Brown; Maria Julia Carbajal; Samantha Durrant; Christopher T. Fennell; Anne Caroline Fiévet; Michael C. Frank; Anja Gampe; Judit Gervain; Nayeli Gonzalez-Gomez; J. Kiley Hamlin; Naomi Havron; Mikołaj Hernik; Shila Kerr; Hilary Killam; Kelsey Klassen; Jessica E. Kosie; Ágnes Melinda Kovács; Casey Lew-Williams; Liquan Liu; Nivedita Mani; Caterina Marino; Meghan Mastroberardino; Victoria Mateu; Claire Noble; Adriel John Orena; Linda Polka; Christine E. Potter; Melanie S. Schreiner; Leher Singh; Melanie Soderstrom; Megha Sundara; Connor Waddell; Janet F. Werker; Stephanie Wermelinger

doi:10.1177/2515245920974622

A Multilab Study of Bilingual Infants: Exploring the Preference for Infant-Directed Speech

Krista Byers-Heinlein, Angeline Sin Mei Tsui, Christina Bergmann, Alexis K. Black, Anna Brown, Maria Julia Carbajal, Samantha Durrant, Christopher T. Fennell, Anne Caroline Fiévet, Michael C. Frank, Anja Gampe, Judit Gervain, Nayeli Gonzalez-Gomez, J. Kiley Hamlin, Naomi Havron, Mikołaj Hernik, Shila Kerr, Hilary Killam, Kelsey Klassen, Jessica E. KosieÁgnes Melinda Kovács, Casey Lew-Williams, Liquan Liu, Nivedita Mani, Caterina Marino, Meghan Mastroberardino, Victoria Mateu, Claire Noble, Adriel John Orena, Linda Polka, Christine E. Potter, Melanie S. Schreiner, Leher Singh, Melanie Soderstrom, Megha Sundara, Connor Waddell, Janet F. Werker, Stephanie Wermelinger

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

25 Scopus citations

Abstract

From the earliest months of life, infants prefer listening to and learn better from infant-directed speech (IDS) compared with adult-directed speech (ADS). Yet IDS differs within communities, across languages, and across cultures, both in form and in prevalence. This large-scale, multisite study used the diversity of bilingual infant experiences to explore the impact of different types of linguistic experience on infants’ IDS preference. As part of the multilab ManyBabies 1 project, we compared preference for North American English (NAE) IDS in lab-matched samples of 333 bilingual and 384 monolingual infants tested in 17 labs in seven countries. The tested infants were in two age groups: 6 to 9 months and 12 to 15 months. We found that bilingual and monolingual infants both preferred IDS to ADS, and the two groups did not differ in terms of the overall magnitude of this preference. However, among bilingual infants who were acquiring NAE as a native language, greater exposure to NAE was associated with a stronger IDS preference. These findings extend the previous finding from ManyBabies 1 that monolinguals learning NAE as a native language showed a stronger IDS preference than infants unexposed to NAE. Together, our findings indicate that IDS preference likely makes similar contributions to monolingual and bilingual development, and that infants are exquisitely sensitive to the nature and frequency of different types of language input in their early environments.

Original language	English (US)
Journal	Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science
Volume	4
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/2515245920974622
State	Published - 2021

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

General Psychology

Keywords

bilingualism
experimental methods
infant-directed speech
language acquisition
open data
open materials
preregistered
reproducibility
speech perception

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10.1177/2515245920974622

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Byers-Heinlein, K., Tsui, A. S. M., Bergmann, C., Black, A. K., Brown, A., Carbajal, M. J., Durrant, S., Fennell, C. T., Fiévet, A. C., Frank, M. C., Gampe, A., Gervain, J., Gonzalez-Gomez, N., Hamlin, J. K., Havron, N., Hernik, M., Kerr, S., Killam, H., Klassen, K., ... Wermelinger, S. (2021). A Multilab Study of Bilingual Infants: Exploring the Preference for Infant-Directed Speech. Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science, 4(1). https://doi.org/10.1177/2515245920974622

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title = "A Multilab Study of Bilingual Infants: Exploring the Preference for Infant-Directed Speech",

abstract = "From the earliest months of life, infants prefer listening to and learn better from infant-directed speech (IDS) compared with adult-directed speech (ADS). Yet IDS differs within communities, across languages, and across cultures, both in form and in prevalence. This large-scale, multisite study used the diversity of bilingual infant experiences to explore the impact of different types of linguistic experience on infants{\textquoteright} IDS preference. As part of the multilab ManyBabies 1 project, we compared preference for North American English (NAE) IDS in lab-matched samples of 333 bilingual and 384 monolingual infants tested in 17 labs in seven countries. The tested infants were in two age groups: 6 to 9 months and 12 to 15 months. We found that bilingual and monolingual infants both preferred IDS to ADS, and the two groups did not differ in terms of the overall magnitude of this preference. However, among bilingual infants who were acquiring NAE as a native language, greater exposure to NAE was associated with a stronger IDS preference. These findings extend the previous finding from ManyBabies 1 that monolinguals learning NAE as a native language showed a stronger IDS preference than infants unexposed to NAE. Together, our findings indicate that IDS preference likely makes similar contributions to monolingual and bilingual development, and that infants are exquisitely sensitive to the nature and frequency of different types of language input in their early environments.",

keywords = "bilingualism, experimental methods, infant-directed speech, language acquisition, open data, open materials, preregistered, reproducibility, speech perception",

author = "Krista Byers-Heinlein and Tsui, {Angeline Sin Mei} and Christina Bergmann and Black, {Alexis K.} and Anna Brown and Carbajal, {Maria Julia} and Samantha Durrant and Fennell, {Christopher T.} and Fi{\'e}vet, {Anne Caroline} and Frank, {Michael C.} and Anja Gampe and Judit Gervain and Nayeli Gonzalez-Gomez and Hamlin, {J. Kiley} and Naomi Havron and Miko{\l}aj Hernik and Shila Kerr and Hilary Killam and Kelsey Klassen and Kosie, {Jessica E.} and Kov{\'a}cs, {{\'A}gnes Melinda} and Casey Lew-Williams and Liquan Liu and Nivedita Mani and Caterina Marino and Meghan Mastroberardino and Victoria Mateu and Claire Noble and Orena, {Adriel John} and Linda Polka and Potter, {Christine E.} and Schreiner, {Melanie S.} and Leher Singh and Melanie Soderstrom and Megha Sundara and Connor Waddell and Werker, {Janet F.} and Stephanie Wermelinger",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} The Author(s) 2021.",

year = "2021",

doi = "10.1177/2515245920974622",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "4",

journal = "Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science",

issn = "2515-2459",

publisher = "SAGE Publications Inc.",

number = "1",

}

Byers-Heinlein, K, Tsui, ASM, Bergmann, C, Black, AK, Brown, A, Carbajal, MJ, Durrant, S, Fennell, CT, Fiévet, AC, Frank, MC, Gampe, A, Gervain, J, Gonzalez-Gomez, N, Hamlin, JK, Havron, N, Hernik, M, Kerr, S, Killam, H, Klassen, K, Kosie, JE, Kovács, ÁM, Lew-Williams, C, Liu, L, Mani, N, Marino, C, Mastroberardino, M, Mateu, V, Noble, C, Orena, AJ, Polka, L, Potter, CE, Schreiner, MS, Singh, L, Soderstrom, M, Sundara, M, Waddell, C, Werker, JF & Wermelinger, S 2021, 'A Multilab Study of Bilingual Infants: Exploring the Preference for Infant-Directed Speech', Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science, vol. 4, no. 1. https://doi.org/10.1177/2515245920974622

TY - JOUR

T1 - A Multilab Study of Bilingual Infants

T2 - Exploring the Preference for Infant-Directed Speech

AU - Byers-Heinlein, Krista

AU - Tsui, Angeline Sin Mei

AU - Bergmann, Christina

AU - Black, Alexis K.

AU - Brown, Anna

AU - Carbajal, Maria Julia

AU - Durrant, Samantha

AU - Fennell, Christopher T.

AU - Fiévet, Anne Caroline

AU - Frank, Michael C.

AU - Gampe, Anja

AU - Gervain, Judit

AU - Gonzalez-Gomez, Nayeli

AU - Hamlin, J. Kiley

AU - Havron, Naomi

AU - Hernik, Mikołaj

AU - Kerr, Shila

AU - Killam, Hilary

AU - Klassen, Kelsey

AU - Kosie, Jessica E.

AU - Kovács, Ágnes Melinda

AU - Lew-Williams, Casey

AU - Liu, Liquan

AU - Mani, Nivedita

AU - Marino, Caterina

AU - Mastroberardino, Meghan

AU - Mateu, Victoria

AU - Noble, Claire

AU - Orena, Adriel John

AU - Polka, Linda

AU - Potter, Christine E.

AU - Schreiner, Melanie S.

AU - Singh, Leher

AU - Soderstrom, Melanie

AU - Sundara, Megha

AU - Waddell, Connor

AU - Werker, Janet F.

AU - Wermelinger, Stephanie

PY - 2021

Y1 - 2021

N2 - From the earliest months of life, infants prefer listening to and learn better from infant-directed speech (IDS) compared with adult-directed speech (ADS). Yet IDS differs within communities, across languages, and across cultures, both in form and in prevalence. This large-scale, multisite study used the diversity of bilingual infant experiences to explore the impact of different types of linguistic experience on infants’ IDS preference. As part of the multilab ManyBabies 1 project, we compared preference for North American English (NAE) IDS in lab-matched samples of 333 bilingual and 384 monolingual infants tested in 17 labs in seven countries. The tested infants were in two age groups: 6 to 9 months and 12 to 15 months. We found that bilingual and monolingual infants both preferred IDS to ADS, and the two groups did not differ in terms of the overall magnitude of this preference. However, among bilingual infants who were acquiring NAE as a native language, greater exposure to NAE was associated with a stronger IDS preference. These findings extend the previous finding from ManyBabies 1 that monolinguals learning NAE as a native language showed a stronger IDS preference than infants unexposed to NAE. Together, our findings indicate that IDS preference likely makes similar contributions to monolingual and bilingual development, and that infants are exquisitely sensitive to the nature and frequency of different types of language input in their early environments.

AB - From the earliest months of life, infants prefer listening to and learn better from infant-directed speech (IDS) compared with adult-directed speech (ADS). Yet IDS differs within communities, across languages, and across cultures, both in form and in prevalence. This large-scale, multisite study used the diversity of bilingual infant experiences to explore the impact of different types of linguistic experience on infants’ IDS preference. As part of the multilab ManyBabies 1 project, we compared preference for North American English (NAE) IDS in lab-matched samples of 333 bilingual and 384 monolingual infants tested in 17 labs in seven countries. The tested infants were in two age groups: 6 to 9 months and 12 to 15 months. We found that bilingual and monolingual infants both preferred IDS to ADS, and the two groups did not differ in terms of the overall magnitude of this preference. However, among bilingual infants who were acquiring NAE as a native language, greater exposure to NAE was associated with a stronger IDS preference. These findings extend the previous finding from ManyBabies 1 that monolinguals learning NAE as a native language showed a stronger IDS preference than infants unexposed to NAE. Together, our findings indicate that IDS preference likely makes similar contributions to monolingual and bilingual development, and that infants are exquisitely sensitive to the nature and frequency of different types of language input in their early environments.

KW - bilingualism

KW - experimental methods

KW - infant-directed speech

KW - language acquisition

KW - open data

KW - open materials

KW - preregistered

KW - reproducibility

KW - speech perception

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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85106602739&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1177/2515245920974622

DO - 10.1177/2515245920974622

M3 - Article

C2 - 35821764

AN - SCOPUS:85106602739

SN - 2515-2459

VL - 4

JO - Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science

JF - Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science

IS - 1

ER -

A Multilab Study of Bilingual Infants: Exploring the Preference for Infant-Directed Speech

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Keywords

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