Infant-Directed Speech Facilitates Word Learning through Attentional Mechanisms: An fNIRS Study of Toddlers

Autor/inn/en	Zhou, Xin; Wang, Luchang; Hong, Xuancu; Wong, Patrick C. M.
Titel	Infant-Directed Speech Facilitates Word Learning through Attentional Mechanisms: An fNIRS Study of Toddlers
Quelle	In: Developmental Science, 27 (2024) 1, (17 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Wong, Patrick C. M.)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1363-755X
DOI	10.1111/desc.13424
Schlagwörter	Child Language; Infants; Interpersonal Communication; Vocabulary Development; Attention; Toddlers; Brain Hemisphere Functions; Suprasegmentals + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? 'Children''s language'; Kindersprache; Infant; Toddler; Toddlers; Kleinkind; Interpersonale Kommunikation; Wortschatzarbeit; Aufmerksamkeit; Infants
Abstract	The speech register that adults especially caregivers use when interacting with infants and toddlers, that is, infant-directed speech (IDS) or baby talk, has been reported to facilitate language development throughout the early years. However, the neural mechanisms as well as why IDS results in such a developmental faciliatory effect remain to be investigated. The current study uses functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to evaluate two alternative hypotheses of such a facilitative effect, that IDS serves to enhance linguistic contrastiveness or to attract the child's attention. Behavioral and fNIRS data were acquired from twenty-seven Cantonese-learning toddlers 15-20 months of age when their parents spoke to them in either an IDS or adult-directed speech (ADS) register in a naturalistic task in which the child learned four disyllabic pseudowords. fNIRS results showed significantly greater neural responses to IDS than ADS register in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (L-dlPFC), but opposite response patterns in the bilateral inferior frontal gyrus (IFG). The differences in fNIRS responses to IDS and to ADS in the L-dlPFC and the left parietal cortex (L-PC) showed significantly positive correlations with the differences in the behavioral word-learning performance of toddlers. The same fNIRS measures in the L-dlPFC and right PC (R-PC) of toddlers were significantly correlated with pitch range differences of parents between the two speech conditions. Together, our results suggest that the dynamic prosody in IDS increased toddlers' attention through greater involvement of the left frontoparietal network that facilitated word learning, compared to ADS. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://www.wiley.com/en-us
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01