Human newborns can discriminate between individual female voices and prefer their mothers' voices to that of another female (DeCasper & Fifer, 1980; Fifer, 1980). They can discriminate between female and male voices and prefer the females' (Brazelton, 1978; Wolff, 1963).
No preference was observed. Subsequent testing revealed that they could discriminate between the voices but that the voices lacked reinforcing value. These results contrast sharply with newborns' perception of their mothers' voices, in particular, and female voices, in general.
They will recognize and respond to those voices they hear most. They associate them with warmth, food, and comfort. Babies like high-pitched voices in general—a fact that most adults seem to understand intuitively and respond to accordingly, without even realizing it.
Newborn infants typically prefer their mother's voice over their father's voice because: They become familiar with their mother's voice before they are born. The rooting reflex refers to a baby's tendency to: Open the mouth in search of a nipple when touched on the cheek.
Research shows that unborn babies can recognize their mother's (and possibly their father's) voice starting at 32 weeks.
Fetuses showed a heart rate increase to both voices which was sustained over the voice period. Consistent with prior reports, newborns showed a preference for their mother's but not their father's voice. The characteristics of voice stimuli that capture fetal attention and elicit a response are yet to be identified.
Genetics also play a role in how our voices mature. Although how a child's voice develops owes something to mimicry of their parents, people from the same family will often sound alike because laryngeal anatomy is dictated by your ancestral DNA just like every other physical trait.
Infants learned how to produce the mother's voice and produced it more often than the other voice. The neonate's preference for the maternal voice suggests that the period shortly after birth may be important for initiating infant bonding to the mother.
Given this exposure, your baby learns to recognize your face. Studies have shown that by three months of age your baby can discriminate between their mother's face and the face of a stranger.
Cross cultural research on baby's first words shows that the clear winner is Dada. Tardif and colleagues found in over 900 babies, age 8 to 16 months from English, Cantonese, and Mandarin speaking homes, Dada was the most common first person identified.
“We now think parentese works because it's a social hook for the baby brain — its high pitch and slower tempo are socially engaging and invite the baby to respond.” Parentese is not what is often called “baby talk,” which is generally a mash-up of silly sounds and nonsense words.
Newborns seem to prefer a higher-pitched voice (the mother's) to a low sounding voice (males). They can also tune out loud noises after hearing them several times. Newborns will have their hearing screened while still in the hospital.
By recording cries of 60 babies born to French or German parents, researchers discovered that babies cry with the same "prosody" or melody used in their native language by the second day of life. French newborns in the study ended their cries with a lilt at the end typically heard in French.
Human infants, just a few days of age, are known to prefer attractive human faces. We examined whether this preference is human-specific. Three- to 4-month-olds preferred attractive over unattractive domestic and wild cat (tiger) faces (Experiments 1 and 3).
According to a recent study by Harris Interactive, 48% of the respondents stated that male voices sounded more forceful, while 49% stated that gender made no difference. 46% stated that female voices seemed more soothing, while an equal percentage stated that gender made no difference.
Babies like high-pitched voices and other infant-directed speech elements because they are attention-grabbing and comforting. Next time you feel silly using this type of speech, you can rest assured that it's good for your baby's language development and emotional bond with you.
By 4 to 6 months, they will turn to you and expect you to respond when upset. By 7 or 8 months, they will have a special response just for you (they may also be upset by strangers). Your baby may also start to respond to your stress, anger or sadness.
“Most babies develop a preference for their mother within 2 to 4 months of age. From birth, the combination of sight, smell, and sound likely all help babies distinguish their mother from others.
In short, yes: Babies do feel love. Even though it will be quite a while before they're able to verbalize their feelings, they can and do understand emotional attachment. Affection, for example can be felt.
Female voices are more soothing and melodic
A University of Sheffield study found that female voices are processed in the part of the brain that processes music, while male voices are processed in the back of the brain, in an area known as the “mind's eye”.
Beginning in the womb, a fetus' developing auditory pathways sense the sounds and vibrations of its mother. Soon after birth, a child can identify its mother's voice and will work to hear her voice better over unfamiliar female voices.
At 1 to 3 months: Babies already love to hear the sound of your voice and may smile, laugh, get quiet, or get excited and wave their arms when you talk or sing to them. Your infant's baby talk usually starts with cooing and gurgling, with some vowel sounds, like "ooh," appearing at around two months.
We inherit a set of 23 chromosomes from our mothers and another set of 23 from our fathers. One of those pairs are the chromosomes that determine the biological sex of a child – girls have an XX pair and boys have an XY pair, with very rare exceptions in certain disorders.
Your baby will inherit 46 chromosomes, 23 from each parent. One pair is the sex chromosomes, known as the X and Y. They will determine the sex of your baby.
It may not surprise you that genetic factors influence vocal quality. After all, voice qualities are largely determined by the size and shape of your larynx, neck, throat and facial structures all determined by genetics.