PSYCH101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Vocal Tract, Teddy Bear, Mothers Talk

• School: University of Waterloo
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYCH101
• Professor: Paul Wehr

Document Summary

Rst year of life for an infant. Stages of early vocal development (not discrete and may overlap) Velar consonants and back vowels (goo, oo) - back of the vocal tract/oral cavity (valum) In response to social interaction - vocalizing and cooing in response. Sounds using ur lips vocal play/expansion stage. Play with sounds, sustained vowels and simple syllables. No connection to referencing their parents - parents adopt the sounds as labels for variegated babbling. Long strings of varying consonant vowel combinations. Prosodic contours - sounds like they are communicating w u. Prosody - use of pitch, tempo rhythm and speech to convey info about an utterance (im sorry??? vs im sorry . ) Intonation - rise and fall of pitch. Adjusting vocalizations for how they talk w a conversation partner (when to talk and not to talk) Why do infants babble: biological predisposition, motor exercise, experience, social feedback. Same pattern of progression in stages irrespective of language.