Perceptual Development: Infant Music Perception

Infant Preferences

Infants appear to enjoy listening to music. Unlike monkeys, who prefer silence to music, infants prefer music to language and prefer music to silence. The origin of this affinity for music remains unknown. However, some evolutionary psychologists have argued that music evolved in order to enhance the emotional bond between infants and their caregivers. Evidence consistent with a central role for emotion in infants' perception of music comes from studies of infant preferences. Typically these are tested in a preferential looking paradigm. A light on one side of the infant flashes until the infant looks to that side, at which time the light stays on, illuminating a toy, and one sound stimulus begins to play. As long as the infant looks at the toy, the sound stimulus continues to play. Once the infant looks away, the light extinguishes, the toy disappears and the sound stimulus stops. The second trial begins with a light flashing on the other side. When the infant looks to this side, again the light stays on, illuminating the toy, and a second sound stimulus begins to play. Again it plays until the infant looks away. A number of both types of trials are presented, with the infant controlling how long he or she listens to each trial. If infants listen significantly longer to one stimulus over another, it can be inferred that they prefer this stimulus. Studies of infant preferences reveal that they prefer to listen to infant-directed renditions of a song compared to adult-directed renditions. Across cultures, infant-directed renditions are typically higher in pitch, slower in tempo, and rendered in a more loving tone of voice. The latter quality appears to be particularly important to infants—the degree to which they prefer the infant-directed over the non-infant-directed version is correlated with the degree to which the infant-directed version is rated as more loving in tone by adults.

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