Speech Perception in Infancy

Author(s):  
Janet F. Werker ◽  
Judit Gervain

We discuss the development of speech perception and its contribution to the acquisition of the native language(s) during the first year of life, reviewing recent empirical evidence as well as current theoretical debates. We situate the discussion in an epigenetic framework in an attempt to transcend the traditional nature/nurture controversy. As we illustrate, some perceptual and learning mechanisms are best described as experience-expectant processes, embedded in our biology and awaiting minimal environmental input, while others are experience-dependent, emerging as a function of sufficient exposure and learning. We argue for a cascading model of development, whereby the initial biases guide learning and constrain the influence of the environmental input. To illustrate this, we first review the perceptual abilities of newborn infants, then discuss how these broad-based abilities are attuned to the native language at different levels (phonology, syntax, lexicon etc.).

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1963 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 497-500
Author(s):  
Rosa Lee Nemir ◽  
Donna O'Hare ◽  
Stanley Goldstein ◽  
Charles B. Hilton

Complement fixing antibody titers to the adenoviruses were determined in 251 newborn infants, using cord blood. Approximately 95% of these were found to have CF titers of 1:16 or over, the majority (75%) were 1:32 or more. Material from the pharyngeal and rectal swabs of these infants on tissue culture studies (542) on HeLa and amnion cells showed no cytopathic effect in oven 96% of these infants. A longitudinal study of 114 of these infants was made at 3 months intervals; 67 have been observed for one year. At 3 months, only 12% still showed CF antibody titers, and these were chiefly at a low level, 1:16. At the subsequent 3-month interval observations, a gradual rise in CF antibodies were found. At one year of age, approximately 37% had titers of 1:32 on over. The findings of this report support the statement that CF antibodies to adenovirus pass the placental barrier. There is a gradual increase in the percentage of infants with positive CF antibodies after 3 months.


PEDIATRICS ◽  
1968 ◽  
Vol 41 (5) ◽  
pp. 945-954
Author(s):  
Fernando Torres ◽  
Michael E. Blaw

One hundred-thirty children who had an EEG during their first days of life and who were registered in a clinical longitudinal study were followed with concurrent clinical and EEG examinations every 4 months for the first year of life and at 2, 3, and 4 years of age. Thirty children had EEG characteristics which are frequently considered abnormal in their neonatal record. Twenty-three children had clinical abnormalities during the 4-year period covered by the study. There was no significant correlation between a single EEG and clinical abnormalities at any age. Newborn infants with more than one focal abnormality in their EEG presented clinical abnormalities more frequently than those with a single focus. The difference, however, did not attain statistical significance. Children with an abnormal EEG at birth and an additional abnormal record later, had a higher incidence of clinical abnormalities than those with only an abnormal neonatal EEG. However, this finding is of questionable significance because the children who had clinical abnormalities had a larger number of EEG's than the normal subjects. It is expected that continued follow-up of these children at more advanced stages of their development may give a positive EEG-clinical correlation which was not found in this study.


1998 ◽  
Vol 85 (6) ◽  
pp. 2033-2039 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia S. Rabbette ◽  
Janet Stocks

Both end-inspiratory (EIO) and end-expiratory (EEO) airway occlusions are used to calculate the strength of the Hering-Breuer inflation reflex (HBIR) in infants. However, the influence of the timing of such occlusions is unknown, as is the extent to which changes in volume within and above the tidal range affect this reflex. The purpose of this study was to compare both techniques and to evaluate the volume dependency of the HBIR in healthy, sleeping infants up to 1 yr of age. The strength of the HBIR was expressed as the ratio of expiratory or inspiratory time during EIO or EEO, respectively, to that recorded during spontaneous breathing, i.e., as the “inhibitory ratio” (IR). Paired measurements of the EIO and EEO in 26 naturally sleeping newborn and 15 lightly sedated infants at ∼1 yr showed no statistically significant differences in the IR according to technique: mean (95% CI) of the difference (EIO − EEO) being −0.02 (−0.17, 0.13) during the first week of life and 0.04 (−0.14, 0.22) at 1 yr. During tidal breathing, a volume threshold of ∼4 ml/kg was required to evoke the HBIR. Marked volume and age dependency were observed. In newborn infants, occlusions at ∼10 ml/kg during sighs always resulted in an IR > 4, whereas a similar response was only evoked at 25 ml/kg in older infants. Age-related changes in the volume threshold may reflect maturational changes in the control of breathing and respiratory mechanics throughout the first year of life.


2021 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonardo Bigolin Jantsch ◽  
Bruna Paola de Lima Bridi ◽  
Giovana Dornelles Callegaro Higashi ◽  
Andrea Moreira Arrué ◽  
Diúlia Calegari de Oliveira ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Objective To identify the factors associated with the development of skin allergies in the first year of life in moderate and late preterm infants. Method: This is a cross-sectional study with 151 moderate and late preterm infants, born between May 2016 and May 2017. Participants were evaluated in the 3rd, 6th, 9th and 12th months of life, in telephone interviews. Statistical analyzes were performed in the SPSS software with frequency comparison tests and logistic regression. Results: The prevalence of skin allergy, in the perception of caregivers, among late and moderate preterm infants was 16%. Factors such as being admitted to neonatal intensive care (p = 0.006) and not being breastfed (p = 0.041) showed a significant association with the development of skin allergies in the 3rd and 12th months of life, respectively. Conclusion: Skin allergy, in the perception of caregivers, is more severe in newborn infants who have clinical respiratory and gastrointestinal manifestations, be it conditioning or cause-effect. Breastfeeding proved to be a protective factor in the first year of life.


2002 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
ANNE CUTLER

Becoming a native listener is the necessary precursor to becoming a native speaker. Babies in the first year of life undertake a remarkable amount of work; by the time they begin to speak, they have perceptually mastered the phonological repertoire and phoneme co-occurrence probabilities of the native language, and they can locate familiar word-forms in novel continuous-speech contexts. The skills acquired at this early stage form a necessary part of adult listening. However, the same native listening skills also underlie problems in listening to a late-acquired non-native language, accounting for why in such a case listening (an innate ability) is sometimes paradoxically more difficult than, for instance, reading (a learned ability).


2010 ◽  
Vol 31 (8) ◽  
pp. 1254-1260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bobby A. Tajudeen ◽  
Susan B. Waltzman ◽  
Daniel Jethanamest ◽  
Mario A. Svirsky

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document