Changes in preference for infant-directed speech in low and moderate noise by 4.5-to 13-month-olds

Although a large literature discusses infants' preference for infant-directed speech (IDS), few studies have examined how this preference might change over time or across listening situations. The work reported here compares infants' preference for IDS while listening in a quiet versus a noisy environment, and across 3 points in development: 4.5 months of age, 9 months of age, and 13 months of age. Several studies have suggested that IDS might help infants to pick out speech in the context of noise (Colombo, Frick, Ryther, Coldren, & Mitchell, 1995; Fernald, 1984; Newman, 2003); this might suggest that infants' preference for IDS would increase in these settings. However, this was not found to be the case; at all 3 ages, infants showed similar advantage (or lack thereof) for IDS as compared to adult-directed speech when presented in noise versus silence. There was, however, a significant interaction across ages: Infants aged 4.5 months showed an overall preference for IDS, whereas older infants did not, despite listening to the same stimuli. The lack of an effect with older infants replicates and extends recent findings by Hayashi, Tamekawa, and Kiritani (2001), suggesting that the variations in fundamental frequency and affect are not sufficient cues to IDS for older infants.