Motherese and Motionese: Do They Travel Together?
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Date
2023
Authors
Cantor, Zoey
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Oregon
Abstract
The primary aim of this thesis was to assess how motherese (infant-directed speech) and motionese (infant-directed action) interface with one another in caregivers’ communication. Specifically, this thesis sought to determine whether motherese and motionese “travel together” in caregivers’ interactions, and if so, the extent to which this might be unique to their interactions with infant partners. A secondary question of interest concerned whether observers differed in their ability to detect infant-directed modifications in speech versus action. Two hundred and fifty college-age participants rated the infant-directedness of audio (speech) and silent video (action) for caregiver demonstrations of novel objects to either infant or adult partners. Observers’ judgments of caregiver infant-directedness were significantly positively related for speech and action, but this was not unique for interactions involving infant partners. Additional analyses suggested that observers more readily distinguished between infant- versus adult-directed interaction in the context of speech than action. Together, these findings paint a complex picture of the motherese/motionese relationship. On the one hand, that motherese and motionese tended to travel together regardless of interaction partner points to a common underlying driver for these two phenomena that supersedes the particular modality – speech versus action – in which information is expressed. On the other hand, the fact that infant-directedness was better detected in speech than action points to ways in which infant-directedness indeed is shaped by the modality in which it is expressed.
Description
43 pages
Keywords
motherese, motionese, infant-directed speech, infant-directed action