Beach Elizabeth Francis, Noble William, Kitamura Christine
National Acoustic Laboratories, 16 University Avenue, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, 2109, Australia
School of Behavioural, Cognitive and Social Science, University of New England, Armidale, New South Wales, 2350, Australia.
J Acoust Soc Am. 2015 Sep;138(3):EL352-8. doi: 10.1121/1.4929732.
This study's aim was to determine if 6- and 9-month-old infants discriminate approximants and vowels when the spectral shape is modified to emphasize high- or low-frequency information. Infants were presented with /r/-/l/ and /ɔ/-/ɐ/ in three conditions: (a) unmodified; (b) -6 dB/octave tilt; and (c) +6 dB/octave tilt. Six-month-olds discriminated /ɔ/-/ɐ/ in conditions (a) and (b), and /r/-/l/ in conditions (a) and (c), but 9-month-olds only discriminated when unmodified. The results reflect native-language attunement. Six-month-olds discriminate spectrally modified sounds that emphasize relevant cues, but by 9 months, infants are sensitive to the native spectral profiles of speech.
本研究的目的是确定6个月和9个月大的婴儿在频谱形状被修改以强调高频或低频信息时,是否能够区分近似音和元音。婴儿在三种条件下听/r/-/l/和/ɔ/-/ɐ/:(a)未修改;(b)-6 dB/倍频程倾斜;(c)+6 dB/倍频程倾斜。6个月大的婴儿在条件(a)和(b)下能够区分/ɔ/-/ɐ/,在条件(a)和(c)下能够区分/r/-/l/,但9个月大的婴儿只有在未修改的情况下才能区分。结果反映了母语调适。6个月大的婴儿能够区分强调相关线索的频谱修改声音,但到9个月时,婴儿对语音的母语频谱特征变得敏感。