Browsing by Author "Ference, Jennifer Diana"

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    The developmental progression of rhythmical processing in speech and how it influences early work learning
    (2012) Ference, Jennifer Diana; Curtin, Suzanne
    The present study examined the developmental progression of attention to prosodic information in speech (namely word stress) at 4-6, 8, and 12 months of age in both typically­developing infants and infants at risk for developing ASD. Four to six month-olds were tested on their perception of word stress, 8-month-olds were tested on their ability to segment words using stress, and 12-month-olds were tested on their use of stress to map novel words to objects. Infants' language ability was measured at 12 months using a parent report measure of receptive and expressive language and gesture use, which was correlated with performance on each task. While group-level differences were present only at 4-6 months, differential processing of prosody was present within each group. That is, infants who exhibited sensitivity to prosody early in development were also more likely to demonstrate stronger, early language competence at 12 months.
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    The Role of Attentional Biases for Conspecific Vocalizations
    (2018-04-30) Ference, Jennifer Diana; Curtin, Suzanne; Vouloumanos, Athena; Graham, Susan A.
    A bias for speech over non-speech emerges at birth in typically developing (TD) infants and a preference for vocalizations generated from one’s own species (conspecific) emerges by 3 months. These biases and preferences may direct infants to relevant communicative information in their language learning environments, possibly predicting positive linguistic and social development. The first series of studies explored whether a bias for speech (over non-speech) at 6 and 9 months was predictive of language and social behaviors at 12 months. Whether a preference for conspecific vocalizations (over monkey calls) at 9 months was predictive of these same outcomes was also examined. Infants were biased toward speech over non-speech at 6 and 9 months, but preferred monkey calls over speech at 9 months. However, these listening patterns did not predict language or social developmental outcomes. Understanding these patterns of attention and how experimental procedures may influence preferences is important for advancing our understanding of the relationship between attention to speech and early development. The second series of studies reports findings from high-risk (HR) infant siblings of children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), who participated in these same experiments. HR infants are known to have heterogeneous outcomes by age 3, with about half developing typically, while others present with atypical outcomes, including ASD. Given the hypothesized importance of attention to speech on later development, we explored whether HR infants as a group selectively attended to speech and whether such attention was predictive of early language and social behaviors. HR infants were biased toward speech at 6 months; however, by 9 months, they did not differentially attend to speech over non-speech or monkey calls overall. Despite this, increased attention to speech at 9 months predicted better language and fewer autism-like behaviors at 12 months. Therefore, increased attention to conspecifics may indicate typical outcomes for HR infants. Future directions include following both groups of infants to 3 years of age to explore whether selective attention to speech during the first year is predictive of much later developmental outcomes and/or diagnostic status.