Skip to main content
Log in

Mothers' speech to their 1-year-old infants in home and laboratory settings

  • Published:
Journal of Psycholinguistic Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The speech of mothers and their 1-year-old infants was compared in the home and in the laboratory playroom. The home and laboratory settings were similar for measuring the number of actual words that infants spoke and were similar for measuring the complexity of the mother's speech, including the number of different words, the type-token ratio, and the length of the utterances. Infants vocalized at similar rates in the two settings, but mothers spoke at a faster rate in the laboratory playroom. The usefulness of a preliminary warm-up period was supported by the finding that for the second half of the sessions, mothers slowed their rate of speech and increased the complexity of their speech.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Barrie-Blackley, S., Musselwhite, C.R., & Rogister, S.H. (1978).Clinical oral language sampling. Danville, Illinois: Interstate Printers and Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Belsky, J. (1980). Mother-infant interaction at home and in the laboratory: A comparative study.Journal of Genetic Psychology, 137, 37–47.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bloom, L. (1973).One word at a time. The Hague: Mouton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bond, L.A., Kelly, L.D., Teti, D.M., & Gibbs, E.D. (1983., April).Longitudinal analyses of infant free play with familiar and unfamiliar toys. Paper presented at the biennial meetings of the Society for Research in Child Development, Detroit.

  • Brazelton, T.B., Koslowski, B., & Main, M. (1974). The origins of reciprocity: The early mother-infant interaction. In M. Lewis & L.A. Rosenblum (Eds.),The effect of the infant on its caregiver. New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Broen, P.A. (1972). The verbal environment of the language-learning child.Monograph of American Speech and Hearing Association, 17.

  • Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979).The ecology of human development: Experiments by nature and design. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brookhart, J., & Hock, E. (1976). The effects of experimental context and experiential background on infants' behavior toward their mothers and a stranger.Child Development, 47, 333–340.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brooks, J., & Lewis, M. (1974). The effect of time on attachment as measured in a free-play situation.Child Development, 45, 311–316.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, R. (1973).A first language: The early stages. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Falender, C.A., & Mehrabian, A. (1978). Environmental effects on parent-infant interaction.Genetic Psychology Monographs, 97, 3–41.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fields, T.A., & Ashmore, L.L. (1980). Effect of elicitation variables on analysis of language samples for normal and language-disordered children.Perceptual and Motor Skills, 50, 911–919.

    Google Scholar 

  • Golinkoff, R.M., & Ames, G.J. (1979). A comparison of fathers' and mothers' speech with their young children.Child Development, 50, 28–32.

    Google Scholar 

  • Green, J.A., Gustafson, G.E., & West, M.J. (1980). Effect of infant development on mother-infant interactions.Child Development, 51, 199–207.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klein, R.P., & Durfee, J.T. (1979). Comparison of attachment behaviors in home and laboratory.Psychological Reports, 44, 1059–1064.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kniskern, J.R., Robinson, E.A., & Mitchell, S.K. (1983). Mother-child interaction in home and laboratory settings.Child Study Journal, 13, 23–39.

    Google Scholar 

  • Longhurst, T., & Schrandt, T. (1973). Linguistic analysis of children's speech: A comparison of four procedures.Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders, 38, 240–249.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCall, R.B. (1977). Challenge to a science of developmental psychology.Child Development, 48, 333–344.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller, J.F. (1981).Assessing language production in children. Baltimore: University Park Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller, J.F., & Chapman, R.S. (1983). SALT: Systematic Analysis of Language Transcripts [Computer program]. University of Wisconsin-Madison.

  • Moustakas, C.E., Sigel, I.E., & Schalock, H.D. (1956). An objective method for the measurement and analysis of child-adult interaction.Child Development, 27, 109–134.

    Google Scholar 

  • Muma, J.R. (1973). Language assessment: Some underlying assumptions.American Speech and Hearing Association, 15, 331–338.

    Google Scholar 

  • Olsen-Fulero, L. (1982). Style and stability in mother conversational behaviour A study of individual differences.Child Language, 9, 543–564.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parke, R.D. (1976). Social cues, social control, and ecological validity.Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 22, 111–123.

    Google Scholar 

  • Power, T.G., & Parke, R.D. (1982). Play as a context for early learning: Lab and home analyses. In I.E. Sigel & L.M. Laosa (Eds.),Families as learning environments for children. New York: Plenum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ross, G., Kagan, J., Zelazo, P., & Kotelchuck, M. (1975). Separation protest in infants in home and laboratory.Developmental Psychology, 11, 256–257.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scott, C.M., & Taylor, A.E. (1978). A comparison of home and clinic gathered language samples.Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders, 43, 482–495.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sroufe, L.A., Waters, E., & Matas, L. (1974). Contextual determinants of infant affective response. In M. Lewis & L.A. Rosenblum (Eds.),The origins of fear. New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weinraub, M., & Frankel, J. (1977). Sex differences in parent-infant interaction during free play, departure, and separation.Child Development, 48, 1240–1249.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Stevenson, M.B., Leavitt, L.A., Roach, M.A. et al. Mothers' speech to their 1-year-old infants in home and laboratory settings. J Psycholinguist Res 15, 451–461 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01067725

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01067725

Keywords

Navigation