Despite the neurological vulnerability of premature newborns, there is evidence that they are able to process temporal aspects of the maternal voice, as a previous study observed more overlapping vocalizations during maternal humming versus speech. However, there is a lack of knowledge about the markers of the infants’ overlapping vocalizations. Our aim was to identify the location of overlapping vocalizations during the humming and the impacts of maternal antenatal and postnatal engagement of infant-directed singing on: (1) the features of humming and (2) the infants’ overlapping vocalizations during humming. Preterm dyads (N = 36) were observed in silent, speech, and humming conditions. Microanalysis was performed using the Elan Program to identify the location of the overlapping vocalizations during the humming phrase. Infants’ overlapping vocalizations were found predominantly at the ends of each humming phrase; almost half of the overlaps occurred on the final note. More overlapping vocalizations in the final notes were observed in female infants. Antenatal and postnatal experiences of ID singing are influenced by the mothers’ nationality and contribute to maternal humming style. Preterm newborns synchronize with maternal humming, anticipating the end of musical phrases. The ability to synchronize seems to be phylogenetically associated with gender differences.
ArbibM. (2005). From monkey-like action recognition to human language: An evolutionary framework for neurolinguistics.Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 28, 105–124.
2.
BrazeltonT. B. (1973). Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale. London, England: Spastics International Medical Publications in association with William Heinemann Medical Books and J. B. Lippincott Co.
3.
BrazeltonT. B.KoslowskiB.MainM. (1974). The origins of reciprocity: The early mother–infant interaction. In LewisM.RosenblumL. A. (Eds.), The effect of the infant on its caregiver (pp. 49–76). New York, NY: Wiley.
4.
BrazeltonT. B.NugentJ. K. (2011). The Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (4th ed.). London, England: Mac Keith Press.
5.
BuilA.CarchonG.ApterF. X.LaborneM.GranierE.DevoucheE. (2016). Kangaroo supported diagonal flexion positioning: New insights into skin-to-skin contact for communication between mothers and very preterm infants. Archives de Pédiatrie, 23, 913–920. doi:10.1016/j.arcped.2016.04.023
6.
BullowaM. (Ed.) (1979). Before speech: The beginning of human communication. London, England: Cambridge University Press.
7.
CarvalhoM. E.JustoJ. M.GratierM.RodriguesH. M. (2019). The impact of maternal voice on the fetus: a systematic review. Current Women’s Health Reviews, 15, 196–206. doi:10.2174/1573404814666181026094419
8.
CarvalhoM. E.JustoJ. M.GratierM.ToméT.PereiraE.RodriguesH. (2019). Vocal responsiveness of preterm infants to maternal infant-directed speaking and singing during skin-to-skin contact (Kangaroo Care) in the NICU. Infant Behavior and Development, 57, Article 101332. doi:10.1016/j.infbeh.2019.101332
9.
CarvalhoM. E.JustoJ. M.RodriguesM. H. (2018). Sound-music experiences and maternal sensitivity following preterm birth: Contributions for the model of family-centered care. International Journal of Developmental and Educational Psychology: INFAD, 2, 93–100.
10.
CliftonR. K. (1974). Heart rate conditioning in the new born infant. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 18, 9–21. doi:10.1016/0022-0965(74)90084-8
11.
Costa-GiomiE.IlariB. (2014). Infants’ preferential attention to sung and spoken stimuli. Journal of Research in Music Education, 62, 188–194. doi:10.1177/0022429414530564
12.
DeCasperA. J.FiferW. P. (1980). Of human bonding: Newborns prefer their mother’s voices. Science, 208, 1174–1176. doi:10.1126/science.7375928
13.
DeCasperA. J.SpenceM. J. (1986). Prenatal maternal speech influences newborns’ perception of speech sound. Infant Behavior and Development, 9, 133–150. doi:10.1016/0163-6383(86)90025-1
14.
DelavenneA.GratierM.DevoucheE. (2013). Expressive timing in infant-directed singing between 3 and 6 months. Infant Behavior and Development, 36(1), 1–13. doi:10.1016/j.infbeh.2012.10.004
15.
DissanayakeE. (2000). Antecedents of the temporal arts in early mother-infant interaction. In WallinN. L.MerkerB.BrownS. (Eds.), The origins of music (pp. 389–410). Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
16.
DissanayakeE. (2008). If music is the food of love, what about survival and reproductive success?Musicae Scientiae, 12(1), 169–195. doi:10.1177/1029864908012001081
17.
DissanayakeE. (2009). Root, leaf, blossom, or bole: Concerning the origin and adaptive function of music. In MallochS.TrevarthenC. (Eds.), Communicative musicality: Exploring the basis of human companionship (pp. 17–30). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
18.
DominguezS.DevoucheE.ApterG.GratierM. (2016). The roots of turn-taking in the neonatal period. Infant and Child Development, 25, 240–255. doi:10.1002/icd.1976
19.
DonohueR. L.BergW. K. (1991). Infant heart-rate responses to temporally predictable and unpredictable events. Developmental Psychology, 27, 59–66. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.27.1.59
20.
DrakeC.JonesM. R.BaruchC. (2000). The development of rhythmic attending in auditory sequences: Attunement, referent period, focal attending. Cognition, 77, 251–288. doi:10.1016/s0010-0277(00)00106-2
21.
FalkD. (2009). Finding our tongues: Mothers, infants and the origins of language. New York, NY: Basic Books.
22.
FalkS.KelloC. (2017). Hierarchical organization in the temporal structure of infant-direct speech and song. Cognition, 163, 80–86. doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2017.02.017
23.
FeldmanR. (2003). Infant-mother and infant-father synchrony: The coregulation of positive arousal. Infant Mental Health Journal, 24(1), 1–23.
24.
GergelyG.WatsonJ. S. (1999). Early social-emotional development: Contingency perception and the social biofeedback model. In RochatP. (Ed.), Early social cognition (pp. 101–136). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
25.
GratierM. (2003). Expressive timing and interactional synchrony between mothers and infants: Cultural similarities, cultural differences, and the immigration experience. Cognitive Development, 18, 533–554. doi:10.1016/j.cogdev.2003.09.009
26.
GratierM.DevoucheE.GuellaiB.InfantiR.YilmazE.Parlato-OliveiraE. (2015). Early development of turn-taking in vocal interaction between mothers and infants. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, Article 1167. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01167
JonesM. R. (1976). Time, our lost dimension: Toward a new theory of perception, attention and memory. Psychological Review, 83, 323–355. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.83.5.323
29.
JonesM. R.BoltzM. (1989). Dynamic attending and responses to time. Psychological Review, 96, 459–491. doi:10.1037/0033-295x.96.3.459
30.
LonghiE. (2009). ‘Songese’: Maternal structuring of musical interaction with infants. Psychology of Music, 37, 195–213. doi:10.1177/0305735608097042
31.
MallochS.TrevarthenC. (2009). Musicality: Communicating the vitality and interests of life. In MallochS.TrevarthenC. (Eds.), Communicative musicality: Exploring the basis of human companionship (pp. 1–11). London, England: Oxford University Press.
32.
MehrS. A.KrasnowM. M. (2017). Parent-offspring conflict and the evolution of infant-directed song. Evolution and Human Behavior, 38, 674–684. doi:10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2016.12.005
33.
NakataT.TrehubS. E. (2004). Infants’ responsiveness to maternal speech and singing. Infant Behavior and Development, 27, 455–464. doi:10.1016/j.infbeh.2004.03.002
34.
NakataT.TrehubS. E. (2011). Expressive timing and dynamics in infant-directed and non-infant-directed singing. Psychomusicology, 21, 130–138. doi:10.1037/h0094003
35.
PapousekM. (1996). Intuitive parenting: a hidden source of musical stimulation in infancy. In DeliegeI.SlobodaJ. A. (Eds.), Musical beginnings: Origins and development of musical competence (pp. 37–87). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
36.
PelaezM.OrtegaJ. V.GewirtzJ. L. (2011). Reinforcement of vocalizations through contingent vocal imitation. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 44, 33–40. doi:10.1901/jaba.2011.44-33
37.
ReppB. A. (1998). Musical motion in perception and performance. In RosenblumD. A.CollyerC. E. (Eds.), Timing of behavior: Neural, psychological and computational perspectives (pp. 125–144). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. doi:10.7551/mitpress/6831.003.0010
38.
RosenthalM. (1982). Vocal dialogues in the neonatal period. Developmental Psychology, 18, 17–21. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.18.1.17
39.
SáC.CarvalhoE. (2020). Lullabies and preterm infants: A contribution for the study of infant directed singing in the NICU. In BogunovićB.NikolićS. (Eds.), Proceedings of PAM-IE Belgrade 2019 (pp. 15–22). Belgrade, Serbia: Faculty of Music, University of Arts in Belgrade.
40.
SchafferH. R. (1999). Understanding socialization: from unidirectional to bidirectional conceptions. In BennettM. (Ed.), Developmental psychology: Achievements and prospects (pp. 272–288). Philadelphia, PA: Psychology Press.
41.
SchmidtL. A.TrainorL. J.SantessoD. L. (2003). Development of frontal electroencephalogram (EEG) and heart rate (ECG) responses to affective musical stimuli during the first 12 months of post-natal life. Brain and Cognition, 52, 27–32. doi:10.1016/S0278-2626(03)00006-X
ShoemarkH. (2011). Contingent singing: The musicality of companionship with the hospitalized newborn infant. In BakerF.UhligS. (Eds.), Voicework in music therapy: Research and practice (pp. 229–249). London, England: Jessica Kingsley.
44.
ShoemarkH.GrockeD. (2010). The markers of interplay between the music therapist and the medically fragile newborn infant. Journal of Music Therapy, 47, 306–334. doi:10.1093/jmt/47.4.306
45.
SmithN. A.TrainorL. J. (2008). Infant-directed speech is modulated by infant feedback. Infancy, 13, 410–420. doi:10.1080/15250000802188719
46.
StampsL. E. (1977). Temporal conditioning of heart rate responses in newborn infants. Developmental Psychology, 13, 624–629. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.13.6.624
47.
SternD. N. (1974). The goal and structure of mother-infant play. Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 13, 402–421. doi:10.1016/S0002-7138(09)61348-0
48.
SternD. N.BeebeB.JaffeJ.BennettS. L. (1977). The infant’s stimulus world during social interaction: A study of caregiver behaviours with particular reference to repetition and timing. In SchaefferH. R. (Ed.), Studies in mother–infant interaction (pp. 177–202). London, England: Academic Press.
49.
TrainorL. J.AdamsB. (2000). Infants’ and adults’ use of duration and intensity cues in the segmentation of tone patterns. Perception and Psychophysics, 62, 333–340. doi:10.3758/BF03205553
50.
TrainorL. J.ClarkE. D.HuntleyA.AdamsB. A. (1997). The acoustic basis of preferences for infant-directed singing. Infant Behavior and Development, 20, 383–396. doi:10.1016/S0163-6383(97)90009-6
51.
TrehubS. E. (2001). Musical predispositions in infancy. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 930, 1–16.
52.
TrehubS. E. (2003). The developmental origins of musicality. Nature Neuroscience, 6, 669–673.
53.
TrehubS. E.HillD. S.KamenetskyS. B. (1997). Parents’ sung performances for infants. Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology, 51, 385–396. doi:10.1037/1196-1961.51.4.385
54.
TrehubS. E.UnykA. M.KamenetskyS. B.HillD. S.TrainorL. J.HendersonJ. L.SarazaM. (1997). Mothers’ and fathers’ singing to infants. Developmental Psychology, 33, 500–507. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.33.3.500
55.
TrevarthenC. (1999). Musicality and the intrinsic motive pulse: Evidence from human psychobiology and infant communication. Musicae Scientiae, 3, 155–215. doi:10.1177/10298649000030S109
56.
WinklerI.GáborP. H.HádenaO. L.IstvánS.HenkjanH. (2009). Newborn infants detect the beat in music. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 106, 2468–2471. doi:10.1073/pnas.0809035106
57.
WrayA. (2002). Formulaic language and the lexicon. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
