Prenatal and Neonatal Musical Development Flashcards
What is a debate surrounding how children appreciate music?
Do children appreciate music straight out of the womb?
Do children have to learn an appreciation for music?
When can foetus’ hear music?
3 months BEFORE birth
Do children prefer music that beats with their heartbeat?
Mixed evidence
Seems to be more preference for walking pace in terms of beat
What was found in a study where pregnant mothers were exposed to music by Wilkin (1995)?
Recorded the activity of the foetus and found more response/movement to piano music rather than choral or rock music
Does music that the mother regularly listens to affect what the child prefers?
Yes. Zimmer et al. (1982) found stronger effects for mother’s preferred music.
The child made more movement when they recognised a piece of music that they were familiar of.
What was found from Hepper’s (1991) Neighbours theme-tune study?
2-4 neonates (new-born babies) responded to the theme-tune if their mothers were regular viewers of the show because they recognised the tune
Suggests that babies could hear the music through the womb
Why are neonatals harder to study?
Can’t talk
Have to use indirect methods to work out how they are responding (e.g., head turn towards sound sources)
At what age can neonatals identify the source of a rattle?
2-4 days
They will turn to the rattle reasonably accurately in the first few days of life
When are accurate head turns seen?
6 months of life
At this point there is a spurt in development and children can pinpoint the sound source to an accurate degree, even in the absence of vision cues
At what age can children find sound objects in the dark?
7 months
Musical toys were in a darkened space and the children had to try and find the toy.
When can children be taught to sing back specific pitches within 70% of quarter-tone?
3-6 months
Start to show an ability for singing and pitch recognition
When can children recognise specific Mozart sonatas after daily exposure? How do we know this?
By 7 months
Saffran et al. (2000) god children to listen to the sonata everyday for 2 weeks. These children showed longer head turns to the familiar sonata compared to a control group.
Can 7-month-old children pick out a complex piece of music that they recognised?
Yes
When is the skill of recognising music acquired?
7 months (recognition of music is acquired pretty quickly)
What is one way in which children learn about music and respond to music?
Exposure to music from the environment
