The Relation between Variations in Pitch and Maternal Perceptions of Infant Crying

ZESKIND, PHILIP SANFORD, and MARSHALL, TIMOTHY R. The Relation between Variations in Pitch and Maternal Perceptions of Infant Crying. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1988, 59, 193-196. The relation between aspects of the fundamental frequency (basic pitch) of 16 newborn infant cries and 28 multiparous mothers' perceptions of those cries was examined. Mothers rated the tape-recorded pain cries of 16 newborn infants on 4 7-point Likert-type scale items. 3 measures were extracted from each of the 16 cry sounds by spectrum analysis: mean fundamental frequency, standard deviation of the fundamental frequency, and peak fundamental frequency. All 3 cry features were positively correlated to all 4 rating scale items. Multiple regression analyses showed that the mean fundamental frequency best predicted how urgent, arousing, and distressing the cries were perceived to be. The standard deviation of the fundamental frequency was the best predictor of how sick the infant sounded. These results support the hypothesis that increases in fundamental frequency are related to increases in maternal perceptions of the intensity of the infant's cry, and that different aspects of the basic pitch best convey different messages to the caregiving environment.