Evidence for Infant-directed Speech Preference Is Consistent Across Large-scale, Multi-site Replication and Meta-analysis

Martin Zettersten; Christopher Cox; Christina Bergmann; Angeline Sin Mei Tsui; Melanie Soderstrom; Julien Mayor; Rebecca A Lundwall; Molly Lewis; Jessica E Kosie; Natalia Kartushina; Riccardo Fusaroli; Michael C Frank; Krista Byers-Heinlein; Alexis K Black; Maya B Mathur

doi:10.1162/opmi_a_00134

Evidence for Infant-directed Speech Preference Is Consistent Across Large-scale, Multi-site Replication and Meta-analysis

Martin Zettersten^*, Christopher Cox, Christina Bergmann, Angeline Sin Mei Tsui, Melanie Soderstrom, Julien Mayor, Rebecca A Lundwall, Molly Lewis, Jessica E Kosie, Natalia Kartushina, Riccardo Fusaroli, Michael C Frank, Krista Byers-Heinlein, Alexis K Black, Maya B Mathur

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal/Conference contribution in journal/Contribution to newspaper › Journal article › Research › peer-review

4 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

There is substantial evidence that infants prefer infant-directed speech (IDS) to adult-directed speech (ADS). The strongest evidence for this claim has come from two large-scale investigations: i) a community-augmented meta-analysis of published behavioral studies and ii) a large-scale multi-lab replication study. In this paper, we aim to improve our understanding of the IDS preference and its boundary conditions by combining and comparing these two data sources across key population and design characteristics of the underlying studies. Our analyses reveal that both the meta-analysis and multi-lab replication show moderate effect sizes ( d ≈ 0.35 for each estimate) and that both of these effects persist when relevant study-level moderators are added to the models (i.e., experimental methods, infant ages, and native languages). However, while the overall effect size estimates were similar, the two sources diverged in the effects of key moderators: both infant age and experimental method predicted IDS preference in the multi-lab replication study, but showed no effect in the meta-analysis. These results demonstrate that the IDS preference generalizes across a variety of experimental conditions and sampling characteristics, while simultaneously identifying key differences in the empirical picture offered by each source individually and pinpointing areas where substantial uncertainty remains about the influence of theoretically central moderators on IDS preference. Overall, our results show how meta-analyses and multi-lab replications can be used in tandem to understand the robustness and generalizability of developmental phenomena.

Original language	English
Journal	Open Mind
Volume	8
Pages (from-to)	439-461
Number of pages	23
ISSN	2470-2986
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1162/opmi_a_00134
Publication status	Published - 16 Apr 2024

Keywords

infant-directed speech
looking time preference
mega-analysis
meta-analysis
multi-lab replication

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10.1162/opmi_a_00134

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Zettersten, M., Cox, C., Bergmann, C., Tsui, A. S. M., Soderstrom, M., Mayor, J., Lundwall, R. A., Lewis, M., Kosie, J. E., Kartushina, N., Fusaroli, R., Frank, M. C., Byers-Heinlein, K., Black, A. K., & Mathur, M. B. (2024). Evidence for Infant-directed Speech Preference Is Consistent Across Large-scale, Multi-site Replication and Meta-analysis. Open Mind, 8, 439-461. https://doi.org/10.1162/opmi_a_00134

@article{c96ef32214934edd849959b24f417062,

title = "Evidence for Infant-directed Speech Preference Is Consistent Across Large-scale, Multi-site Replication and Meta-analysis",

abstract = "There is substantial evidence that infants prefer infant-directed speech (IDS) to adult-directed speech (ADS). The strongest evidence for this claim has come from two large-scale investigations: i) a community-augmented meta-analysis of published behavioral studies and ii) a large-scale multi-lab replication study. In this paper, we aim to improve our understanding of the IDS preference and its boundary conditions by combining and comparing these two data sources across key population and design characteristics of the underlying studies. Our analyses reveal that both the meta-analysis and multi-lab replication show moderate effect sizes ( d ≈ 0.35 for each estimate) and that both of these effects persist when relevant study-level moderators are added to the models (i.e., experimental methods, infant ages, and native languages). However, while the overall effect size estimates were similar, the two sources diverged in the effects of key moderators: both infant age and experimental method predicted IDS preference in the multi-lab replication study, but showed no effect in the meta-analysis. These results demonstrate that the IDS preference generalizes across a variety of experimental conditions and sampling characteristics, while simultaneously identifying key differences in the empirical picture offered by each source individually and pinpointing areas where substantial uncertainty remains about the influence of theoretically central moderators on IDS preference. Overall, our results show how meta-analyses and multi-lab replications can be used in tandem to understand the robustness and generalizability of developmental phenomena. ",

keywords = "infant-directed speech, looking time preference, mega-analysis, meta-analysis, multi-lab replication",

author = "Martin Zettersten and Christopher Cox and Christina Bergmann and Tsui, {Angeline Sin Mei} and Melanie Soderstrom and Julien Mayor and Lundwall, {Rebecca A} and Molly Lewis and Kosie, {Jessica E} and Natalia Kartushina and Riccardo Fusaroli and Frank, {Michael C} and Krista Byers-Heinlein and Black, {Alexis K} and Mathur, {Maya B}",

note = "{\textcopyright} 2024 Massachusetts Institute of Technology.",

year = "2024",

month = apr,

day = "16",

doi = "10.1162/opmi_a_00134",

language = "English",

volume = "8",

pages = "439--461",

journal = "Open Mind",

issn = "2470-2986",

publisher = "MIT Press",

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Zettersten, M, Cox, C, Bergmann, C, Tsui, ASM, Soderstrom, M, Mayor, J, Lundwall, RA, Lewis, M, Kosie, JE, Kartushina, N, Fusaroli, R, Frank, MC, Byers-Heinlein, K, Black, AK & Mathur, MB 2024, 'Evidence for Infant-directed Speech Preference Is Consistent Across Large-scale, Multi-site Replication and Meta-analysis', Open Mind, vol. 8, pp. 439-461. https://doi.org/10.1162/opmi_a_00134

Evidence for Infant-directed Speech Preference Is Consistent Across Large-scale, Multi-site Replication and Meta-analysis. / Zettersten, Martin; Cox, Christopher; Bergmann, Christina et al.
In: Open Mind, Vol. 8, 16.04.2024, p. 439-461.

Research output: Contribution to journal/Conference contribution in journal/Contribution to newspaper › Journal article › Research › peer-review

TY - JOUR

T1 - Evidence for Infant-directed Speech Preference Is Consistent Across Large-scale, Multi-site Replication and Meta-analysis

AU - Zettersten, Martin

AU - Cox, Christopher

AU - Bergmann, Christina

AU - Tsui, Angeline Sin Mei

AU - Soderstrom, Melanie

AU - Mayor, Julien

AU - Lundwall, Rebecca A

AU - Lewis, Molly

AU - Kosie, Jessica E

AU - Kartushina, Natalia

AU - Fusaroli, Riccardo

AU - Frank, Michael C

AU - Byers-Heinlein, Krista

AU - Black, Alexis K

AU - Mathur, Maya B

PY - 2024/4/16

Y1 - 2024/4/16

N2 - There is substantial evidence that infants prefer infant-directed speech (IDS) to adult-directed speech (ADS). The strongest evidence for this claim has come from two large-scale investigations: i) a community-augmented meta-analysis of published behavioral studies and ii) a large-scale multi-lab replication study. In this paper, we aim to improve our understanding of the IDS preference and its boundary conditions by combining and comparing these two data sources across key population and design characteristics of the underlying studies. Our analyses reveal that both the meta-analysis and multi-lab replication show moderate effect sizes ( d ≈ 0.35 for each estimate) and that both of these effects persist when relevant study-level moderators are added to the models (i.e., experimental methods, infant ages, and native languages). However, while the overall effect size estimates were similar, the two sources diverged in the effects of key moderators: both infant age and experimental method predicted IDS preference in the multi-lab replication study, but showed no effect in the meta-analysis. These results demonstrate that the IDS preference generalizes across a variety of experimental conditions and sampling characteristics, while simultaneously identifying key differences in the empirical picture offered by each source individually and pinpointing areas where substantial uncertainty remains about the influence of theoretically central moderators on IDS preference. Overall, our results show how meta-analyses and multi-lab replications can be used in tandem to understand the robustness and generalizability of developmental phenomena.

AB - There is substantial evidence that infants prefer infant-directed speech (IDS) to adult-directed speech (ADS). The strongest evidence for this claim has come from two large-scale investigations: i) a community-augmented meta-analysis of published behavioral studies and ii) a large-scale multi-lab replication study. In this paper, we aim to improve our understanding of the IDS preference and its boundary conditions by combining and comparing these two data sources across key population and design characteristics of the underlying studies. Our analyses reveal that both the meta-analysis and multi-lab replication show moderate effect sizes ( d ≈ 0.35 for each estimate) and that both of these effects persist when relevant study-level moderators are added to the models (i.e., experimental methods, infant ages, and native languages). However, while the overall effect size estimates were similar, the two sources diverged in the effects of key moderators: both infant age and experimental method predicted IDS preference in the multi-lab replication study, but showed no effect in the meta-analysis. These results demonstrate that the IDS preference generalizes across a variety of experimental conditions and sampling characteristics, while simultaneously identifying key differences in the empirical picture offered by each source individually and pinpointing areas where substantial uncertainty remains about the influence of theoretically central moderators on IDS preference. Overall, our results show how meta-analyses and multi-lab replications can be used in tandem to understand the robustness and generalizability of developmental phenomena.

KW - infant-directed speech

KW - looking time preference

KW - mega-analysis

KW - meta-analysis

KW - multi-lab replication

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=105000007889&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1162/opmi_a_00134

DO - 10.1162/opmi_a_00134

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 38665547

SN - 2470-2986

VL - 8

SP - 439

EP - 461

JO - Open Mind

JF - Open Mind

ER -

Evidence for Infant-directed Speech Preference Is Consistent Across Large-scale, Multi-site Replication and Meta-analysis

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Keywords

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