Children's Memory of Whispered and Non-Whispered Information

• In Event: Poster Session 04
  In Poster Session: PS 04 Topic - Language, Communication

Abstract

The way people say information is often just as important as the words they say. Language development researchers have studied these topics extensively, but little work has been done to understand the role whispering plays in children’s perception of speakers and memory for what was said. Cirillo (2004) found whispering can increase auditory vigilance and cause a person to pay more attention when they are exposed to it. Whispering could also influence memory because it stands out and is salient when compared to a normal register. Either way, if whispering differs from a typical speech register because of vigilance, salience, or both, then memory might be better when information is whispered. The current study aims to assess whether a whispered register can improve children’s memory of information. Approximately 120 children between the ages of three and eight will be recruited for this study. Stimuli will be delivered virtually through video conferencing software and children will view video animations and listen to a conversation between two characters. Memory will be assessed with a preselected piece of target information which will either be in a normal register or a whisper register. The non-target information, referred to as base information, will also be presented in either a normal or whisper register thus creating four experimental conditions for speech type. These are base speech normal-target whispered (BN-TW), base speech whispered-target normal (BW-TN), base speech whispered-target whispered (BW-TW), and base speech normal-target normal (BN-TN). The first hypothesis, called the vigilance hypothesis suggests that memory for target information will be better in conditions where the target is whispered (BN-TW, BW-TW). Second, a salience hypothesis suggests that memory will be better in any condition in which the target is presented in a different register than the base information (BN-TW, BW-TN). Lastly, if both vigilance and salience influence memory for whispered information, then memory for target information will be greatest in the condition where target information is whispered and there is a register change (BN-TW). Results will be analyzed with an ANOVA to identify any main effects or interactions between participant age, base speech, and target speech in the memorability of information. We will then use logistic regression to model each hypothesis and determine which best fits the data. Despite its complex nature, little is known about whispering and its functions, especially for children. As a result, this study has implications for early learning, sociolinguistic aspects of language, and memory within developmental psychology. Information about how speech registers impact memory can be valuable to improve our understanding of communication with and between children, and to inform experimental design in future studies on speech registers. Data collection for this study will begin in November 2020. Because the stimuli will be presented virtually, data collection can be based on the schedule that is best for participants rather than relying on the operating hours of schools or childcare centers. We fully expect that we will be able to collect and analyze this data before the SRCD meeting in April 2021.

Authors

• Christina Barnes, University of Arkansas
  Presenting Author

• Douglas A Behrend, University of Arkansas
  Non-Presenting Author