Does Singing Facilitates Word Learning and Memory in Children?

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

Abstract

Like language, music is also a major auditory channel of communication, observable in all known cultures. The benefit of music on language learning is supported by the findings that people who have received extensive musical training have better verbal memory (Chan, Ho, & Cheung, 1998), show more advanced pitch contour processing of sentences (Marques et al., 2007), and imitate linguistic pitch more accurately in foreign, tone languages (Gottfried, Staby, & Ziemer, 2004) than those who have not received extensive music training. Adults also capitalize on infant sensitivity to musical features by using a special form of infant-directed speech when they talk to babies that features exaggerated prosody, slower transitions, and increased repetition: all elements characteristic of music. Indeed, research also found that 21-month-old children learn new words better in infant-directed speech than in adult-directed speech (ADS) (Ma, Golinkoff, Houston, & Hirsh-Pasek, 2011). However, it is still unknown whether singing facilitates young children’s learning and long-term memory of new words.

The study aims to determine whether singing facilitates 2.5- and 4.5-year-old children’s learning and long-term memory of new words (24 children/age group). Each child completed a word-learning task (Day 1) and a long-term memory task (3-7 days later). Intermodal Preferential Looking Paradigm was used in this study. The word-learning task consisted of a training phase where children learned two pairs of made-up words (two sung words and two words spoken in ADS) by building associations between visual and auditory stimuli, and a test phase, where their understanding of these new words is assessed. The long-term memory task was administered on the same children 3-7 days later; the experimental paradigm and procedure were the same as the word-learning task except that children watched only test trials (without the training), aiming to determine if words learned in song were remembered better than words learned in ADS.

Three major findings emerged for the word-learning task. First, the proportion of looking time to the target was compared against chance (0.5). Successful word learning is indicated by fixation to target that exceeds chance. Results showed that both the 2.5-year-olds and the 4.5-year-olds learned the words – regardless of whether they were sung or spoken. Second, older children’s word learning performance was better than young children’s for both the sung and spoken words. Third, in the 4.5-year-olds, word-learning performance did not differ between the sung and spoken words. However, in the 2.5-year-olds, word-learning performance was better for the sung words than for the spoken words.

For the long-term memory task, the proportion of looking time to the target was compared against chance (0.5). Results showed that the 3.5-year-olds did not remember the words – regardless of whether they were sung or spoken. However, the 4.5-year-olds still remembered the words learned in song but not the words learned in ADS.

These findings suggested that singing facilitates young children’s word learning and long-term memory, and that the effect of singing on child word learning attenuates with age.

Authors

• Weiyi Ma, University of Arkansas
  Presenting Author

• Lisa Bowers, University of Arkansas
  Non-Presenting Author

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