Listen To My Song!

This study is for 9- to 12-month-old children.

In this study, your baby will listen to brief audio clips of adults singing “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” and “The Itsy Bitsy Spider.” While they listen, we will record their reactions, including where they look, their facial expressions, and movements. We will ask you to complete a short survey at the end including demographic questions and questions about your baby's musical experiences. Your baby will hear 16 total songs.

Previous research has found that babies have various preferences for music - for example, they like to listen to songs that they already know. But different people might sing the same song in a very different way. We still don’t know much about how specific features of a sung melody - such as the pleasantness of a particular person’s voice - might influence infants’ preferences. In this study, we focus on how infants react when different adults sing two well-known songs, “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” and “The Itsy Bitsy Spider.” By observing where your baby looks, their facial expressions, and their movements while listening to these brief clips, we hope to better understand which aspects of singing are most interesting and engaging for infants.

20 minutes

Families with a visible infant in at least one video will be compensated with a $5 e-gift card to Amazon.com within one week of completing the study. Families with children outside the age range are welcome to participate, but will not be compensated. We will provide only one gift card per participant.