Fourteen- to 18-month-olds infer intentions from intonation: evidence from imitation and looking time measures.

Sakkalou, Elena 2007. Fourteen- to 18-month-olds infer intentions from intonation: evidence from imitation and looking time measures. PhD Thesis, Cardiff University.

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Abstract

This thesis's aim was to examine the effect of vocal intonation on mental state understanding. This thesis has found that vocal intonation provides important cues for communicating the intentions of others' to infants. The results indicate that infants rely on intonation when making attributions about other people's goal-directed behaviour. These results were first found using an imitation paradigm and extended and confirmed with a looking time paradigm. The first two experimental chapters of this thesis have shown that the tone of voice is a salient cue to mental states. Infants did not only distinguish between intentional and accidental words such as "Whoops" and "There" but they also made the distinction between intentional and accidental mental states from the intonation alone. A looking time measure has also shown promising results for the same distinction between intentional and accidental mental states. The looking time study has confirmed and extended the findings that we saw through imitation. Infants seemed able to distinguish between an intentional and an accidental intonation and looked longer during scenes where the accidental intonation was paired with the end-result. These findings are the first to report results on the intonation of accidental and intentional mental states. The results of this thesis contribute to the literature concerning intention understanding and they extend our knowledge about intonation and the significant role it plays in infancy.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Status:	Unpublished
Schools:	Psychology
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology
ISBN:	9781303210020
Funders:	Cardiff University
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	30 March 2016
Last Modified:	10 Oct 2017 15:24
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/54661

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