Infant cries convey both stable and dynamic information about age and identity.

Journal: Communications psychology
Published Date: Oct 2, 2023

Abstract

What information is encoded in the cries of human babies? While it is widely recognized that cries can encode distress levels, whether cries reliably encode the cause of crying remains disputed. Here, we collected 39201 cries from 24 babies recorded in their homes longitudinally, from 15 days to 3.5 months of age, a database we share publicly for reuse. Based on the parental action that stopped the crying, which matched the parental evaluation of cry cause in 75% of cases, each cry was classified as caused by discomfort, hunger, or isolation. Our analyses show that baby cries provide reliable information about age and identity. Baby voices become more tonal and less shrill with age, while individual acoustic signatures drift throughout the first months of life. In contrast, neither machine learning algorithms nor trained adult listeners can reliably recognize the causes of crying.

Authors

  • Marguerite Lockhart-Bouron
    Neonatal and Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, SAINBIOSE Iaboratory, Inserm, University Hospital of Saint-Etienne, University of Saint-Etienne, Saint-Etienne, France.
  • Andrey Anikin
    ENES Bioacoustics Research Laboratory, CRNL, CNRS, Inserm, University of Saint-Etienne, Saint-Etienne, France.
  • Katarzyna Pisanski
    ENES Bioacoustics Research Laboratory, CRNL, CNRS, Inserm, University of Saint-Etienne, Saint-Etienne, France.
  • Siloé Corvin
    ENES Bioacoustics Research Laboratory, CRNL, CNRS, Inserm, University of Saint-Etienne, Saint-Etienne, France.
  • Clément Cornec
    ENES Bioacoustics Research Laboratory, CRNL, CNRS, Inserm, University of Saint-Etienne, Saint-Etienne, France.
  • Léo Papet
    ENES Bioacoustics Research Laboratory, CRNL, CNRS, Inserm, University of Saint-Etienne, Saint-Etienne, France.
  • Florence Levréro
    ENES Bioacoustics Research Laboratory, CRNL, CNRS, Inserm, University of Saint-Etienne, Saint-Etienne, France.
  • Camille Fauchon
    Central Integration of Pain-Neuropain Laboratory, CRNL, CNRS, Inserm, UCB Lyon 1, University of Saint-Etienne, Saint-Etienne, France.
  • Hugues Patural
    Neonatal and Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, SAINBIOSE Iaboratory, Inserm, University Hospital of Saint-Etienne, University of Saint-Etienne, Saint-Etienne, France.
  • David Reby
    ENES Bioacoustics Research Laboratory, CRNL, CNRS, Inserm, University of Saint-Etienne, Saint-Etienne, France.
  • Nicolas Mathevon
    ENES Bioacoustics Research Laboratory, CRNL, CNRS, Inserm, University of Saint-Etienne, Saint-Etienne, France. mathevon@univ-st-etienne.fr.

Keywords

No keywords available for this article.

External Resources

Popular Topics
Recent Journals