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Mother-Infants

Music Preferences Safa Solati

Claudia Lancioni

Azadeh Okhovat

Supervised by Dr. Marc Thompson

Music Psychology II

Term Paper

18.10.2014

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Abstract

Mother and infants share musical preferences. To this date no study has been

conducted to examine the relationship between mothers and their infants’ music

preference in Finland. Therefore, the aim of the current study is to investigate

whether infants share the same musical preferences with their mothers. The

primary expectation is that infants show more excitement towards familiar music

other than unfamiliar music. The secondary prediction is that infants share similar

music preferences as their mothers. Two separate experiments were conducted. In

the motion capture section (experiment I) there were two case studies. Two infant

samples (12-18) month old participated to listen to one familiar and unfamiliar

song and motion capture recording and video recording of facial expression of

each was made. In experiment II, 23 mothers voluntarily completed a

questionnaire consisted of 15 questions regarding mother-infants music

preferences. The results supported the first and second hypothesis. In conclusion,

the findings indicate that there is a positive correlation between mothers and their

infants’ musical preferences. Further studies could have bigger infant samples and

boarder sample of mothers in order to make the findings be generalized.

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Introduction

From the very beginning when we listen to lullabies that our mothers sing to us, to nursery

rhymes that are taught in school and so on our lives begins surrounding by music. In scientific

world research studies suggest that human infants’ lives begin with a number of important skills

such as frequency coding mechanisms and multisensory connections that facilitate a range of

musical behaviors (Thompson, 2009). There have been several studies around mothers’ musical

preferences and its relation to their infants and if Infants share the same musical preferences as

their mothers. The results of such studies have proven so far that in some levels there is a

correlation between mother-infants music preferences (Thompson, 2009; Soley & Hannon, 2010;

Walworth, 2009; Einarson, Corrigal & Trainor, 2012; Morgan, Kilough & Thompson, 2011

Egerman, Chuen & Macadams, 2012). Generally, the term musical preference is explained by

Schulten (1987) as elements, parts, or objectivities of musical socialization. But still there is no

concrete definition of what is meant by musical preference (Schulten, 1987). There are several

factors that may affect the musical preferences such as ethnicity, social, demographic,

personality and cultural factors (Juslin, 2008; Schulten, 1987). Thompson (2009) stated that

human’s fetus is affected by all these factors from a very beginning since fetus can hear, process,

and remember musical patterns. Infants have remarkable ability to discriminate pitches and

rhythms and prefer consonant intervals to dissonant intervals (Thompson, 2009). It was further

explained by Thompson (2009) that infants are attuned to the connection between rhythm and

movement, implying that the two senses are naturally intertwined. Studies have shown that

human infants have the ability to understand and appreciate the music in their environment

which is called enculturation (Thompson, 2009). Through musical activities babies develop

social, language, communication skills (Walworth, 2007). It was later explained by Soley and

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Hannon (2010) that infants prefer the structures of their native culture and prefers familiar faces

and languages that raise the possibility of infants’ preference in listening to the music of their

own culture. Studies done by Soley and Hannon (2010) have proven that infants and fetuses

respond differentially to specific songs after prolonged exposure that leads to exhibition of

subsequent changes in heart rate and movement upon hearing a familiar song (Soley &

Hannon,2010). Rhythmic movements may be the product of auditory-motor neural pathways

(Morgan, Kilough & Thompson, 2011). It was proven by previous studies using different folk

songs that infants are able to discriminate a familiar from an unfamiliar folk song and exhibit

comparable discrimination abilities for familiar and foreign structures (Soley & Hannon, 2010).

Studies done by Morgan, Kilough and Thompson (2011) found another important factor in which

it was proven that visual stimuli are dominant to auditory stimuli in infancy which can be linked

to Soley and Hannon (2010) studies concerning the infants preferences towards familiar faces

that makes it possible to imply that infants react more towards a song sung by a familiar person

(mother) or a music heard in the presence of a familiar person (mother) as well. Followed by the

presence of a familiar person Walworth ( 2007) stated that infants also responded by gazing,

smiling, vocalizing, cooing, kicking, tapping, waving, and reaching out to touch the mother’s

face or musical toy when the mothers initiated music-play actions. In case of newborns

preference in specific stimuli, such as mother’s voice, and smell was noticed that bring this to

mind that there may be a connection between mother-infant musical preferences and that infants

may prefer the same music genre their mothers listens to or plays (Walworth,2007). Still,

research on maternal and paternal interaction and music is still limited and further investigation

is needed (Walworth, 2009, Soley & Hannon, 2010; Kilough & Thompson, 2011). All other

studies have been done so far in countries other than Finland. The current study has been

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conducted to investigate whether the results of this study are in line with previous studies or if

we can find opposite results. The aim of the current study is to investigate whether infants share

the same musical preferences with their mothers. The first expectation is that infants show more

excitement towards familiar music other than unfamiliar music. Secondly, it is predicted that

infants share similar music preferences as their mother.

Experiment I

We first examined the relationship between mother-infants music preferences through a familiar

and unfamiliar song. In line with previous studies in music preferences (Thompson, 2009; Soley

& Hannon, 2010; Walworth, 2009; Einarson, Corrigal & Trainor, 2012; Morgan, Kilough &

Thompson, 2011 Egerman, Chuen & Macadams, 2012) , we used one familiar and one

unfamiliar song as stimuli in other to compare the reactions, movements, and facial expressions

of infants towards both of these songs. In previous studies the main focus was on familiar faces,

language, and culture (Egerman, Chuen & Macadams, 2012). We therefore, expected that infants

also prefer the familiar song over the unfamiliar song. Thus, infants in this study might exhibit

equal preference towards familiar song same as other studies that infants showed preference

towards native language (Soley & Hannon, 2010).

Method

Participants

Two infants (2 females), (12-18) months from staff and students of University of Jyvaskyla were

tested after taking the consent from either of the parents. Both of them were physically and

mentally healthy at the time of testing. Each sample was tested separately.

Apparatus and Stimuli

Two songs (one familiar and unfamiliar) were selected for infants. The right of selection of the

familiar song was given to sample’s parents and an Iranian folk song was selected as the

unfamiliar song.

Motion Capture

In order to investigate the body movement of very young samples, motion capture was used to

record a detailed body movement towards familiar and unfamiliar songs. Motion capture could

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be of great use since the very basic and early way of communication for infants in first year of

life is movement especially in case of musical reactions (Soley & Hannon, 2010). Motion

capture allowed us to follow different movements in body parts. Each participant and their three-

dimensional position tracked by an eight-camera optical motion-capture system (Qualisys Pro-

Reflex) at 120 frames per second. There were 7 reflective markers in different parts of their

body. Three makers were placed on the head, two on arms and two on hips. Afterwards, the

Familiar song was played followed by unfamiliar song and movements were recorded separately.

During all part of experiment one of parents (mother / father) was present near the infant in order

to examine if the presence of a parent is also playing a role in involvement of infants with music

or not. After recording the motion capture, the red point markers were labeled and indentified

based on body parts in (MoCap software) and each was joined together with the other related

marker. In the last step by transferring MoCap file and using MoCap toolbar in Matlab software,

infants’ movements could be converted to the animation format and the movements of infants

were calculated towards each song.

Video Camera

Beside motion capture equipment a Nikon video-camera (COOLPIX500) was used to record

samples’ facial expressions towards both familiar and unfamiliar songs. Since motion capture did

not have the capability of recording the facial expressions and emotional reactions. Facial

expression was useful in gathering better emotional data.

Motion Capture and Video’s Analysis Results

The results of motion capture’s experience, as well as video’s analysis, are shown in the table

and figures below.

In the MatLab analysis only the infant “B” was considered for analysis, since no valuable data

was collected from infant “A”.

Table 1 shows all the visible patterns that were caught during watching experiment and video.

Figure 1 shows the Motion Capture analysis.

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First infant (A) Second infant (B)

Familiar

music

• usually no movements

• moved only in the presence of her

father

• seemed stressed

• looked at the speakers

• wanted to go towards her father

• good reactions: dancing, smiling,

happy to continue, holding chair

for standing (moved hips up and

down, swings head right and left)

• seemed to enjoy the music

• good interaction with her mother

Unfamiliar

music

• no movements at all

• didn´t want to interact with others

• seemed disorientated

• went out of the area towards her father

• no movements

• didn’t want to follow the music

• seemed disorientated

• went out of the area towards her

mother

Tab. 1: Infants’ movements and reactions to familiar/unfamiliar music.

Figure 1: Infant (B), four samples of the animation file gained form motion capture

In the Figure 2 & 3 it is possible to see the analysis’ result trough MatLab, (a computer’ software

to encode the Motion Capture’s data), such as number of movements in each body part, the

acceleration and velocity of movements.

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Figure 2: Velocity graphs of each marker on infant (B) movements.

Figure 3: Acceleration graphs of each marker of infant (B) movements.

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Experiment II

A total of 23 mothers were gathered from countries such as Finland, Italy, and Iran to

voluntarily complete a questionnaire related with their musical preferences and their infants’.

Since in experiment I the results showed that infant’s preferred the familiar song over the

unfamiliar one, we highly expected that infants would prefer the same songs and music genre as

their mothers in line with previous studies (Soley & Hannon, 2010, Walworth, 2007).

Method

Participants

A total of 40 (mother-infants musical preferences) questionnaires were distributed among

mothers from different countries such as Iran, Italy, and Finland from which 23 were returned to

researchers. Mother samples In Finland were either selected from a Kindergarten in Kortepohja

in Jyvaskyla city, the mailing list of University of Jyvaskyla and others were randomly selected

from friends and families of researchers in Iran and Italy.

Procedure

The PLS (Plain Language Statement) and consent forms were presented to all participants and if

they agreed to participate, a questionnaire consisted of 15 questions related to mother music

preferences before and after pregnancy and its relation to their infants music preferences was

given to them to complete in 10-15 minutes. After collecting questionnaires the data was entered

into SPSS for analysis.

Questionnaire’s Analysis results

The results showed that there is a significant, positive correlation between musical preferences in

mothers and infants. Based on survey questions, it was found that the same genre of music that

put mothers in happy mood also makes babies more excited and happy.

In this section the result of questionnaire’s data analysis will be explained in depth. Excel

(Microsoft Office software) was used to show the results in charts. Besides, SPSS (software for

statistical analysis) was used to find a correlation in the parameter “happiness” during the

listening experience.

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Excel Analysis

Figure 4 shows that the majority considered listening to music as “very important”, while few

mothers considered it as “not important”.

Figure 4: Mother’s music priority: how important music is and has been in your life in general?

Figure 5 indicates the different music genres that mothers preferred to listen. The most

appreciated genre was “Classical” music, followed by “jazz” and “Spiritual”, and the least liked

genre was “country” music. The data collected from mothers’ answers to questions regarding

their infants’ reactions towards their most preferred music genres showed that the same music

genre preferred by mothers before and after pregnancy mostly led to more observed reactions in

their infants.

Figure 5: Mother’s music preferences: which kind of music do you prefer to listen?

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SPSS Analysis

Two essential questions from the survey were selected:

1. Did you have a particular song that would put you in a happy mood? Yes/ No. What type?

2. Does your baby move or show excitement toward the same music that would make you

happy? Yes/ No.

After entering the data, a Pearson correlation with alpha set of 0.01 was conducted, (P=0.735).A

significant correlation was found between mother’s music preferences, infants’ reactions and

happiness.

Figure 6: SPSS result: happiness correlation in mother and infant.

Discussion

The aim of the current study was to investigate whether infants share the same musical

preferences with their mothers. The first expectation was that infants show more excitement

towards familiar music other than unfamiliar music. Secondly, it was predicted that infants share

similar music preferences as their mother and both predictions were supported. The current study

in a way confirmed Bar-Haim et al., (2006); Kelly et al., (2005); Moon et al., (1993) and Soley

and Hannon (2010) findings in which infants showed preferences for familiar languages or faces,

and for the structures of their native culture, and current findings proved that such preference

also applies to familiar music and infants typically focused their attention longer to familiar

stimuli. In fact, since one year-old babies time is usually spent with their parents, either of the

parents played a crucial role to create an environment for infant samples to get more involved in

music which was in line with a study done by Scott-Kassner (1999) in which it was mentioned

that parents presence could create an atmosphere for infant to create, explore, and manipulate

sounds. Moreover, the study was in line with Soley & Hannon, (2010) findings, in which infants

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were able to discriminate a familiar from an unfamiliar folk song and exhibited comparable

discrimination abilities for familiar and foreign structures. The results of the current research

found two different infants’ behavior in two situations, that confirmed the findings of Littleton

(1999) in which during the familiar music when mothers initiated music-play actions it led to

activation in infants’ motor patterns, such as gazing, smiling, vocalizing, cooing, kicking,

tapping, waving, reaching out to touch the mother’s face and so on (see table 1). Furthermore,

finding of current study supported Morgan, Kilough and Thompson (2011) research, in which it

was also proven that visual stimuli are dominant to auditory stimuli in infancy, and at the same

time suggest the existence of mirror neurons since infancy, as the infants are able to imitate

actions from their mothers that once again proved the importance of parents’ presence with

infant while listening to music. The developmental view of mirror neurons should still be

discovered and probably they are not innate, but it is possible that are involved others circuitry

and adaptation mechanisms (Oztop, Kawato, Arbib, 2006).In the present study some limitations

were encountered, such as the lack of time. In fact the researchers had only few weeks to outline

the project and to find infants as well as mothers available to answer the questionnaire. The

society is growing to be more multicultural, and we are all the time stimulated by worldwide

music. Everything can be found on Internet, so the infants are more in touch with music and also

appreciate music from other cultural contexts especially if his/her mother or father is listening to

music from different cultures (Thompson, 2009). Thus, if time was not limited, it could be

interesting to find cross-cultural infants’ music preferences from different countries, and the

relationship with their mother’s music preferences. Another limitation was the age of the infants

and that they were too young for this analysis. In fact they pointed out a difficulty during the

motion capture examination: infants usually tried to remove the sensors from their body and they

didn’t have too many sensors on an infant has got a little body. It was a challenge to observe

movements and expressions in infants during motion capture. The sample was too small as there

were only two infants to analyze in the motion capture, and only twenty-three questionnaires

from infants’ mothers. Thus, the results cannot be generalized and further research is needed.

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Conclusion

The study was conducted to investigate infants’ music preferences in cross-cultural music

contexts associated with an unfamiliar experience. For further research it can be suggested to

have Motion Capture’s data with all the infants from the mothers` interviews. It could be

interesting to find associations and relations between the mother’s favorite song or music and the

infants’ favorite song or music. Another suggestion could be to avoid the presence of their

relatives, where the infant could be exposed in a completely unfamiliar environment. Thus, the

individual differences in familiar and unfamiliar songs’ reactions could be observed. Finally, it

would be interesting to study the relationship between mother-infant during the listening

experience of familiar or unfamiliar music, as well as during mother’ singing lullabies. It would

be valuable to observe and study in depth how they would react to unfamiliar music and to have

a follow up, maybe after a period of “enculturation” (Thompson, 2009), to see if they would

become familiar with the previous unfamiliar music.

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