Babbling: Difference between revisions

Typically by 6 months of age, all normally developing children will babble.<ref>{{Cite book|title = Encyclopedia of Human Development|url = https://archive.org/details/encyclopediahuma00salk|url-access = limited|last = Salkind|first = N. J.|publisher = Sage Publications|year = 2006|location = Thousand Oakes: California|pages = [https://archive.org/details/encyclopediahuma00salk/page/n189 151]|isbn = 9781412904759}}</ref> However, infants with certain medical conditions or developmental delays may exhibit a delay or an absence of babbling. For example, infants who have had a [[tracheotomy]] typically do not babble because they are unable to phonate.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title = Encyclopedia of Human Development|url = https://archive.org/details/encyclopediahuma00salk|url-access = limited|last = Salkind|first = N. J.|publisher = Sage Publications|year = 2006|location = Thousand Oaks: California|pages = [https://archive.org/details/encyclopediahuma00salk/page/n190 152]|isbn = 9781412904759}}</ref> Following decannulation, it has been found that these infants do produce more vocalizations, but the sounds or syllables are not as diverse as those found in typically developing infant's canonical babbling behaviour.<ref>{{Cite journal|title = Babbling and early speech: continuity and individual differences|last = Locke|first = J. L.|date = 1989|journal = First Language|volume = 9|issue = 6|pages = 191–205|doi = 10.1177/014272378900900606|s2cid = 145364002}}</ref> Infants with severe [[Apraxia of speech|apraxia]] may not babble, and may fail to produce first words. Communication by infants with apraxia may instead be in the form of grunting and pointing.<ref name=":0" /> Infants with [[Autism spectrum|autism]] may show a delay in babbling, and in some cases it may be completely absent.<ref name=":0" /> Babbling in children with autism tends to occur less frequently than in typically developing children, and with a smaller range of syllables produced during the canonical babbling stage.<ref>{{Cite journal|title = Vocal Patterns in Infants with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Canonical Babbling Status and Vocalization Frequency|journal = Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders|date = 2014-01-31|issn = 0162-3257|pmc = 4117826|pmid = 24482292|pages = 2413–2428|volume = 44|issue = 10|doi = 10.1007/s10803-014-2047-4|language = en|first1 = Elena|last1 = Patten|first2 = Katie|last2 = Belardi|first3 = Grace T.|last3 = Baranek|first4 = Linda R.|last4 = Watson|first5 = Jeffrey D.|last5 = Labban|first6 = D. Kimbrough|last6 = Oller}}</ref> Babbling may also be delayed in individuals who are born with [[Down syndrome]]. The canonical stage may emerge 2 months later for individuals with Down syndrome compared to other infants, although, when produced, it is similar to babbling in typically developing infants.<ref name=":0" />

Songbirds produce varieties of immature songs that are referred to as babbling because the immature songs precede those that are fully developed. As with humans, if these songs are reinforced with positive social feedback, they are more likely to recur. Other conspecifics provide feedback, especially the females in species for which only the males produce song. If females provide more social signals as feedback, males will develop more mature songs at a faster rate than other male birds. Young birds require reinforcement from adults in order to finalize their songs. Another relation to human infants is that the amount of vocalizations is not key, but rather the quality of the sounds that is retained and resembles the final produce of language.<ref name="Song birds second source">{{cite journal|last=Goldstein|first=Michael H |author2=Andrew P. King |author3=Meredith J. West|title=Social interaction shapes babbling: Testing parallels between birdsong and speech|year=2003|volume=100|issue=13 |pages=8030–8035|doi=10.1073/pnas.1332441100|pmid=12808137 |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|bibcode=2003PNAS..100.8030G |pmc=164707|doi-access=free }}</ref>