Intuitive identification of infant vocal sounds by parents

Parents are remarkably accurate observers of their infants' 'canonical babb ling', the production of well-formed syllables. With very little training, many parents across a wide range of socioeconomic status make flawless judg ments of canonical stage onset. The results of concordance studies between parental and trained-observer judgments support the idea that recognition o f canonical babbling may be intuitive, Without instruction, parents identif y the onset of canonical babbling when it occurs, and thereafter they begin to interpret sounds produced by children in ways that may encourage word l earning. The fact that parents can provide accurate information about stage of vocal development, along with the fact that late onset of canonical babbling has been shown to be an extremely important indicator of risk for hearing loss and language-related disabilities, suggests the possibility of using a bri ef interview to identify infants at risk.