Importance of the Problem that the Proposed Project Addresses
The study on whether infants recognize their biological father's voice is relevant to understanding the bonding patterns between children and fathers. While the majority of the studies are centered on maternal care, paternal care is often overlooked. It is essential to understand when voice recognition begins as a foundation for forming the paternal connection (Theano & Emmanuel, 2020). The study will aim to assess the hypothesis on whether babies can recognize their father's voice.
The Scientific Premise for the Proposed Project
Research indicates that recognition of paternal voice is integral to fetal learning, but babies prefer maternal voice. At the early developmental stages, babies can discriminate between their father's and a stranger's voice. In a study involving six infants four months old, the results revealed that babies could demonstrate a preference when a stranger was present (Gregory, 2018). However, due to prenatal exposure to a mother’s voice, babies respond quickly than they do towards their fathers. Lee & Kisilevsky (2014) aimed at measuring fetus response to father's and mother's audio recordings, the twenty trials revealed that babies turned their heads in both instances but less fast when compared to mother's voices.
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Consideration of the Strengths and Weaknesses of Published Research
The studies utilized different auditory channels to measure the response to the voice, which was integral to conclusions. Incorporating actual father's voices while speaking, reading, or singing was helpful to measure response rate in comparison with the same from mothers. For instance, in a study involving the audio recording of fathers and mothers, a decrease in the number of movements and change in behavior towards the father indicate that such laxity is based on familiarity and prenatal exposure (Fletcher et al.,2019). Sound trials can show heart rate increase and decline, which is more conclusive since it targets biological elements rather than emotional appeal.
Weaknesses of Published Research
However, the study's sample sizes were relatively small, which can hinder reliability. Despite consistency with previous studies, the sample ranged from nine to twenty participants, limiting consideration diversity in child-rearing approaches. For instance, a survey by Rob (2019) revealed that the father's voice was associated with vocalization suppression but involved 20 participants, which can be inconclusive.
Failure to focus on speech rate between fathers' and babies' responses was limiting. While voices integrated through singing, reading, and speaking, the different forms' speech rate was not considered. Fathers’ voice while having conversations is different while reading a book’s episode, which defines speech response rate (Shivakumar, 2018).
Proposed Project Improving Scientific Knowledge
The study is scientifically essential in understanding the impact of voice informing effective relationships. Careful articulation of the father's voice is ideal for understanding language learning and paternal care.
Application Challenges Seeking to Shift Current Knowledge
The research seeks to diversify focus on the father's involvement in child development and qualitativerelationships. Many researchers have focused on face-to-face interaction as a foundational basis for a long-term father-child relationship ( Kuhl et al., 2014). Nonetheless, the varying communicative styles impact children's responsiveness in the course of caretaking.
Methodologies, Instrumentation to be Developed or Used
The methods will be experimental, including Magnetoencephalography (MEG), which will be utilized to determine the correlation between auditory responses and the brain. MEG provides a full head measure to brain activity, allowing assessment of auditory stimuli (Chen et al., 2019 ) . However, the approach has not been used as frequently on babies, which could influence parents' willingness to volunteering their children in the study.
The head-turning observation technique will also be suited in observing behavior to voice. The method is instrumental because it is easy to implement since it focuses on the behavioral response to the sound's reinforcer. However, the process can only apply to babies of a specific age who can lean and turn their heads to the reinforcer. Infants younger than six months have trouble providing effective behavioral responses and head turns (Dasika. et al. 2016). A limited study group can result in a less conclusive study.
Procedures, Situations, or Materials that May be Hazardous to Personnel and the Precautions to be Exercised
The data will include a random sample size of 30 2 month-11-month-old babies from both working and stay-at-home fathers. The random distribution minimizes sampling bias for proper distribution. The parents will engage in a voice recording exercise after consenting to the activity. Infants will undergo tests to ensure that they can adapt well to MEG and guarantee that they are well physically to provide a behavioral change towards voice reception. Once participants meet the criterion, the two weeks timed trials will begin.
References
Chen, Y. H., et al. (2019). Magnetoencephalography and the infant's brain. NeuroImage , 189, 445–458. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.01.059
Dasika, V. K., et al. (2016). Measuring sound detection and reaction time in infant and toddler cochlear implant recipients using an observer-based procedure: a first report. Ear and Hearing , 30(2), 250–261. https://doi.org/10.1097/AUD.0b013e3181986dfe
Fletcher, R., Knight, T., Macdonald, J.A. et al. (2019). Process evaluation of text-based support for fathers during the transition to fatherhood: mechanisms of impact. BMC Psychology . 7(63). ://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-019-0338-4
Gregory, T (2018). Fathers' Infant-Directed Speech in a Small-Scale Society. Journal of child development. 89(2) DOI10.1111/cdev.12768
Lee, G. Y., & Kisilevsky, B. S. (2014). Fetuses respond to father's voice but prefer mother's voice after birth. Developmental psychobiology , 56 (1), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1002/dev.21084
Kuhl, P. K., et al. (2014). Infants' brain responses to speech suggest analysis by synthesis. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America , 111 (31), 11238–11245. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1410963111
Rob P. (2019). Expanding the focus from father involvement to father-child relationship quality.
Shivakumar, P. (2018). Transfer Learning from Adult to Children for Speech Recognition: Evaluation, Analysis, and Recommendations
Theano, K., Vassilis. G.S. V., & Emmanuel D. (2020) Maternal and paternal infant-directed speech to girls and boys: An exploratory study. European Journal of Developmental Psychology 17:3, pages 379-414.
