> On Mon, 18 Dec 2000, Stephen Black wrote: > > > But it's still an interesting question to ask whether external > > sound can affect fetal movement. The fetus can hear in the last > > trimester of pregnancy. This was demonstrated in an experiment > > (Birnholz & Benacerraf, 1983) involving the application of a loud > > "vibroacoustic device" to the pregnant woman's abdomen and > > observing fetal blink responses, and by an fMRI study (Hykin et > > al, 1999) showing that the fetal auditory cortex lights up to a > > nursery rhyme played loudly to the mother's abdomen. > > > I realize that the discussion is revolving around externally-generated > sounds, but I thought I'd comment on Stephen's statement that "the fetus > can hear in the last trimester of pregnancy." It can do even better than > that. In a fascinating experiment, Decasper and Spence (1986) found > that if mom had read "The Cat in the Hat" (vs. "The King, the Mice, and > the Cheese"; I think I have the stories right) starting around 34 weeks in > the pregnancy, neonates preferred that story to the one she > hadn't read. Here's the abstract: > > DeCasper,-Anthony-J.; Spence,-Melanie-J. > Infant-Behavior-and-Development. 1986 Apr-Jun; Vol 9(2): 133-150. > > Hypothesized that newborns would prefer the acoustic properties of a > particular speech passage if their mothers repeatedly recited that passage > while they were pregnant. 33 healthy pregnant women recited a particular > speech passage aloud each day during their last 6 wks of pregnancy. 16 of > their newborns were tested with an operant-choice procedure to determine > whether the sounds of the recited passage were more reinforcing than the > sounds of a novel passage. The previously recited passage was more > reinforcing. The reinforcing value of the 2 passages did not differ for a > matched group of control Ss. Results indicate that 3rd-trimester fetuses > experienced their mothers' speech sounds and that prenatal auditory > experience can influence postnatal auditory preferences. Noninvasive, > ethically acceptable methods to further study the effects of prenatal > auditory stimulation on postnatal auditory function and development are > suggested. > > ----- > > Of course I don't think anyone is suggesting that newborns understand the > content, but fetuses are clearly able to recognize patterns in what they > hear. > > Jeff > > =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= > Jeff Bartel > http://www-personal.ksu.edu/~jbartel > Department of Psychology, Kansas State University > =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= > > Reading an email message about a new email virus? Getting a note that's > been forwarded to a dozen other people? Before you pass it along, drop by > http://www.US.datafellows.com/news/hoax/ for a list of recent hoaxes and > chain letters. Would the fetus hear the stomach growling? Michael Sylvester _notes from the underground --------------------------------------------- This message was sent using Panda Mail. Check your regular email account away from home free! http://bstar.net/panda/
