Van Puyvelde, M., Vanfleteren, P., Loots, G., Deschuyffeleer, S., Vinck, B., Jacquet, W., & Verhelst, W. (2010). Tonal Synchrony in Mother-Infant Interaction based on Harmonic and Pentatonic Series. Infant Behavior and Development, 33(4), 387-400.

@article{9f395dbc8ea248eea82086a221dbde6e,
title = "Tonal Synchrony in Mother-Infant Interaction based on Harmonic and Pentatonic Series",
abstract = "This study reports the occurrence of 'tonal synchrony' as a new dimension of early mother-infant interaction synchrony. The findings are based on a tonal and temporal analysis of vocal interactions between 15 mothers and their 3-month-old infants during 5 minutes of free-play in a laboratory setting. In total, 558 vocal exchanges were identified and analysed, of which 84\% reflected harmonic or pentatonic series. Another 10\% of the exchanges contained absolute and/or relative pitch and/or interval imitations. The total durations of dyads being in tonal synchrony were normally distributed (M = 3.71, SD = 2.44). Vocalisations based on harmonic series appeared organised around the major triad, containing significantly more simple frequency ratios (octave, fifth and third) than complex ones (non-major triad tones). Tonal synchrony and its characteristics are discussed in relation to infant-directed speech, communicative musicality, pre-reflective communication and its impact on the quality of early mother-infant interaction and child's development.",
keywords = "Mother-infant interaction, Vocal interactions, Tonal synchrony, Communicative musicality, Infant-directed speech",
author = "\{Van Puyvelde\}, Martine and Pol Vanfleteren and Gerrit Loots and Sara Deschuyffeleer and Bart Vinck and Wolfgang Jacquet and Werner Verhelst",
year = "2010",
month = dec,
language = "English",
volume = "33",
pages = "387--400",
journal = "Infant Behavior and Development",
issn = "0163-6383",
publisher = "Elsevier Limited",
number = "4",
}