Women are better than men at talking to babies, researchers have concluded.
That’s because women spend more time with babies and learn what vocal patterns they respond to, they say.
And even though both men and women tend to use words like “coochy coo,” women’s speech patterns are apparently clearer than men’s, their study shows.
Psychologists at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania and IBM’s Almaden Research Center used a computer program to study parents’ speech patterns.
Babies pick up on the effect of speech, rather than actual words, so the program monitored rhythm, pitch and stress.
Six sets of parents were asked to make approving or disapproving comments to encourage their kids, or warn them to stay away from dangerous objects like sharp instruments.
The researchers then used the program to analyze almost 700 excerpts of speech.
In 80 percent of cases, it correctly distinguished between approving or disapproving comments.
But the program correctly identified 12 percent more of comments made by the moms, which suggests women use less ambiguous sounds than men when talking to babies.
Psychologist Gerald McRoberts, who led the study, said the experiment showed that mothers and fathers talked to children differently.
He said “asking” babies themselves would be difficult for many reasons.
“Not the least of which is that you can make a baby smile or laugh lots of times in an experiment but you can only make them cry once – then it’s all over,” he said.
The research is published in New Scientist magazine.