Children's Selective Listening to Stories: Familiarity Effects Involving Vocabulary, Syntax and Intonation
Grade-school children's selective listening preferences for natural and altered narratives were investigated. The listening material involved variations in the linguistic familiarity of the following: vocabulary-syntax-intonation (English versus German), syntax (natural versus random word order), and intonation (natural versus flat). Each child listened freely to pairs of stories; response frequency and duration were automatically recorded. Findings were: (a) patterns of listening preference changed with age (older children showed increasing preference for familiar versions); (b) preference for familiar syntax patterns arose at a later age than preference for other dimensions; (c) ability to verbalize differences between natural and altered versions paralleled selective listening skills. Discussion of results is in terms of current psycholinguistic theory and the potential utility of the selective listening methodology.