Social reinforcement of infant babbling.

Abstract

16 infants (mean age 85 days) were used to study instrumental conditioning of babbling under social auditory reinforcement (a human voice). The first group received reinforcement with an adult present (AP), whereas the second group received reinforcement with no adult present (NAP). Frequency of vocalization was recorded for both groups. Both groups evidenced conditioning, but the AP group produced significantly more vocalizations than the NAP group. It was concluded that, while adult presence was not a necessary component in the social reinforcing of infant vocalization, adult presence did increase the reinforcing impact of the human voice.