The Influence of Mouthing on Infant Vocalization

Although vocalization and mouthing are behaviors frequently performed by infants, little is known about the characteristics of vocalizations that occur with objects, hands, or fingers in infants' mouths. The purpose of this research was to investigate characteristics of vocalizations associated with mouthing in 6- to 9-month-old infants during play with a primary caregiver. Results suggest that mouthing may influence the phonetic characteristics of vocalizations by introducing vocal tract closure and variation in consonant production.