Beyond words: Comprehension and production of pragmatic prosody in adults and children

Prosody includes suprasegmental components of speech, such as intonation and rate, which add meaning beyond the words being spoken. Sensitivity to pragmatic prosody could improve communication within conversations. These studies investigated adults’ and preschoolers’ sensitivity to pragmatic prosody. Experiment 1 demonstrated that adults and children comprehend pragmatic prosody; they selected fast actions when descriptions were spoken fast versus when descriptions were spoken slowly. Experiment 2 demonstrated that adults and children spontaneously produce pragmatic prosody—their descriptions of fast actions were faster than their descriptions of slow actions—even when it was not necessary for the task. These studies conclude that children, like adults, are capable of using and producing pragmatic prosody; however, children are less sensitive than adults to subtle prosodic distinctions.

► Experiment 1 demonstrated that adults and children comprehend pragmatic prosody. ► Participants selected fast actions when descriptions were spoken fast. ► Experiment 2 demonstrated that adults and children produce pragmatic prosody. ► Descriptions of fast actions were faster than descriptions of slow actions. ► Children, like adults, are capable of using and producing pragmatic prosody.