Utrecht BabyLab explores the connection between rhythm and language

What if you’re listening to speech for the first time in your life? You hear a series of sounds. But what do these sounds stand for? And which sounds belong together?

A behind-the-scenes look at the Utrecht University BabyLab where PhD candidate Iris van der Wulp, under supervision of Marijn Struiksma and Frank Wijnen, investigates whether a feeling for rhythm and language has anything to do with each other. Babies were an EEG cap while listening to an artificial language. They hear syllables that are pronounced with a robotic voice. „Tu-pi-ro-go-la-bu-pa-do-to-go-la…” There are no pauses between the syllables, so babies cannot use those breaks to estimate where the words start and end. The artificial language is also completely monotone.

„What is an advantageous of research with babies”, van der Wulp explains, „is that they enter such research without bias. Adults may mentally prepare for research or have various thoughts that might affect the results. With babies, those results are truly pure.”

The full news article about this research can be read here.