How do babies laugh?

Abstract

Laughter occurs across all great ape species, yet human laughter differs from that of other primates: Human laughter is primarily produced on the exhale, whereas other primates laugh on both the inhale and exhale. In the current study, we asked whether human infants laugh in a similar manner to apes, given that human infants, like non-human primates, tend to laugh in the context of tickling or rough-and-tumble play. Human adults, in contrast, laugh across many different kinds of social interactions. To test this hypothesis, we examined whether human infant laughter is acoustically more similar to non-human apes' laughter. Laughter clips from infants aged 3 to 18 months were annotated by phoneticians and evaluated by two listener samples (naïve listeners and phoneticians, respectively). The results provide support for the prediction that the proportion of infants’ laughter produced on the exhale increases with age. These results suggest that at younger ages, human infants’ laughter is more similar to that of other great apes. These findings are discussed in the context of vocal control maturation and social learning.