Infants' ability to categorise on the basis of rhyme

Abstract

Two experiments are described, which investigated 7 1 2 - to 13-month-old infants' abilities to categorise syllables according to their ending sounds, or rhymes. Using the Conditioned Headturn (CHT) Procedure, infants were conditioned to turn their head when one set of rhyming CVCs changed to another set of rhyming CVCs. Even the 7 1 2 -month-old infants demonstrated an ability to categorise according to rimes. The infants could be separated into three different groups: those who conditioned but did not succeed in a rhyming task; those who succeeded at one rhyming task but not a second; and those infants who succeeded on two rhyming tasks. The infants in the second group were showing an early sensitivity to rhyme. However, they appeared to be learning a very specific rule, listening only for one category of rhyme. The third group of infants was able to extend the initial rule they learned to include new rhymes. This group learned not only to highlight one particular rhyme, but were also able to abstract the previously learned rule to new rhymes, thereby demonstrating a higher level of sophistication in their categorisation of rhymes. These results are discussed in relation to the ontogeny of language learning, and work demonstrating a relationship between rhyming ability and competence in reading and writing.