Changes in cry acoustics and distress ratings while the infant is crying

Abstract Acoustics and distress ratings were examined during four minutes of naturally occurring crying from 20 healthy, 1‐month‐old infants. Two listeners made continuous judgements of infant distress during every 10‐s segment of each cry sample. Dysphonation, number of wails, and pause duration were related to distress ratings across the 4 min of crying. Means and variances of ratings and acoustics, and the predictive value of each acoustic variable to ratings, differed in the first and second halves of the samples. Differences in the pattern of results occurred for individual infants. The results highlight the importance of studying the cry as a dynamic acoustic signal that may provide unique information about an individual infant's level of distress. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.