Temporal patterns in the complexity of child-directed song lyrics reflect their functions

Article

Labendzki, P., Goupil, L. and Wass, S. 2025. Temporal patterns in the complexity of child-directed song lyrics reflect their functions. Communications Psychology. 3 (Art. 48). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44271-025-00219-4
AuthorsLabendzki, P., Goupil, L. and Wass, S.
Abstract

Content produced for young audiences is structured to present opportunities for learning and social interactions. This research examines multi-scale temporal changes in predictability in Child-directed songs. We developed a technique based on Kolmogorov complexity to quantify the rate of change of textual information content over time. This method was applied to a corpus of 922 English, Spanish, and French publicly available child and adult-directed texts. Child-directed song lyrics (CDSongs) showed overall lower complexity compared to Adult-directed songs (ADsongs), and lower complexity was associated with a higher number of YouTube views. CDSongs showed a relatively higher information rate at the beginning and end compared to ADSongs. CDSongs and ADSongs showed a non-uniform information rate, but these periodic oscillatory patterns were more predictable in CDSongs compared to ADSongs. These findings suggest that the optimal balance between predictability and expressivity in information content differs between child- and adult-directed content, but also changes over timescales to potentially support multiple children’s needs.

JournalCommunications Psychology
Journal citation3 (Art. 48)
ISSN2731-9121
Year2025
PublisherSpringer Nature
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Anyone
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1038/s44271-025-00219-4
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Online24 Mar 2025
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Deposited30 May 2025
Copyright holder© 2025 The Authors
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Ballieux, H., Wass, S., Tomalski, P., Kushnerenko, E., Karmiloff-Smith, A., Johnson, M. H. and Moore, D. 2016. Applying gaze-contingent training within community settings to infants from diverse SES backgrounds. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology. 43, pp. 8-17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2015.12.005
Developmental Psychology: How Social Context Influences Infants’ Attention
Wass, S. and Leong, Victoria 2016. Developmental Psychology: How Social Context Influences Infants’ Attention. Current Biology. 26 (9), pp. R357-R359. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2016.03.051
Infant Attention Is Dynamically Modulated With Changing Arousal Levels
de Barbaro, Kaya, Clackson, Kaili and Wass, S. 2016. Infant Attention Is Dynamically Modulated With Changing Arousal Levels. Child Development. 88 (2), pp. 629-639. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12689