This study investigates the persistence of maternal vocative expression (VE) effects on adult auditory processing. Using a quasi-experimental, one-way repeated measures ANOVA, the research examines reaction time (RT) differences among adult women responding to their names spoken by their mothers, unfamiliar women, and unfamiliar men. Findings reveal a statistically significant reaction time advantage for maternal voices, supporting Usage-Based Theory (UBT) over the Nativist perspective, which proposes that language capacity (LC) is dissociated from other cognitive systems. Results of a one-way repeated measures ANOVA under three conditions, F(2, 96) = 52.88, p < .001, η 2 = .52, suggest that mere exposure to highly frequent, familiar, and emotionally salient stimuli shapes long-term cognitive processing patterns. Implications extend to models of language acquisition, auditory processing, and implicit learning. Learning any variety of motherese, or even the persistence of motherese, is a feature of mere exposure heightened by frequency and salience.
KeywordsMere ExposureMothereseWord PerceptionReaction Time
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