Audiovisual speech consists of overlapping and invariant patterns of dynamic acoustic and optic articulatory information. Research has shown that infants can perceive a variety of basic auditory-visual (A-V) relations but no studies have investigated whether and when infants begin to perceive higher order A-V relations inherent in speech. Here, we…

Sai (2005) investigated the role of speech in newborns' recognition of their mothers' faces. Her results revealed that, when presented with both their mother's face and that of a stranger, newborns preferred looking at their mother only if she had previously talked to them. The present study attempted to extend these findings to any other faces.…

Outlines two competing hypotheses concerning the nature of inter-modal sensory development. Research on auditory-visual coordination in young human infants is reviewed. It is concluded that the data support the notion of ontogenetic development being a process of intergration between sensory systems that are initially relatively independent.…