Is the integration of heard and seen speech mandatory for infants?

  1. Renée N. Desjardins,
  2. Janet F. Werker*

Article first published online: 17 NOV 2004

DOI: 10.1002/dev.20033

Issue

Developmental Psychobiology

Developmental Psychobiology

Volume 45, Issue 4, pages 187–203, December 2004

Additional Information

How to Cite

Desjardins, R. N. and Werker, J. F. (2004), Is the integration of heard and seen speech mandatory for infants?. Dev. Psychobiol., 45: 187–203. doi: 10.1002/dev.20033

Author Information

  1. Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, 2136 West Mall, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V6T 1Z4

*Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, 2136 West Mall, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V6T 1Z4.

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 17 NOV 2004
  2. Article first published online: 17 NOV 2004
  3. Manuscript Accepted: 10 JUL 2004
  4. Manuscript Received: 18 JUN 2003

Funded by

  • University of British Columbia
  • Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. Grant Number: 1103

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Keywords:

  • infants;
  • speech;
  • audiovisual integration

Abstract

For adults and children, speech perception can be significantly influenced by watching a speaker's mouth movements. While recent reports suggest that infants may be able to integrate heard and seen speech, the current research demonstrates that integration is neither as strong or consistent in infants as it is in adults. Three habituation experiments were conducted. In Experiment 1, female (but not male) infants showed evidence of an adult pattern of integration following habituation with an audiovisual /bi/ and testing with audio /bi/-visual /vi/ (perceived as /vi/ by adults). The interpretation of integration was supported, but only in part, by Experiment 2. In Experiment 3, infants were habituated to a mismatched audio /bi/–visual /vi/ combination and tested on concordant /bi/–/bi/ versus /vi/–/vi/ displays. Here, only male infants showed evidence of integration. These results suggest that an initial mechanism supports integration, but that integration is not mandatory for young infants. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Dev Psychobiol 45: 187–203, 2004.

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