title: Recognition of Amodal Language Identity Emerges in Infancy.
abstract: 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 audio-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 asked whether and when infants become capable of recognizing amodal language identity, a critical perceptual skill that is necessary for the development of multisensory communication. Because, at a minimum, such a skill requires the ability to perceive suprasegmental auditory and visual linguistic information, we predicted that this skill would not emerge before higher-level speech processing and multisensory integration skills emerge. Consistent with this prediction, we found that recognition of the amodal identity of language emerges at 10-12 months of age but that when it emerges it is restricted to infants' native language.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology & Center for Complex Systems & Brain Science Florida Atlantic University Boca Raton, FL 33431, USA.
authors.forename: David J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Lewkowicz
authors.affiliation: Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour (IR3C), & Departament de Psicologia Bàsica, Facultat de Psicología. Universitat de Barcelona Pg. Vall d'Hebrón 171. 08035, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Ferran
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pons
keywords: language; perceptual development, intersensory; speech