The intermodal representation of speech in newborns

It has been proposed that speech is specified by the eye, the ear, and even the skin. Kuhl and Meltzoff ( 1984) showed that 4-month-olds could lip-read to an extent. Given the age of the infants, it was not clear whether this was a learned skill or a by-product of the primary auditory process. This paper presents evidence that neonate infants ( less than 33 h) show virtually identical patterns of intermodal interaction as do 4-month-olds. Since they are neonates, it is unlikely that learning was involved. The results indicate that human speech is specified by both eye and ear at an age when built-in structural sensitivities provide the most plausible explanation.