This paper first reviews briefly the literature on the acoustics of in
fant cry sounds and then presents two empirical studies on the percept
ion of cry and noncry sounds in their social-communicative context. Ac
oustic analysis of cry sounds has undergone dramatic changes in the la
st 35 years, including the introduction of more than a hundred differe
nt acoustic measures. The study of cry acoustics, however, remains lar
gely focused on neonates who have various medical problems or are at r
isk for developmental delays. Relatively little is known about how cry
sounds and cry perception change developmentally, or about how they c
ompare with noncry sounds. The data presented here support the notion
that both auditory and visual information are important in caregivers'
interpretations of infant sounds in naturalistic contexts. When only
auditory information is available (Study 1), cry sounds become general
ly more recognizable from 3 to 12 months of age; perception of noncry
sounds, however, generally does not change over age. When auditory and
visual information contradict each other (Study 2), adults tend to pe
rform at chance levels, with a few interesting exceptions. It is sugge
sted that broadening studies of acoustic analysis and perception to in
clude both cry and noncry sounds should increase our understanding of
the development of communication in infancy. Finally, we suggest that
examining the cry in its developmental context holds great possibility
for delineating the factors that underlie adults' responses to crying
.