Spatial co-location and infants' learning of auditory-visual associations

The role of spatial co-location between sight and sound in infants' cross-m odal learning was examined in three experiments. Four- and 6-month-old infa nts were familiarized with a toy and an accompanying soundtrack. Across con ditions, spatial congruity between sight and sound was varied. Following fa miliarization, infants were tested to determine under which conditions they learned to associate the toy with the sound. Results indicated age-related differences in how discrepant in location a sight and sound could be for i nfants to form a cross-modal association based on the amodal invariant of c o-location. Specifically, 4-month-olds formed cross-modal associations unde r conditions of less precise co-location than did 6-month-olds. Parallel im provements in infants' sound localization abilities across this age span ar e likely a contributing factor to the observed developmental trend in cross -modal learning.