The development of infant intersensory perception: Advantages of a comparative convergent-operations approach

Despite impressive demonstrations of human infants' intersensory capabiliti es over the past several decades, there has been little focus on the contri butions of prenatal and postnatal experience or the specific developmental processes underlying the emergence of intersensory functioning. Research wi th nonhuman animals has, however, provided a number of advances in understa nding early intersensory perception. The authors explore the value of a com parative, convergent-operations approach to the study of early intersensory perception and examine how this approach has highlighted the study of (a) prenatal factors, (bl brain-behavior relations, and (c) context and experie nce variables contributing to infants' intersensory responsiveness. Example s of how human and animal research programs can cross-fertilize one another in their attempts to understand developmental processes underlying interse nsory perception are considered.