Infants' Bimodal Perception of Gender

Two experiments were independently conducted in separate labs to determine whether infants are sensitive to intermodal information specifying gender across dynamic displays of faces and voices. In one study, 4- and 6-month-old infants were presented simultaneously with a single videotape of a male face and a female face accompanied by a single voice for two 2 min trials. In the second study 3 1/2 and 6 1/2 month olds were also presented videotapes of male and female faces accompanied by a single voice but for a series of short trials. Temporal synchrony between face and voice was controlled in both studies by presenting both male and female faces speaking in synchrony with a single soundtrack. In both experiments the 6 month olds showed evidence of matching faces and voices on the basis of gender. They significantly increased their looking to a face when the gender-appropriate voice was played. Four month olds gave evidence for matching the faces and voices based on gender information only on the second trial of Experiment 1, whereas the 3 1/2 month olds failed to show any preferential looking.