Viewing The Development of Speech Perception As An Innately Guided Learning Process

The present paper examines the issue of how speech sounds may be treated by infants as special signals relative to other kinds of acoustic stimuli. Consideration is given to the view that the mechanisms underlying the infant's perception of speech are specialized for this purpose. Some of the difficulties of providing definitive evidence for or against this position are noted. Then the thesis is advanced that special processing of speech may lie in the inherent salience which such sounds have for infants. in particular, it is suggested that the development of speech perception follows the course of an innately guided learning process. One key assumption of this view is that speech sounds may be more apt to attract attention or have a higher priority for further processing than other types of acoustic signals. Recent evidence from a number of new paradigms for studying infant speech perception is reviewed in light of this position. The paper concludes with a discussion of how findings concerning the development of speech perception during the first year of life fit with the innately guided learning view.