| Abstract: | The literature on the role of infant–adult comparisons in developmental accounts of speech perception is reviewed, and methodological problems associated with such comparisons are delineated. It is argued that the data that are appropriate for the evaluation of categorical perception in infancy are unavailable. Moreover, the view that language experience operates to eliminate discriminative abilities once present rather than to add abilities once absent is without clear-cut support. The serious confounding of age and method of testing casts doubt on current developmental accounts of speech perception based on comparisons of infant and adult. (French abstract) (87 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
