The development of multisensory processes for perceiving the environment and the self

We consider two aspects of the development of multisensory processing. First, we review empirical findings on the development of audiovisual perception in infancy, the effects of early experience on this process, and the way in which changes in selective attention affect infant response to audiovisual inputs. We show that audiovisual perceptual abilities emerge gradually in infancy, that early experience is key to this process, and that the emergence of endogenous attention provides infants with the ability to take maximum advantage of the greater salience of redundantly specified audiovisual inputs. Second, we review the empirical evidence on infants’ and young children’s ability to rely on concurrent visual and tactile inputs to perceive their own bodies, selves, and their place in their physical and social surroundings. Here, as in the case of the development of audiovisual perception, we show that visuotactile perception of the self develops gradually from infancy up to late childhood and that this is due to changes in sensorimotor abilities and bodily growth. We conclude by emphasizing the parallel features of the development of audiovisual and visuotactile perception and note that each develops gradually over an extended period of time and that each is critically dependent on early experience.