Abstract
It is proposed that prenatal exposure to maternal speech in concert with different rates of development of the two hemispheres results in a left hemisphere specialization for speech by the time of birth. This specialization together with the tendency for adults to speak to infants as they approach, results in a right hemisphere specialization for faces. It is further proposed that the infants poor resolution of middle and high spatial frequencies constrains the initial right hemisphere processing to one in which configuration of the face rather than specific features are attended to. Improvements in visual functioning lead to a left hemisphere processing of specific features. It is therefore suggested that the characteristic right hemisphere mode of holistic processing and left hemisphere mode of analytic processing derive from early face, voice processing.
In this essay I consider the way in which voice recognition influences the processing of facial information which in turn contributes to the development of multiple modes of information processing in the adult.
The position which I advance is based upon the view that cognitive styles are the outcome of timing relationships between components from many domains developing at different rates. The different rates of change results in dynamic changes in the relationships between components and produces changes in the organization of information processing. The components which I will consider are ecological, neurological, sensory and social. It is my contention that there are developmentally unique aspects to each of these components which are fundamental to the shaping of cognition. Among these developmentally unique characteristics are a highly constrained intrauterine environment, and initially limited but changing sensory capacities. I will indicate how these can function to give voice and face processing a unique ontogenetic role.
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Turkewitz, G. (1993). The Origins of Differential Hemispheric Strategies for Information Processing in the Relationships Between Voice and Face Perception. In: de Boysson-Bardies, B., de Schonen, S., Jusczyk, P., McNeilage, P., Morton, J. (eds) Developmental Neurocognition: Speech and Face Processing in the First Year of Life. NATO ASI Series, vol 69. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-8234-6_14
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-8234-6_14
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