Emberson, L. 1, 2 , Misyak, J. 3 , Schwade, J. . 4 , Christiansen, M. 4 & Goldstein, M. . 4
1 University of Rochester
2 Princeton University
3 University of Warwick
4 Cornell University
Statistical learning (SL), sensitivity to probabilistic regularities in sensory input, has been widely implicated in cognitive and perceptual development yet little is known about the underlying mechanisms of SL and their development. One crucial question is whether SL abilities are consistent across perceptual modalities and over developmental time. Using a novel learning paradigm, we present the first direct comparison of visual- and auditory-SL in infants (8-10 months) to investigate: 1) whether SL has the same developmental trajectory across perceptual modalities; 2) how learning outcomes compare across vision and audition and to previous research with adult learners. Learning was evidenced in both perceptual modalities with opposite directions of preference: Infants in the auditory condition displayed a novelty preference, while infants in the visual condition showed a familiarity preference. Despite differences in direction of preference, we found equal magnitudes of learning across modalities. Additionally, we found evidence of different developmental trajectories across modalities: The magnitude of auditory-SL increased with age while visual-SL exhibited no change over this developmental time-period. Overall, these findings suggest that SL is not an abstract and amodal ability but permeable to perceptual information, and that the development of SL could be supported by changes in perceptual systems.