Successful speech perception requires that listeners map the acoustic signal to linguistic
categories. These mappings are not only probabilistic, but change depending on the …

When speaking to infants, adults often produce speech that differs systematically from that
directed to other adults. To quantify the acoustic properties of this speech style across a wide …

Neurocognitive and neurolinguistics theories make explicit statements relating specialized
cognitive and linguistic processes to specific brain loci. These linking hypotheses are in …

Various aspects of motherese also known as infant-directed speech (IDS) have been
studied for many years. As it is a widespread phenomenon, it is suspected to play some …

The ability to group items and events into functional categories is a fundamental
characteristic of sophisticated thought. It is subserved by plasticity in many neural systems …

Historic theories of speech perception (Motor Theory and Analysis by Synthesis) invoked
listeners' knowledge of speech production to explain speech perception. Neuroimaging data …

Most theories of categorization emphasize how continuous perceptual information is
mapped to categories. However, equally important are the informational assumptions of a …

We present an introduction to Bayesian inference as it is used in probabilistic models of
cognitive development. Our goal is to provide an intuitive and accessible guide to the what …

In human adults, voices are processed in specialized brain regions in superior temporal
cortices. We examined the development of this cortical organization during infancy by using …

Spectacular progress in the information processing sciences (machine learning, wearable
sensors) promises to revolutionize the study of cognitive development. Here, we analyse the …