The development of patterns of gaze to a speaking face

Pattern of gaze to a speaking face was examined in typically developing children ranging from 5-10 years of age and in adults. Children viewed the speaking face in a visual only (speechreading) condition, in the presence of auditory noise and in an audiovisual mismatch (McGurk) condition. Amount of gaze to the face and fixation on the mouth of the speaker were examined over the course of a trial where a consonantvowel /ma/ or /na/ was spoken. Results indicate an increase in gaze on the face, and more specifically in fixations on the mouth of a speaker, between the ages of 5 and 10. These results reveal changes in pattern of gaze to the face with development. Further, pattern of gaze to the face of the speaker may help account for previous findings in the literature showing that visual influence on heard speech increases with development.