The ability of 3-month-old infants to learn arbitrary auditoryvisual associations between voices and faces was investigated by familiarizing each infant to two alternating stimuli presented on a VCR monitor. Each stimulus was a voice -face combination, where the voices and faces were male and/or female. On the post-familiarization test trials each infant was presented alternately with a familiar and a novel voice -face combination, where the novel combination consisted of a voice and a face they had heard and seen previously (but not together), and on these test trials attention was significantly higher to the novel combination. These findings are a clear demonstration that 3-montholds can learn arbitrary voice -face associations, and they are discussed in terms of early intermodal perception and face perception. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.Key words: auditory -visual perception; early learning; face perception; infant development; intermodal perception Most objects and events in the world that we experience are multimodal in that they provide information to several modalities. Information in multiple modalities can be related in one of two ways: it can specify the same stimulus property and thus be amodal, or it can specify modality-specific properties and thereby specify arbitrary relations. Amodal equivalence is usually temporally specified, along such stimulus characteristics as duration, rhythm, intensity, and synchrony. For example, the sight and sound of a bouncing ball, of a waterfall, of a person speaking, can indicate that the auditory and visual events come from the same source, and the amodal information separates them from other

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Abstract. The ratio between the second and fourth fingers (2D:4D) is supposed to serve as a putative indicator of prenatal testosterone (PT). Significant associations between 2D:4D, children's basic numerical ability, and the Spatial Numerical Associations of Response Codes (SNARC) effect have recently been reported. The present study explored potential relationships between 2D:4D and the basic numerical ability of subitizing (the rapid enumeration of small quantities) in 80 right-handed adult volunteers. Participants completed a short battery of computerized subitizing and color recognition control tasks with both left and right hands, independently (order counterbalanced). Findings revealed a significant interaction between sex and 2D:4D on reaction time differences for right vs. left hand responses to the subitizing task. While 2D:4D in women showed a significant negative association with a right-hand advantage for the task, a nonsignificant trend in the opposite direction was observed for men. Results are discussed with respect to the possible effect of PT on sex differences in lateralization for basic quantification.

Mothers from minority ethnic groups are at increased risk of poor mental and physical health outcomes across the perinatal period, and often fail to access existing antenatal support services. There is currently a lack of research about how such families can be supported. The NSPCC has developed and evaluated a group-based perinatal education programme which was designed to meet the needs of a range of disadvantaged parents, including some from minority ethnic backgrounds. In-depth face-to-face interviews were carried out with a sample of 14 minority ethnic parents who had completed the programme. Positive outcomes reported by parents included: increased knowledge about pregnancy and parenting; improved relationships with partners and infants; and, for some, changes in attitudes towards gender roles, corporal punishment and female genital mutilation. The programme was a particularly important source of information and support for parents who were socially isolated. Factors that engaged this group of parents in the programme included: the use of interpreters; cultural competence among practitioners; and practitioners working flexibly by offering additional support and making themselves available to liaise with other agencies on behalf of the parents.