Goal-directed behavior can be thought of as dynamic links between sensory stimuli and motor acts. Neural correlates of many of the intermediate events of both auditory and visual goal-directed behaviors are found in the posterior parietal cortex. Here, we review studies that have focused on how neurons in the lateral intraparietal area (area LIP) differentially process auditory and visual stimuli. Together, these studies suggest that area LIP contains a modality-dependent representation that is highly dependent on behavioral context.