-- suggested that

the newborn

child experiences

the world as a

―buzzing, bloomi

ng confusion.‖

Newborns have poor visual

acuity, their ability to

change focus is limited, and

they are very nearsighted.

A newborn has 20/660

vision. At 6 months this has

improved to 20/100; and by

2 years, the child can see

almost well as an

adult(Courage &

Adams, 1990).

They are particularly

attracted to areas of high

visual contrast, such as the

edges of an object.

They also prefer complex

patterns to plain

ones, prefer patterns with

curved lines to patterns

with straight lines, and

they are specially interested

in faces (Fantz, 1961).

0 10 20 30 40

INSPECTION TIME(Percentage)

Newborns look mostly at the

outside contour of a face, but by 2

months they focus their attention

on the inside of the face—the

eyes, nose, and

mouth(Haith, Bergman, &

Moore, 1977).

Parents may notice with delight

that the baby has begun to make

eye contact.

6 WEEKS

• head-turning response

disappears

3 OR 4 MONTHS OF AGE

• head-turning response

reemerges

• Infants will also search with

their eyes for the source of the

sound.

4 MONTHS

• They will reach in the correct

direction toward the source of

a sound in the dark.

6 MONTHS

• They show a marked increase in

their responsiveness to sounds

that are accompanied by

interesting sights and are able to

pinpoint the location of the

sound more precisely, an ability

that continues to improve into

their second year

(Hillier, Hewitt, &

Morrongiello, 1992; Ashmead et

al., 1991; Field, 1987).

• Newborn infants can also detect the

difference between very similar

sounds, such as two tones that are

only one note apart on the musical

scale (Bridger, 1961), and they can

distinguish sounds of the human

voice from other kinds of sounds.

• The child will have picked up enough

information about the language that

it will also have begun to ―screen

out‖ sounds it does not use (Kuhl et

al., 1992).

Infants prefer sweet-tasting liquids

to those that are

salty, bitter, sour, or bland.

SWEET LIQUID – relaxed

expression resembling a slight

smile, sometimes accompanied

by lip-licking.

SOUR SOLUTION – pursed lips

and a wrinkled nose

BITTER SOLUTION – open its

mouth with the corners turned

down and stick out its tongue in

what appears to be an expression

of disgust

Infants will turn their heads toward a

sweet smell, and their heart rate and

respiration will slow down, indicating

attention.

Noxious odors, such as ammonia or rotten

eggs, cause them to turn their heads away;

heart rate and respiration

accelerate, indicating distress.

Because of the odor of the breast

milk, breast-fed babies can recognize their

mother’s odor.

In general, the ability to distinguish among

smells has a clear adaptive value: It helps

infants avoid noxious substances, thereby

increasing their likelihood of survival.

In a study, infants only a few hours

old learned to turn their heads

right or left, depending on

whether they heard a buzzer or a

tone.

3 MONTHS OLD

Infants have quite good

memories.

When a mobile over an infant’s

crib was attached by a ribbon

to one of the baby’s

limbs, infants quickly

discovered which arm or leg

would move the mobile.

Infants can distinguish and prefer

the sound of the human voice from

other sounds.

They also prefer heartbeat sounds

and female voices to male

voices, and they prefer their

mother’s voices to those of other

women. But they do not prefer

their father’s voices to those of

other men (De Casper &

Prescott, 1984; De Casper &

Fifer, 1980; Brazelton, 1978).