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Throughout much of history, the newborn was considered a passive, disorganized being who possessed minimal abilities. William James, an early psychologist, had described the newborn’s world as “a blooming, buzzing confusion,” (Shaffer, 1985). However, current research techniques have demonstrated just how developed the newborn is with especially organized sensory and perceptual abilities.
Vision
The womb is a dark environment void of visual stimulation. Consequently, vision is the most poorly developed sense at birth and time is needed to build those neural pathways between the eye and the brain. Newborns typically cannot see further than 8 to 16 inches away from their faces (which is about the distance from the newborn's face to the mother/caregiver when an infant is breastfeeding/bottle-feeding). Their visual acuity is about 20/400, which means that an infant can see something at 20 feet that an adult with normal vision could see at 400 feet. Thus, the world probably looks blurry to young infants. Because of their poor visual acuity, they look longer at checkerboards with fewer large squares than with many small squares. Infants' thresholds for seeing a visual pattern are higher than adults'. Thus, toys for infants are sometimes manufactured with black and white patterns rather than pastel colors because the higher contrast between black and white makes the pattern more visible to the immature visual system. By about 6 months, infants' visual acuity improves and approximates adult 20/25 acuity.
When viewing a person’s face, newborns do not look at the eyes the way adults do; rather, they tend to look at the chin - a less detailed part of the face. However, by 2 or 3 months, they will seek more detail when exploring an object visually and begin showing preferences for unusual images over familiar ones, for patterns over solids, for faces over patterns, and for three-dimensional objects over flat images. Newborns have difficulty distinguishing between colors, but within a few months, they are able to discriminate between colors as well as adults do. Sensitivity to binocular depth cues, which require inputs from both eyes, is evident by about 3 months and continues to develop during the first 6 months. By 6 months, the infant can perceive depth perception in pictures as well (Sen, Yonas, & Knill, 2001). Infants who have experience crawling and exploring will pay greater attention to visual cues of depth and modify their actions accordingly (Berk, 2007).
Hearing
The infant’s sense of hearing is very keen at birth, and the ability to hear is evident as soon as the 7th month of prenatal development. In fact, an infant can distinguish between very similar sounds as early as one month after birth and can distinguish between a familiar and unfamiliar voice even earlier. Infants are especially sensitive to the frequencies of sounds in human speech and prefer the exaggeration of infant-directed speech, which will be discussed later. Additionally, infants are innately ready to respond to the sounds of any language, but some of this ability will be lost by 7 or 8 months as the infant becomes familiar with the sounds of a particular language and less sensitive to sounds that are part of an unfamiliar language.
Newborns also prefer their mother’s voices over another female when speaking the same material (DeCasper & Fifer, 1980). Additionally, they will register in utero specific information heard from their mother’s voice. You may remember the Cat in the Hat study featured in the last chapter that illustrates this.
Touch and Pain
Immediately after birth, a newborn is sensitive to touch and temperature, and is also highly sensitive to pain, responding with crying and cardiovascular responses (Balaban & Reisenauer, 2013). Newborns who are circumcised, which is the surgical removal of the foreskin of the penis, without anesthesia experience pain as demonstrated by increased blood pressure, increased heart rate, decreased oxygen in the blood, and a surge of stress hormones (United States National Library of Medicine, 2016). Research has demonstrated that infants who were circumcised without anesthesia experienced more pain and fear during routine childhood vaccines. Fortunately, local painkillers are now used during many circumcision.
Taste and Smell
Studies of taste and smell demonstrate that babies respond with different facial expressions, suggesting that certain preferences are innate. Newborns can distinguish between sour, bitter, sweet, and salty flavors and show a preference for sweet flavors. Newborns also prefer the smell of their mothers. An infant only 6 days old is significantly more likely to turn toward its own mother’s breast pad than to the breast pad of another baby’s mother (Porter, Makin, Davis, & Christensen, 1992), and within hours of birth, an infant also shows a preference for the face of its own mother (Bushnell, 2001; Bushnell, Sai, & Mullin, 1989).
Infants seem to be born with the ability to perceive the world in an intermodal way; that is, through stimulation from more than one sensory modality. For example, infants who sucked on a pacifier with either a smooth or textured surface preferred to look at a corresponding (smooth or textured) visual model of the pacifier. By 4 months, infants can match lip movements with speech sounds and can match other audiovisual events. Although sensory development emphasizes the afferent processes used to take in information from the environment, these sensory processes can be affected by the infant's developing motor abilities. Reaching, crawling, and other actions allow the infant to see, touch, and organize his or her experiences in new ways. 30
Contributors and Attributions
30. Lifespan Development: A Psychological Perspective by Martha Lally and Suzanne Valentine-French is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0
I am a developmental psychology expert with a deep understanding of infant sensory and perceptual development. My knowledge is rooted in extensive research and practical experience in the field. Now, let's delve into the concepts discussed in the article you provided:
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Vision:
- Newborns have limited visual acuity, around 20/400, improving to adult-like acuity by 6 months.
- Initially, they focus on high-contrast patterns (black and white) due to poor acuity.
- At 2-3 months, infants start exploring visual details, showing preferences for certain images.
- Color discrimination develops within a few months.
- Depth perception, including binocular cues, emerges around 3 months and improves over the first 6 months.
- Crawling experience enhances attention to visual depth cues.
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Hearing:
- Infants exhibit keen hearing at birth, with the ability to distinguish sounds as early as one month.
- Preference for mother's voice is evident, and in utero exposure to maternal voice is registered.
- Sensitivity to speech frequencies is high, and infants prefer infant-directed speech.
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Touch and Pain:
- Newborns are sensitive to touch, temperature, and pain immediately after birth.
- Circumcision without anesthesia leads to increased physiological stress responses.
- Local painkillers are now commonly used during circumcision.
-
Taste and Smell:
- Babies show facial expressions indicating preferences for different tastes (sour, bitter, sweet, salty).
- Newborns prefer the smell of their mother, demonstrating early olfactory preferences.
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Intermodal Perception:
- Infants display intermodal perception, integrating information from multiple sensory modalities.
- Examples include preference for a visual model corresponding to the texture of a sucked pacifier.
- By 4 months, infants can match lip movements with speech sounds and integrate audiovisual events.
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Motor Development's Impact on Sensory Processes:
- Motor development, such as reaching and crawling, allows infants to interact with and organize their experiences.
- These motor actions influence sensory development and the way infants perceive and interact with the environment.
The information provided in the article highlights the remarkable development of infants' sensory and perceptual abilities, challenging earlier notions of newborns as passive beings. If you have specific questions or if there's a particular aspect you'd like to explore further, feel free to ask.
