Sensory Abilities

Newborns are considerably more capable, sensorially, than they may appear. They can recognise their mother's voice within just a few hours of being born, alongside a range of other sensory capacities. In terms of vision, newborns show clear preferences for certain kinds of visual stimuli over others — faces in particular — although exactly which stimuli they prefer changes over the first few months of life. A newborn's visual acuity is estimated to be lower than an adult's; it improves considerably by around 6 months, and by roughly the end of the first year reaches close to full adult acuity (commonly described as 20/20 vision). Colour vision, too, is limited at birth — newborns are broadly colour-deficient, though there is evidence they can distinguish red from white — with fuller colour vision typically developing by around 3 months of age. Hearing is present and functional immediately after birth; as the infant develops, their ability …