Recognizing Faces, 4

It appears that early visual experience is important to the development of face-processing skills. At birth it is thought that a baby is able to see clearly about a foot in front of its eyes, while actual visual recognition probably takes a few weeks. Study conclusions differ in attempting to identify when a newborn can recognize its mother’s and father’s face. Some research suggests babies may be able to recognize parental faces within days of birth while other research estimates this could take up to a couple month. (If you are discussing voice recognition, some researchers believe newborns can recognize parental voices (they heard frequently during gestation) almost immediately after birth. And in terms of recognizing scent, breastfed newborns appear to become familiar with their mother's unique scent very quickly. Visual recognition skills improve rapidly, however. By the time an infant is about eight months old, he or she will likely be able to recognize parents and familiar care providers from across a room. From across a crowded room? Maybe not . . .   More tomorrow.