Question

What changes occur in visual and hearing perception during the first two years of life? Please explain.

Answer 1

At birth, the sense of hearing is much more dominant than the sense of sight. Normal visual development is the change from just responding to simple brightness or high contrast, toward the organization of details into patterns and the ability to apply meaning to an object or picture.

Visual perception :

Between birth and one month, a baby shows preference for familiar faces and objects, pays attention to the human face for short periods of time, has acuity ofabout 20/400 but can detect a black line on a white background that is only 1/16 of an inch (1.6 mm) wide, and possesses color vision, with the exception of blue.

At two months, a baby will visually lock onto a human face, watches people who are some distance away, is able to alternate his or her gaze between two people or objects, and demonstrates simple visual preferences.

Between four and six months, a baby is enthralled with other baby's faces, and he or she enjoys looking in a mirror. At this age the baby recognizes a person on sight and smiles. The baby also shifts from preferring what is familiar to that which is new, with the exception of people. The child will also look for objects when they fall from view.

From six to 12 months, a baby continues to see objects even when they are no longer visible. At this age, the baby also responds to words a parent uses to label familiar objects and people, by gazing in their direction.

After the first year, children's eyes and vision continue to develop. Their eye muscles gain strength, and the connections between nerves multiply. This development is aided by providing visual stimulation. Activities such as stacking building blocks, coloring, and cutting all assist in improving eye/hand/body coordination, eye teaming, and depth perception.

Auditory perception:

From birth, your baby will pay close attention to sounds, especially high-pitched ones. She'll also respond to familiar noises, such as your voice or a lullaby you play or sing to her often. She may startle at loud or unexpected sounds.
By three months, the part of your baby's brainthat helps with hearing, language, and smell will be more receptive and active. This part of your baby's brain is called the temporal lobe.
When your baby hears your voice, she may look directly at you and gurgle in an attempt to talk back.

Babbling and listening can be hard work for your baby at three months. If she looks the other way or loses concentration while you talk or read to her, it's not necessarily because she can't hear you. She may just have had enough stimulation.
From four months your baby will react excitedly to sounds, and she may smile when she hears your voice. She may start watching your mouth intently when you speak, and try to copy you. She may start to utter consonant sounds such as "m" and "b".

At six months or seven months your baby will realise where sounds come from, and she'll turn quickly towards new ones. She'll also be able to respond to very quiet noises, as long as she's not distracted.

By the time your baby is a year old, she'll be able to recognise her favourite songs. She may even try to join in!