Outline the perceptual capabilities of very young infants. How might these capabilities inform one's position on the nature-versus-nurture debate? Provide as thoughtful a response as you can.
What will be an ideal response?
Students' examples may vary.
The answer should include the following information:
One of the possible responses is as follows:
Vision: Newborns can see objects reasonably well that are within 7 to 8 inches of their eyes, although they have a limited capacity to see beyond that distance, and they can follow moving objects within their field of vision. They also show the rudiments of depth perception, as they react by raising their hands when an object appears to be moving rapidly toward the face. Neonates can also discriminate facial expressions-and even imitate them. Newborns who see an adult with a happy, sad, or surprised facial expression can produce a good imitation of the adult's expression. Even very young infants, then, can respond to the emotions and moods that their caregivers' facial expressions reveal.
Hearing: Newborns can distinguish different sounds to the point of being able to recognize their own mothers' voices at the age of three days. They can also make the subtle perceptual distinctions that underlie language abilities. At 2 days of age, infants can distinguish between their native tongue and foreign languages, and they can discriminate between such closely related sounds as ba and pa when they are 4 days old. By six months of age, they can discriminate virtually any difference in sound that is relevant to the production of language.
Other senses: Neonates can recognize different tastes and smells at a very early age. There even seems to be something of a built-in sweet tooth: neonates prefer liquids that have been sweetened with sugar over their unsweetened counterparts.
These capabilities suggest a large "nature" component to perceptual development. It seems that we are hardwired to perceive stimuli that may be evolutionarily relevant, such as faces and speech sounds.
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