Eye and Vision Development

Definition

The visual system is the most complex sensory system in the human body. However, it is the least mature system at birth. Though they have the anatomical structures needed for sight, infants have not learned to use them yet. Much of their first weeks and months are spent learning to see. As children grow, more complex skills, like visual perception, develop.

Description

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.

Infancy

The following timeline discussion highlights some of the developmental milestones of vision development in a child's first year. 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 of about 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.