Babies show an eye for faces

Just how soon babies can perceive specific features of their world is a hot topic among psychologists. A new study in this area has found that by 9 weeks of age, babies can learn to recognize and favor a new face in a matter of minutes (SN: 7/7/01, p. 10: Faces of Perception).

If calm infants spent a brief period–3 1/2 minutes, in this study–looking into the eyes of a smiling female stranger who also delivered a sweet-tasting drink or pacifier, they subsequently preferred looking at that person rather than another stranger.