Briefly describe how vision and hearing function at birth.

Answers will vary. Neonates can see, but they are nearsighted. They can best see objects that are about seven to nine inches from their eyes. They show little or no visual accommodation and lack the ability to converge their eyes on an object that is close to them. The degree to which neonates perceive color remains an open question. By four months, however, infants can see most of, if not all, the colors of the visible spectrum. Fetuses respond to sound months before they are born. Normal neonates hear well unless their middle ears are clogged with amniotic fluid. They have the capacity to respond to sounds of different amplitude and pitch.