ABSTRACT
In our very early life we seem to respond primarily to touch, taste and smell - the senses that very young babies draw upon when breastfeeding. These senses (sometimes referred to as the 'close' senses) seem to be relatively well developed at this early stage, although you will probably have witnessed a newborn infant displaying a 'startle' reflex to loud sounds, demonstrating that hearing can also provide very young infants with some information about the world at a distance. Sensory and cognitive abilities become progressively more sophisticated and increasingly differentiated during the early months of development although, as we will now discover, there are differing views as to how these abilities develop.
