The Nearsighted Newborn Classic research by psychologist Robert Fantz and his colleagues (1962) showed that the newborn comes into the world very nearsighted, having approximately 20/300 vision. The newborn’s ability to detect the contrast of object edges and boundaries is also poorly developed (Stephens & Banks, 1987). As this image illustrates, even by age 3 months, the infant’s world is still pretty fuzzy.

Photographs copyright of Anthony Young From First Glances by Davida Y. Teller, Journal of Investigative Opthalmology and Visual Science, Vol. 38, 1997, pp. 2183–2203.