Final answer:
Newborn infants can see faces and distinguish some colors like red, their hearing is well-developed with a preference for their mother's voice, and they have a highly developed sense of smell that allows them to recognize their mother's scent.
Step-by-step explanation:
Young infants have various sensory abilities that are significant, but not yet fully developed. When considering vision, newborns are limited in their visual acuity and color perception. They are mostly able to focus on objects about 18 inches away, which is suitable for seeing their mother's face during feeding. Newborns show a preference for faces, and although they have limited color perception with many able to distinguish red, they quickly improve in this area after birth. Depth perception also starts to develop as the infant becomes mobile.
Infants have a well-developed sense of hearing from birth. They prefer the sound of female voices, particularly their mother's voice, and can be soothed by voices and sounds they heard while in utero. Physical development also includes improvements in hearing, as the structure of the ears and the auditory nerve develop further. Around six months, infants may respond to various sounds by making two-syllable sounds themselves.
The sense of smell is highly developed in newborns—1-week-old babies can already distinguish the smell of their mother from others. This strong olfactory ability is thought to facilitate the bonding process between the infant and the mother.