Researchers have found that, hours

Answer choices

1. A

   Correct83% picked this

   Certain abilities of facial pattern recognition are innate in humans, rather

   Why this is right

   This explains the puzzle. If facial pattern recognition is innate, then newborns are born already able to distinguish faces — no learning required. That accounts for why infants only hours old can already tell faces from non-faces. The observed behavior makes perfect sense given an innate ability.

   Skill tested: Paradox · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.

   83%
2. B

   Restates4% picked this

   The longer an infant stares at an object, the more interesting the infant

   This translates the staring data into "interest" but does not explain why newborns can distinguish faces in the first place. It just rewords the original observation. We still need to know how newborns are able to find faces interesting — that requires explaining the underlying recognition ability, which this answer does not do.

   4%
3. C

   Bad Match10% picked this

   Infants learn to associate human faces with the necessities of comfort

   "Learn to associate" implies a process that takes time. The infants in the study are only hours old — they have not had time to learn associations between faces and comfort or nourishment. So while learned associations might explain a six-month-old's preference, they cannot explain a newborn's. This answer does not address how the ability is present from the start.

   10%
4. D

   Restates2% picked this

   The less an infant stares at an object, the weaker the preference the infant has

   This is just another reworking of the data — saying less staring means weaker preference. It still does not explain how newborns can prefer or distinguish faces in the first place. The underlying recognition ability is unexplained.

   2%
5. E

   Bad Match2% picked this

   Infants learn to associate the sound of human voices with the images

   Like Choice C, this requires learning. Newborns hours after birth have not had time to learn to associate voices with faces — and even if they had, that does not help them tell a face drawing apart from a scrambled-features drawing in silence. This does not explain the observed pattern.

   2%