Physical & Cognitive Development in Infancy
- Infants experience rapid growth.Image by Flickr.com, courtesy of Nicole Makauskas
Babies grow most in length during the first six months. Weight increases most shortly after birth; by five months birth weight has doubled. - Motor skills progress throughout the first year.Image by Flickr.com, courtesy of Sam Photos8.com
Motor skills develop progressively from the head to the feet. Face and head control come first, then reaching and grasping, and finally crawling and walking. - Neurons in the brain change and make new connections during infancy.Image by Flickr.com, courtesy of Mike Seyfang
A newborn's brain is one-fourth the weight of an adult brain. During infancy, neurons increase in number, migrate throughout the brain and become specialized. - A baby's brain can change to make up for brain damage.Image by Flickr.com, courtesy of bixentro
An infant's brain is plastic, meaning its parts can take on new roles easily. If part of the infant's brain is damaged, another part can take over its function more easily than in a damaged adult brain. - Babies learn a lot during the first year.Image by Flickr.com, courtesy of Joy Coffman
Newborns are capable of simple learning, and six-month-old infants remember new faces for up to two weeks. Older infants can solve simple problems. - Language development begins by listening.Image by Flickr.com, courtesy of Nicole Makauskas
A newborn can tell human voices from other sounds and recognize her mother's voice. Babies understand language before they can speak; older infants babble and speak in gibberish to practice for speech.
