Infant intellectual development proceeds quickly from a baby being a passive recipient in the environment to engaging with people and objects. During the first year of life, children's brains begin developing connections to help understand the world around them. Although age-appropriate developmental milestones exist, a wide variation in the normal time line of intellectual development reflects acceptable individual differences.
Infant Development Stages
Physicians and child development specialists measure an infant's intellectual development using a set of milestones. Research in this area began in the early 1900s with the work of Jean Piaget and Alfred Binet, who developed the first intelligence test for children in 1905. Later scientists sought to understand cultural and environmental impacts on child intellectual development.
Today, the University of Michigan Health Services suggests that normal intellectual development milestones include moving the head from side to side at 1 month and lifting the head and shoulders while lying down by 3 months. Also by 3 months, a child visually tracks a moving object, recognizes familiar objects and people and babbles.
By 6 months, major developmental milestones include sitting with little support, grasping and grossly manipulating objects and responding to the sound of the child's name. Between 6 and 12 months, a developing infant learns to drink from a cup, crawl, stand up with support and use sounds to communicate, including saying his first word.
Nutrition
Adequate nutrition supports normal infant intellectual development. Poor nutrition during the first three years may lead to permanently reduced intellectual development of attention span, language and motor skills. Experts, including researchers with the Department of Agriculture's studies on infant nutrition, recommend breast milk from a well-nourished female for the first six months, followed by the gradual introduction of pureed and semi-solid foods.
Stimulation
Stimulation of an infant's senses including sight, sound and touch promote the creation of neural connections that support intellectual development. During the first six months, most stimulation comes from interaction with caregivers. Given infants' limited visual acuity for distance, they focus on objects within 8 inches, such as the caregiver's face and hands. As skills at grasping and manipulating emerge at 6 to 12 months, infant stimulation becomes available from other objects in the environment. Although stimulation provides essential provocation for intellectual development, caregivers must strive not to overstimulate or overwhelm an infant's developing brain, recommends child psychologist Kathleen Kiely Gouley of the New York University Child Study Center.
Socialization
Because learning and intellectual development often occur through social interaction, the development of social skills relates directly to intellectual development. By 3 months, most infants develop comfort from the presence of a familiar adult and respond to touch with heightened awareness. Infants at this age play peek-a-boo and smile spontaneously. By 6 to 9 months, an infant may show fear of unfamiliar people and acknowledge language and gestures.
References
- University of Michigan Health Services: Developmental Milestones
- Department of Agriculture: Nutritional Needs of Infants
- Department of Agriculture: Nutrition's Role in Feeding Children's Brains
- New York University Child Study Center; Stimulation and Development During Infancy: Tuning in to Your Baby's Cues; Kathleen Kiely Gouley
- Public Broadcasting System: Social and Emotional Development
- Rickie McFarland Children's Center: Social Development
