Growth and Development of the Infant
Terms
Motor a. Pertaining to any activity or behavior involving muscular movement
Deciduous b. Primary teeth, twenty in number, which are replaced by permanent teeth; also called baby teeth Peer Group c. Association of persons of similar age Maturation d. Process of coming to full development Dentition e. Process of teething
General Development of the Infant
The term "development" refers to age-related changes in our characteristics and capacities. The term "norms" refers to what is normal, or typical. Developmental norms refer to typical characteristics or patterns of development at any given age. We must study the development of many different types of characteristics. There are four general areas of human development, physical (changes in our body), cognitive (changes in our knowledge and understanding), emotional (changes in our knowledge and ability to manage our emotions) and social (changes in how we understand and interact with other people). The characteristics and abilities of children change as they get older. It is important to keep in mind that the time frames presented are averages and some children may achieve various developmental milestones earlier or later than the average but still be within the normal range. Doctors generally determine what is normal by referring to a percentile. A percentile is the percentage of people who get an equal or lower score than any given score. For instance, if a child is at the 28th percentile in height, it means that 28 % of children of that age are shorter and 72 % are taller. In the United States, this child is so far below the average height for their age that we would want to find out why. Often, though not always, this may be a sign that something is wrong. Perhaps most of the members of this family are short. In that case, we may not