About Intellectual Development in Infants

The rate at which an infant develops is as dependent on his genetic makeup as on his environmental influences. Physical characteristics and mental acuity are decided to a great extent by the time the infant comes into the world, yet the sights and sounds of her surroundings will have a significant effect on her intellectual growth. The infant's inherent need to establish a relationship with his world begins at birth, and will be expressed in the quality and quantity of his intellect.

The First Months

• According to the Merck Manuals Medical Online Library, infants in the first few months are totally dependent on their caregivers for their sustenance and safekeeping, yet they are already becoming aware of the world around them. Although they sleep a lot of the time, their senses are beginning to develop. Their eyes and ears receive information as they begin to associate familiar faces and voices with emerging emotions that will guide their desire for knowledge. This is the beginning stage of intellectual development in infants.

Cognition and Development

• According to the National Network for Child Care, infants will begin to recognize sights and sounds, and this familiarity will spur their natural curiosity. This will in turn motivate them to focus on objects by turning their heads to locate a sound, or by following moving objects with their eyes. They will want to touch things to create a personal bond, initiating a "hands-on" approach to their learning experience. An infant will have gained a great deal of information about his world within the first six months.

Self-Identity and Intelligence

• The desire to establish a personal relationship with her surroundings sets the stage for the development of an infant's sense of self. Curiosity and cognition are driven by this need to disseminate information for a personal understanding of the infant's world. He will explore through touch and taste, placing objects in his mouth to fully experience them--including his own hands and feet. In this way, an infant will begin to develop the ability to categorize and critique, which will play a vital role in her overall intellectual development.

Language Development and Intellect

• According to the University of Illinois Urban Programs and Resource center, infants learn by mimicry to some extent, and thereby begin to develop their use of language as a means of expressing their understanding of the world around them. They hear words and phrases from recognizable voices and are compelled to "join the conversation" by making their own sounds, even if those sounds are just coos or gurgles at first. Yet the infant's vocabulary will grow exponentially with the amount of new visual and aural stimuli that she encounters as she attempts to create a vocalization that identifies each new object or emotion.

Independence

• The need for self-identity and information will move the infant from a complete dependence to the attainment of independence as he passes through the stages of intellectual development. This aspect of his growing ability to acquire the knowledge he will need to succeed in life is perhaps his ultimate reward. The culmination of the many and varied personal experiences and intellectual achievements of his infancy will be the spontaneous and willful desire to understand his world and to acknowledge his place in it.