According to E.B. Hurlock, "Development consists of progressive series of changes that occur in an orderly predictable pattern as a result of maturation and experience towards maturity”.
The certain changes in human beings or animals which we have gone through from conception to death are simply called the Development. It carries a more complete meaning than the term 'growth' as it means the changes which occur in both the qualitative and quantitative aspects of one’s life and personality. In our life, we always learn and try to change ourselves to become someone better which is basically a process of maturation or development. It follows a predictable pattern, such as there are a few patterns of physical, motor, speech and intellectual development, which are based on two laws – The Cephalocaudal Law and The Proximodistal Law. The first one means that the body begins to develop from the head region. And the second one tries to express the fact that the spinal cord of the body develops first, and then the rest of the Development takes place.
Now, we would focus on the few steps through which the overall Development happens –
Physical Development (birth to 2 years)
In this phase, we can visibly notice rapid physical development. For example, we can talk about the weight which increases from 3kg at birth to 6kg at the age of 4 months. At this time, boys are a bit heavier than girls, then 7% weight loss is seen in the first seven days, and after that, the baby starts to gain weight. The study has proven that boys are, on average, heavier than girls except for the age from 11to 14 years, when the girls are heavier than boys.
Intellectual Development
There is no sign of intellectual Development in this phase from birth to two years. The baby lacks abstract understanding in this phase of development. The sign of creativity is seen at the end of two years. This is the period when he/she believes what is told by the elders.
Social Development
In this phase, the baby learns social skills from his parents. The child observes his/her parents and learns to respond to others. By the end of two years, he/she notices his other children and plays with them. Overall, he/she is totally dependent on the family for each and every physical and psychological need.
Other Development includes the emotional, motor and language development that can be a child of zero to two years. So, these are a few of the initial steps of development that can be seen in an infant.
