intellectual

• During their lifespan, an individual develops useful ways of thinking and learning.
• Intellectual and cognitive development refers to how individuals organise their ideas and make sense of the world they live in.
• Infancy and early childhood- Stages of rapid intellectual development
• Adolescence to early adulthood- Development of logical thoughts, problem solving and memory recall skills.
• Middle adulthood- Can think through problems and make sound judgments using life experiences.
• Later adulthood- Changes in the brain can cause short-term memory decline and slower thought processes and reaction times.
• The brain grows very rapidly in the first few years of life, over an individual’s lifespan, their brain grows at an amazing rate.
• At birth, a baby’s brain is about 30% of the size of an adult’s brain. By age 2, the child’s brain has increased to approximately 80% of the size of an adult’s brain.
• By the time the child has reached the age of seven, they have learnt the basics of vocabulary, grammar and sentence formation.
• 3 months- Infants begin to make babbling noises as they learn to control the muscles associated with speech.
• 12 months- Infants begin to imitate sounds made by carers such as ‘da da’. This develops into using single words.
• 2 years- Infants begin to make two-word sentences, such as ‘cat goed’. The infant begins to build their vocabulary.
• 4 years- Children begin to use clear sentences that can be understood by strangers. Children can be expected to make some mistakes with grammar.