PART A
Physical changes
Infants incorporate babies from birth to age 1. Children undergo biological changes that involve rapid and profound changes in their physical appearance. Physical changes in infants are determined by changes in physical appearance and brain changes in the life development process. Brain changes in this case entail development of learning skills, perceptions, sensations and health issues. Physical changes are experienced as the baby grows (Rutter, 2006) . For instance, the first 4 weeks of life, most babies weigh between 5 and 10 pounds with a height between 18 to 22 inches. Male babies weigh heavier than female babies. Children in the category of newborn to 2 months have their hands fisted with flexed arms, they can lift and turn their heads while lying on their back. Ate the age of 5 to 6 months, the baby is able to sit alone and the infant is able to roll from back to stomach. At 6 to 9 months, the infant begins crawling and walks while holding an adult’s hand. At 9 to 12 months, the infant can balance while standing alone.
Cognitive changes
Infants develop mentally incorporating different development within the period between newborns to the age of 1. Newborn interact with the new environment and use involuntary reactions and instincts to get what they need including attention, food and air. Infants at age 1 develop reflexive activities which include sucking breast or a bottle indicates a reflexive activity. Cognitive changes also include circular reactions engaging infants between 1 to 4 months. Circular reactions are considered when babies repeat actions that induce pleasure and things that make them feel good. Afterwards, the baby learns other patterns including patterns of when they need a change in their environment (Atkinson et. al, 2009).
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Nutritional changes
Infants need to be fed with different foods in their development. Babies need a lot of nutrients at the age of 0 to 6 months. Breast milk is the best for babies at this age since it has the nutrients necessary for the growth of the baby. Therefore, it is required that moms eat healthy to pass the nutrients to the baby through breast milk. Supplements after 6 months, babies need soft food rich in vitamin D, iron and vitamin B12. At this age, the baby is introduced to solid food and fruits.
Sensory changes
Hearing is among the sensory aspects and an infant can hear immediately after birth. Other aspects including touch, smell and taste are also mature at birth. Infants generally prefer sweet taste and hearing human voice. A new born infant has the ability to see within a range of 20 to 30 centimeters. At the age of 2 months, an infant can track moving objects at maximum angle of 180 degrees. Nevertheless, between 4 to 6 months, an infant develops color vision. Infants respond to changes in position and prefer human faces (Atkinson et. al, 2009).
PART B
The nature-nurture controversy dictates the behavioral development of a child in the life development process raising facts that human behavior is influenced by the environment surrounding their life development process (Bogin, 2012) .
Prenatal development
The controversy dictates that a baby’s development at this state is affected by genes and conditions in the womb. In addition, other prenatal factors affect child’s development including maternal depression, maternal smoking, weight, gestational age and infant birth weight. Furthermore, the genetic difference is also a factor that affects child development in the prenatal stage. The difference influence the environment that harbors the infant while in the womb has might influence the development as well.
Labor and birth
Labor and birth stage is characterized by instances of premature labor and birth and posts mature labor and birth as well. Premature babies are born and develop complicated medical problems that might lead to their deaths or prolonged health complications. A similar case happens with post mature birth where a baby is born after the estimated date is due. This might alter the babies’ physical appearance and brain development as well. The variation in the gestation period subject to labor and birth influences the infant’s life development process as well (Rutter, 2006) .
Birth complications
Birth complications influence the child development process by inducing different complications such as irregular heartbeat in the baby. Moreover, it can induce long term health effects on the baby including physical development and intellectual disabilities. In addition, birth complications affect babies’ lungs and might cause behavioral problems such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
Development of the competent new born
The infant’s development environment has impact on behavioral development of the baby. Babies engage in different traits including crying, moving, socializing and feeding. The nurturing environment by the parent influences the development of a child. Normally, a child is born with a calming reflex. Therefore, when a parent soothes the child, his/her calming nature is induced. More happens in other activities in the child's life development process (Rutter, 2006) . Feeding the child, the baby has a reflex towards the breast milk and feeds on it for a considerable period. The nurturing provided in this period on the identified stages is necessary for the growth of the baby. Therefore, the environment on which an infant develops matters most in behavioral development and in the development of the child physically and mentally as well. Nature/nurture controversy associates different aspects of behavior with hereditary genes and acquired influences from the environment on which the infant has grown in. Numerous cases supported by research and theories on life development process support the controversy referring to different infant development aspects based on behavior, mental and physical development.
References
Atkinson, J., Hood, B., Wattam-Bell, J., & Braddick, O. (2009). Changes in infants' ability to switch visual attention in the first three months of life. Perception , 21 (5), 643-653.
Bogin, B. (Ed.). (2012). Human growth and development . Academic Press.
Rutter, M. (2006). Genes and behavior: Nature-nurture interplay explained . Blackwell Publishing.
