Final answer:
By the age of six months, babies have generally developed full sensitivity to taste. Sensory abilities evolve through infancy, with taste and smell preferences influenced by the mother's diet during pregnancy. These senses also change with age, diminishing after 50.
Step-by-step explanation:
Babies' Full Sensitivity for Taste Development
By the age of six months, babies generally develop full sensitivity to all the different tastes, including sweet, sour, bitter, and salty tastes. Newborns initially show a preference for sweet tastes and can even smell and show a preference for foods their mother consumed regularly during pregnancy. Sensory abilities like taste and smell not only develop after birth but change as people age. For instance, tasting abilities and sense of smell decline after the age of 50. Thus, a child may perceive a food to be too spicy, whereas an elderly person may find the same food bland due to the changes in sensory perception over time.
During the infancy period, which is the first year after birth, infants go through rapid growth and numerous developmental milestones. In addition to taste and smell, they also have well-developed senses of touch and hearing, but their vision is less developed, with limited color and depth perception. By six months, infants improve in motor skills and vision, and by twelve months, they begin to stand and possibly take the first steps.
The different sensory and motor development stages throughout infancy are essential for the growth and communication needs of the baby. Taste and smell preferences in infants are thought to be influenced by their mother's diet during pregnancy, and this likely continues to play a role in their dietary choices as they grow.