ABSTRACT
In discussing the developmental status of children during the second year, one cannot make a rigid delimitation of time. If development is viewed as an epigenetic process, what the child achieves during the second year rests upon the growth of the first year and might well be lost without further strengthening in the third year. Disregarding cultural differences for the time being and averaging the differences among children in our own culture, one can identify certain areas of development which are expected during this second year. The areas of most rapid growth are locomotion and the refinement of other motor skills, socialization, speech, the development of initiative and autonomy, and of a sense of self. In addition, there comes the recognition that persons and objects remain constant, that is, they continue to exist when out of sight. Control of bowels and urine is such an important component of the socialization process.
