Gratification disorder, or more properly precocious masturbation (as such behavior is neither unusual or the sign of any underlying illness), is a behavior that doctors have to be trained to recognize in young children so that it is not mistaken for epilepsy. Masturbation is common in all ages of children, and most children learn to do it in private. However, some communicative children (ages 4 and up), often do not understand social conventions about sexuality well enough to understand that they should not masturbate in front of others.