2.4 sensitive and critical time periods

• maturation is the orderly and sequential physical growth and development of the body, brain and nervous system.
• particular experiences at particular stages of life is important for typical psychological development to occur. These experiences can be referred as either sensitive or critical time periods
• a sensitive period in psychological development is a flexible and broad period of developmental time where the opportunity to learn a skill in the fastest/ easiest way possible
• a sensitive period occurs when the brain is more sensitive to learning environments and have maximal plasticity making it easier to acquire these skills and characteristics
• skills and characterises acquired during sensitive periods can still be learnt outside of this period, but it may be timelier and more difficult
• a critical period is a narrow and rigid period in which specific cognitive and motor skills must be learnt. It these skills are not acquired during this time, they may never develop
• critical periods are a normal part of psychological development that cannot be acquired at a later stage
• language acquisition is the developmental process where children learn to understand and use their native languages
• language acquisition is hard to determine whether it should be considered a sensitive or critical period of development due to the complexities or languages and the processes involved
• critical period - imprinting

  • a survival method for chicken, geese and ducks
  • form attachments to first moving thing they see
  • if they don't see anything within the first 30 hours of life the attachment will never develop
• sensitive period - human infant attachment