What are critical and sensitive periods in child development?

What are critical and sensitive periods in child development?

Sensitive periods generally refer to a limited time window in development during which the effects of experience on the brain are unusually strong, whereas a critical period is defined as a special class of sensitive periods where behaviors and their neural substrates do not develop normally if appropriate stimulation …

What is meant by sensitive periods in brain development?

When the effect of experience on the brain is particularly strong during a limited period in development, this period is referred to as a sensitive period. Such periods allow experience to instruct neural circuits to process or represent information in a way that is adaptive for the individual.

How can sensitive periods affect future development?

Theorists who support sensitive periods believe that while it will be far more difficult for the child and the child’s teachers and caregivers to learn what was not learned during the window of opportunity, these children can still develop the missing capacities and skills later that they did not develop earlier.

What is the sensitive period of language development?

The sensitive period for spoken language is from 7 months to 3 years of age. It begins when the child first creates sounds by mimicking mouth movements, and progresses over time, as they learn to form words and simple sentences. The sensitive period for learning to write is from 3.5 to 4.5 years of age.

Is there evidence for sensitive periods in emotional development?

First, sensitive periods are often evoked in a way that implies that emotion (or social behavior, as with the term ‘socio-emotional’ development) is one system, with one sensitive period that might affect all of emotional behavior. This is unlikely.

Why is there a sensitive period for brain functions?

Sensitive periods are of interest to scientists and educators because they represent periods in develop- ment during which certain capacities are readily shaped or altered by experience. Critical periods are a special class of sensitive periods that result in irreversible changes in brain function.

Do humans have a sensitive period?

In humans, naturally occurring deprivation has been used to study sensitive periods. For example, infants born deaf or with dense cataracts that occlude visual inputs have revealed sensitive periods in auditory, language, and visual development [3,8].

What happens during the sensitive period in child development?

This period is a time of limited duration. During the sensitive periods, the child has very powerful capacities. The child is able to do great things and make very important acquisitions, like language and movement. But after some time, these powers disappear.

When does the sensitive period for movement begin?

The sensitive period for movement can be divided into two phases. From birth to 2.5 years, children are sensitive to gross and fine motor development. This begins when the infant child learns to crawl, pull up, and eventually walk without assistance.

What does dr.montessori mean by sensitive period?

Dr. Montessor i took great interest in the sensitive periods of a child’s mental development. What this refers to is a special time in a child’s development wherein a child takes great interest in acquiring a certain skill or trait. As soon as this skill or trait is acquired, according to Dr. Montessori, this sensitive period ends.

When does the sensitive period in language begin?

The sensitive period for spoken language is from 7 months to 3 years of age. It begins when the child first creates sounds by mimicking mouth movements, and progresses over time, as they learn to form words and simple sentences.