Period FAQs

what is a sensitive period of development

by Dr. Reilly Ernser Published 2 years ago Updated 1 year ago
image

a stage in development when an organism can most rapidly acquire a particular skill or characteristic. For example, in humans, the 1st year of life is considered significant for the development of a secure attachment bond.

What is the most sensitive period of development?

The phrase 'sensitive periods in human development' may sound like it refers to moody teenagers, but it actually refers to periods of time when a child easily absorbs information in a specific way. The most important sensitive periods occur between birth and age six. Secondly, what is a sensitive period of development quizlet?

What is an example of a sensitive period?

An example of a sensitive period occurs in vision development. Infants are born with the basic ability to see (unless their vision is impaired by prenatal damage or genetic defects), but a newborn’s vision is not as good as the vision of an 8-month-old. Likewise, what is the difference between a critical period and a sensitive period?

What is the sensitive period of development Quizlet?

What is a sensitive period quizlet? A sensitive period is a period of time during development when an individual is more responsive(' sensitive ') to certain types of experiences or learning. Sensitive periods occur during prenatal development and during the postnatal period when developmental changes are not as rapid.

What is the critical period of development?

The critical period is a biologically determined stage of development where an organism is optimally ready to acquire some pattern of behavior that are part of typical development. This period, by definition, will not recur at a later stage.

When does the second sensitive period occur?

What is the fourth sensitive period?

What are the five observable behaviors?

What is the term for a child who is sensitive to a particular stimuli?

What are the five categories of sensitive periods?

How many observable behaviors are there in a sensitive period?

Why do children have sensitive periods?

See 4 more

About this website

image

What is a sensitive period of development quizlet?

A sensitive period is a period of time during development when an individual is more responsive('sensitive') to certain types of experiences or learning. When do sensitive periods occur? Sensitive periods occur during prenatal development and during the postnatal period when developmental changes are not as rapid.

What is a sensitive period give an example?

During windows of opportunity, or sensitive periods of time, the brain is primed to learn specific information. For example, the sensitive period for learning to speak a second language as if it were a first language, occurs from ages 0-12.

What is meant by sensitive period 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.

What is meant by the sensitive period?

The term sensitive period refers to the notion that the effects of environmental stimuli on the developing organism are stronger during certain periods of development. The traditional term, “critical period,” was based on the assumption that these developmental periods were innate and had a fixed onset and termination.

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 ...

Is the best example of a sensitive period?

Which example best illustrates a sensitive period? A good example of a sensitive period is a time when: children learn language easily.

What are the characteristics of sensitive periods?

Other characteristics of sensitive periods may include mimicking, intense concentration, and compulsive or obsessive behaviours. Interrupting a child while they are in the middle of an intense sensitive period can result in a powerful emotional response such as a tantrum.

What is the sensitive phase in development of Behaviour known as?

In developmental psychology and developmental biology, a critical period is a maturational stage in the lifespan of an organism during which the nervous system is especially sensitive to certain environmental stimuli.

What are examples of a critical period and a sensitive period of development?

Examples of putative critical/sensitive periods in biobehavioral development include the establishment of social and food preferences (imprinting), shaping the structure and function of sensory systems, and possibly the area of language and language acquisition.

Why are sensitive periods important for development?

Sensitive periods are optimal times in development when certain areas of the brain are most ready to benefit from experience. The brain's plasticity is high during sensitive periods, meaning the brain has a strong ability to adapt to and learn from experiences.

What is a sensitive period and what is its relationship with 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.

What are the six sensitive periods?

The psychical plan takes the form of the sensitive periods. Montessori identified eleven different sensitive periods occurring from birth through the age of six: order, movement, small objects, grace and courtesy, refinement of the senses, writing, reading, language, spatial relationships, music, and mathematics.

What are examples of a critical period and a sensitive period of development?

Examples of putative critical/sensitive periods in biobehavioral development include the establishment of social and food preferences (imprinting), shaping the structure and function of sensory systems, and possibly the area of language and language acquisition.

For what reasons is puberty considered a sensitive period?

This study suggests that early adolescence is a sensitive period for social signals and that social isolation during this time can change neural mechanisms involved in acquiring and maintaining drug-associated cues, possibly increasing vulnerability to addictive behaviors (Whitaker et al.

What is critical and sensitive?

Critical or sensitive periods in the life of an organism during which certain experiences or conditions may exert disproportionate influence (either for harm or benefit) on long-term developmental outcomes have been the subject of investigation for over a century.

Who came up with sensitive period psychology?

Every basic essential human characteristic is established by means of a sensitive period, which is an inner urge that drives the child to make these acquisitions. One of the most important discoveries made by Maria Montessori was that of the sensitive periods.

What are the critical and sensitive periods of development?

The sensitive period of development is a critical time for a child's learning. During this period, children are able to learn a wide variety of new...

What are examples of sensitive periods of development for young children?

A few examples of sensitive periods of development for young children include: A child learning to crawl. The child is in the sensitive period of...

What are the characteristics of a sensitive period?

During the sensitive period of development a child is able to learn new abilities with ease and is often unaware that they are even learning. There...

What is the difference between sensitive and critical periods?

Answer (1 of 4): The words are very self- descriptive. A critical period is a time when it is essential for an animal to be exposed to a specific stimulus in order to develop normally. It is usually very short in duration with well-defined beginning and end points. An example is imprinting in...

What happens to the brain during a sensitive period?

During sensitive periods, the brain is most likely to strengthen important connections and eliminate unneeded ones in a specific part of the brain. Growth in that area is still possible after the sensitive period, but it is not as easy or automatic. Our brains are flexible and adaptable, and many abilities can develop later in life ...

What are some examples of sensitive periods?

An example of a sensitive period occurs in vision development .

Why is the brain sensitive?

Sensitive periods are optimal times in development when certain areas of the brain are most ready to benefit from experience. The brain’s plasticity is high during sensitive periods, meaning the brain has a strong ability to adapt to and learn from experiences. Plasticity also allows the brain to strengthen and expand new pathways in order compensate for an injury or illness .

What is a sensitive period in a child?

Sensitive Periods in Child Development. Sensitive periods are periods of psychological development in the child. 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.

What are the characteristics of the second plane of development?

In the second plane of development, they are often referred to as psychological characteristics such as reasoning, imagination, morality, and hero-worship. Our role as adults is to learn about sensitive periods, the laws of development, a child’s needs, and what we can do to satisfy these needs. When a learning environment is not properly prepared ...

What is the most important discovery made by Maria Montessori?

One of the most important discoveries made by Maria Montessori was that of the sensitive periods. She based the majority of her method on these sensitive periods.

What are some examples of positive manifestations?

Some examples of positive manifestations are language and concentration. Negative manifestations occur when a sensitive period has not been allowed to take its course because the environment fails to correspond to the needs of the sensitivity. Order is one of the most important sensitive periods. When a child is between the ages ...

What happens to a child's powers after some time?

The child is able to do great things and make very important acquisitions, like language and movement. But after some time, these powers disappear. “Children pass through definite periods in which they reveal psychic aptitudes and possibilities which afterward disappear.

Is a sensitive period a human characteristic?

Now that we know of their existence, it has become a lot easier recognizing sensitive periods. The child builds up basic, universal human characteristics. There is a sensitive period for spoken language, but not for written language, as it is not a basic human characteristic. Sensitive periods manifest in two ways – either positive or negative.

How long does the sensitive period last?

This particular sensitive period lasts from birth until the age of 5, with the crucial time existing around the age of 2.

What Are The Montessori Sensitive Periods?

Overall, the Montessori sensitive periods refer to a window in a child’s life when they will be the most receptive in learning new bits of information to further develop a life skill. These periods of time exist among different age ranges:

How many different periods are there in the Montessori method?

There are a total of 11 different sensitive periods that have been identified by Maria Montessori, the educator who developed the Montessori method. Some of these major periods are:

Why do we observe the beginning of each period?

Each period has a certain window for your child to develop their skills which is why you must seize the opportunity to do so when you observe the beginning of each period. Not providing or allowing the appropriate stimulation during these critical times can result in a slower progression of these skills.

When do we learn to move?

From the time before we are born until about 4 ½ years old is when we get to build our skills to physically move our bodies and function in society. The movement encompasses everything from learning how to manipulate small objects to walking and running.

When do babies hear?

This has been scientifically proven. As a matter of fact, a child’s auditory system begins developing by the 18th week of pregnancy up until about 6 months of age.

How to encourage conversation about observations they’re having?

Encourage conversation about observations they’re having by asking them questions

When do the Sensitive Periods occur?

According to Dr. Maria Montessori, the Sensitive Periods occur in the child’s life during the initial six years (birth to age 6) . Other pedagogies refer to the term Sensitive Periods as windows of opportunity and developmental milestones. During the first five years, the child traverses through five main categories of Sensitive Periods that play a vital role in the child’s physical, social, emotional, and cognitive development. The Sensitive Periods often last as long as the child requires to complete the particular phase. Once the aims are accomplished, these Sensitive Periods diminish.

What are the 11 Sensitive Periods?

The Sensitive periods are the stages of sensibility and physical attitudes. The periods of sensitivity are an unstoppable force of heightened interest, focus, or imputes that guide the child to specific elements in the environment. According to Dr. Maria Montessori, there are 11 Sensitive Periods a child passes through from birth to age 6.

Why is it essential to learn about Sensitive Periods?

The fundamental reason for acknowledging the Sensitive periods is to provide the child with an appropriately prepared environment tailored for their current requirements.

What is the hypothesis of a sensitive period?

A hypothesis is proposed that experience during a sensitive period modifies the architecture of a circuit in fundamental ways, causing certain patterns of connectivity to become highly stable and , therefore , energetically preferred. Plasticity that occurs beyond the end of a sensitive period, which is substantial in many circuits, ...

What is the term for the period of experience that is particularly strong during a limited period of 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 .

What is critical period?

Such periods allow experience to instruct neural circuits to process or represent information in a way that is adaptive for the individual. When experience provides information that is essential for normal development and alters performance permanently, such sensitive periods are referred to as critical periods.

Is a sensitive period a neural circuit?

Although sensitive periods are reflected in behavior, they are actually a property of neural circuits. Mechanisms of plasticity at the circuit level are discussed that have been shown to operate during sensitive periods.

What is a sensitive period?

S ensitive periods for brain development in children. Children undergo rapid brain development from birth through age 6. During this period, they pass through various “sensitive periods” in which they become intrigued and absorbed by particular aspects of their environment. During a sensitive period, children can learn new things, ...

What happens during a sensitive period?

During a sensitive period, children can learn new things, master new skills, or develop aspects of their brain’s abilities almost unconsciously. These sensitive periods, however, are transitory states. Once children have mastered the skill or concept in which they were absorbed, the sensitive period seems to disappear;

Why should children have sensitive periods?

These sensitive periods/stages are also called “periods of power”. Given the right stimulation at the right time, children are able to learn almost unconsciously. Therefore, these periods should be encouraged, not just for brain development, but also for a child’s happiness.

Why is it important to understand each stage of the brain development process?

It is therefore especially important that we as parents understand this process because each stage represents an opportunity which, if taken advantage of, can profoundly influence our children’s brain development.

How many different periods are there in Montessori?

W hat are Sensitive Periods? Montessori identified 12 different sensitive periods occurring from birth through age six. Each one refers to a predisposition for children to acquire specific characteristics. Scientists have shown that experiences during sensitive periods of development change the circuitry of the brain.

How long does it take for a child to be able to handle small objects?

4. Small objects (1 to 4 years) Your child will adore handling small objects and be noticing tiny details as eye-hand coordination becomes increasingly refined. To properly prepare the environment one may get down to knee level and walk it to see the details yourself, fix what needs to be fixed so as the child may not be distracted when doing work. When a child may see something in disorder this may affect their level of concentration.

How long should a baby be in order?

3. Order (6 months to 4 years) This stage is characterized by your child’s love of routines and a desire for consistency and repetition.

What are the sensitive periods in neural development?

Sensitive periods in neural development are of great interest given that an under-standing of aberrations in neural development may elucidate possible mecha-nisms associated with more complex cognitive changes, such as the differences seen in IQ and executive functioning (Nelson, Bos, Gunnar, & Sonuga-Barke, 2011). Research findings on the effects of adverse early experiences on neu-ral development generally focus on structural, functional, or a combination of structural and functional neural changes. Structural changes are physical changes to the brain, such as increased or decreased volume, thought to reflect in part the growth of neurons or changes in diffusivity of water molecules in the brain (indicated by diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging) thought to reflect the integrity of white-matter tracts or myelin. Functional changes, on the other hand, reflect differential patterns of brain activity or changes in circuit connectivity reflecting a pattern of use. In the following two sections we review the evidence for sensitive periods in structural and functional brain development. While we review these two bodies of literature separately, it is important to remember that structure and function are linked, given that the use (or lack of use) of brain regions commonly leads to changes in struc-ture. However, how function and structure interact throughout development remains empirically understudied.

Why are sensitive periods so hard to identify?

For instance, intelligence heavily relies on the development of language, executive functions, fluid cognition, and crystallized cognition. In addition to relying on many individual skills, sensitive periods in complex social skills are hard to identify, since it is difficult to delineate typical versus atypical development given the wide variation in onset and presentation of social behavior across contexts and cultures. Second, there are significant ethical considerations associated with investigations of sensitive periods in humans. While animal research allows for carefully controlled and manipu-lated studies that substantially alter an organism’s environment (e.g., severe deprivation, knockout animals), such manipulations commonly produce long-lasting changes that would be unethical in human populations. Given these limitations, much of the research detailing sensitive periods in human development relies on so-called experiments of nature in which environmen-tal manipulations are the result of some societal, social, medical, or genetic perturbation.

When does the second sensitive period occur?

The second sensitive period category is order. This period occurs roughly between the ages of one to three years old. During this period a child is learning to draw conclusions and organize information to make sense of the environment.

What is the fourth sensitive period?

The fourth sensitive period category is motor skills. This period occurs roughly between the ages of eighteen months to four years old. Motor skills can be split into two categories: gross motor skills and fine motor skills. Gross motor skills involve the use of large muscle groups for activities such as walking or reaching for objects. Basic gross motor skills are usually in place at the beginning of this sensitive period and the focus will shift to that of fine motor skills . Fine motor skills include activities like learning to use scissors or draw with a crayon. Hand and eye coordination is also increased at this time. If fine motor skills are not well developed during this period, it will take a great deal of effort for a child to learn them.

What are the five observable behaviors?

Discover more about the sensitive periods by uncovering the five observable behaviors along with the five unique categories: language, order, sensory skills, motor skills, and social skills . Updated: 09/19/2021

What is the term for a child who is sensitive to a particular stimuli?

One answer to this question may be that he is going through one of the sensitive periods of development. Sensitive periods is a term developed by the Dutch geneticist Hugo de Vries and later used by the Italian educator Maria Montessori. The term refers to several overlapping periods of development where a child is sensitive to a particular stimuli or type of interaction.

What are the five categories of sensitive periods?

Others will split the sensitive periods into categories and then subcategories. For the purpose of this lesson, we'll keep it simple and describe the five main categories of sensitive periods that occur between birth and age six. These categories are language, order, sensory skills, motor skills, and social skills .

How many observable behaviors are there in a sensitive period?

Sensitive periods are characterized by five observable behaviors. There will be involvement in a clear activity with a beginning, middle, and end.

Why do children have sensitive periods?

According to supporters of the idea of sensitive periods, this occurs because it is very easy for children to acquire certain abilities during a specific sensitive period.

image
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9