critical+period

= Definition: =

A period so important to development that a harmful environmental influence at that time can keep a bodily structure from developing normally or can impair later intellectual or social development. Gen Psych, Chapter 8, p. 253

= Examples: =
 * Baby ducks, within 15 hours of hatching, have the instinct to follow anything that moves, so if nothing is moving within the critical period they don't develop that response.
 * Blocking the vision of newborn kittens for a short few months results in a permanent loss of vision in the eye, while the vision of adult cats who went under the same procedure were unaffected.

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=In the News:= [|Why Wolves Are Forever Wild, but Dogs Can Be Tamed] " Dogs and wolves are genetically so similar, it's been difficult for biologists to understand why wolves remain fiercely wild, while dogs can gladly become "man's best friend." Now, doctoral research by evolutionary biologist Kathryn Lord at the University of Massachusetts Amherst suggests the different behaviors are related to the animals' earliest sensory experiences and the critical period of socialization."

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