COGS 101C Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Critical Period Hypothesis, Foxp2, Ke Family
21 Apr 2017
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A critical period refers to the time period where an organism is particularly sensitive to certain types of environmental stimuli. If the appropriate input is not experienced, then it may be extremely difficult or even impossible to develop or learn that function later in life: spatial tuning of auditory localization in owls imprinting in ducks. Is there a hard cut-off point for language learning? or is it more of a sensitive period" with a gradual decline in sensitivity. Potential sources of evidence: lateralization and development lateralization in children: second language acquisition, hearing children of hearing-impaired parents, wild/feral children. Equipotentiality hypothesis: at birth each hemisphere is equal with regards to language, through maturation, the left hemisphere becomes lateralized for language functions. Irreversible determinism: from birth, left hemisphere is already specialized for language due to innate anatomical organization. He argues lateralization occurs rapidly between 2-5 then slow down. C. p ends with the establishment of lateralization of language (by puberty)
