Compare the terms critical period and sensitive period, and discuss how observations of imprinting led to the development of these concepts.
What will be an ideal response?
Imprinting refers to the following behavior of certain baby birds, which ensures that the young will stay close to the mother and be fed and protected from danger. Imprinting takes place during an early period of development. If the mother is absent during this time but an object resembling her in important features is present, young birds may imprint on it instead.
Observations of imprinting led to the concept of a critical period. That refers to a limited time span during which a child is biologically prepared to acquire certain adaptive behaviors. By comparison, a sensitive period is a time that is biologically optimal for certain capacities to emerge because the individual is especially responsive to environmental influences. The idea of a sensitive period applies better to human development than the strict notion of a critical period.
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The term age grade refers to a
a. group of individuals who are all the same mental age. b. socially defined age group, with culture-specific assigned roles, privileges, and responsibilities. c. universally defined age group, with universal roles, privileges, and responsibilities. d. group of children assigned at a specific age to a specific grade in school.
Which of the following is not one of the major divisions of the human brain?
a. hindbrain b. midbrain c. forebrain d. backbrain
In the three-level hierarchy of mental ability, the general factor is analogous to:
A) Thurstone's primary mental abilities. B) Spearman's g. C) Spearman's s. D) Carroll's crystallized intelligence.
As you bend your arm up to take a drink, the ________ muscles are active, and when you extend your arm to put the glass down, the ________ muscles are active
a. striated; smooth b. flexor; extensor c. extensor; flexor d. Type II; Type I