Sensitive/Critical Periods

[Aelru]

As the title says.
What's the difference between sensitive and critical periods?
(I always thought sensitive was for humans, and critical was for animals LOL)

[uprising]

Sensitive periods:

During development, there are times when a person is more sensitive to environmental stimuli (eg, language development.) A person can still learn outside of a sensitive period, but is less efficient at it. They start and end gradually.


Critical periods:

Critical periods are shorter, and is when an organism has a heightened sensitivity to stimuli that is important for development of a skill. An example of this is the development of eyesight, because once it has occurred it does not need to happen again. As a result, critical periods start and end abruptly.