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Critical Thinking About Critical Periods D. B. Bailey, Jr., J. T. Bruer, F. J. Symons, and J. W. Lichtman (Eds.), Baltimore: Brookes, 2001,320 pp., paperback, $32.00
The effects of early experience on brain development are not as straightforward and transparent as the public has been led to believe, based on discussions of brain science in the policy and public literature. (Neville & Bruer, 2001)
Bailey, Bruer, Symons, and Lichtman (2001) provide an edited volume about an important issue in human development. The publication is a product of the working conference, "Critical Thinking About Critical Periods," which was funded in 1999 by the National Institute on Early Childhood Development and Learning and the U.S. Department of Education. The book consists of contributions by conference participants who represent an impressive interdisciplinary group of researchers. In the initial chapter, John Bruer presents the purpose of the book: "This book examines the critical or sensitive period theme and assesses what the implications of critical period research might actually be for child development and early education" (p. 3). The contents of the book are organized into 14 chapters in five major subsections: I. Critical Periods: An Overview of Behavior and Biology; II. Critical Periods in Basic Sensory Systems; III. Critical Periods in Social and Emotional Development; IV. Critical Periods in Language Learning and Acquisition; and V. Early Intervention and the Relevance of Critical Periods. A discussion of each chapter would be unduly long; instead, I will review several chapters and extrapolate quotations from authors to illustrate their thinking, and I will provide a short summary of my thoughts about the book.
John Bruer (2001) provides an introduction to critical periods and related concepts. He notes that similar concepts, such as periods of susceptibility, sensitive periods, and windows of opportunity, emerged from different research traditions, and the use of those related concepts has created definitional ambiguity for scientists and educators. He argues that the critical period concept has been commandeered by some commentators on the relationship between brain and early childhood development. Moreover, he believes that many of those proponents rely on popular prejudices as opposed to well-founded scientific understandings of critical periods and contemporary neuroscience. He points out that the term critical periods, which appears to be the preferred term...