Summary and Afterthoughts

Abstract

Most of the chapters in this book are related to the theme that early privation or damage will usually produce reduced behavioral abilities later in life. Some of these reductions may be permanent. However, in many cases the premise must be altered to say that the privation or damage will usually produce altered abilities. It is not clear whether or not the alteration in abilities is always the same from one individual or species to the next. Too often the behavioral changes are considered relative to an assumed “standard” individual or “representative” species, raised and tested under “usual conditions.” The range of treatments presumed to result in altered behavioral abilities include food deprivation, hypoxia, reduced opportunities for movement or for receiving organized sensory input, trauma, surgical damage to the brain, and endocrine imbalance. All of these conditions are presumed to overcome the brain’s surprisingly effective insulation and resiliency so as to produce the altered behavioral consequences.