Suppose that you are listening to a lecture by a speaker who supports the critical period hypothesis for a particular motor skill in children. the speaker is likely to say that <u>Children will show an abrupt drop in acquiring the skill competently, as the age of acquisition increases</u>.
A hypothesis (hypotheses) is a proposed explanation for a phenomenon. For a hypothesis to be a scientific hypothesis, it must be able to be tested by scientific methods. Scientists generally form scientific hypotheses based on previous observations that cannot be fully explained by available scientific theories. Although the terms "hypothesis" and "theory" are often used interchangeably, a scientific hypothesis is not the same as a scientific theory.
A working hypothesis is a tentatively accepted hypothesis proposed for further research in a process that begins with educated guessing or thinking.