Domain-specific constraints of conceptual development

2000 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 267-275 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giyoo Hatano ◽  
Kayoko Inagaki
Keyword(s):  
Young Children ◽  
Conceptual Development ◽  
Learning Mechanisms ◽  
Domain Specific ◽  
Construction Of Knowledge ◽  
Innate Knowledge ◽  
The Future ◽  
Piagetian Theory ◽  
Specific Construction

Although we have made much progress in understanding the growth of mind by shifting from Piagetian theory to a variety of views of conceptual development as the domain-specific construction of knowledge under constraints, the key notion of “constraints” is not yet well articulated. As a result, the views have not yet constituted a coherent theory that replaces Piagetian theory. In this article, after summarising “dominant” views of conceptual development, we reconceptualise the notion of “innate constraints”, more specifically as preferences and biases that serve as learning mechanisms, not as innate knowledge or representational contents. We then propose to expand the notion of “constraints” to include interactive, sociocultural constraints as well as internal, cognitive ones, which enable even young children to acquire knowledge in uniquely human ways. We believe that these formulations make the current views of conceptual development better specified and more comprehensive. Finally we offer our prospect for the future of conceptual development theories.

Buzzsaws and blueprints: Commentary

2000 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 734-736 ◽  
Author(s):  
HELEN GOODLUCK
Keyword(s):  
Universal Grammar ◽  
Review Article ◽  
Human Language ◽  
Learning Mechanisms ◽  
Language Abilities ◽  
Domain Specific ◽  
Innate Knowledge ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Strong Emergentism ◽  
Auxiliary Verb

The review article by Sabbagh & Gelman (S & G) on The emergence of language (EL) mentions several criticisms of strong emergentism, the view that language emerges through an interaction between domain-general learning mechanisms and the environment, without crediting the organism with innate knowledge of domain-specific rules, a view that successful connectionist modelling is taken to support. One criticism of this view and the support for it that connectionist modelling putatively provides has been made frequently, and is noted by S & G: it is arguable that connectionist simulations work only because the input to the network in effect contains a representation of the knowledge that the net seeks to acquire. I think it is worth adding to this another criticism that to my mind is a fundamental one, but which has not featured so strongly in critiques of connectionism. A primary goal of modern linguistics has been to account not merely for what patterns we do see in human languages, but for those that we do not. The concept of Universal Grammar is precisely a set of limitations on what constitutes a possible human language. The kind of example used in teaching Linguistics 101 is the fact that patterns of grammaticality are structurally, not linearly, determined: in English we form a yes–no question by inverting the subject NP and auxiliary verb, not by inverting the first and second words of the equivalent declarative sentence, or the first and fifth words, or any number of conceivable non-structural operations. Could a connectionist mechanism learn such non-structural operations? Perhaps I have asked the wrong people, but when I have queried researchers doing connectionist modelling, the answer appears to be ‘yes’. If that's the case, then connectionist mechanisms as currently developed do not constitute an explanatory model of human language abilities: they are too powerful.

Contemporary Concept Nativism: Some Methodological Remarks

2019 ◽  
Vol 62 (7) ◽  
pp. 96-109
Author(s):  
Ilya Y. Bulov
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Classical Problem ◽  
Human Mind ◽  
Classical Antiquity ◽  
Learning Mechanisms ◽  
Domain Specific ◽  
New Findings ◽  
Innate Knowledge ◽  
Innate Ideas ◽  
History Of

The innate knowledge problem is a classical problem in philosophy, which has been known since the classical antiquity. Plato in his dialogues Meno and Phaedo formulated the doctrine of innate ideas and proposed an early version of the poverty of the stimulus argument, which is the most frequently used argument in innate knowledge debates. In the history of philosophy there was also an opposite view. This approach is often associated with J. Locke’s philosophy. Locke thought that all our knowledge about the world is a product of the universal learning mechanisms whose functioning is based on perception. The question about the presence of innate ideas in the human mind still remains relevant. New findings in cognitive science and neurosciences and also some recent arguments from philosophers contribute to the contemporary discussion between the spokesmen of the rival approaches to this problem. The paper presents the investigation of one of the approaches to solving the problem of innate concepts, which is called a “concept nativism.” It highlights the outstanding characteristics of the concept nativism: (a) domain specificity position, (b) belief that domain-specific mechanisms of learning are innate and (c) belief that at least some concepts are innate. The article also proposes an analysis of notions “innateness” and “idea” which is important for understanding nativists’ approach to innate ideas theory. And finally, it describes the most popular nativists’ arguments: (a) references to empirical studies using the preferential looking technique, (b) the poverty of the stimulus argument and (c) the argument from animals.

Instruction Helps and Hinders Young Children’s Feature Learning

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles Kalish ◽  
Nigel Noll
Keyword(s):  
Young Children ◽  
Feature Learning ◽  
Irrelevant Information ◽  
Diagnostic Feature ◽  
Older Children ◽  
Prediction Task ◽  
Feature Correlation ◽  
The Future

Existing research suggests that adults and older children experience a tradeoff where instruction and feedback help them solve a problem efficiently, but lead them to ignore currently irrelevant information that might be useful in the future. It is unclear whether young children experience the same tradeoff. Eighty-seven children (ages five- to eight-years) and 42 adults participated in supervised feature prediction tasks either with or without an instructional hint. Follow-up tasks assessed learning of feature correlations and feature frequencies. Younger children tended to learn frequencies of both relevant and irrelevant features without instruction, but not the diagnostic feature correlation needed for the prediction task. With instruction, younger children did learn the diagnostic feature correlation, but then failed to learn the frequencies of irrelevant features. Instruction helped older children learn the correlation without limiting attention to frequencies. Adults learned the diagnostic correlation even without instruction, but with instruction no longer learned about irrelevant frequencies. These results indicate that young children do show some costs of learning with instruction characteristic of older children and adults. However, they also receive some of the benefits. The current study illustrates just what those tradeoffs might be, and how they might change over development.

How to grow a self: development of the self in a Bayesian brain

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mateusz Wozniak
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Development ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Predictive Coding ◽  
Body Representation ◽  
Developmental Trajectory ◽  
The Self ◽  
Learning Mechanisms ◽  
Bayesian Brain ◽  
Third Person ◽  
Complex Forms

The last two decades have brought several attempts to explain the self as a part of the Bayesian brain, typically within the framework of predictive coding. However, none of these attempts have looked comprehensively at the developmental aspect of self-representation. The goal of this paper is to argue that looking at the developmental trajectory is crucial for understanding the structure of an adult self-representation. The paper argues that the emergence of the self should be understood as an instance of conceptual development, which in the context of a Bayesian brain can be understood as a process of acquisition of new internal models of hidden causes of sensory input. The paper proposes how such models might emerge and develop over the course of human life by looking at different stages of development of bodily and extra-bodily self-representations. It argues that the self arises gradually in a series of discrete steps: from first-person multisensory representations of one’s body to third-person multisensory body representation, and from basic forms of the extended and social selves to progressively more complex forms of abstract self-representation. It discusses how each of them might emerge based on domain-general learning mechanisms, while also taking into account the potential role of innate representations. Finally it suggests how the conceptual structure of self-representation might inform the debate about the structure of self-consciousness.

I doveri della moglie secondo gli insegnamenti di alcuni predicatori e scrittori tardomedievali

2019 ◽  
Vol 110 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-45
Keyword(s):  
Mortality Rate ◽  
Young Children ◽  
Social Status ◽  
Free Time ◽  
Early Age ◽  
Social Standing ◽  
Raising Children ◽  
The Social ◽  
Medieval Europe ◽  
The Future

The society of medieval Europe had specific expectations for marriageable girls. From an early age girls were taught how to be wives and mothers, for example by being entrusted with the care of their younger siblings. The girls learned everything they would need in the future by observation. According to the teachings of preachers and writers at the time, girls, irrespective of their social status, were not meant to remain idle, as there were fears that with too much free time on their hands, they might spend it contemplating their looks, practising gestures that were to attract the attention of men or spending time alone in the streets and squares, thus exposing themselves to a variety of dangers. A wife was expected to bear a lot of children, preferably boys, because the mortality rate among young children was high at the time. Wifely duties also included raising children, at least until they were taken over by, for example, a tutor hired by the father, managing the household and ensuring every possible comfort for the husband. As Gilbert of Tournai noted, it was the mother who was expected to bring up the children in faith and to teach them good manners. The duties of the wife obviously depended on her social standing — different duties were expected from the wives of noblemen than from women lower down on the social ladder, who often had to help their husbands, in addition to doing everyday chores.

scholarly journals Children being children: the value of an “importance filter”

2007 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dr Jonathon Sargeant
Keyword(s):  
Information Processing ◽  
Young Children ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Global Issues ◽  
Making Sense ◽  
The World ◽  
The Future ◽  
Key Issues ◽  
Internal Information ◽  
Processing Mechanism

The perspectives of young children are of considerable interest to the community yet remains largely misunderstood. This paper posits that children demonstrate an optimistic view of the world and the future that is also encased in a deeper understanding of key global, local, and social issues than previously thought. This study challenges the notion that children are either adversely affected by knowledge or ignorant of global issues outside their control. The effects of external media and the reputed social decay of society and the pessimistic worldview reportedly held by young children are questioned. In acknowledging the children’s understanding of key issues, this research identifies that children engage in an internal metacognitive processing of information that allows them to maintain their optimistic view of the world. This paper introduces the concept of an Importance Filter, an internal information processing mechanism that assists children in making sense of their world.

On Language Design

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles Yang
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Evolution ◽  
Language Design ◽  
Domain Specific ◽  
Innate Knowledge ◽  
Knowledge Of Language

Summary. How the current study impacts traditional problems in linguistics, and how it leads to a simplification of the theory of UG and language learning, with a reduced role for domain-specific innate knowledge of language, leading to an arguably more plausible solution to the problem of language evolution.

The demography of grandparenthood in 16 European countries and two North American countries

2018 ◽  
pp. 23-42
Author(s):  
Rachel Margolis ◽  
Bruno Arpino
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Young Children ◽  
North American ◽  
Labour Force ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Intergenerational Relationships ◽  
Labour Force Participation ◽  
Population Characteristics ◽  
European Countries ◽  
The Future

Intergenerational relationships between grandparents and grandchildren can offer tremendous benefits to family members of each generation. The demography of grandparenthood – the timing, length and population characteristics – shape the extent to which young children have grandparents available, how many grandparents are alive, and the duration of overlap with grandparents. In this chapter, we examine how the demography of grandparenthood varies across 16 countries in Europe and two countries in North America, and why it is changing. Next, we examine variation in two key determinants of intergenerational relationships – the labour force participation and health of grandparents. Last, we comment on some important changes in the demography of grandparenthood that may come in the future.

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