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Related Concept Videos

The Nativist Approach01:21

The Nativist Approach

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The nativist approach to infant cognitive development proposes that infants are born with inherent knowledge structures that allow them to interpret the world almost immediately. This perspective contrasts with earlier developmental theories, such as those proposed by Jean Piaget, which emphasized a more gradual acquisition of cognitive abilities through interaction with the environment. One key concept in this approach is object permanence — the understanding that objects continue to...
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The sensorimotor stage, the initial phase of Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development, spans the first two years of a child's life. During this period, infants actively engage with their surroundings, building cognitive awareness through direct interaction with the world. This interaction is primarily based on sensory perception and motor actions, allowing infants to gradually understand basic physical properties and predict how objects interact within their environment.
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Attachment01:20

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Attachment is vital for infant development, as warm social interactions support growth and well-being. In a classic 1958 study by Harry Harlow, the significance of warmth and comfort in forming attachments was examined. Harlow separated newborn monkeys from their mothers and provided two artificial "mothers": one made of cold wire and the other covered in soft cloth. Despite the wire mother offering food, the infant monkeys preferred the comfort of the cloth mother, demonstrating that...
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Learning is the process of acquiring knowledge or skills through practice or experience, leading to long-lasting behavioral changes. This acquisition occurs through interaction with the environment and requires practice or experience. For instance, mastering a skill such as surfing requires considerable practice and experience, highlighting the essential role of repeated interactions with the environment in learning.
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Observational Learning

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Albert Bandura's observational learning, also known as imitation or modeling, occurs when a person observes and imitates another's behavior. It is a quicker process than operant conditioning. A well-known example is the Bobo doll study, where children who saw an adult acting aggressively towards the doll were more likely to act aggressively when left alone, compared to those who observed a nonaggressive adult. Many psychologists view observational learning as a form of latent learning...
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Behavioral imprinting is observed in some newborn animals and occurs when they develop strong and specific attachments to another animal (usually a parent) following brief, early-life exposures. Offspring imprint onto parents within a brief period after birth or hatching; this time window is called the critical period. Once imprinting occurs, the bond established between the parents and their offspring is usually long-lasting.
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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 24, 2025

Quantifying Learning in Young Infants: Tracking Leg Actions During a Discovery-learning Task
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Helpless infants are learning a foundation model.

Rhodri Cusack1, Marc'Aurelio Ranzato2, Christine J Charvet3

  • 1Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.

Trends in Cognitive Sciences
|June 5, 2024
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Human infants are not born with immature brains but learn a foundational model during their extended postnatal period. This process, akin to machine learning pre-training, enables rapid generalization and high cognitive performance.

Keywords:
developmentevolutionary biologyinfantmachine learningneuroimagingpre-training

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Area of Science:

  • Developmental neuroscience
  • Cognitive science
  • Machine learning

Background:

  • Humans exhibit a prolonged postnatal helplessness period, often linked to early birth and immature brain development.
  • Comparative neurodevelopment suggests human infants' brains at birth are not uniquely immature compared to species with shorter helplessness.
  • Infant neuroimaging reveals significant similarities between newborn and mature brain connectivity and functional activation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To challenge the notion of uniquely immature human infant brains at birth.
  • To propose a novel framework for understanding early human cognitive development.
  • To draw parallels between infant learning and machine learning foundation models.

Main Methods:

  • Comparative analysis of neurodevelopmental timelines across species.
  • Review of findings from infant neuroimaging studies.
  • Conceptual framework inspired by machine learning foundation models.

Main Results:

  • Human infants' neurodevelopmental timing is comparable to other species, despite a longer period of helplessness.
  • Newborn brain connectivity and function show remarkable similarities to mature brains.
  • The infant's extended postnatal period can be viewed as a 'pre-training' phase.

Conclusions:

  • Human infants are learning a foundation model, acquiring fundamental representations for cognition.
  • This learning process supports high cognitive performance and rapid generalization.
  • The concept of a 'helpless period' is re-framed as a critical learning phase for developing cognitive abilities.