Three Questions for Cognitive Science
Researchers in cognitive development and cognitive science have engaged in long-standing debates concerning nativist versus empiricist perspectives on the origins of knowledge, the existence and nature of representations, and the importance of embodiment. Recognizing the enormous scope of these questions, I will concentrate on three illustrations: the geometric module debate, the cognitive map debate, and the development of mental rotation. In doing so, I will highlight the importance of charting individual variation as well as modal development, using an evolutionary perspective and cross-species data, and taking an emergentist experience-expectant and experience-dependent approach to development and to adult cognition.