Infancy is a period of significant change for both the brain and behavior. During the first two years of life, the brain experiences an explosion of synaptic connections and myelination, alongside rapid development in motor, linguistic, and social behavioral abilities. Understanding the relationship between brain development and behavioral…

Most theories of learning would predict a gradual acquisition and refinement of skills as learning progresses, and while some highlight exponential growth, this fails to explain why natural cognitive development typically progresses in stages. Models that do span multiple developmental stages typically have parameters to "switch" between…

Background and Context: Vygotsky's sociocultural theory emphasises the importance of language, mediation, and the transfer of skills and knowledge from the social into the cognitive plane. This perspective has influenced the development of PRIMM (Predict, Run, Investigate, Modify, Make), a structured approach to teaching programming. Objective:…

It remains controversial whether children are able to process and integrate specific linguistic cues in their mental model to the same extent as adults. In the present study, a sentence continuation task was employed to determine how Italian speakers (4-, 5-, 6-year-olds and adults) interpret prosodic cues to decide which referent is more salient…

This article presents an investigation of the relationship between lesioning and neuroimaging methods of assessing functional specialisation, using synthetic brain imaging (SBI) and lesioning of a connectionist network of past-tense formation. The model comprised two processing "routes": one was a direct route between layers of input and output…

Computational models have played a central role in the debate over language learnability. This article discusses how they have been used in different "stances", from generative views to more recently introduced explanatory frameworks based on embodiment, cognitive development and cultural evolution. By digging into the details of certain specific…

Piaget's research on the processes and products of cognitive and representational development in early childhood is employed to outline the bases of early language development. The processes of assimilation and accommodation, leading to horizontal decalage; empirical and reflective abstraction, resulting in schemas and schemes; as well as…

This paper presents a neo-Piagetian model for examining the development of early communication and language skills; discusses its origins in the current developmental literature, and provides a brief overview of a preliminary version of 12 scales developed for assessing communicative development based on the model. The model attempts to provide a…

This study used a pluralistic model to examine the procedures used by two preschoolers to achieve written productions using invented orthographies. The model allows children's procedural variations to be taken into consideration by understanding the hierarchy of different processing modes available to children in completing the task and…

This article evaluates the "Frames, then Content" hypothesis for speech acquisition, which sees babbling as a direct result of producing syllabic "frames" by rhythmic mandibular oscillation with little of the "content" seen under mandible-independent control. Analysis of 6,659 utterances of 6 normally developing…

A view of cognitive development emphasizing the formal properties of cognitive structures and processes that remain invariant throughout development is described. Cognitive development is guided by complex sets of constraints, specific sets are tailored for particular cognitive domains, and constraints limit the class of naturally learnable…

This paper describes the development of the senses of speech and thought and identifies the physical organs associated with those senses. The child's word sense is born only after the development of the ability to walk. From direct experience, communicated to them by the speech sense, children know that words are different from any other sounds…

Examines Piagetian theory in relation to (1) the organizational framework of the reader, (2) the linkage of development and reading, (3) the interrelatedness of language processes, and (4) the twin influences of maturation and experience. Notes the value of Piagetian theory in building reading models and examines two "hurdles" it…

The proposed framework assumes six developmental stages according to mean length of utterance in morphemes. Within each stage, syntactic forms and semantic relations interact. In assessment, each utterance is analyzed for features which describe current language abilities. Language goals are developed based on existing and expected features.…

This paper describes an assessment instrument being developed to trace the emergence of social-communication skills leading to language and the neo-Piagetian model that is directing the assessment construction efforts. The model is a structural stage model, based on the writings and research of Uzgiris (1976), McCall, Eichorn & Hogarty (1977),…