Plasticity and Nativism: Towards a Resolution of an Apparent Paradox

  • Authors:
  • Gary F. Marcus

  • Affiliations:
  • -

  • Venue:
  • Emergent Neural Computational Architectures Based on Neuroscience - Towards Neuroscience-Inspired Computing
  • Year:
  • 2001

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Abstract

Recent research in brain development and cognitive development leads to an apparent paradox. One set of recent experiments suggests that infants are well-endowed with sophisticated mechanisms for analyzing the world; another set of recent experiments suggests that brain development is extremely flexible. In this paper, I review various ways of resolving the implicit tension between the two, and close with a proposal for a novel computational approach to reconciling nativism with developmental flexibility.