Mechanisms of Cognitive Development

McClelland, James L.; Siegler, Robert

• Contents: Preface. Part I: Studies of Microgenesis of Cognitive Change: Behavioral Approaches.S. Goldin-Meadow, Giving the Mind a Hand: The Role of Gesture in Cognitive Change. R.S. Siegler, Children's Discoveries and Brain-Damaged Patients' Rediscoveries. Neuroscience Approaches.M.M. Merzenich, Cortical Plasticity Contributing to Child Development. J.L. McClelland, Failures to Learn and Their Remediation: A Hebbian Account. R.J. Haier, PET Studies of Learning and Individual Differences. Commentary.J.W. Stigler, Breakthroughs in Using Individual Differences to Study Learning: Comments on Goldin-Meadow, Haier, McClelland, Merzenich, and Siegler. Part II: Studies of Change Over Longer Time Scales: Behavioral Approaches.E. Thelen, Dynamic Mechanisms of Change in Early Perceptual-Motor Development. R. Case, M.P. Mueller, Differentiation, Integration, and Covariance Mapping as Fundamental Processes in Cognitive and Neurological Growth. D. Kuhn, Why Development Does (and Does Not) Occur: Evidence From the Domain of Inductive Reasoning. Neuroscience Approaches.M.H. Johnson, M. de Haan, Developing Cortical Specialization for Visual-Cognitive Function: The Case of Face Recognition. H.J. Neville, D. Bavelier, Variability of Developmental Plasticity. Commentary.D. Klahr, Time Matters in Cognitive Development. Part III: Developmental Disorders: Dyslexia.A.M. Galaburda, G.D. Rosen, Neural Plasticity in Dyslexia: A Window to Mechanisms of Learning Disabilities. Attention Deficit Disorder.B.J. Casey, Disruption of Inhibitory Control in Developmental Disorders: A Mechanistic Model of Implicated Frontostriatal Circuitry. Autism.P.A. Carpenter, M.A. Just, T. Keller, V. Cherkassky, J.K. Roth, N. Minshew, Dynamic Cortical Systems Subserving Cognition: fMRI Studies With Typical and Atypical Individuals. Concluding Commentary.M.I. Posner, Education on the Human Brain: A Commentary.

"...this book provides a substantial introduction to this new synergy (and as such is well suited as complementary material for advanced courses), it also crucially highlights the necessity of specifying what we mean by cognitive development before we examine the brain in search of it."—Infant and Child Development"The enthusiasm of this eminent collection of authors is evident, and the book makes for a fascinating if challenging read....The editors are to be congratulated on keeping repetition between chapters to a useful minimum and representing such a broad range of work."—Contemporary Psychology