Editing Cognitive development (section)

== Current Theories of Cognitive Development ==

=== Core Knowledge Theory ===
Empiricists study how these skills may be learned in such a short time. The debate is over whether these systems are learned by general-purpose learning devices or domain-specific cognition. Moreover, many modern cognitive developmental psychologists, recognizing that the term "innate" does not square with modern knowledge about [[Epigenesis (biology)|epigenesis]], neurobiological development, or learning, favor a [[Psychological nativism|non-nativist]] framework. Researchers who discuss "core systems" often speculate about differences in thinking and learning between proposed domains. 

Research suggests that children have an innate sensitivity to specific patterns of information, referred to as core domains. The discussion of “core knowledge” theory focuses on a few main systems, including agents, objects, numbers, and navigation.

==== Agents ====
It is speculated that a piece of an infants’ core knowledge lies in their ability to abstractly represent actors. Agents are actors, human or otherwise, who process events and situations, and select actions based on goals and beliefs. Children expect the actions of agents to be goal-directed, efficient, and understand that they have costs, such as time, energy, or effort. Children are importantly able to differentiate between actors and inanimate objects, proving a deeper understanding of the concept of an agent.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Feigenson |first1=Lisa |last2=Dehaene |first2=Stanislas |last3=Spelke |first3=Elizabeth |title=Core systems of number |journal=Trends in Cognitive Sciences |date=July 2004 |volume=8 |issue=7 |pages=307–314 |doi=10.1016/j.tics.2004.05.002 |pmid=15242690|url=https://www.harvardlds.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/feigenson2004-1.pdf}}</ref>

==== Objects ====
Within the theorized systems, infants’ core knowledge of objects has been one of the most extensively studied. These studies suggest that young infants appear to have an early expectation of object solidity, namely understanding that objects cannot pass through one another. Similarly, they demonstrate an awareness of object continuity, expecting objects to move on continuous paths rather than teleporting or discontinuously changing their locations. They also expect objects to follow the laws of gravity.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=von Hofsten |first1=Claes |last2=Spelke |first2=Elizabeth S. |title=Object perception and object-directed reaching in infancy. |journal=Journal of Experimental Psychology: General |date=1985 |volume=114 |issue=2 |pages=198–212 |doi=10.1037/0096-3445.114.2.198 |pmid=3159829 |url=https://www.harvardlds.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/spelke2000-1.pdf}}</ref>

==== Numbers ====
Evidence suggests that humans utilize two core systems for number representation: approximate representations and precise representations. The approximate number system helps to capture the relationship between quantities by estimating numerical magnitudes. This system becomes more precise with age. The second system helps to precisely monitor small groups (limited to around 3 for infants) of individual objects and accurately represent those numerical quantities.<ref>Feigenson, L., Dehaene, S., & Spelke, E. (2004). [https://www.harvardlds.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/feigenson2004-1.pdf Core systems of number]. ''TRENDS in Cognitive Sciences'', ''8''(7), 308.</ref>

==== Place ====
Very young children appear to have some skill in navigation. This basic ability to infer the direction and distance of unseen locations develops in ways that are not entirely clear. However, there is some evidence that it involves the development of complex language skills between 3 and 5 years.<ref>Ness, Daniel and Stephen J. Farenga. (2007). [https://books.google.com/books?id=LQpvAAAAQBAJ&dq=%22Knowledge+under+Construction%3A+The+Importance+of+Play+in+Developing+Children%27s+%22&pg=PP1 Knowledge under Construction: The Importance of Play in Developing Children's Spatial and Geometric Thinking]. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.</ref> Also, there is evidence that this skill depends importantly on visual experience, because congenitally blind individuals have been found to have impaired abilities to infer new paths between familiar locations.

One of the original nativist versus empiricist debates was over [[depth perception]]. There is some evidence that children less than 72 hours old can perceive such complex things as [[biological motion]].<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Simion | first1 = F. | last2 = Regolin | first2 = L. | last3 = Bulf | first3 = H. | year = 2008 | title = A predisposition for biological motion in the newborn baby | journal = PNAS | volume = 105 | issue = 2| pages = 809–813 | doi=10.1073/pnas.0707021105| pmc = 2206618 | pmid=18174333| bibcode = 2008PNAS..105..809S | doi-access = free }}</ref> However, it is unclear how visual experience in the first few days contributes to this perception. There are far more elaborate aspects of visual perception that develop during infancy and beyond.

=== Shared Intentionality ===
{{Main|Shared intentionality}}
This approach integrates [[Externalism]] (a group of positions in the philosophy of mind: [[embodied cognition]], [[embodied embedded cognition]], [[enactivism]], [[Extended mind thesis|extended mind]], and [[situated cognition]]) with the Empiricist ideas about the beginning of [[cognition]] only from learning in the environment. According to the Externalism approach, communicative symbols are encoded into the local topological properties of neuronal maps,<ref name="Thompson 2019" /> which reflect a [[Dynamical systems theory|dynamical action pattern]].<ref>Van Gelder, T. (1998). "The dynamical hypothesis in cognitive science." ''Behavioral and Brain Sciences,'' vol. 21 (5), pp. 615-628. DOI: 10.1017/s0140525x98001733.</ref> The sensorimotor neuronal network enables pairing the relevant cue with a particular symbol saved in the sensorimotor structures and processes that reveals [[Embodied cognition|embodied meanings]].<ref name="Thompson 2019" /><ref>Varela, F. J.; Bourgine, P. (1992). "Towards a practice of autonomous systems." ''In Towards a Practice of Autonomous Systems. The first European conference on Artificial Life,'' ed. F. J. Varela and P. Bourgine, pp. xi–xviii. Cambridge: [[MIT Press]].</ref> In this sense, the [[Shared intentionality]] theory does not contradict the Core Knowledge Theory while complements it.

Based on evidence of child cognitive development,<ref name="Val Danilov and Mihailova 2022" /> experimental data from research on child behavior in the prenatal period,<ref>Zoia, S.; Blason, L.; D’Ottavio, G.; Bulgheroni, M.; Pezzetta, E.; Scabar, A.; Castiello, U. (2007). "Evidence of early development of action planning in the human foetus: a kinematic study." ''Experimental brain research,'' 176, 217-226.</ref><ref>Castiello, U.; Becchio, C.; Zoia, S.; Nelini, C.; Sartori, L.; Blason, L.; D'Ottavio, G.; Bulgheroni, M.; Gallese, V. (2010). "Wired to be social: the ontogeny of human interaction." ''PloS one,'' 5(10), p.e13199.</ref><ref>Kisilevsky, B.C. (2016). "Fetal Auditory Processing: Implications for Language Development? Fetal Development." ''Research on Brain and Behavior, Environmental In uences, and Emerging Technologies,'': 133-152.</ref><ref>Lee, G.Y.C.; Kisilevsky, B.S. (2014). "Fetuses respond to father’s voice but prefer mother’s voice after birth." ''Developmental Psychobiology,'' 56: 1-11.</ref><ref>Hepper, P.G.; Scott, D.; Shahidullah, S. (1993). "Newborn and fetal response to maternal voice." ''Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology,'' 11: 147-153.</ref><ref>Lecanuet, J.P.; Granier‐Deferre, C.; Jacquet, A.Y.; Capponi, I.; Ledru, L. (1993). "Prenatal discrimination of a male and a female voice uttering the same sentence." ''Early development and parenting,'' 2(4): 217-228.</ref><ref>Hepper P. (2015). "Behavior during the prenatal period: Adaptive for development and survival." ''Child Development Perspectives,'' 9(1): 38-43. DOI: 10.1111/cdep.12104.</ref><ref>Jardri, R.; Houfflin-Debarge, V.; Delion, P.; Pruvo, J-P.; Thomas, P.; Pins, D. (2012). "Assessing fetal response to maternal speech using a noninvasive functional brain imaging technique." ''International Journal of Developmental Neuroscience,'' 2012, 30: 159–161. doi:10.1016/j.ijdevneu.2011.11.002.</ref>  and advances in inter-brain neuroscience research,<ref name="pmid37563301">{{cite journal | vauthors = Liu J, Zhang R, Xie E, Lin Y, Chen D, Liu Y, Li K, Chen M, Li Y, Wang G, Li X | display-authors = 6 | title = Shared intentionality modulates interpersonal neural synchronization at the establishment of communication system | journal = Communications Biology | volume = 6 | issue = 1 | pages = 832 | date = August 2023 | pmid = 37563301 | pmc = 10415255 | doi = 10.1038/s42003-023-05197-z }}</ref><ref name="pmid34188170">{{cite journal | vauthors = Painter DR, Kim JJ, Renton AI, Mattingley JB | title = Joint control of visually guided actions involves concordant increases in behavioural and neural coupling | journal = Communications Biology | volume = 4 | issue = 1 | pages = 816 | date = June 2021 | pmid = 34188170 | pmc = 8242020 | doi = 10.1038/s42003-021-02319-3 }}</ref><ref name="pmid29292232">{{cite journal | vauthors = Hu Y, Pan Y, Shi X, Cai Q, Li X, Cheng X | title = Inter-brain synchrony and cooperation context in interactive decision making | journal = Biological Psychology | volume = 133 | issue =  | pages = 54–62 | date = March 2018 | pmid = 29292232 | doi = 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2017.12.005 | s2cid = 46859640 }}</ref><ref name="pmid30060130">{{cite journal | vauthors = Fishburn FA, Murty VP, Hlutkowsky CO, MacGillivray CE, Bemis LM, Murphy ME, Huppert TJ, Perlman SB | display-authors = 6 | title = Putting our heads together: interpersonal neural synchronization as a biological mechanism for shared intentionality | journal = Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience | volume = 13 | issue = 8 | pages = 841–849 | date = September 2018 | pmid = 30060130 | pmc = 6123517 | doi = 10.1093/scan/nsy060 }}</ref><ref name="pmid28284802">{{cite journal | vauthors = Szymanski C, Pesquita A, Brennan AA, Perdikis D, Enns JT, Brick TR, Müller V, Lindenberger U | display-authors = 6 | title = Teams on the same wavelength perform better: Inter-brain phase synchronization constitutes a neural substrate for social facilitation | journal = NeuroImage | volume = 152 | issue =  | pages = 425–436 | date = May 2017 | pmid = 28284802 | doi = 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.03.013 | hdl = 11858/00-001M-0000-002D-059A-1 | s2cid = 3807834 | hdl-access = free }}</ref><ref name="pmid20480221">{{cite journal | vauthors = Astolfi L, Toppi J, De Vico Fallani F, Vecchiato G, Salinari S, Mattia D, Cincotti F, Babiloni F | display-authors = 6 | title = Neuroelectrical hyperscanning measures simultaneous brain activity in humans | journal = Brain Topography | volume = 23 | issue = 3 | pages = 243–256 | date = September 2010 | pmid = 20480221 | doi = 10.1007/s10548-010-0147-9 | s2cid = 3488268 }}</ref> research professor at [https://www.liepu.lv/en Liepaja University] Igor Val Danilov introduced the notion of non-local neuronal coupling of the mother and fetus neuronal networks.<ref name="Val Danilov 2023 SI Modulation" /><ref name="Val Danilov 2023 Theoretical" /><ref name="Val Danilov 2023 Origin of Perception" /> The term non-local neuronal coupling refers to the pre-perceptual communication provided by copying adequate ecological dynamics by one biological system from another, both indwelling one environmental context.<ref name="Val Danilov 2023 Theoretical" /><ref name="Val Danilov 2023 Origin of Perception" /> The naive actor (fetus) replicates information from the experienced agent (mother) due to the synchronization of intrinsic processes of these dynamic systems ([[Embodied cognition|embodied information]]).<ref name="Val Danilov 2023 Theoretical" /><ref name="Val Danilov 2023 Origin of Perception" /> This non-local neuronal coupling succeeds due to a low-frequency oscillator (mother's heartbeats) that coordinates relevant local neuronal networks in specific subsystems of these two organisms, which already exhibit gamma activity (similar [[Embodied cognition|embodied information]] in both).<ref name="Val Danilov 2023 Theoretical" /><ref name="Val Danilov 2023 Origin of Perception" /> The registered cooperative neuronal activity in inter-brain research, so-called [[Mirror neuron|mirror neurons]], is probably the manifestation of this non-local neuronal coupling. In such a manner, the experienced agent ensures one-direction conveying information about an actual cognitive event toward an organism at the simple reflexes stage of cognitive development without interacting through sensory signals.<ref name="Val Danilov 2023 Theoretical" /><ref name="Val Danilov 2023 Origin of Perception" /> Obviously, any sensory communication between the mother and fetus is impossible. Therefore, non-local neuronal coupling mediates environmental learning early in cognition.<ref name="Val Danilov 2023 Theoretical" /><ref name="Val Danilov 2023 Origin of Perception" />

The notion of non-local neuronal coupling filled a gap in knowledge both in the Core Knowledge Theory and the group of positions in Externalism about the very beginning of cognition, which has also been shown by the [[binding problem]], the perception stability problem, the excitatory inputs problem, and the problem of Morphogenesis.<ref name="Val Danilov 2023 SI Modulation" /><ref name="Val Danilov 2023 Theoretical" /><ref name="Val Danilov 2023 Origin of Perception" /> The nervous system of the young organism at the prenatal stage of development cannot alone solve the complexity of intentionality-perception development for beginning cognitive development.<ref name="Val Danilov 2023 SI Modulation" /><ref name="Val Danilov 2023 Theoretical" /><ref name="Val Danilov 2023 Origin of Perception" /> For the innate sensitivity to specific patterns of information (referred to as core domains according to the Core Knowledge Theory) or for pairing the relevant cue with a particular symbol saved in the sensorimotor structures (embodied information according to Externalism), the organism only with an ability of reflex responses should distinguish the relevant stimulus (an informative cue) from the environment with the cacophony of stimuli: electromagnetic waves, chemical interactions, and pressure fluctuations.<ref name="Val Danilov 2023 SI Modulation" /><ref name="Val Danilov 2023 Theoretical" /><ref name="Val Danilov 2023 Origin of Perception" /> The notion of non-local neuronal coupling explains the neurophysiological processes of [[Shared intentionality]] at the cellular level that reveal in young organisms the innate sensitivity and/or embodied meanings during cognition.<ref name="Val Danilov 2023 SI Modulation" /><ref name="Val Danilov 2023 Theoretical" /><ref name="Val Danilov 2023 Origin of Perception" /> The [[Shared intentionality]] approach shows how, at different levels of interaction, from interpersonal dynamics to neuronal coupling, the collaborative interaction emerges in the mother-child pairs for sharing the essential sensory stimulus of the actual cognitive event.<ref name="Val Danilov 2023 SI Modulation" /><ref name="Val Danilov 2023 Theoretical" /><ref name="Val Danilov 2023 Origin of Perception" /> Finally, research has already shown that the [[Shared intentionality]] magnitude can be assessed by emulating the mother-fetal communication model in dyads of mothers and children from 2 to 10 years old.<ref>Val Danilov, I.; Svajyan, A.; Mihailova, S. (2023). "A New Computer-Aided Method for Assessing Children's Cognition in Bioengineering Systems for Diagnosing Developmental Delay." ''OBM Neurobiology''; 7(4): 189; doi:10.21926/obm.neurobiol.2304189.</ref><ref>Val Danilov, Igor. (2022). "A Bioengineering System for Assessing Children's Cognitive Development by Computerized Evaluation of Shared Intentionality." ''Proceedings of the 2022 International Conference on Computational Science and Computational Intelligence'' (CSCI'22: December 14-16, 2022, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA); Publisher: IEEE Computer Society, Editors: Hamid R. Arabnia, Leonidas Deligiannidis, Fernando G. Tinetti, and Quoc-Nam Tran. {{ISBN|979-8-3503-2028-2}}; IEEE Catalog Number: CFP2271X-USB, {{doi|10.1109/CSCI58124.2022.00323}}. pp:1591-1598.</ref><ref>Val Danilov, I.; Mihailova, S.; Svajyan, A. (2022). "Computerized Assessment of Cognitive Development in Neurotypical and Neurodivergent Children." ''OBM Neurobiology'' 2022;6(3):18; {{doi|10.21926/obm.neurobiol.2203137}}.</ref>