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Précis of What Babies Know

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 May 2023

Elizabeth S. Spelke Open the ORCID record for Elizabeth S. Spelke [Opens in a new window]
Elizabeth S. Spelke*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Center for Brains, Minds, and Machines, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
*
Corresponding author: Elizabeth S. Spelke; Email: spelke@wjh.harvard.edu
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Abstract

Where does human knowledge begin? Research on human infants, children, adults, and nonhuman animals, using diverse methods from the cognitive, brain, and computational sciences, provides evidence for six early emerging, domain-specific systems of core knowledge. These automatic, unconscious systems are situated between perceptual systems and systems of explicit concepts and beliefs. They emerge early in infancy, guide children's learning, and function throughout life.

Keywords

cognition in infancycognitive developmentcore knowledgedevelopmental cognitive scienceorigins of knowledge

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Précis
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Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 47 , 2024 , e120
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Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press

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