Workshop: A Neoconstructivist Approach to Early Cognitive Development to be held September 15-16 2006 in New York City

对人类知识发展起源的兴趣和争论是持久而古老的，根植于柏拉图、亚里士多德、笛卡尔和休谟的哲学思想，然而由皮亚杰倡导的经验主义方法直到上个世纪才出现。皮亚杰理论的本质是建构主义：从更简单的知觉和认知的前体构建概念。这一观点随后受到了一些研究者（如Baillargeon、Bower、Leslie、Meltzoff、Spelke）的挑战，他们声称记录了早期、早熟的认知成就，催生了一代致力于“有能力的婴儿”概念的研究者。根据这种观点，表征、心智理论、推理、预测、假设检验、演绎等等都是与生俱来的，独立于经验之外。有能力婴儿的观点具有直观的吸引力，但没有解决一个至关重要的挑战：理解新知识产生的机制。这一挑战现在正在得到应对。包含计算模型和发育神经生物学的理论观点强调时间、经验和皮层结构的相互作用，以解释涌现的知识；一条平行但独立的研究路线假设了一套通用的感官、知觉和学习机制，这些机制指导跨领域和发展的知识获取。一个有凝聚力的新建构主义框架可以通过将这些方法的倡导者聚集在一起而凝聚起来。新建构主义回顾了皮亚杰对发展机制的建构主义强调，但也反映了我们对学习机制、皮质发育和建模的理解的现代进步。这个小而集中的研讨会将首次聚集领先的新建构主义理论家。每个参与者都会做一个正式的演讲，参与者之间会有充足的时间进行非正式的互动。主题将包括语言习得、归纳、分类、统计学习、记忆、视觉感知、大脑发育和动态系统。最终的结果将是双重的。首先，参与者将获得重要的知识，帮助他们超越自己的专业领域进行思考，促进他们在主题领域之间建立联系的能力，并建立合作关系。其次，参与者将在编辑的卷中贡献一章。因为它将包含广泛的视角，新建构主义的方法来认知发展，这一卷将是第一个这样的，并将传播到更广泛的研究社区。这本书可能会对发展心理学、婴儿发展、早期教育、认知科学等领域的研究人员产生重大影响。这个研讨会将是一个新颖的事业，因为这是第一次，认知发展的主要研究人员将聚集在一起。虽然每个研讨会参与者都主张用科学严谨的方法来理解变化发生的机制，但参与者在研究中使用的方法也有很大差异。本次研讨会有望弥合计算、神经和行为方法等不同方法论之间长期存在的差距，并揭示语言、视觉、学习、记忆和大脑发展研究之间的联系。这种联系很可能导致基础发展科学的新合作和创新发现，其中一些将反映在每个参与者同意贡献的编辑卷的章节中。这次研讨会和这本书预计将对认知发展心理学、婴儿知觉和大脑发育、早期教育和认知科学等领域产生重大影响。

Interest in and arguments over the developmental origins of human knowledge are abiding and ancient, rooted in the philosophizing of Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, and Hume, yet an empirical approach, advocated by Jean Piaget, appeared only in the last century. The essence of Piaget's theory is constructivism: the building of concepts from simpler perceptual and cognitive precursors. This view was subsequently challenged by researchers (e.g., Baillargeon, Bower, Leslie, Meltzoff, Spelke) who purported to document early, precocious cognitive achievements, spawning a generation of researchers dedicated to the idea of the "competent infant." On this view, representation, theory of mind, reasoning, prediction, hypothesis testing, deduction, and so forth arise innately, independent of experience. The competent-infant view has an intuitive appeal, but leaves unaddressed a vital challenge: to understand the mechanisms by which new knowledge emerges. This challenge is now being met. Theoretical views that embrace computational models and developmental neurobiology emphasize the interplay of time, experience, and cortical architecture to explain emergent knowledge; a parallel but independent line of research posits a set of general-purpose sensory, perceptual, and learning mechanisms that guide knowledge acquisition across domains and development. A cohesive neoconstructivist framework could coalesce by bringing together advocates of these approaches. Neoconstructivism harks back to Piaget's constructivist emphasis on developmental mechanism, yet also reflects modern advances in our understanding of learning mechanisms, cortical development, and modeling. This small and focused workshop will assemble leading neoconstructivist theorists for the first time. Each participant will give a formal talk and there will be ample time for informal interactions between participants. Topics will include language acquisition, induction, categorization, statistical learning, memory, visual perception, brain development, and dynamic systems. The end result will be twofold. First, participants will gain important knowledge to help them think beyond their specific areas of expertise, facilitate their ability to forge links among topical areas, and establish collaborative ties. Second, participants will contribute a chapter to an edited volume. Because it will comprise a wide range of perspectives neoconstructivist approaches to cognitive development, this volume will be the first of its kind and will be disseminated to the wider research community. The book is likely to have a substantial impact on researchers in developmental psychology, infant development, early education, and cognitive science.This workshop will be a novel enterprise because, for the first time, leading researchers in cognitive development will be assembled. Although each workshop participant advocates a scientifically rigorous approach to understanding the mechanisms by which change occurs, participants also vary widely in the methodologies employed in their research. The workshop is expected to bridge longstanding gaps among the disparate methodologies of computational, neural, and behavioral methods, and uncover associations among research on the development of language, vision, learning, memory, and the brain. Such links are likely to lead to new collaborations and innovative findings in basic developmental science, some of which will be reflected in chapters of the edited volume each participant has agreed to contribute. The workshop and book are expected to impact substantially the fields of cognitive developmental psychology, infant perceptual and brain development, early education, and cognitive science.