This grant will support an integrative conference bringing together researchers from diverse areas in the study of infant learning and cognition to move toward a more general understanding of the role of learning at the earliest points in cognitive development. Much of the work on infant cognition has focused on infants' knowledge in core domains, but has not thoroughly investigated the factors that contribute to the growth of this knowledge. Recent research elucidating rich learning processes in infants offers a vantage point from which to address this gap, and thereby address a number of unresolved issues concerning the nature of the infant mind. The focal presentations will be given by 10 to 12 high-profile investigators selected because (1) their research directly investigates infant learning, and/or (2) they engage with theoretical issues relevant to higher order cognition in infants. These speakers will represent cutting edge investigations of infants' learning and cognition as it pertains to objects, language, categories and social partners, as well as studies of the basic processes that support learning. Within each of these areas, speakers who represent different perspectives on key issues will be invited. These talks will be integrated and synthesized by a group of senior discussants, chosen for their broad perspectives on learning and cognition across the lifespan. The discussants will elucidate the general issues and principles, and place the infant findings in a broader developmental context. In addition, junior investigators will be invited to participate in the general discussion and to present their work. By bringing together converging perspectives on infant learning and cognition, this meeting will help to forge new ways of understanding the infant mind. More broadly, this meeting will impact understanding of the mind well beyond infancy. Considering the role of learning at the dawn of cognitive development will shed light on the aspects of cognition that may be flexible across contexts or societies, and the aspects that are strongly determined, either by innate constraints on learning or by the robustness of environmental supports for learning. Moreover, understanding these issues will provide important insights into developmental disorders, ranging from mental retardation, to autism, to motor and sensory impairments.
