Helmholtz Lecture Sabine Hunnius, April 11: Curious babies: Understanding infant cognitive development

Helmholtz lecture Sabine Hunnius (Donders Centre for Cognition, Radboud University)

Title: Curious babies: Understanding infant cognitive development

Abstract: 

Young children develop at a breath-taking rate. Within just a few years, they change from a helpless newborn into a schoolchild who has all abilities and skills needed to start formal education. To understand how such rapid cognitive development is at all possible, we can turn to five fundamental principles of infant learning. In my talk, I will discuss these principles and explain how they shape early cognitive development. 

First, infants come into this world equipped to learn. They are highly sensitive to statistical patterns in their environment and readily detect and retain structures they observe. This ability is thought to support the emergence of many cognitive capacities, from language to social understanding. Second, infants use this information to build predictive models of the world. Moreover, they are smart learners, as they are able to continuously and flexibly update their internal models in light of new information. Third, infant learning can be so fast and effective, as it is supported by early-existing attentional biases: Young children are curious from the start and allocate attention to and preferably explore stimuli that are informative. Fourth, infants become better learners as they grow older, because their early learning changes the way they learn later. Lastly, caretakers play a vital role in creating ideal learning opportunities for infants by adapting their interactions to the infants’ attentional preferences and learning capabilities. 

Together, these principles highlight how the complex interplay of infants’ basic learning mechanisms, attentional and exploration biases, and social exchanges gives rise to the astonishing developmental changes observed in early childhood.

Location: Ruppert building room Paars (Purple), Leuvenlaan 21 3584 CE Utrecht

Helmholtz Lectures take place from 4 to 5pm, with drinks afterwards next to the lecture room.

Helmholtz agenda: https://helmholtzschool.nl/category/agenda/

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