We propose a simple computational model that describes potential mechanisms underlying the organization and development of the lexical-semantic system in 18-month-old infants. We focus on two independent aspects: (i) on potential mechanisms underlying the development of taxonomic and associative priming, and (ii) on potential mechanisms underlying…

Since Wing "Communications of the ACM," 49, 33-35, (2006) popularized computational thinking (CT) as a skill for every student, it has gained significant traction as an approach to bring computer science tools and practices into K-12 classrooms. At the same time, teachers often see the relevance of CT as a tool to introduce problem…

As one of the core skills of the 21st century, computational thinking has received increasing attention from educators and researchers. Although some research has been conducted on computational thinking, few studies examined the impact of learning activities on students' computation thinking skills from the perspective of cognitive development.…

Acquisition of relational knowledge is a core process in cognitive development. Relational knowledge is dynamic and flexible, entails structure-consistent mappings between representations, has properties of compositionality and systematicity, and depends on binding in working memory. We review three types of computational models relevant to…

Prodigies are individuals with exceptional mental abilities. How is it possible that some of these people mentally calculate exponentiations with high accuracy and speed? We examined CP, a mental calculation prodigy, and a control group of 11 normal calculators for moderate mental arithmetic tasks. CP has additionally been tested for exceptionally…

The contribution of the three core components of working memory (WM) to the development of mathematical skills in young children is poorly understood. The relation between specific WM components and Numerical Operations, which emphasize computation and fact retrieval, and Mathematical Reasoning, which emphasizes verbal problem solving abilities in…

We applied overlapping waves theory and microgenetic methods to examine how children improve their estimation proficiency, and in particular how they shift from reliance on immature to mature representations of numerical magnitude. We also tested the theoretical prediction that feedback on problems on which the discrepancy between two…

A key question in early number development is how 4- and 5-year-olds learn the roles that counting and cardinal numbers play when comparing quantities. Children who wrongly used length to identify numerosity were assigned to five experimental groups and trained to judge whether a puppet--who sometimes miscounted--created equivalent sets. Over…

Despite the increasing use of the microgenetic methodology to examine change, the techniques employed to analyse microgenetic data remain fairly unsophisticated. This paper reviews the existing ways of analysing such data and describes their limitations. We use two recent studies to illustrate how modelling can avoid these problems and reveal…

Arguing that cognitive development involves both conceptual and semiotic achievements, the authors emphasize the distinctness of semiotic issues and develop a differentiated appreciation of semiotic aspects of cognition, particularly in elementary mathematics cognition. Semiotic analyses are provided of differences between counting, adding, and…

This study investigated the developmental dynamics of mathematical performance during children's transition from preschool to Grade 2 and the cognitive antecedents of this development. 194 Finnish children were examined 6 times according to their math performance, twice during each year across a 3-year period. Cognitive antecedents, that is,…

Various counting tasks were presented to 24 congenitally, totally blind children, aged 3-13, to determine the behaviors employed to ensure accurate counting. Three dimensions of tactile strategies were found, including "scanning,""organizing," and "partitioning." A developmental progression in the ontogenesis of each…

Computational models of infant categorization often fail to elaborate the transitional mechanisms that allow infants to achieve adult performance. In this article, we apply a successful connectionist model of adult category learning to developmental data. The Supervised and Unsupervised Stratified Adaptive Incremental Network (SUSTAIN) model is…