Scientist in the Cradle: Mind, Brain, and Children's Learning

Author: (USA) Gopnik, Melzof, Kuhl
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-12-01
Features: Scientists and Cradles? We wrote this book to illustrate that scientists and children in cradles share common characteristics. Over the past 30 years, scientists—just like us—have been observing infants in cradles—whether they are in cradles, daycares, or preschools. Hundreds of rigorous scientific studies have told us how babies and young children think and learn. These studies include research on the nature of human thought and the brain. They have also helped us answer profound and ancient philosophical questions. Through observing infants and young children in cradles and daycares, we have learned as much as we have through covered culture dishes and telescopes, and to some extent, even more—we have learned the meaning of being human. In this book, we tell the story of the new science of the child's mind. This story should be important to anyone interested in intelligence and the brain. It is a central part of the new discipline of cognitive science. Cognitive science combines psychology, philosophy, linguistics, computer science, and neuroscience. New scientific insights often come from unexpected or even seemingly insignificant places, and in cognitive science, some of the most important insights come from cradles and daycares. Understanding children allows us to understand ourselves in a new way. Scientists and children share common characteristics to some extent. New research shows that infants and young children know and understand more than we thought. They think, draw conclusions, make predictions, seek explanations, and even conduct experiments. Scientists and children belong to the same part because they are both the best learners in the universe. This means that ordinary adults also have stronger learning abilities than we think. After all, adults grow from children and have the potential to be scientists.