Biology and Cognitive Development

In this book, the authors attempt to show how a cognitive account of development can be derived from a biological basis, using the example of the development of face recognition. While some research has indicated that newborn infants possess information about the general characteristics of faces, the majority of studies indicate that infants may take several months before they respond selectively to faces. Mark Johnson and John Morton examine these apparently paradoxical claims, and present the results of their own replication and extension of both sets of findings. To generate a cognitive theory that can accommodate these findings, the authors then turn to two sources of evidence from biology: evidence from other species, in particular the domestic chick; and from postnatal growth of the primate brain. They propose a theory of development of face recognition which involves two constructs, Conspec and Conlern. Conspec refers to information present in the newborn concerning the structural characteristics of faces, while Conlern refers to a variety of mechanisms that underlie the recognition of individual faces.
"Biology and Cognitive Development" offers an important new thoery of the development of face recognition and what it can tell us about the interaction between nature and nurture.