Editing Cognitive science (section)

===Learning and development===
{{Main|Learning|Developmental psychology}}

Learning and development are the processes by which we acquire knowledge and information over time. Infants are born with little or no knowledge (depending on how knowledge is defined), yet they rapidly acquire the ability to use language, walk, and [[Cognitive neuroscience of visual object recognition|recognize people and objects]]. Research in learning and development aims to explain the mechanisms by which these processes might take place.

A major question in the study of cognitive development is the extent to which certain abilities are [[innate]] or learned. This is often framed in terms of the [[nature and nurture]] debate. The [[Psychological nativism|nativist]] view emphasizes that certain features are innate to an organism and are determined by its [[genetics|genetic]] endowment. The [[empiricist]] view, on the other hand, emphasizes that certain abilities are learned from the environment. Although clearly both genetic and environmental input is needed for a child to develop normally, considerable debate remains about ''how'' genetic information might guide cognitive development. In the area of [[language acquisition]], for example, some (such as [[Steven Pinker]])<ref>{{Cite journal|author=Pinker S., Bloom P.|title=Natural language and natural selection|year=1990|journal=Behavioral and Brain Sciences|issue=4|pages=707–784|volume=13|doi=10.1017/S0140525X00081061|citeseerx=10.1.1.116.4044|s2cid=6167614}}</ref> have argued that specific information containing universal grammatical rules must be contained in the genes, whereas others (such as Jeffrey Elman and colleagues in [[Rethinking Innateness]]) have argued that Pinker's claims are biologically unrealistic. They argue that genes determine the architecture of a learning system, but that specific "facts" about how grammar works can only be learned as a result of experience.