Elective Course - Brain and Cognitive Development

Infancy is the period of most dramatic brain and cognitive development, and where we see the biggest changes in cognition. Understanding this period of cognitive development and what drives cognitive development is crucial for understanding human cognition more broadly. This course is focused on the topic of infant and early childhood cognition, and will draw on our knowledge of the developing brain, and findings from neuroimaging.  We will begin with an introduction to the field of infant cognitive development, an overview of brain development, and current methodology for studying infants and their brains. In subsequent weeks, we will cover a new topic each week, including both domains of knowledge (including objects, number, faces, social reasoning, morality) and mechanisms of early learning (information expectation, information seeking, statistical learning). The course is aimed at providing a state-of-the-art on cognitive development and will be focused on the most recent research that has transformed our understanding of what and how infants learn. 

Full participation in class is required. The course requires reading papers weekly prior to participation in class, as set by the teacher. These may differ each week and may include reading a short scientific paper or a popularized account of a scientific paper, or watching a short popularized documentary before attending class. During class, students will then discuss in small groups questions related to these papers/popularized content. Answers will be uploaded to a forum so that each student can benefit from others’ views.