This book is the companion volume to Rethinking Innateness: A Connectionist Perspective on Development (The MIT Press, 1996), which proposed a new theoretical framework to answer the question "What does it mean to say that a behavior is innate?" The new work provides concrete illustrations—in the form of computer simulations—of properties of connectionist models that are particularly relevant to cognitive development. This enables the reader to pursue in depth some of the practical and empirical issues raised in the first book. The authors' larger goal is to demonstrate the usefulness of neural network modeling as a research methodology. The book comes with a complete software package, including demonstration projects, for running neural network simulations on both Macintosh and Windows 95. It also contains a series of exercises in the use of the neural network simulator provided with the book. The software is also available to run on a variety of UNIX platforms.

Much research has been directed at the brain and its more abstract counterpart, the mind. Incorporating the knowledge gained from this current research, the book looks at the relationship between language and the brain/mind.

Behavioral genetics is a fast-growing, multidisciplinary field which attempts to explain the influence of genetic and environmental factors on behavior through the lifespan. The preferred investigative technique for teasing out the differences between genetics and the environment is the longitudinal twin study. This book is the first complete publication from the MacArthur Longitudinal Twin Study (MALTS) that is by far the most ambitious and comprehensive longitudinal twin study to date. The goal of such an in-depth study was not to merely provide thorough descriptions of developmental change between the ages of one and three years, but to offer an original theoretical framework that explains how change occurs in different domains and how genetics and the environment influence those changes. This rigorous study will set the agenda for developmental psychology and behavioral genetics for decades to come.

"This book is designed to be a platform for the most significant educational achievements by teachers, school administrators, and local associations that have worked together in public institutions that range from primary school to the university level"--Provided by publisher.

This is the second volume in the series on Infancy Research, which presents syntheses of theory on infants' development, both human and animal. For researchers in developmental psychology & neuroscience.