Product Description

Developmental cognitive neuroscience is concerned with the relation between the growing brain and the development of mental processes. Bringing together recent advances in molecular biology, neural networks, and brain imaging, this interdisciplinary field is rapidly expanding and offers a cohesive account of the construction of the human mind. This book is the first comprehensive single-authored introduction to the field, and reviews the current state of knowledge in the context of an integrative theoretical framework within which the plasticity and maturation of the brain are analysed.

A central theme of the book is that while there is no evidence of innate cognitive representations in the cortex, the type and location of representation that subsequently emerge are constrained by several factors both intrinsic and extrinsic to the infant. Further, the elongated postnatal development of the human brain reveals a differential development of neural architecture that can be used to make predictions about sequences of cognitive development. The book also outlines a number of avenues for future research.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1548111 in Books
• Published on: 1997
• Original language: German
• Binding: Paperback
• 234 pages

Review
"There is a real lack of texts in the area of developmental cognitive neuroscience and Mark Johnson’s book thus fills and important gap. It takes a decidedly neurocomputational perspective and provides a wonderful synthesis of fundamental issues and an overview of the state of empirical knowledge in this emerging field. It is definitely a clarion call for a new way of doing both developmental psychology and cognitive neuroscience." – Professor Bruce Pennington, University of Denver

"A major topic of this generation of research is to understand the interaction between environment and genetics every level from molecules to the behaviour of organisms. Johnson effectively argues that at the intermediate level of analysis present in cognitive neuroscience we will be able to illuminate this interaction during the course of development. This volume reviews evidence and organizes it in a way that allows one to see how behavioural and physiological experiments with humans and other organisms can help answer very general psychobiological issues. By illuminating basic issues of development this book is as important for students and researchers at the adult level as it is for students of infancy and childhood." – Professor Mike Posner, University of Oregon

From the Back Cover
Developmental cognitive neuroscience is concerned with the relation between the growing brain and the development of mental processes. Bringing together recent advances in molecular biology, neural networks, and brain imaging, this interdisciplinary field is rapidly expanding and offers a cohesive account of the construction of the human mind. This book is the first comprehensive single-authored introduction to the field, and reviews the current state of knowledge in the context of an integrative theoretical framework within which the plasticity and maturation of the brain are analysed.

A central theme of the book is that while there is no evidence of innate cognitive representations in the cortex, the type and location of representation that subsequently emerge are constrained by several factors both intrinsic and extrinsic to the infant. Further, the elongated postnatal development of the human brain reveals a differential development of neural architecture that can be used to make predictions about sequences of cognitive development. The book also outlines a number of avenues for future research.

About the Author
Mark Johnson has "Special Appointment" status at the Cognitive Development Unit and is Professor of Psychology at University College, London.

Customer Reviews

Introducing a new field in style
This is the first introductory textbook on the emerging field of developmental cognitive neuroscience, and one that sets high standards. Professor Johnson provides a clear and comprehensive overview of the essential mechanisms of the development of brain, behavior and cognition. Developmental cognitive neuroscience is a relatively new field of research, and Johnson has been one of its pioneers. The book deals not only with research on human infant development, but also deals with early learning and development in animals. This book is required reading for advanced undergraduates and postgraduates, and it is an excellent guide for researchers and teachers in this field. I will certainly want to use it for courses in developmental cognitive neuroscience.

Confusing
I can see that the author knows his stuff but he really has little idea how to write or to communicate information in such a way that the reader can follow it. He is addicted to saying 'First', 'Second' and 'Finally', without appearing to have any appreciation of the fact that readers will then expect to see information appearing in that order. Two examples:

In Chapter one, under the heading An Outline of this book, he talks about the 'next chapter'. One might reasonably assume a brief overview of each chapter, but this is not forthcoming. From 'the next chapter', he skips to Chapter 9 and leaves it at that.

In Chapter 6, he details three approaches, the final one of which is 'a number of neural correlates'. Turn the page and what do we see? Not a detailed examination of these approaches in the right order, but another set of approaches apparently specific to neural correlates, the last approach of the previous page. At no point does he continue with the stages detailed in his overview.

I'm afraid the whole thing is just too muddled, and I'm surprised the editor did not point this out to him.