Description:

Dr. Susan Hespos from Northwestern University, will give a talk and present data on the early evidence for conceptual knowledge and discuss conceptual development prior to much influence from language and culture. These studies will reveal new insights about the nature of representational abilities that emerge early in development and focus on aspects of cognition that are continuous through development. Susan's take-home message is that infants think before they speak. More specifically, if we can specify the nature of representations in young infants then we will be in a better position to understand two things: how language may capitalize on pre-existing cognitive abilities and how these abilities relate to the cognitive abilities of other species.