In this paper, we are interested in the open-ended
development of adaptive behavior by infant humans in the context of embodied,
enactive cognitive science. We focus on the sensorimotor development of an
infant child from gestation to toddler and discuss what aspects of the body,
brain, and environment could allow for the sort of leaps of complexity observed
in the developing infant that has heretofore not been replicable by artificial
means. We use the backdrops of Piagetian developmental principles and
Sensorimotor Contingency Theory to discuss this process in terms of skill
proficiency, and discuss biologically plausible means for achieving it by
referring to predictive processing and the free energy principle. We also refer
to the theory of affordances to examine the selection of appropriate behaviors
in a complex environment, and investigate phenomenological accounts to discuss
the intentionality inherent in the purposeful behaviors that develop.
Throughout this paper we develop a functional account of infant development
which is based on the aforementioned theories and which leads to a biologically
realistic explanation for the theory laid out by Piaget consistent with the
embodied and enactive views.
Cite this paper
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