Neuroconstructivism

Neuroconstructivism is a theory holding that developmental processes such as gene-to-gene interaction, gene-to-environment interaction and, crucially, an organism's own ontogeny all play a vital role in how the brain progressively sculpts itself and gradually becomes specialized over developmental time. Supporters of neuroconstructivism, notably Annette Karmiloff-Smith, argue against the innate modularity of mind, the view that the brain is composed of innate neural structures or modules with distinct, evolutionarily fixed functions, emphasizing instead innate domain-relevant biases that aid learning and direct attention, so that module-like structures emerge as the product of both experience and these biases. Neuroconstructivism is understood as a bridge between Jerry Fodor's psychological nativism and Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development.