Journal
HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
Volume 63, Issue 3-4, Pages 180-201Publisher
KARGER
DOI: 10.1159/000503823
Keywords
Ecological approach; Dynamics of development; Behavioral flexibility
Categories
Funding
- National Institute of Child Health and Human Development [R01-HD033486, R01-HD086034, R01-HD094830]
- LEGO Foundation
- Keen Foundation
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The ecological approach is a framework for studying the behavior of animals in their environments. My version of an ecological approach focuses on learning in the context of development. I argue that the most important thing animals learn is behavioral flexibility. They must acquire the ability to flexibly guide their behavior from moment to moment in the midst of developmental changes in their bodies, brains, skills, and environments. They must select, modify, and create behaviors appropriate to the current situation. In essence, animals must learn how to learn. I describe the central concepts and empirical strategies for studying learning in development and use examples of infants coping with novel tasks to give a flavor of what researchers know and still must discover about the functions and processes of learning (to learn) in (not and) development.
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