Multiple systems: A new approach to cognitive theory

Abstract

Cognitive processes turn out to be both more innate and more culturally based than we used to think. On the one hand, ecological and interpersonal perception are innately prepared, available in infancy; on the other, mental development depends critically on social support. Taken together with the emerging multiple/modular structure of the brain, these discoveries demand a new kind of cognitive theory: an ecologically grounded, developmental account of distinct systems in interaction. Three such systems, primarily perceptual in function, are described here: (1) direct perception/action establishes an immediate non-representational sense of self and environment that grounds all other cognition; (2) interpersonal perception/reactivity produces species-specific patterns of social interaction; (3) recognition/representation identifies and classifies what is perceived. These systems are distinguished by neurological as well as psychological criteria: the neuroanatomical “where/what” distinction, for example, reflects the difference between direct perception and recognition. Cooperation among these three systems, which begins near the end of the first year, is basic to language and other forms of cultural learning.