An Introduction to Rational Constructivism in Cognitive Development

Rational constructivism is a contemporary theory of cognitive development. It proposes that children generate, tweak, and radically revise theories, beliefs, and representations by integrating evidence with existing knowledge via probabilistic inferential learning mechanisms. We begin with a general overview of the theory of rational constructivism, covering its theoretical commitments and predictions. We then describe how it accounts for the empirically observed patterns of both incremental and radical developmental change and discuss the cognitive mechanisms underlying those conceptual changes. Finally, we sketch out a general computational framework for it and address open questions and directions for future research.