Modeling the origins of object knowledge

Computational models can be outlined into two distinct kinds: symbolic models and connectionist models. One particular focus of computational modeling research has been the development of object interactions during infancy. In this chapter, the authors describe a number of computational approaches to understand the developing object concept, focusing particularly on the contribution of such models to our understanding of the development of representations governing infant-object interactions across the first two years of life. The authors argue that connectionist models have an important role to play in directing theoretical and empirical research in this area, because they best enable researchers to understand the causal factors at play in the ontogeny of knowledge about objects and cognition in general. A brief review of connectionist modeling principles is also presented.