ABSTRACT

Historically, research in cognitive development has been restricted to the realm of observable behaviour. Following the model of ethologists and early developmental theorists, our field has profited extensively from the understanding that significant information can be learned simply by observing children behave in both natural and controlled environments. Efforts to link behavioural changes in cognitive development to changes in brain development rely heavily on the examination of postmortem specimens, observations of children known to have specific head injuries, or extrapolation from the adult neuropsychology literature. Given technological advances and refinements since the 1980s, a number of brain imaging techniques are now available for use in the in vivo and online examination of brain structure and function.