ABSTRACT
Although it might not always be apparent, there is no question that even very young infants have an active mental life. They are constantly learning and developing new ideas, and they do so in many different ways. Moreover, what infants learn, and the capacities they demonstrate in doing so, affect virtually all aspects of their later development. The questions that currently motivate thinking and research about infant cognition are these: What is infant cognition? How well can it be measured? What can infants learn about the world around them? How do they learn? How do cognition and learning develop in infancy? How do infants differ from one another in their mental abilities? How can we foster mental development in infancy and later? How do infant mental abilities relate to later cognition, emotion, and social development?
