Domain-Specific Knowledge and Conceptual Change

Abstract

argue that human reasoning is guided by a collection of innate domain-specific systems of knowledge [at least 3 domains: physics, psychology, and number] / each system is characterized by a set of core principles that define the entities covered by the domain and support reasoning about those entities / sketch one potential mechanism underlying conceptual change and motivate a central empirical problem for cognitive anthropology: to what extent is there cross-cultural universality in the domains covered by innate systems of knowledge (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)