web02.fireside.fm Wed, 22 Apr 2026 04:58:47 -0500 Fireside (https://fireside.fm) The It's Innate! Podcast - Episodes Tagged with “Developmental Mechanism” https://itsinnate.fireside.fm/tags/developmental%20mechanism Sun, 16 Mar 2025 08:00:00 -0400 Two opinionated developmental cognitive scientists wax theoretical about how infants and children acquire knowledge! en-us episodic A podcast by two developmental cognitive scientists Deon Benton & Jenny Wang Two opinionated developmental cognitive scientists wax theoretical about how infants and children acquire knowledge! no Deon Benton & Jenny Wang theitsinnatepodcast@gmail.com Episode 25: Something to pique your curiosity (with Gert Westermann) https://itsinnate.fireside.fm/25 5bf4c99d-a44f-4999-93fd-0709e2f7a1e3 Sun, 16 Mar 2025 08:00:00 -0400 Deon Benton & Jenny Wang full Deon Benton & Jenny Wang 1:49:34 no In the first half of this episode, Jenny and I chat with Dr. Gert Westermann about his rather circuitous journey in cognitive science as well as about the role of modeling in the cognitive sciences and an early encounter with nativism in a language class. In the second half, we talk about how curiosity might develop. We center the discussion on a somewhat recent paper, which was led by his then postdoc Dr. Katie Twomey, in which they propose a theory of how curiosity works mechanstically. He talks about how when this proposal was implemented in a computational model, it was able to account for existing infant categorization data. This episode was such a joy to record. Links Twomey, K. E., & Westermann, G. (2018). Curiosity‐based learning in infants: A neurocomputational approach. Developmental science, 21(4), e12629. Link (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/desc.12629) Special Guest: Gert Westermann. curiosity, developmental mechanism, development science, cognitive science In the first half of this episode, Jenny and I chat with Dr. Gert Westermann about his rather circuitous journey in cognitive science as well as about the role of modeling in the cognitive sciences and an early encounter with nativism in a language class. In the second half, we talk about how curiosity might develop. We center the discussion on a somewhat recent paper, which was led by his then postdoc Dr. Katie Twomey, in which they propose a theory of how curiosity works mechanstically. He talks about how when this proposal was implemented in a computational model, it was able to account for existing infant categorization data. This episode was such a joy to record.

Links

Twomey, K. E., & Westermann, G. (2018). Curiosity‐based learning in infants: A neurocomputational approach. Developmental science, 21(4), e12629. Link

Special Guest: Gert Westermann.

]]> In the first half of this episode, Jenny and I chat with Dr. Gert Westermann about his rather circuitous journey in cognitive science as well as about the role of modeling in the cognitive sciences and an early encounter with nativism in a language class. In the second half, we talk about how curiosity might develop. We center the discussion on a somewhat recent paper, which was led by his then postdoc Dr. Katie Twomey, in which they propose a theory of how curiosity works mechanstically. He talks about how when this proposal was implemented in a computational model, it was able to account for existing infant categorization data. This episode was such a joy to record.

Links

Twomey, K. E., & Westermann, G. (2018). Curiosity‐based learning in infants: A neurocomputational approach. Developmental science, 21(4), e12629. Link

Special Guest: Gert Westermann.

]]> Episode 13: What is a developmental mechanism? What is developmental change? https://itsinnate.fireside.fm/13 5d9881fb-7a07-4b97-9ca6-2fdb16cf4c40 Fri, 31 Mar 2023 20:00:00 -0400 Deon Benton & Jenny Wang full Deon Benton & Jenny Wang 1:51:57 no Do you need a PhD to get a PhD? An odd question, no doubt, but unless you were born yesterday or under a rock, you've likely noticed that applicants for PhD programs are becoming increasingly more competitive. For example, whereas in the past it would be uncommon to encounter an applicant with one or more publications, these days this seems to be the rule rather than the exception. We open the episode by talking about this phenomenon and why it might be unhealthy for the field. We also talk about what could be done to fix it. We then transition to the main segment to talk about a recent paper by Deon, published in Developmental Review, about "developmental mechanisms". We talk about what they are, about how to study developmental mechanisms, and about what is meant by "developmental change". Links Benton, D. T. (2022). The Elusive “Developmental Mechanism”: What they are and how to study and test them. Developmental Review, 65, 101034. Link to paper (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0273229722000247?casa_token=CzSKTmnatkkAAAAA:kWR_iE_P2tVpdysS6CMy-U-kYMRmq3I18hkYAuvc5wk_g7HCFeRLX0hTfgYXl7lJzJ8XZ1Yf) mechanism, developmental mechanism, developmental change, development Do you need a PhD to get a PhD? An odd question, no doubt, but unless you were born yesterday or under a rock, you've likely noticed that applicants for PhD programs are becoming increasingly more competitive. For example, whereas in the past it would be uncommon to encounter an applicant with one or more publications, these days this seems to be the rule rather than the exception. We open the episode by talking about this phenomenon and why it might be unhealthy for the field. We also talk about what could be done to fix it.

We then transition to the main segment to talk about a recent paper by Deon, published in Developmental Review, about "developmental mechanisms". We talk about what they are, about how to study developmental mechanisms, and about what is meant by "developmental change".

Links

Benton, D. T. (2022). The Elusive “Developmental Mechanism”: What they are and how to study and test them. Developmental Review, 65, 101034. Link to paper

]]> Do you need a PhD to get a PhD? An odd question, no doubt, but unless you were born yesterday or under a rock, you've likely noticed that applicants for PhD programs are becoming increasingly more competitive. For example, whereas in the past it would be uncommon to encounter an applicant with one or more publications, these days this seems to be the rule rather than the exception. We open the episode by talking about this phenomenon and why it might be unhealthy for the field. We also talk about what could be done to fix it.

We then transition to the main segment to talk about a recent paper by Deon, published in Developmental Review, about "developmental mechanisms". We talk about what they are, about how to study developmental mechanisms, and about what is meant by "developmental change".

Links

Benton, D. T. (2022). The Elusive “Developmental Mechanism”: What they are and how to study and test them. Developmental Review, 65, 101034. Link to paper

]]>