The Child as Hacker

Published on October 2, 2020

The scope of human learning and development poses a radical challenge for cognitive science. We propose that developmental theories can address this challenge by adopting perspectives from computer science. Many of our best models treat learning as analogous to computer programming because symbolic programs provide the most compelling account of sophisticated mental representations. We specifically propose that children’s learning is analogous to a particular style of programming called hacking, making code better along many dimensions through an open-ended set of goals and activities.

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