A developmental perspective on behavioral determinants

This paper presents a developmental perspective on behavioral determinants which integrates some aspects of the Piagetian and Gibsonian theories as well as some basic postulates of AI theories. This developmental model is summarized in a series of assertions and illustrated by examples of various kinds of behavior. It assumes that three qualitatively different changes in behavioral determinants take place between birth and 18 years; this assumption means that the link between sensory information and action undergoes several transformations during development. Moreover, within each stage, behavior is determined by the degree of development of the subject’s representation of objects and of himself. The initial state of behavior at birth is particularly discussed in this paper, with regard to imitation ability and auditory-visual coordination. The issue is whether or not development begins from a differentiated or non-differentiated subject-object relationship.