NEURAL-NETWORK MODELS AND MECHANISMS OF STRATEGY-DEVELOPMENT

The focus of this paper is mechanisms that may be responsible for inte llectual and developmental differences in the cognitive strategies of typical and atypical children, including those with mental retardation . The discussion of these mechanisms is based on behavioral experiment s on external memory strategies and on a set of neural network models designed for these tasks. Following the review of the external memory research, the rationale for using neural network models, how they have been used in other research, and their specific application to intell ectual and developmental differences in external memory, including the results of several simulations, are reviewed. This is followed by a d iscussion of the mechanisms of intellectual differences and developmen tal change included in the models and some challenges for this type of modelling. Neural network modelling is discussed as an asset to resea rch on cognitive development. (C) 1997 Academic Press.