Psychological nativism

Under nativism (from Latin nativus innate, of course) is understood in psychology the view that certain talents or abilities are innate or firmly anchored since birth in the brain. This view is in contrast to the theory of " tabula rasa " that says the brain have few innate skills and learn almost everything through interaction with the environment. This view of nativism is closely related to the work of Jerry Fodor, Noam Chomsky and Steven Pinker, who believe that we are born with certain cognitive modules ( special genetically inherited psychic abilities ) that allow us to learn certain skills and acquire ( like the language ). Without these genetically predetermined contribution to development, many of these capabilities would be significantly impeded.

Empirically, it has been shown that higher mammals certain fears learn much more easily than others, so in monkeys fear of snakes ( Cook & Mineka 1990) and in humans, the fear of spiders ( Öhmann et al., 1995).

Another argument is that even on purely logical grounds all learning a basis, ie a natural vocabulary of the system requires the available meaning elements can be formed on the new concepts only. How large is the extent of the innate meaning basis is, however, presents itself as an empirical question that is addressed, inter alia, in cognitive science, infant research and ethology.