Domain-general learning theories of development

Developmental psychology

Developmental psychology, also known as human development, is the scientific study of systematic psychological changes, emotional changes, and perception changes that occur in human beings over the course of their life span. Originally concerned with infants and children, the field has expanded to...

 hold that we develop a global knowledge structure which contains cohesive, whole knowledge internalized from experience. Domains of knowledge are thus interdependent, and training in one domain may well affect performance in another domain.

For example, the influential developmental psychologist Jean Piaget

Jean Piaget

Jean Piaget was a French-speaking Swiss developmental psychologist and philosopher known for his epistemological studies with children. His theory of cognitive development and epistemological view are together called "genetic epistemology"....

 believed that we form cohesive knowledge structures. By contrast, core knowledge theorists believe we have highly specialized functions that are independent of one another, adhering instead to a domain-specific learning

Domain-specific learning

Domain-specific learning theories of development hold that we have many independent, specialized knowledge structures, rather than one cohesive knowledge structure. Thus, training in one domain may not impact another independent domain....

theory of development.