Orienting in normal and pathological development

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Abstract
The term plasticity is often confined to changes due to learning. We believe, however, that the rapid lability of human behavior as different mental contents receive attention represents an important form of plasticity. Recent research in temperament and cognitive neuroscience provides an account of the development of a specific neural system involved in attentional self-regulation. In this paper, we concentrate on a network involved in orienting. We describe what is currently known about this network and its development during the first years of life. This network interacts with other attentional networks that come to control orienting to remembered events as well as those currently present. Orienting reflects processes that are both deeply biological and also open to cultural influences through learning. Attention is influenced by the current emotional state and is also important in achieving control over the emotional state. We present evidence on how learning influences eye position between 4 and 18 months of life and indicate influences of orienting on important aspects of infant behavior. Like any biological system, problems can arise in these mechanisms. We speculate on how individual differences in distress proneness and orienting may relate to the development of psychopathology.

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