Angelo Cangelosi and Matthew Schlesinger present a fascinating review of ongoing scientific and technological research on human intelligence by exploring the parallel between robotics research and the study of child development. By highlighting the role of robotic engineering as a tool to investigate the principles giving rise to human intelligence, the book presents a very timely and convincing message in support of interdisciplinary research.
Giulio Sandini, Director, Robotics, Brain and Cognitive Sciences Department, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia; Professor of Bioengineering, University of Genova
If you build it, they will come...and we have! This volume distills the principles of the exciting new field of developmental robotics. Although researchers will undoubtedly find places to argue with the authors, that's really the point—the volume states these principles in an accessible way that will promote progress. Developmental robotics has finally stood up and taken a big step forward.
John P. Spencer, Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Iowa; coeditor of Toward a Unified Theory of Development: Connectionism and Dynamic Systems Theory Re-Considered
With Developmental Robotics Angelo Cangelosi and Matthew Schlesinger provide a much-needed overview and cartography of a research area that has only emerged in the last two decades, combining their considerable interdisciplinary expertise and sharing their vast knowledge not only with students but also with researchers from related fields. Indeed, this book is a very dense source of inspiration and insight for researchers from all robotic fields.
Gerhard Sagerer, Professor of Applied Informatics, Center of Excellence on Cognitive Interaction Technology, Bielefeld University
Cangelosi and Schlesinger provide a thorough and thoughtful overview of the emerging field of developmental robotics. Integrating insights from the full range of historical traditions on development, and bringing them together with the power of modern computational methods, they show us how the effort to understand development will depend both on classical analytic approaches and on synthetic experiments with robots that develop their mental abilities through experience. Anyone wishing to know where we are and where we are going in the effort to understand how mind and purposive behavior arise from biology and experience will want to own a copy of this book.
Jay McClelland, Director, Center for Mind, Brain, and Computation, Stanford University
... with their combined background in psychology, cognitive science, and artificial intelligence, Cangelosi and Schlesinger are well equipped to illustrate the full-breadth of this dynamic field. Developmental robotics primarily draws people from psychology and artificial intelligence. However it goes far beyond that with connections to linguistics, neuroscience, philosophy of mind, and more. The book provides an extensive set of references (50 pages long) highlighting the true interdisciplinary nature of the field. (...) Cangelosi and Schlesinger's book provides a clear and accessible introduction to developmental robotics, demonstrating the exciting kinds of research that result from interdisciplinary collaborations.
Genetic Programming and Evolvable Machines
