?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Adc&rft.title=The+Well-Designed+Child&rft.creator=McCarthy%2C+John&rft.subject=Artificial+Intelligence&rft.description=The+innate+mental+structure+that+equips+a+child+to+interact+succesfully+with+the+world+includes+more+than+universal+grammar.+The+world+itself+has+structures%2C+and+nature+has+evolved+brains+with+ways+of+recognizing+them+and+representing+information+about+them.+For+example%2C+objects+continue+to+exist+when+not+being+perceived%2C+and+children+are+very+likely+%60%60designed''+to+interpret+sensory+inputs+in+terms+of+such+persistent+objects.+Moreover%2C+objects+usually+move+continuously%2C+passing+through+intermediate+points%2C+and+perceiving+motion+that+way+may+also+be+innate.+What+a+child+learns+about+the+world+is+based+on+its+innate+mental+structure.++This+article+concerns+designing+adequate+mental+structures+including+a+language+of+thought.+This+design+stance+applies+to+designing+robots%2C+but+we+also+hope+it+will+help+understand+universal+human+mental+structures.+We+consider+what+structures+would+be+useful+how+the+innateness+of+a+few+of+the+structures+might+be+tested+experimentally+in+humans+and+animals.&rft.date=1997&rft.type=Preprint&rft.type=NonPeerReviewed&rft.format=application%2Fpostscript&rft.identifier=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F428%2F2%2Fchild.ps&rft.identifier=++McCarthy%2C+John++(1997)+The+Well-Designed+Child.++%5BPreprint%5D+++++&rft.relation=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F428%2F