An integrated theory of nervous system functioning embracing nativism and constructivism

Neural constructivists have proclaimed, on the basis of arguments which it is suggested in the following are unconvincing, a view of the nervous system which has little place for innate knowledge relating to specific domains. In this paper an alternative position is developed, which by instantiating innate knowledge in a flexible manner provides a more credible alternative. It invokes dynamical systems whose behaviour initially accords with specific algorithms but is modifiable during development, in combination with an object-oriented programming architecture that provides a natural means of specifying systems that have special knowledge of how to approach specific classes of situation.