Despite recent advances in computer science and machine learning, human infants remain the most prodigious learners on the planet. This seminar considers the origins and nature of human cognitive development in four broad domains: knowledge of objects and their physical relationships, knowledge of people and social relationships, knowledge of geometry and the larger spatial layout, and knowledge of numbers and mathematics. We will discuss how these foundational cognitive building blocks support humans? ability to explain, understand, and generalize, skills that are critical for successfully navigating our surroundings. Understanding these core psychological competencies has become essential to progress in many areas of society, including efforts to improve education, to create digital ?cognitive assistants? who help us navigate, plan, and remember things, and to develop human-like artificial intelligence. Building on findings from basic research, we will consider how each of these efforts can be advanced.