Sometimes imputed to cortical areas, it is a conception of the mind as composed of an innately-provided set of independently-operating mental computers, each tuned to accept different input and to subject it to different processing. A number module would be tuned to detect how numerous items were, and the occurrence of addition or subtraction could be observed. A language module would be tuned to accept speech-sounds and assign them meaning. No cross-talk would occur between modules. The same line of thinking applies to specific perceptual and cognitive abilities as being physically and computationally isolated from each other. This hypothesis really took root with Jerry Levy’s book The modularity of mind (1983).
See Brain (or encephalon), Cerebral cortex (functions), Cognitive development, Cognitive structures, CONLERN, Cytoarchitectonic independence, Domain specificity, Double association, Equipotentiality, Innate (1), Innate modularity hypothesis, Interactive specialization approach (or hypothesis), Mental modules