Fetal and neonatal origins of being a person and belonging to the world.

The complexity of the psycho-biological development of the individual in his surroundings is described according to the General Systems Theory. Biological data derived from the observation of fetal and neonatal motor development show that movement is a modular function and that genetic, epigenetic and learned repertoires of modules can be distinguished. A systemic hierarchy grows into a structure in which the mind appears to be a function of biological functions. The findings strongly support the notion of autonomous initiative in the individual who appears to be the protagonist of the building up of his personal identity and of his belonging to the world. The core of this individual autonomy and relationship with the human partners is described as "the secret". This creative autonomy is the drive for growth in the emotional and also in the cognitive dimensions. The child casts his taxonomic net on the surroundings. This net, allowing him to attain new contexts, is given initially by epigenetic paragons. Early cognitive development and learning are seen as the result of metaphoric freedom. In a systemic developmental model the qualitative gain due to the attainment of new acquisition contexts gives the phenomenon a punctate feature.