An in-place learning algorithm is provided for a multi-layer developmental network. The algorithm includes: defining a sample space as a plurality of cells fully connected to a common input; dividing the sample space into mutually non-overlapping regions, where each region is a represented by a neuron having a single feature vector; and estimating a feature vector of a given neuron by an amnesic average of an input vector weighted by a response of the given neuron, where amnesic is a recursive computation of the input vector weighted by the response such that the direction of the feature vector and the variance of signal in the region projected onto the feature vector are both recursively estimated with plasticity scheduling.