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This article throws light upon the four main steps involved in the formation of concepts. The steps are: 1. Observation 2. Generalisation 3. Discrimination or Differentiation 4. Abstraction.
Step # 1. Observation:
The first stage in the formation of concepts is the observation of an event, object or an experience. This can also be called the stage of becoming aware. This can be either direct or indirect. The child can directly see a dog and become aware of it.
On the other hand, he also hears stories about devils and giants from his parents and grandparents; here the awareness is indirect. Thus, all of us have some knowledge or awareness of primitive people (or at least we believe we have) even though most of us have not seen them. Generally repeated experiences provide the basis for the development of concepts.
Step # 2. Generalisation:
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Repeated experiences or observations of different objects result in a tendency to form a general idea. Thus, a child first sees one dog, then another dog, then a third and so on and begins to form the general idea of a dog. This is called the process of generalisation. The process of generalisation explains how the child acquires many concepts like the concepts of gender, shape, number, etc.
Step # 3. Discrimination or Differentiation:
Along with generalisation and the observation and organisation of similarities among things and objects, the child also becomes aware of the differences between them. Thus, all dogs are alike and all cows are alike. Dogs run on four legs and cows also do the same.
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At the same time dogs and cows are different from each other and big dogs are different from small dogs, and bulls are different from cows. It is this type of sequential operation of generalisation and differentiation in interaction that leads to the formation of concepts.
Step # 4. Abstraction:
From the description of the above processes the operation of abstraction becomes evident. The child has seen dogs and he happens to see a cow on a different occasion. He does not observe them at the same time but inwardly he compares his experiences on the two occasions.
The perceptions and the experiences are now inwardly analysed and re-experienced in the absence of the objects. This results in an appreciation of similarities and differences. This process by which the experience is analysed in the absence of actual situations is known as abstraction. It is abstraction which actually transforms comparable and contrasting experiences into concepts.
This ability to respond to concrete situations in the absence of the actual situations is known as abstract thinking ability. It can be seen that as the child grows older, the process of abstraction plays an increasingly important role in the development of concepts. It is this process of abstraction which helps us to form ideas of the future and far off objects.
The growth of science, in particular, and knowledge, in general and, perhaps, the growth of culture and civilisation, have all been possible because of our ability to form abstract concepts. Concepts like force, energy, mind, truth are all examples of abstract concepts. Literary creations, masterpieces in art and other fields, are all embodiments of abstract concepts.
The ability to form abstract concepts is related to the intellectual ability of an individual and the richness of his experience. To a large extent performance in intelligence tests also reflects the ability to form abstract concepts. The development of concepts proceeds from general and undifferentiated concepts to differentiated concepts.
For example, when a child looks at an object for the first time, he forms a vague and general idea of the object as a whole. This is why, a child’s concepts are not very clear. Gradually the details of the concepts become clear. One of the authors remembers that once upon a time his little niece referred to a pig as a big rat.
It was only subsequently that the little girl developed both the concepts and was able to differentiate a pig from a rat. The formation of clear concepts, therefore, involves the three processes – generalisation, differentiation and abstraction.
The greater, the wider and the richer an individual’s experience with different objects and stimuli the better is the process of formation of concepts. The reader will, no doubt, understand the importance of the formation of clear concepts for proper adjustment and the importance of a rich and varied environment for enhancing the development of concepts in children.
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Experiments in psychology have shown that certain factors like labelling or giving a name influences the process of the formation of concepts. In a very interesting experiment, years ago, Heidbreder showed how the addition of certain labels to vague visual stimuli influenced concept formation. The effectiveness of social stereotypes again provides an illustration of the same. We form ideas of people on the basis of what we hear about them.