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Psychologists use the term concept formation, or concept learning, to refer to the development of the ability to respond to common features of categories of objects or events. Concepts are mental categories for objects, events, or ideas that have a common set of features. Concepts allow us to classify objects and events. In learning a concept, you must focus on the relevant features and ignore those that are irrelevant (Bourne & colleagues, 1986). For instance, paperbacks and hardcover editions are all books. But you must also discriminate on the basis of relevant features: a stack of papers is not a book. What is the crucial feature of a book? Usually it is the presence of a binding. Most concepts, however, cannot be identified on the basis of a single critical feature.
Most of the words we use refer to concepts and not to particular things. Proper nouns such as "William James" and "California" are exceptions. In learning some of their first concepts, children commonly focus not on names but on the functions of objects. For example, a spoon is something to eat with, and a pan is something to cook in. Other early concepts are based on groupings of objects that are similar in some respect: liquid things, moving things, or soft things. Several theories have been proposed to explain how we learn concepts. The stimulus-response association theory was proposed by Clark Hull (1920). He argued that we learn to associate a particular response (the concept) with a variety of stimuli that define the concept. For instance, we associate the concept "dog" with all of the characteristics of dogs (four legs, fur, tail, and so on) and are able to generalize the concept to unfamiliar dogs. The hypothesis testing theory was proposed by Jerome Bruner and his colleagues (1956). Bruner believed that we develop a strategy of testing our hypotheses about a concept by making guesses about which attributes are essential for defining the concept. While this tends to be the method used by subjects in an experiment, it might not be appropriate in everyday life (perhaps because we often use natural concepts rather than formal concepts in everyday life). Eleanor Rosch (1978) suggested that the natural concepts in everyday life are learned through examples rather than abstract rules. Her exemplar theory proposes that we learn the concept of "dog" by seeing a wide variety of dogs and developing a prototype of what the typical dog is like. Busemeyer and Myung (1988) studied prototype learning in college students by presenting a series of exemplars and asking the subjects to reproduce the prototype. This type of study allows researchers to gain an understanding of the concept learning process. Over the years, everyone is faced with an infinite number of complex stimuli. How we choose to group and sort them into concepts will depend upon our interests, beliefs, values, and experiences with the environment. Consider the concept "job." To one person it may mean an unpleasant task, while to another it is a means of achieving fulfillment. Concept formation is a form of thinking that helps us to better understand the world we live in, as well as ourselves. |
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