PSY E202 Lecture Notes - Lecture 14: General Idea, Empiricism, Psy
Document Summary
Concepts: general idea that can organize objects, events, qualities on the basis of some similarity. Think back to what topics we have already discussed. Innate understanding of concepts plays a central role in development. Empiricists argue that: concepts arise from learning mechanisms. Keil asked children two kinds of questions: on this piece of land, there are apartment buildings, snow, and no green things growing. This piece of land is surrounded by water on all sides. Could this be an island: there is a place that sticks out land like a finger. Coconut trees and palm trees grow there, and the girls sometimes wear flowers in their hair because it"s so warm all the time. There is water on all sides except one. Could this be an island: the older the kid is, the more she/he is going to look at the defining characteristics that can geographically make up an island.
