Glossary / Lexicon

Deutsch: Konzept / Español: Concepto / Português: Conceito / Français: Concept / Italiano: Concetto

Concept refers to a generalized idea representing a category of related objects or events; an idea about something that provides a means of understanding the world.

In the psychology context, a "concept" refers to a mental representation or an abstract idea that organizes information into meaningful categories or groups. Concepts allow individuals to classify and interpret a vast array of experiences and stimuli in the world around them. They are fundamental to cognitive processes such as perception, memory, language, and reasoning, serving as building blocks for thought and communication.

Description

Concepts in psychology are used to generalize from particular instances to broader categories, making it easier to understand and interact with the environment. They can be simple, like recognizing types of animals or objects, or more complex, such as understanding abstract ideas like justice or freedom.

Application Areas

• Cognitive Psychology: Studies how concepts are formed, stored, and retrieved in the mind.
• Language Development: Examines how concepts influence language acquisition and how language, in turn, shapes conceptual thought.
• Learning and Education: Investigates how concepts are taught and learned, emphasizing the importance of conceptual understanding in education.
• Social Psychology: Explores how social concepts, such as stereotypes and roles, impact human behavior and societal dynamics.

Well-Known Examples

• Prototype Theory: A theory of concept formation that suggests people categorize objects and experiences based on a typical example or "prototype" of a category.
• Schema Theory: Describes how concepts, or schemas, are mental structures that organize knowledge and guide information processing.

Weblinks

• fitness-and-health-glossary.com: 'Concept' in the fitness-and-health-glossary.com
• top500.de: 'Concept' in the glossary of the top500.de
• quality-database.eu: 'Concept' in the glossary of the quality-database.eu
• allerwelt-lexikon.de: 'Konzept' in the allerwelt-lexikon.de (German)
• maritime-glossary.com: 'Concept' in the maritime-glossary.com

Articles with 'Concept' in the title

• Concept mapping: Concept mapping refers to: (1) The graphical display of concepts and their interrelations, useful in the formulation of theory - and (2) A masculine technique for finding locations by logic and will, without asking for directions
• Self-Concept: Self-Concept: Self-concept refers to the the contents of the self - that is, our perception of our own thoughts, beliefs, and personality traits - a collection of beliefs about one's basic nature, unique qualities, and typical behavior
• Case conceptualization: Case conceptualization refers to the process that allows the clinician to understand, through his or her unique theoretical perspective, a client's presenting problems and subsequently apply appropriate counseling skills and treatment . . .
• Conception: Conception refers to the process when a sperm and egg unite, resulting in an embryo or fetus. Other /More definition: Conception is defined as the moment of fertilization, when a sperm penetrates an ovum, forming a zygote- the union of a . . .
• Conceptual (similarity, taxonomic, nominal, categorical) Classification: Conceptual (similarity, taxonomic, nominal, categorical) Classification : Conceptual (similarity, taxonomic, nominal, categorical) Classification is a term in classification tasks, that refers to the grouping together of items based on . . .
• Conceptual change movement: Conceptual change movement refers to a discovery-oriented movement in education, highly compatible with Bruner’s theory, where the emphasis is on fostering discovery and mental reorganization rather than simply increasing the number of . . .
• Conceptual replication: Conceptual replication refers to the attempt to demonstrate an experimental phenomenon with an entirely new paradigm or set of experimental conditions Please see Converging operations
• Conceptual Understanding: Conceptual Understanding in the psychology context refers to the ability to grasp the underlying principles and relationships that define a concept, beyond just memorizing facts or procedures
• Conceptualism: Conceptualism refers to Abelard's proposed solution to the realism-nominalism debate. Abelard argued that concepts do not have independent existence (realism), but that, being abstractions, they are more than mere names (nominalism)
• Conceptualization: Conceptualization refers to: (1) The mental process whereby fuzzy and imprecise notions (concepts) are made more specific and precise. So you want to study prejudice
• Exemplar view of concepts: Exemplar view of concepts refers to the idea that a concept consists of mental representations of actual instances or examp les.
• Nonanalytic concept formation: Nonanalytic concept formation are cognitive processes that implicitly acquire knowledge of a Complex structure during the memorization of examples.
• Concept attainment: Concept attainment is a term in Bruner’s system it refers to the process of discovering the attributes that identify members of a category. (see Concept formation.)
• Concept formation: Concept formation is the process of classifying information into meaningful categories - discovering that different classes exist, in Bruner’s system
• Disjunctive concept: Disjunctive concept refers to a concept defined by the presence of at least one of several possible features- for example, to qualify an object must be either blue or circular
• Classical view of concepts: Classical view of concepts refers to the idea that all examples or instances of a concept share fundamental characteristics or features.
• Conceptual apraxia: Conceptual apraxia refers to a sub-type of Apraxia in which the knowledge of the action has been lost.
• Conceptual knowledge: Conceptual knowledge refers to the knowledge that demonstrates understanding of general concepts.
• Conjunctive concept: Conjunctive concept refers to a class of objects that have two (2) or more features in common.
• Knowledge-based view of concepts: Knowledge-based view of concepts is the idea that concepts function in relation to their instances as a scientific theory does to data supporting it.
• Joint Terrorism Task Force concept: Joint Terrorism Task Force concept refers to the combination of resources of various federal agencies
• Natural-kind concepts: Natural-kind concepts refer to concepts pertaining to naturally occurring substances.
• Nominal-kind concept: Nominal-kind concept are concepts pertaining to ideas or objects that have well-delimited definitions.
• Prototype view of concepts: Prototype view of concepts refers to the idea that all concepts are organized around idealized mental representations of examples.

Summary

In the psychology context, a concept is a mental construct that organizes knowledge and enables individuals to categorize and make sense of the world. Concepts play a crucial role in all aspects of cognitive function, from basic perception to complex reasoning and social interaction, influencing how we think, communicate, and understand our environment.

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