PSYC 251 Chapter Notes - Chapter 7: Prototype Theory, Empiricism, Causal Reasoning
25 Oct 2016
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Concepts: general ideas that organize objects, events, qualities, and relations on the basis of some similarity. *let us understand the world and generalize from prior experience. Also tell us how to react emotionally to new experience (fear dog if bitten by one). Nature endows infants with only general learning mechanisms: perceive, associate, generalize, remember. Concepts such as time, space, causality, number, minds is fr exposure to experiences that are relevant. Looking time in habituation studies: not sufficient to suppor conclusions. Born with sense of fundamental concepts: time, space, numbe causality, human mind. Or with specialized learning mechan let them acquire rudimentary understanding of them unusu and easily. Nurture only important beyond the initial level but not for basic understanding. *fundamental concepts: useful in greatest number of situations. 2 groups: categorize kinds of things: human beings, living things, inanimate objects, dimensions used to represent experiences: space, time, number, causality. 3 general categories: inanimate objects; people; other animals.
