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This article throws light upon the five types of developments of concepts. The types are: 1. Concepts are based on Actions 2. Words are Expressions of Concepts 3. Animistic and Realistic Concepts of Physical Objects 4. Ego-Centric Concepts and Objective Concepts 5. Abstraction and Generalization.
Type # 1.
Concepts are based on Actions:
The little child probably thinks a little and forms some rudimentary concepts before he begins to talk. He can recognize his mother or nurse, expects what she will do to him, and gets ready for her action. Similarly, he recognizes a feeding bottle and expects to suck milk from it.
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Thus he certainly has rudimentary concepts of the person and the thing. The child’s behaviour, even before he can talk, suggests that he is forming rudimentary concepts. His concept of a thing is based upon his behaviour towards it or its behaviour towards him. His concepts of thing are based upon actions.
Type # 2.
Words are Expressions of Concepts:
When the child begins to understand words, and soon after talks, he certainly forms concepts. First imbibes the concepts of common things from the social environment. He forms concepts of the prominent objects of perception. He forms concepts of those objects with which he deals in a practical way.
Type # 3.
Animistic and Realistic Concepts of Physical Objects:
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Between the ages of three and twelve, the child develops concepts of physical objects on the lines of animism or anthropomorphism and realism or mechanism. He conceives of natural phenomena with which he does not deal practically as akin to living beings like himself.
He forms animistic concepts of the sun, the moon, the storm, the rain and the other like phenomena. But he forms mechanistic or realistic concocts of the properties of the physical objects with which he deals practically. Gradually he forms realistic concepts of ‘milk’, ‘bread’, ‘rice’, and the other objects of practical use.
There is a gradual development from animistic to mechanistic concepts of nature in the child’s mind. For example, he has animistic concepts of a ball, a balloon, a cycle, a doll, and the like. But as he manipulates them and makes use of them, he develops mechanistic concepts of them.
His conception of nature passes from animism to mechanism. At first, he ascribes human feelings and desires to physical objects. Then he looks upon them as inanimate objects devoid of feelings and desires.
Type # 4.
Ego-Centric Concepts and Objective Concepts:
The child passes from ego-centric concepts to objective concepts. He forms concepts of physical objects as related to himself. Then he forms concepts of them as related to one another. For example, the child sees the sun and the moon move with him when he walks. At first, he thinks that he makes them move, or that they follow him. He forms egocentric concepts of them.
Then he comes to conceive of them as related to other physical objects, and forms objective concepts of them. Ego-centric concepts are related to the individual’s desires. But objective concepts are practical and correspond with the real nature of things. They relate objects to one another.
Objective concepts are gradually developed in conformity with the physical environment and the social environment. They must accord with nature, and work in the manipulation of objects. They must conform to the accepted ideas of the social group. Thus gradually some of the child’s concepts becomes objective.
Type # 5.
Abstraction and Generalization:
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The child generalizes concepts by assimilation, analysis and abstraction. He assimilates the new to the old, and the strange to the familiar. He forms general concepts by association by similarity. By this process he recognizes the similarity of objects that are not identical, and forms the concepts of a class of similar objects.
He has to analyse similar objects into their component qualities, and fix his mind on the common qualities only and withdraw his mind from the distinguishing qualities. This process is called abstraction. Thus the child forms general concepts of different classes of objects.