This paper examines the nature of concepts and conceptual processes and the manner of their formation. It argues that a process of successive abstraction and systematization is central to the evolution of conceptual structures. Classificatory processes are discussed and three levels of abstraction outlined. (Author/SJL)

Three experiments tested 3- and 4-year-olds' use of abstract principles to classify and label objects by shape or function. Findings indicated that 4-year-olds readily adopted either rule when instructed to match objects by shape or function, but 3-year-olds followed only the shape rule. Without a rule, 4-year-olds tended to match by shape unless…

This paper examines the cognitive process of concept development in preschool children, based on recent psychological research. Rather than attempting an exhaustive review of the more than 7000 articles written on children's concepts of categories, the paper highlights and illustrates four key themes that emerge from recent research: first,…

Examined the nature of perceptual classification in children and young adults. Found that most children attend selectively to one stimulus dimension when making perceptual classification judgments. Suggests that this developmental trend does not appear to be a holistic-to-analytic shift but rather a trend toward greater consistency in following a…

Two experiments investigated perceptual primacy of dimensional and similarity relations in stimulus classification of mentally retarded children. Results support a distinction between separable and integral stimulus structures, but do not support an integral-to-separable shift in perceptual development. Results suggest implications for…

Thirteen congenitally blind students (6-18 years old) who participated in a 2-year Piagetian-oriented remedial program experienced significant gains on 22 of 26 reasoning variables (as measured by a Piagetian battery), compared to a non-treatment group of Ss which achieved significant gains on seven of 26 variables. Results suggested the need for…

Evaluated was an intervention program designed to teach reasoning skills to 13 congenitally blind students (6-18 years old). Remediation was focused on classification, conservation and abstract operations, and mental imagery development. At the conclusion of 17 months, Ss' performance was compared with that of a control group matched for age and…

The pamphlet examines the kinds of play that are useful in developing the basis for later abstract thinking--specifically the development of mathematical concepts. The mathematical concepts included are numbers, conservation, one-to-one correspondence, counting and sequencing, ordering, sorting and classification, sorting and sets, and equivalence…

The Domain of Cognition is a taxonomy for planning, sequencing, and implementing instruction, which covers the entire range of cognitive and cognitive-affective learning and behavior. Students acquire, learn, and use information on eight hierarchically and sequentially arranged levels of complexity. The levels and their corresponding abilities…

This study examines the relationship between a child's concept of geographic and territorial relationships and his competence on classification and class inclusion measures. Jean Piaget's stages of development and studies conducted by other investigators (Jahoda, 1964; Stoltman, 1971; Rand and Towler, 1973; Flavell, 1963; Asher, et al, 1971;…

During socialization, individuals begin to understand increasingly broader and more abstract units of personal and social reality. Subjects (N=97) ranging in age from 13 to late middle age completed a linguistic task in which they could impose higher order conceptions on lower order descriptions by identifying different level similarities within…

An ethnographic study was conducted with the goal of evaluating the botanical concepts of sixth-grade students. One aspect of the study involved examination of the levels of abstraction students use for naming plants. Nine sixth-grade students were interviewed individually. Each was asked to identify the plants seen in a set of 64 slides and…

This study investigated developmental differences in the use of the common features abstraction strategy and the exemplar learning strategy for concept acquisition. Subjects were 30 second graders and 30 fifth graders. The concepts to be learned were two categories of artificial animals which differed on five dimensions. Each dimension had three…

This study examined the effect of an innovative teaching activity to improve concrete operational thinking skills with preschoolers in Head Start programs. A "learning set" of classification games and seriation games was used to teach the oddity principle and insertion into a series. These games were played with the children using toy ponies and…