An artificial concept is a term used by psychologists to describe one of the ways our brains organise information into categories.
The way children learn concepts has been studied by psychologists and has been categorised into artificial concepts and natural concepts. Artificial concepts are categorised by our brains in this way when they have defining features. For example a ‘square’ is a concept and this is used to describe objects which have four right angles and four equal sides. If an object does not meet these exact requirements then it is not a square. This is an artificial concept and is one of the easiest concepts to learn.
Natural concepts on the other hand have a list of characteristics rather than set features. These kinds of concepts tend to be learnt through prototypes or good examples of the concept. This can be harder to learn as not every feature always needs to be present for it to be considered a certain concept.
For example a child would recognise a blackbird as being a strong example of the concept ‘bird’, whereas a penguin which is missing one of the key characteristics of a bird as it doesn’t fly would not be considered as strong.
Another example would be the concept ‘house’. For most children a good example of a house is a brick building with four walls and a chimney and windows and is a structure that offers shelter and warmth. This concept would develop in later life to include examples that aren’t as strong including igloo, caravan, tipi and log cabin.
The way children learn concepts has been studied by psychologists and has been categorised into artificial concepts and natural concepts. Artificial concepts are categorised by our brains in this way when they have defining features. For example a ‘square’ is a concept and this is used to describe objects which have four right angles and four equal sides. If an object does not meet these exact requirements then it is not a square. This is an artificial concept and is one of the easiest concepts to learn.
Natural concepts on the other hand have a list of characteristics rather than set features. These kinds of concepts tend to be learnt through prototypes or good examples of the concept. This can be harder to learn as not every feature always needs to be present for it to be considered a certain concept.
For example a child would recognise a blackbird as being a strong example of the concept ‘bird’, whereas a penguin which is missing one of the key characteristics of a bird as it doesn’t fly would not be considered as strong.
Another example would be the concept ‘house’. For most children a good example of a house is a brick building with four walls and a chimney and windows and is a structure that offers shelter and warmth. This concept would develop in later life to include examples that aren’t as strong including igloo, caravan, tipi and log cabin.
