Analyses of Concept Learning

Book excerpt: Analyses of Concept Learning covers the papers presented at a Conference on Analyses of Concept Learning, sponsored by the Research and Development Center for Learning and Re-education of the University of Wisconsin, held in October 1965. The book focuses on efficient learning for children, youth, and adults, including concept learning, problem solving, and progresses in cognitive abilities. The selection first offers information on the formal analysis of concepts, psychological nature of concepts, and analysis of concepts from the point of view of the structure of intellect. The text then examines the relationships between concept learning and verbal learning and meaningfulness and concept. Discussions focus on linguistic analysis of nonsense syllables, linguistic concepts as determiners of meaningfulness, stimulus selection and stimulus bias, response learning and associative learning, and implicit associative responses. The book takes a look at the learning of principles, developmental approach to conceptual growth, and learning in adulthood. Topics include consistency in mental abilities, comparison with long-range trends in stability of mental functions, anxiety derived from conflicts over learning, motivation to maximize similarity to a model, and the scientific meaning of concept. Meaningful reception learning and the acquisition of concepts and a model for the analysis of inquiry are also discussed. The selection is a vital reference for researchers interested in concept learning.