abstraction

1. the formation of general ideas or concepts by extracting similarities from particular instances. The precise cognitive processes by which this occurs remain a subject of investigation.

2. such a concept, especially a wholly intangible one, such as goodness or truth.

3. in conditioning, discrimination based on a single property of multicomponent stimuli. —abstract vb.

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Psychology term of the day

November 18th 2024

paradigm clash

in science or philosophy, the conflict that occurs when a new set of fundamental assumptions about reality or human knowledge proves incompatible with an established set of such assumptions. For example, the doctrine of organic evolution challenged established thinking about the origin and nature of the living world and ultimately replaced previous theories.