What is Concept: Definition and 1000 Discussions

Concepts are defined as abstract ideas or general notions that occur in the mind, in speech, or in thought. They are understood to be the fundamental building blocks of thoughts and beliefs.
They play an important role in all aspects of cognition. As such, concepts are studied by several disciplines, such as linguistics, psychology, and philosophy, and these disciplines are interested in the logical and psychological structure of concepts, and how they are put together to form thoughts and sentences. The study of concepts has served as an important flagship of an emerging interdisciplinary approach called cognitive science.In contemporary philosophy, there are at least three prevailing ways to understand what a concept is:
Concepts as mental representations, where concepts are entities that exist in the mind (mental objects)
Concepts as abilities, where concepts are abilities peculiar to cognitive agents (mental states)
Concepts as Fregean senses (see sense and reference), where concepts are abstract objects, as opposed to mental objects and mental statesConcepts can be organized into a hierarchy, higher levels of which are termed "superordinate" and lower levels termed "subordinate". Additionally, there is the "basic" or "middle" level at which people will most readily categorize a concept. For example, a basic-level concept would be "chair", with its superordinate, "furniture", and its subordinate, "easy chair".

Concepts may be exact, or inexact.
When the mind makes a generalization such as the concept of tree, it extracts similarities from numerous examples; the simplification enables higher-level thinking.
A concept is instantiated (reified) by all of its actual or potential instances, whether these are things in the real world or other ideas.
Concepts are studied as components of human cognition in the cognitive science disciplines of linguistics, psychology and, philosophy, where an ongoing debate asks whether all cognition must occur through concepts. Concepts are used as formal tools or models in mathematics, computer science, databases and artificial intelligence where they are sometimes called classes, schema or categories. In informal use the word concept often just means any idea.

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  1. L

    Question about the concept of electricity in solar cells.

    Ok so I understand how a voltage source works, with electrons flowing from a high potential to a low potential. But I'm a little confused about solar cells. So the way they work is that an incoming photon strikes an electron and gives it enough energy to break free and create a current. But...
  2. D

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    I've tried to understand this concept, but even the so-called "simplest" resources are too complicated to understand. Can anyone please explain this to me? Thanks in advance!
  3. A

    Question about this Concept about Coulomb's Law

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  4. C

    What Are Some Overlooked Physics Concepts in Wrestling and Other Combat Sports?

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  5. F

    Understanding concept of Zener Diodes for voltage

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  6. L

    Uniform Electric Fields concept question

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  7. B

    Why Are Most Pieces of Iron Not Magnetic?

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  8. F

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  9. F

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  10. J

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  11. W

    Improper integral concept question

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  12. S

    Need help in some concept questions

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  13. S

    Why Is the Electric Field Not Zero Inside the Spherical Cavity?

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  14. P

    Concept questions - Laws of Motion

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  15. 0

    Is {(x,y): x>/0; y>/0} a Vector Space in R^2?

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  16. M

    Transistor - an important concept of invention?

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  17. K

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  18. T

    Is Every Statement About Matrix Squares True?

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  19. X

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  20. T

    Mechanics Kinematic General Concept question, not a numerical?

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  21. U

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  22. T

    Complex Analysis Concept Question

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  23. B

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  24. N

    Understanding Entropy: Hot Water & Ice

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  25. A

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  26. M

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  27. C

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  28. D

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  29. 1

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  30. T

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  31. 1

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  32. G

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  33. J

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  34. A

    Specific Heat (The Very Concept)

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  35. G

    Compton Scattering Concept Question

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  36. L

    What is Gm and how does it relate to op-amps?

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  37. Borek

    Snell's law and the concept of critical angle

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  38. J

    Simple concept help: Pulley and Net Torque

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  39. M

    Understanding Related Rates: In-Depth Explanation and Homework Help

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  40. L

    Which Statements About Object Motion in Physics Are False?

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  41. TrickyDicky

    Understanding the Concept of Field in Physics: Definition and Relation to Waves

    I have been searching the web for a good explanation of the concept of field but I failed to find a good one. Could somebody provide me with a good definition of this important concept of physics? I'm specially interested in its relation with waves. Thanks.
  42. T

    Help with basic lorentz factor concept

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  43. marcus

    Role of in-house concept analysis done by the QG scientists themselves

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  44. romsofia

    Is Infinity a Concept or a Number?

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  45. M

    Arc Length and Its Uses: Exploring the Integration Concept

    I always read in applications of integration is to figure out the arc length but they never tell us what is it good for I also couldn't find immediate results by using google, so can anyone tell me its uses?
  46. N

    Solving Projectile Paths & Moon Landings: Free Body Diagrams

    Homework Statement 1. If an object is shot in a projectile path and its initial and final height is the same what is true. 2. If a rocket vertical is landing on the moon it shoots a bit of the rocket fuel while landing what is the correct Free body diagram. The Attempt at a...
  47. L

    I don't really understand the concept of organic oxidations.

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  48. T

    Having a hard time grasping the concept with momentum

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  49. J

    Classical Information: An Exploration of Quantum Mechanics

    This morning i spotted this paper. The concept of information is hot at the moment. but what is information ?.. http://arxiv.org/abs/1011.5039 Classical Information and Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics Authors: Marcin Ostrowski (Submitted on 23 Nov 2010) Abstract: This work is a...
  50. G

    Solve rolling problem using concept of angular momentum

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