Are Abstract Concepts Like Dinosaur Feathers
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Are Abstract Concepts Like Dinosaur Feathers?
Author: Anna Jelec
language: en
Publisher: Wydawnictwo Naukowe UAM
Release Date: 2014-11-18
The human nervous system evolved for the control of complex physical actions. Yet, we are far from understanding the human capacity for complex abstract thought. One theory suggests that both abstract and concrete thinking is based on a single perceptual mechanism grounded in physical experience. Asking the question posed by psychologist Daniel Casasanto whether "abstract concepts are like dinosaur feathers" we investigate the evolutionary processes that allowed humans to deal with abstract phenomena by putting them in concrete terms. After all, we frequently resort to analogies, similes or metaphors when describing the intangible. We may say "put that into words" as if words were containers into which thought can be stored. Conceptual Metaphor Theory goes a step further by saying that not only do we speak about abstract concepts in physical terms, but we think about them in this manner as well. However, the theory itself has been vigorously criticised because its principal theses are considered impossible to falsify. The author of this book proposes a new perspective on the conceptual role of metaphors. Filled with theoretical analyses and empirical research on the speech and gesture of seeing, blind and visually impaired children, this book demonstrates that the basis for abstract thought may well lie in physical experience.
Perspectives on Abstract Concepts
Author: Marianna Bolognesi
language: en
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Company
Release Date: 2019-06-15
Human language is the most powerful communication system that evolution has produced. Within this system, we can talk about things we can physically see, such as cats and tables, but also about more abstract entities, such as theories and feelings. But how are these abstract concepts grounded in human cognition and represented in the mind? How are they constructed in language? And how are they used in natural communication settings? This book addresses these questions through a collection of studies that relate to various theoretical frameworks, ranging from Conceptual Metaphor Theory to Words as Social Tools. Contributors investigate how abstract concepts are grounded in the mind, represented in language, and used in verbal discourse. This richness is matched by a range of methods used throughout the volume, from neuroimaging to computational modeling, and from behavioral experiments to corpus analyses.
Teaching Geology Using the History and Philosophy of Science
This book provides a case study on how to design and build an introductory geology course for non-science majors. The book presents a foundation with the status of geoscience education and research in geoscience conceptual development as a backdrop for the design process. It then describes the instructional goal-setting process and development of the structural components of the course based on the determined goals. The book presents the three historical narratives (the earth is a historical entity, the earth is very old, and the earth is dynamic) that form the foundation of instruction. It also describes examples of the implicit, explicit, and reflective treatments of the nature of science to help student develop a better sense of the process of geology. Finally, the book gives preliminary results from some innovative approaches to research on student learning within the domains of geological content knowledge and NOS content knowledge within the course.