
Contents
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
1. Essentialism and Psychological Essentialism: Some Framing Issues 1. Essentialism and Psychological Essentialism: Some Framing Issues
-
2. Evidence for Psychological Essentialism in Adults and Children 2. Evidence for Psychological Essentialism in Adults and Children
-
2.1. Adults 2.1. Adults
-
2.2. Children 2.2. Children
-
-
3. Reconciling with Arguments against Essentialism 3. Reconciling with Arguments against Essentialism
-
4. Origins and Nativism: Where Does Essentialism Come From? 4. Origins and Nativism: Where Does Essentialism Come From?
-
4.1. Domain-Specific, Modular Accounts of Essentialism 4.1. Domain-Specific, Modular Accounts of Essentialism
-
4.2. Empiricist Accounts of Essentialism 4.2. Empiricist Accounts of Essentialism
-
4.3. Essentialism as the Convergence of Domain-General Capacities Required for Development 4.3. Essentialism as the Convergence of Domain-General Capacities Required for Development
-
-
5. Conceptual Change 5. Conceptual Change
-
6. Conclusion 6. Conclusion
-
Acknowledgements Acknowledgements
-
References References
-
-
-
-
-
-
19 Conceptual Development: The Case of Essentialism
Get accessSusan A. Gelman, University of Michigan, USA
Elizabeth A. Ware, Psychology Department, Viterbo University
-
Published:01 May 2012
Cite
Abstract
The article focuses on conceptual development in children. There are two primary components to psychological essentialism, which include the belief that certain categories are natural kinds and the belief that there is some unobservable property. Psychologists examine the psychological representations of concepts whereas philosophers have examined essentialism with the goal of addressing a range of issues such as psychological, semantic, and metaphysical. The study of essentialism in children provides insights into children's cognition and information regarding the roots of human concepts. Essentialism includes several component beliefs, including that categories have sharp, immutable boundaries, that category members share deep, nonobvious commonalities, and that category membership has an innate, genetic, or biological basis. Kamp and Partee suggest that categories are seen with absolutely sharp boundaries only in abstract domains. Essentialism does not require that categories be treated as absolute but essentialism is the claim that category boundaries are intensified. Essentialism emerges early and consistently, does not require formal schooling, and if anything may be even stronger in early childhood than later. The detailed studies of parental input to children about categories also suggest that parents do not provide explicit instruction about essentialist beliefs.
Sign in
Personal account
- Sign in with email/username & password
- Get email alerts
- Save searches
- Purchase content
- Activate your purchase/trial code
- Add your ORCID iD
Purchase
Our books are available by subscription or purchase to libraries and institutions.
Purchasing informationMonth: | Total Views: |
---|---|
October 2022 | 5 |
November 2022 | 12 |
December 2022 | 1 |
January 2023 | 13 |
February 2023 | 3 |
May 2023 | 1 |
June 2023 | 7 |
July 2023 | 5 |
August 2023 | 5 |
September 2023 | 2 |
October 2023 | 4 |
November 2023 | 11 |
December 2023 | 2 |
January 2024 | 6 |
February 2024 | 4 |
March 2024 | 6 |
April 2024 | 2 |
June 2024 | 3 |
July 2024 | 7 |
August 2024 | 3 |
October 2024 | 2 |
November 2024 | 11 |
January 2025 | 3 |
February 2025 | 4 |
March 2025 | 6 |
April 2025 | 13 |
Get help with access
Institutional access
Access to content on Oxford Academic is often provided through institutional subscriptions and purchases. If you are a member of an institution with an active account, you may be able to access content in one of the following ways:
IP based access
Typically, access is provided across an institutional network to a range of IP addresses. This authentication occurs automatically, and it is not possible to sign out of an IP authenticated account.
Sign in through your institution
Choose this option to get remote access when outside your institution. Shibboleth/Open Athens technology is used to provide single sign-on between your institution’s website and Oxford Academic.
If your institution is not listed or you cannot sign in to your institution’s website, please contact your librarian or administrator.
Sign in with a library card
Enter your library card number to sign in. If you cannot sign in, please contact your librarian.
Society Members
Society member access to a journal is achieved in one of the following ways:
Sign in through society site
Many societies offer single sign-on between the society website and Oxford Academic. If you see ‘Sign in through society site’ in the sign in pane within a journal:
If you do not have a society account or have forgotten your username or password, please contact your society.
Sign in using a personal account
Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members. See below.
Personal account
A personal account can be used to get email alerts, save searches, purchase content, and activate subscriptions.
Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members.
Viewing your signed in accounts
Click the account icon in the top right to:
Signed in but can't access content
Oxford Academic is home to a wide variety of products. The institutional subscription may not cover the content that you are trying to access. If you believe you should have access to that content, please contact your librarian.
Institutional account management
For librarians and administrators, your personal account also provides access to institutional account management. Here you will find options to view and activate subscriptions, manage institutional settings and access options, access usage statistics, and more.