How Do We Learn and Why Do We Use Abstract Concepts and Words

Abstract

Grouping things together, also called categorizing, is fundamental for humans. We can form categories such as people, tools, and buildings. Concepts are what we mentally associate with categories. For example, we associate cats with what they look like and how they behave. “Cat” is a concrete concept, meaning that it refers to a specific animal that we can point to. Some concepts, such as “truth” or “sympathy,” do not refer to concrete objects you can point to. These are called abstract concepts. Abstract words—the words that we use to express abstract concepts—make up more than 70% of adult speech. Children use fewer abstract words because they are harder to learn. How do we learn and use abstract concepts, from emotions to numbers? Do we need more help from others to learn abstract concepts? In this article, we address these questions and discuss current research on abstract concepts.