Conceptual knowledge is one of the levels in which knowledge is divided, along with the sensitive and the holistic. Unlike the first, based on what is captured by the human senses, this type of knowledge consists of universal and immaterial representations of the different entities existing in reality..
Thus, a child will be able to see his mother and identify her as such, which would be an example of sensitive knowledge. At the same time, that child will also be identifying her as part of the universal concept "mother", which encompasses all women with this characteristic..
The basis of conceptual knowledge is the concept itself. This, closely related to the language that names them, is created mainly from the experience of the individual. Following the previous example, in the child's mind the mother concept has been created from her life experience and her relationship with other human beings who use the same concept..
Knowledge has been a part of human studies since Ancient Greece, when philosophers began to analyze and define it. One of those simplest definitions maintains that it is the knowledge that one has on some subject.
Conceptual knowledge is based on the existence of concepts, understood as abstract, essential and universal representations of the reality that surrounds the human being.
Faced with sensible knowledge, which is captured by the senses and is characterized by the singularity of objects, the conceptual one is universal.
This characteristic makes conceptual knowledge present only among human beings. Unlike animals, only people can elaborate general concepts thanks to their intelligence.
For conceptual knowledge to exist, it is mandatory that the concepts on which it is based exist. The term concept has had multiple definitions throughout history.
The word, coming from Latin, has been defined as the most basic unit of human knowledge. These are constructions that the mind has created so that reality can be understood and identified.
To do this, the mind groups new knowledge into categories, as well as the experiences that the subject lives and relates them to those stored in memory. This, therefore, plays a fundamental role in its creation..
Concepts, understood from a cognitive point of view (pertaining to knowledge), are the fundamental tool for human beings to make sense of all the information they receive from the senses. With them, people select that information, discriminate it and use it.
To this day, it is considered that only human beings are capable of using their previous knowledge to apply it to new experiences. To do this, it uses the concepts, created by identifying the common essence of several different entres, but related to each other..
For a long time, experts knew about these concepts, but it was not known how they were formed in the brain and how they were used.
Among the factors that are currently known about the formation of concepts is its relationship with the experience that each person accumulates in all areas, from the individual to the social or cultural.
Language plays a very important role in the formation of concepts. Thanks to it, the human being can communicate and, therefore, transmit his experiences and acquired knowledge.
Concepts begin to be fixed in the minds of human beings from childhood, which allows conceptual knowledge to be constant throughout life.
Children incorporate these concepts as if they were prototypes of different aspects of reality. Then, they use them to categorize those elements that have characteristics similar to those they store in their mind..
The main way to learn these concepts is experience and its interpretation by the mind. The latter means that, despite the universality of these concepts, subtle differences may appear depending on the person.
One of the most distinctive characteristics of this type of knowledge is that it is based on universal concepts.
While sensible knowledge has a high degree of subjectivity, the conceptual one appeals to concepts that everyone shares. For example, the concept "dog" is the same for all people, regardless of culture, preconceptions or individual experiences..
The universal nature of the concepts makes this knowledge a fundamental tool for understanding the world.
By internalizing the different concepts, the human being uses them to categorize new experiences. In this way, they serve as a framework for organizing knowledge. They are thus an important basis for learning.
On the other hand, this knowledge has another function called inferential. This consists of using the internalized concepts to make predictions about the characteristics of the new elements that are learned..
A classic example of conceptual knowledge is the one that distinguishes between the figure of a specific relative and the concept of the role they play..
A mother, for example, can be interpreted in two different ways. The first is when her son watches her and knows perfectly that she is his own mother, unique and unrepeatable. However, that child will also have in his mind the universal concept "mother", which encompasses all women who have that role..
When contemplating an animal, the human mind also captures a double information. On the one hand, it perfectly distinguishes the species to which it belongs. On the other hand, he associates it with the concept of "animal". The same happens within the same species: a dog can be a greyhound and, at the same time, be categorized within the general concept of "dog".
When it comes to eating, foods are categorized into several concepts: "edibles", type of food (meat, vegetables, fruit ...) and specific name (apple, lettuce, beef ...).
The concept of "color" is clear to everyone. Faced with this, sensitive knowledge will be in charge of interpreting the unique and objective characteristics of each one of them. Blue, for example, can be interpreted as "light" or "dark", but it will never stop being blue..
An individual box can have multiple characteristics: round, light-colored, large, cardboard, etc. However, behind these particular characteristics there will always be the same general concept: box.
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