Learning of Concepts: A Review of Relevant Advances Since 2010 and Its Inspirations for Teaching

This article reviews the psychological and neuroscience achievements in concept learning since 2010 from the perspectives of individual learning and social learning,and discusses several issues related to concept learning,including the assistance of machine learning about concept learning.In terms of individual learning,current evidence shows that the brain tends to process concrete concepts through typical features(shared features);and for abstract concepts,semantic processing is the most important cognitive way.In terms of social learning,interpersonal neural synchrony(INS)is considered the main indicator of efficient knowledge transfer(such as teaching activities between teachers and students),but this phenomenon only broadens the channels for concept sources and does not change the basic mode of individual concept learning.Ultimately,this article argues that the way the human brain processes concepts depends on the concept’s own characteristics,so there are no“better”strategies in teaching,only more“suitable”strategies.

Same or different?Abstract relational concept use in juvenile bamboo sharks and Malawi cichlids

Sorting objects and events into categories and concepts is an important cognitive prerequisite that spares an individual the learning of every object or situation encountered in its daily life.Accordingly,specific items are classified in general groups that allow fast responses to novel situations.The present study assessed whether bamboo sharks Chiloscyllium griseum and Malawi cichlids Pseudotropheus zebra can distinguish sets of stimuli(each stimulus consisting of two abstract,geometric objects)that meet two conceptual preconditions,i.e.,(1)"sameness"versus"difference"and(2)a certain spatial arrangement of both objects.In two alternative forced choice experiments,individuals were first trained to choose two different,vertically arranged objects from two different but horizontally arranged ones.Pair discriminations were followed by extensive transfer test experiments.Transfer tests using stimuli consisting of(a)black and gray circles and(b)squares with novel geometric patterns provided conflicting information with respect to the learnt rule"choose two different,vertically arranged objects",thereby investigating(1)the individuals'ability to transfer previously gained knowledge to novel stimuli and(2)the abstract relational concept(s)or rule(s)applied to categorize these novel objects.Present results suggest that the level of processing and usage of both abstract concepts differed considerably between bamboo sharks and Malawi cichlids.Bamboo sharks seemed to combine both concepts-although not with equal but hierarchical prominence-pointing to advanced cognitive capabilities.Conversely,Malawi cichlids had difficulties in discriminating between symbols and failed to apply the acquired training knowledge on new sets of geometric and,in particular,gray-level transfer stimuli.