In my previous blog, I described how primitive concepts are innate. In this blog, I will go into certain abstract concepts, like “goodness,” and “helping,” that young children are able to understand without having a proper linguistic terminology. While morality may develop with age, infants do have a core sense of morality shown through (a) moral goodness, or empathy, (b) moral … [Read more...] about Innate Moral Core: Part 2 (Morality in Preverbal Children)
Innate Moral Core: Part 1 (Introduction to Innate Concepts)
Morality (the sense of whether an action or person is “right” or “wrong”) is considered a defining feature of humanity. The typical conception of morality in children is that they are born amoral (without moral sense) or immoral (a moral sense different from adults). Developmental psychology theorizes that children acquire a moral sense through various developmental processes … [Read more...] about Innate Moral Core: Part 1 (Introduction to Innate Concepts)
Consciousness
When pondering the mind, consciousness is a difficult problem to fully understand. Consciousness is defined as the quality or state of being aware, especially of something within oneself (www.merriam-webster.com). If a person, or organism, has a conscious experience, it means there is something it is like to be that kind of person or organism. To perceive your own … [Read more...] about Consciousness
The Fallibility of Inductive Reasoning
Some of the main questions that psychologists want to understand are “why do we think the way we do?”and“how do we reach conclusions?” One of the ways we reach conclusions is through inductive reasoning. Scientific observations typically use this type of reasoning. For inductive reasoning, observations are made, data are collected, and conclusions are drawn from the data. In … [Read more...] about The Fallibility of Inductive Reasoning
The Purpose of Language
This blog is going to delve into a complex argument about the purpose of language. When we think of language, we intuitively think of communication. However, cognitive scientists would argue that the purpose of language is to organize our thoughts. How do we parse out the true purpose of language? We can start by analyzing the four properties of human language: discreteness, … [Read more...] about The Purpose of Language