Metacognition and abstract concepts

The problem of how concepts can refer to or be about the non-mental world is particularly puzzling for abstract concepts. There is growing evidence that many characteristics beyond the perceptual are involved in grounding different kinds of abstract concept. A resource that has been suggested, but l...

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Main Author: Shea, N
Format: Journal article
Published: Royal Society 2018
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author Shea, N
author_facet Shea, N
author_sort Shea, N
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description The problem of how concepts can refer to or be about the non-mental world is particularly puzzling for abstract concepts. There is growing evidence that many characteristics beyond the perceptual are involved in grounding different kinds of abstract concept. A resource that has been suggested, but little explored, is introspection. This paper develops that suggestion by focusing specifically on metacognition—on the thoughts and feelings that thinkers have about a concept. One example of metacognition about concepts is the judgement that we should defer to others in how a given concept is used. Another example is our internal assessment of which concepts are dependable and useful, and which less so. Metacognition of this kind may be especially important for grounding abstract concepts.
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spelling oxford-uuid:80c1198a-22c9-4c08-8519-42444a2550572022-03-26T21:25:34ZMetacognition and abstract conceptsJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:80c1198a-22c9-4c08-8519-42444a255057Symplectic Elements at OxfordRoyal Society2018Shea, NThe problem of how concepts can refer to or be about the non-mental world is particularly puzzling for abstract concepts. There is growing evidence that many characteristics beyond the perceptual are involved in grounding different kinds of abstract concept. A resource that has been suggested, but little explored, is introspection. This paper develops that suggestion by focusing specifically on metacognition—on the thoughts and feelings that thinkers have about a concept. One example of metacognition about concepts is the judgement that we should defer to others in how a given concept is used. Another example is our internal assessment of which concepts are dependable and useful, and which less so. Metacognition of this kind may be especially important for grounding abstract concepts.
spellingShingle Shea, N
Metacognition and abstract concepts
title Metacognition and abstract concepts
title_full Metacognition and abstract concepts
title_fullStr Metacognition and abstract concepts
title_full_unstemmed Metacognition and abstract concepts
title_short Metacognition and abstract concepts
title_sort metacognition and abstract concepts
work_keys_str_mv AT shean metacognitionandabstractconcepts