generalization

[ jen-er-uh-luh-zey-shuhn ]
See synonyms for generalization on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. the act or process of generalizing.

  2. a result of this process; a general statement, idea, or principle.

  1. Logic.

    • a proposition asserting something to be true either of all members of a certain class or of an indefinite part of that class.

    • the process of obtaining such propositions.

  2. Psychology.

    • Also called stimulus generalization. the act or process of responding to a stimulus similar to but distinct from the conditioned stimulus.

    • Also called response generalization. the act or process of making a different but similar response to the same stimulus.

    • Also called mediated generalization. the act or process of responding to a stimulus not physically similar to the conditioned stimulus and not previously encountered in conditioning.

    • the act or process of perceiving similarity or relation between different stimuli, as between words, colors, sounds, lights, concepts or feelings; the formation of a general notion.

Origin of generalization

1
First recorded in 1755–65; generalize + -ation

Words that may be confused with generalization

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

British Dictionary definitions for generalization

generalization

generalisation

/ (ˌdʒɛnrəlaɪˈzeɪʃən) /


noun
  1. a principle, theory, etc, with general application

  2. the act or an instance of generalizing

  1. psychol the evoking of a response learned to one stimulus by a different but similar stimulus: See also conditioning

  2. logic the derivation of a general statement from a particular one, formally by prefixing a quantifier and replacing a subject term by a bound variable. If the quantifier is universal (universal generalization) the argument is not in general valid; if it is existential (existential generalization) it is valid

  3. logic any statement ascribing a property to every member of a class (universal generalization) or to one or more members (existential generalization)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012