There Are Many Ways to See the Forest for the Trees
- 10 September 2013
- journal article
- research article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Perspectives on Psychological Science
- Vol. 8 (5) , 501-520
Abstract
Ion is a useful process for broadening mental horizons, integrating new experiences, and communicating information to others. Much attention has been directed at identifying the causes and consequences of abstraction across the subdisciplines of psychology. Despite this attention, an integrative review of the methods that are used for studying abstraction is missing from the literature. The current article aims to fill this gap in several ways. First, we highlight the different ways in which abstraction has been defined in the literature and then suggest an integrative definition. Second, we provide a tour of the different ways abstraction has been manipulated and measured over the years. Finally, we highlight considerations for researchers in choosing methods for their own research.Keywords
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