The consistent development and change of concepts, acquiring new ones and restructuring the existing elements of the already existing concepts in an individual takes place throughout their lifetime right from infancy. Over a period of time, infants acquire fundamental skills and knowledge through experiences and various inputs they are exposed to in their daily lives which significantly affect the nature of their relationships and concepts ( Luo & Baillargeon, 2005) . Although there exist certain preconceptions that can be easily modified by simple instructions to produce radical change in conception, the process of conceptual change is a highly robust process of altering misconceptions and therefore cannot be achieved in an instantaneous occurrence. The conceptual change in an individual involves a gradual change of an innate base as opposed to radical shifts. Receiving information then integrating and associating it with the existing ones to produce new concepts is a process that is adjusted progressively depending on various factors that vary from one person or child to another.
Conceptual change is gradual because misconceptions are change resistant. The new information that is acquired is met with a set of knowledge that altering is not easy. The process of adjusting mental schemes to cater for new experiences therefore occurs over a period of time depending on the strength and level of exposure in regards to the information that is already embedded in the mind. When an individual is bombarded with new concepts and ideas which the existing knowledge cannot explain, they are forced to adjust by accommodating new concepts that will explain the acquired experience (Schneider, Vamvakoussi & Van Dooren, 2012). Accepting new concepts that challenge the position that was once held happens gradually. The people’s central organizing concept undergoes series of change from once set of concepts to another which will resonate with the acquired information (Wang & Baillargeon , 2006). The realization and acceptance that the prior knowledge is not sufficient to defend the newly acquired experiences pushes the mind to adapt to new explanations.
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Additionally, creating a new mental mind that is unique and distinct from the one held in the mind is challenging and takes time. It means that an individual has to synthesize models in the minds beginning with already existing explanatory frameworks in their minds. For example, a twelve-year-old child observing water in an ocean does not understand why it appears blue while he is sure the water is usually clear. Not every aspect about water is reconciled in his mind and he can explain ad defend the fact that water is clear. Over a period of time as he is exposed to new knowledge, the information held in the mind is reshaped with the ideas that are acquired. The process of acquiring knowledge reorganizes every child’s sensory experiences through the daily interaction with people and through language that either reinforces or simply provides explanation for conflicting or challenging situations presented by the new knowledge (Nadelson et al., 2018). It is impossible to take the child one day or just an instant to understand and reconcile the dynamics that build into making water both clear and blue at the same time.
Repair of misconceptions and reorganization of various knowledge bases to form complex and concrete concepts in itself is a complex and protracted process. When people are constantly exposed to new ideas, they recognize their faulty ones and replace them over time (Schneider, Vamvakoussi & Van Dooren, 2012). The new information that is acquired is able to help the individual identify the information that is categorized falsely in their minds. This happens mostly in children. As they grow, they realize that they knew certain things wrongly. The wrong categorization of concepts replaced and concepts are reassigned to the right categories. Fragmented naïve knowledge that exists in the minds of people is cognitively reorganized to become a system of explainable details (Schneider, Vamvakoussi & Van Dooren, 2012). Additionally, there exists diverse knowledge in the mind that is eventually compiled into one consistent and complex data. The conceptual change is affected by several factors including the plausibility to the mind and how intelligible an individual is convinced it is. Therefore, reorganization of the concepts to fit and produce new ideas is a gradual process.
Although there are a range of views on the whole process of conceptual change, the perception that it is a gradual change is conventional. The process of acquiring and adapting to new knowledge as well as synchronizing it to the existing information and perspectives cannot be simply a radical shift of knowledge. Certain misconceptions are change resistant and need time and continuous exposure to settle in people’s systems. It is undoubtedly true that simple preconceptions can be altered by instructions; however, deeply seated misconceptions cannot be treated in the same manner. The process where an individual learns, comprehends and accept ideas as well as integrate them in their knowledge system is a gradual process that cannot occur instantaneously.
References
Luo, Y & Baillargeon, R. (2005). When the ordinary seems unexpected: evidence for incremental physical knowledge in young infants. 95(3): 297–328. doi: 10.1016/j.cognition.2004.01.010
Nadelson, L. et al (2018) Conceptual Change in Science Teaching and Learning: Introducing The Dynamic Model of Conceptual Change. International Journal of Educational Psychology. 7. 151-195. 10.17583/ijep.2018.3349
Schneider, M., Vamvakoussi, X., Van Dooren, W. (2012). Conceptual Change. Encyclopedia of the Sciences of Learning. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1428-6_352
Wang S. & Baillargeon R. (2006) Infants’ Physical Knowledge Affects Their Change Detection. 9(2): 173–181. doi:10.1111/j.1467-7687.2006.00477.x
