Definition

1. Noun:
   • A broad statement or idea that applies to many cases: A "generalization" is a statement or conclusion that is formed by considering common characteristics of specific examples and applying them to a wider group or situation.
   • The act or process of making such a broad statement: "Generalization" also refers to the cognitive process of deriving general principles or concepts from specific observations or instances.
   • (Psychology) The transfer of a learned response to a new but similar stimulus: In psychology, it describes the phenomenon where a behavior or response conditioned to one stimulus occurs in the presence of a different, but similar, stimulus.

Examples of Usage

• Noun:
  • It's a dangerous generalization to say that all politicians are corrupt. (This is a broad, potentially inaccurate statement about a whole group.)
  • Scientific progress often depends on the generalization of experimental results. (This refers to the process of applying specific findings to broader principles.)
  • The child's fear of the white rat showed generalization to other white, fuzzy objects. (This is the psychological usage, where a learned fear transfers to similar things.)

Advanced Usage

• "Hasty generalization": A logical fallacy where a conclusion is reached based on insufficient or biased evidence.
  • His argument was flawed due to a hasty generalization from a single anecdote.
• "Inductive generalization": A reasoning process that moves from specific observations to broader theories or predictions.
  • The theory was built through careful inductive generalization from decades of data.

Variants and Related Words

• Generalize (verb): To make a broad or general statement; to infer a general principle from specific cases.
  • It is unwise to generalize about an entire culture from one experience.
• General (adjective): Involving or applicable to all or most members of a category.
  • The general opinion was in favor of the proposal.

Synonyms

• Stereotype: A widely held but oversimplified and fixed idea about a particular type of person or thing. (Often carries a negative connotation of being unfair or inaccurate.)
• Universality: The quality of being true or applicable in all cases.
• Abstraction: The process of considering something independently of its associations or attributes.

Related Phrases

• To make a generalization: To state a general rule or conclusion.
  • She made a generalization about feline behavior based on her two cats.
• Broad generalization: A statement that is very wide-ranging and lacks specificity.
  • The report avoided broad generalizations and focused on precise data.

Related Idioms

• "The exception that proves the rule": This idiom is sometimes used when a generalization is challenged by a counterexample, implying the generalization is still mostly true.
  • He's very tidy, which is the exception that proves the rule about messy artists. (Note: This idiom's logic is often debated.)

Noun

1. (psychology) transfer of a response learned to one stimulus to a similar stimulus
2. the process of formulating general concepts by abstracting common properties of instances
3. an idea or conclusion having general application
   • he spoke in broad generalities
4. reasoning from detailed facts to general principles