généralisation

Generalization is the process of extending a concept, rule, or observation from specific cases to broader contexts. It is a central cognitive and methodological operation in science, philosophy, and everyday reasoning. Generalizations can be theoretical, proposing universal laws, or empirical, predicting how new instances will behave. In French, the term is généralisation, with the same broad range of uses.

In logic and mathematics, generalization involves moving from particular instances to general statements that hold for all members of a class. It underpins universal quantification and the development of broader theorems, while allowing the deliberate specialization of results by adding assumptions.

In statistics and machine learning, generalization describes a model's ability to perform well on data it has not seen. Overfitting harms generalization, while techniques such as cross-validation and regularization aim to improve it. Generalization also concerns the relationship between the training data distribution and future data.

In linguistics and cognitive science, generalization concerns applying learned patterns to new words or situations. Children generalize rules from limited input, which can yield productive but sometimes erroneous forms. Inductive reasoning often relies on generalization from observed regularities to plausible conclusions.

In philosophy and social sciences, generalization can lead to universal claims but risks overgeneralization when evidence is limited or context-specific. Responsible use of qualifiers and attention to sample representativeness help prevent sweeping conclusions; the term généralisation is similarly used in French discourse.