Specialisation, also spelled Specialization, is an important way to generate propositional knowledge, by applying general knowledge, such as the theory of gravity, to specific instances, such as "when I release this apple, it will fall to the floor". Specialization is the opposite of generalization.

The period of time when the world made the largest productivity gains is the industrial revolution. The major reason for increase in productivity is the increase in specialization during production process.

Types of Specialization:

Geographical Specialization: land use in Canada is naturally suited to specific situation.

Labor Specialization: achieved when the production process is broken into tiny tasks. The idea is referred to as the division of labor.

Concept B is a specialization of concept A if and only if:

• every instance of concept B is also an instance of concept A; and
• there are instances of concept A which are not instances of concept B.

For instance, 'Bird' is a specialization of 'Animal' because every bird is an animal, and there are animals which are not birds (dogs, for instance).

In logic, specialization occurs when you take a statement such as:

"All cars are red"

And use it to derive statements such as:

"My car is red"

"Fred's car is red"

See also

• Specialization (biology)
• Specialization (functional)
• Cell differentiation
• Division of labour