Short-term memory is necessary if the bonds of objects are to be matched effectively.
The most powerful language learning experiences, however, are those which involve one-on-one interactions with an adult (mom and/or dad). The more interactions we have, the better the skills of language and abstraction will develop.
Figure-ground is not the only contributor to the abstraction process. Important also is Short-term and Long-term memory.
SHORT-TERM MEMORY: It is possible to have adequate figure-ground discrimination and still fail in the abstraction process because of a particularly restricted short-term memory.
I may notice, for example, that a chicken has feathers. Then I may notice that a duck has feathers, but by this time I have forgotten my experience with the chicken.
Hence my concept is concrete and only relates to the animal I am presently looking at.