Fundamentals of Thinking
Cognizing and transforming the world, a person reveals stable, natural connections between phenomena. These connections are reflected in our consciousness indirectly - a person recognizes in the external signs of phenomena signs of internal, stable relationships. Whether we determine, looking out the window from the wet asphalt, whether it was raining, whether we establish the laws of movement of heavenly bodies - in all these cases we reflect the world in general And indirectly- comparing facts, making conclusions, identifying patterns in various groups of phenomena. Man, without seeing elementary particles, learned their properties and, without having visited Mars, learned a lot about it.
Noticing connections between phenomena and establishing the universal nature of these connections, a person actively masters the world and rationally organizes his interaction with it. A generalized and indirect (sign) orientation in a sensory-perceptible environment allows the archaeologist and investigator to reconstruct the real course of past events, and the astronomer to look not only into the past, but also into the distant future. Not only in science and professional activity, but also in all everyday life, a person constantly uses knowledge, concepts, general ideas, generalized schemes, identifies the objective meaning and subjective meaning of the phenomena around him, finds a way out of a variety of problematic situations, and solves the problems that arise before him. In all these cases, he carries out mental activity.
- the mental process of a generalized and indirect reflection of stable, regular properties and relationships of reality, essential for resolving cognitive problems.
Thinking forms the structure of individual consciousness, the classification and evaluation standards of the individual, his generalized assessments, his characteristic interpretation of phenomena, and ensures their understanding.
To understand something means to include something new in the system of existing meanings and meanings.
In the process of historical development of mankind, mental acts began to obey a system of logical rules. Many of these rules have acquired an axiomatic character. Stable forms of objectification of the results of mental activity have formed: concepts, judgments, conclusions.
As a mental activity, thinking is a problem solving process. This process has a certain structure - stages and mechanisms for solving cognitive problems.
Each person has his own style and strategy of thinking - cognitive (from the Latin cognitio - knowledge) style, cognitive attitudes and categorical structure (semantic, semantic space).
All higher mental functions of a person were formed in the process of his social and labor practice, in inextricable unity with the emergence and development of language. The semantic categories expressed in language form the content of human consciousness.
An individual's thinking is mediated by his speech. A thought is formed through its verbal formulation.
“The “spirit” is cursed from the very beginning to be “burdened down” by matter, which appears... in the form of language.” However, thinking and language cannot be identified. Language is a tool of thought. The basis of a language is its grammatical structure. The basis of thinking is the laws of the world, its universal relationships, enshrined in concepts.
Classification of thinking phenomena
In the diverse phenomena of thinking there are differences:
- mental activity- a system of mental actions, operations aimed at solving a specific problem;
- : comparison, generalization, abstraction, classification, systematization and specification;
- forms of thinking: concept, judgment, inference;
- types of thinking: practical-effective, visual-figurative and theoretical-abstract.
Mental activity
According to the operational structure, mental activity is divided into algorithmic carried out according to previously known rules, and heuristic— creative solution of non-standard problems.
According to the degree of abstraction, it stands out empirical And theoretical thinking.
All acts of thought are performed on the basis of interaction analysis and synthesis, which act as two interconnected aspects of the thought process (correlated with the analytical-synthetic mechanism of higher nervous activity).
When characterizing individual thinking, we take into account qualities of mind- systematicity, consistency, evidence, flexibility, speed, etc., as well as individual's type of thinking, his intellectual features.
Mental activity is carried out in the form of mental operations that transform into each other: comparison, generalization, abstraction, classification, concretization. Mental operations — mental actions, covering reality with three interconnected universal forms of cognition: concept, judgment and inference.
Comparison- a mental operation that reveals the identity and difference of phenomena and their properties, allowing for the classification of phenomena and their generalization. Comparison is an elementary primary form of cognition. Initially, identity and difference are established as external relations. But then, when comparison is synthesized with generalization, ever deeper connections and relationships are revealed, essential features of phenomena of the same class.
Comparison underlies the stability of our consciousness, its differentiation (immiscibility of concepts). Generalizations are made based on comparison.
Generalization- a property of thinking and at the same time a central mental operation. Generalization can be carried out at two levels. The first, elementary level is the connection of similar objects based on external characteristics (generalization). But true cognitive value is a generalization of the second, higher level, when in a group of objects and phenomena essential common features are identified.
Human thinking moves from fact to generalization, from phenomenon to essence. Thanks to generalizations, a person foresees the future and orients himself in the specific. Generalization begins to arise already during the formation of ideas, but is fully embodied in the concept. When mastering concepts, we abstract from the random properties of objects and highlight only their essential properties.
Elementary generalizations are made on the basis of comparisons, and the highest form of generalizations is made on the basis of isolating what is essentially common, revealing natural connections and relationships, i.e. based on abstraction.
Abstraction(Latin abstractio - abstraction) - the operation of reflecting individual properties of phenomena that are significant in some respect.
In the process of abstraction, a person, as it were, clears an object of side features that make it difficult to study it in a certain direction. Correct scientific abstractions reflect reality deeper and more fully than direct impressions. Based on generalization and abstraction, classification and specification are carried out.
Classification— grouping of objects according to essential characteristics. In contrast to classification, the basis of which should be characteristics that are significant in some respect, systematization sometimes allows the choice as a basis of features that are unimportant, but operationally convenient (for example, in alphabetical catalogs).
At the highest stage of cognition, a transition from the abstract to the concrete takes place.
Specification(from Latin concretio - fusion) - cognition of an integral object in the totality of its essential relationships, theoretical reconstruction of an integral object. Concretization is the highest stage in the knowledge of the objective world. Cognition starts from the sensory diversity of the concrete, abstracts from its individual aspects and, finally, mentally recreates the concrete in its essential completeness. The transition from the abstract to the concrete is the theoretical mastery of reality. The sum of concepts gives the concrete in its entirety.
As a result of the application of the laws of formal thinking, people's ability to obtain inferential knowledge was formed. A science about formalized structures of thoughts arose - formal logic.
Forms of thinking
Formalized thought structures— forms of thinking: concept, judgment, inference.
Concept- a form of thinking that reflects the essential properties of a homogeneous group of objects and phenomena. The more essential features of objects are reflected in the concept, the more effectively human activity is organized. Thus, the modern concept of “structure of the atomic nucleus” has, to a certain extent, made it possible to practically use atomic energy.
Judgment- certain knowledge about an object, affirmation or denial of any of its properties, connections and relationships. The formation of a judgment occurs as the formation of a thought in a sentence. A judgment is a sentence that states the relationship between an object and its properties. The connection of things is reflected in thinking as a connection of judgments. Depending on the content of the objects reflected in the judgment and their properties, the following types of judgment are distinguished: private And general, conditional And categorical, affirmative And negative.
The judgment expresses not only knowledge about the subject, but also subjective attitude person to this knowledge, varying degrees of confidence in the truth of this knowledge (for example, in problematic judgments like “perhaps the accused Ivanov did not commit a crime”).
The truth of a system of judgments is the subject of formal logic. The psychological aspects of judgment are the motivation and purposefulness of an individual’s judgments.
Psychologically, the connection between an individual’s judgments is considered as his rational activity.
In inference, the operation is carried out with the general that is contained in the individual. Thinking develops in the process of constant transitions from the individual to the general and from the general to the individual, that is, on the basis of the relationship of induction and deduction, respectively.
Deduction is a reflection of the general connectedness of phenomena, categorical coverage of a specific phenomenon by its general connections, analysis of the specific in a system of generalized knowledge. Professor of Medicine at the University of Edinburgh J. Bell once amazed A. Conan Doyle (the future creator of the image of the famous detective) with his subtle powers of observation. When another patient entered the clinic, Bell asked him:
- Have you served in the army?
- Yes sir! - the patient answered.
- In a mountain rifle regiment?
- That's right, Mister Doctor.
- Recently retired?
- Yes sir!
- Have you been to Barbados?
- Yes sir! — the retired sergeant was amazed.
Bell explained to the surprised students: this man, being polite, did not take off his hat when entering the office - his army habit affected him; as for Barbados, this is evidenced by his illness, which is common only among the inhabitants of this area (Fig. 75).
Inductive Inference- probabilistic inference, when, based on individual signs of certain phenomena, a judgment is made about all objects of a given class. Hasty generalization without sufficient evidence is a common error in inductive reasoning.
So, in thinking, objective essential properties and relationships of phenomena are modeled, they are objectified and fixed in the form of concepts, judgments, and inferences.
Rice. 75. The relationship between the individual and the general in the system of inferences. Determine the starting and ending points of the route of the owner of this suitcase. Analyze the type of inference you used
Patterns and features of thinking
Let's consider the basic patterns of thinking.
1. Thinking arises in connection with solving a problem; the condition for its occurrence is problematic situation - circumstance. in which a person encounters something new, incomprehensible from the point of view of existing knowledge. This situation is characterized lack of initial information. the emergence of a certain cognitive barrier, difficulties that must be overcome with the help of the subject’s intellectual activity - by finding the necessary cognitive strategies.
2. The main mechanism of thinking, its general pattern is analysis through synthesis: the identification of new properties in an object (analysis) through its correlation (synthesis) with other objects. In the process of thinking, the object of cognition is constantly “involved in ever new connections and, because of this, appears in ever new qualities, which are fixed in new concepts: from the object, thus, as if all new content is drawn out, it seems to turn each time with its other side , more and more new properties are revealed in it.”
The process of cognition begins with primary synthesis - perception of an undifferentiated whole (phenomenon, situation). Next, based on the primary analysis, secondary synthesis.
At primary analysis a problem situation requires orientation to key source data that allows one to reveal hidden information in the source information. The discovery of a key, essential feature in the initial situation allows us to understand the dependence of some phenomena on others. At the same time, it is important to identify signs of possibility - impossibility, as well as necessity.
In conditions of a shortage of initial information, a person does not act by trial and error, but applies a certain search strategy - optimal scheme for achieving the goal. The purpose of these strategies is to cover a non-standard situation with the most optimal general approaches - heuristic search methods. These include: temporary simplification of the situation; use of analogies; solving auxiliary problems; consideration of “edge cases”; reformulation of task requirements; temporary blocking of some components in the analyzed system; making “leaps” across information “gaps”.
So, analysis through synthesis is the cognitive “unfolding” of the object of knowledge, studying it from different angles, finding its place in new relationships, and mentally experimenting with it.
3. Thinking must be reasonable. This requirement is due to the fundamental property of material reality: every fact, every phenomenon is prepared by previous facts and phenomena. Nothing happens without a good reason. The law of sufficient reason requires that in any reasoning a person’s thoughts be internally interconnected and follow from one another. Each particular thought must be justified by a more general thought.
The laws of the material world are enshrined in the laws of formal logic, which should also be understood as the laws of thinking, or more precisely, as the laws of the interrelation of the products of thinking.
4. Another pattern of thinking - selectivity(from Latin selectio - choice, selection) - the ability of the intellect to quickly select the knowledge necessary for a given situation, mobilize it to solve the problem, bypassing the mechanical search of all possible options (which is typical for a computer). To do this, an individual’s knowledge must be systematized, brought into hierarchically organized structures.
5. Anticipation(Latin anticipatio - anticipation) means anticipation of events. A person is able to foresee the development of events, predict their outcome, and schematically represent the most likely solution to the problem. Forecasting events is one of the main functions of the human psyche. Human thinking is based on high-probability forecasting.
The key elements of the initial situation are identified, a system of subtasks is outlined, and an operational scheme is determined - a system of possible actions on the object of knowledge.
6. Reflexivity(from Latin reflexio - reflection) - self-reflection of the subject. The thinking subject constantly reflects - reflects the course of his thinking, critically evaluates it, and develops self-assessment criteria.
7. Characteristic of thinking constant relationship his subconscious and conscious components- deliberately deployed. verbalized and intuitively collapsed, non-verbalized.
8. The thought process, like any process, has structural organization. It has certain structural stages.
V.D. Shadrikov and his students identified the following mnemonic actions, which act as methods of voluntary memorization or organized memorization:
Grouping - dividing material into groups for some reason (meaning, associations, etc.);
Isolating supporting points - fixing a short point that serves as support for broader content (thesis, title, questions, examples, and so on);
Plan - a set of strongholds;
Classification - distribution of any objects, phenomena, concepts into classes, groups based on common characteristics;
Structuring - establishing the relative arrangement of parts that make up the whole;
Schematization is an image or description of something in its main features;
Analogy - establishing similarity, similarity in certain relationships of objects, phenomena, concepts;
Mnemonic techniques are a set of ready-made, well-known methods of memorization;
Recoding - “verbalization, or pronunciation, presentation of information in figurative form;
Completing the memorized material and introducing new things into the memorized - the use of verbal intermediaries, combining and introducing something according to situational characteristics, distribution in places;
Serial organization of material - establishing or constructing various sequences (distribution by volume, time, ordering in space);
Associations - establishing connections based on similarity, contiguity or opposition;
Repetition - consciously controlled and uncontrolled processes of reproducing material.
Topic 12 Thinking
Thinking is a cognitive mental process through which generalized and indirect reflection of the surrounding reality.
General concept of thinking.
Thinking is a socially conditioned, inextricably linked with speech, mental process of searching and discovering something essentially new. Thinking arises on the basis of the practical activity of a person from his sensory experience and goes far beyond its limits.
Russian psychology considers thinking as a process:
Formed in social conditions of life;
Manifesting first as expanded objective activity, turning into collapsed forms;
The acquiring nature of internal mental actions.
The essence of thinking is to reflect:
1. General and essential properties of objects or phenomena surrounding reality, including those that are not directly perceived.
2. Significant relationships and natural connections between objects and phenomena.
Toward mediated cognition a person resorts in cases when:
Direct knowledge is impossible due to the imperfection of scientific methods or the lack of appropriate analyzers;
Direct knowledge is excluded, although possible;
Direct knowledge is irrational.
Generalization of thinking is ensured by the fact that a person reflects the world around him not only in figurative form, but also in verbal form.
Physiological foundations of thinking.
The thinking process is based on two types of temporary neural connections: primary and secondary signals.
First signal stimuli are directly related to sensations, perception of the surrounding world.
Thinking is mainly based on secondary signal temporary nerve connections formed by words and reflecting significant relationships between objects or phenomena.
WORD- “signal of signals” (I.P. Pavlov) is a generalized stimulus. With the word, a new principle of nervous activity is introduced - the analysis and synthesis of these new generalized signals.
Human thinking is inextricably linked with speech. Thought can neither arise nor exist outside of language, outside of speech. Thinking occurs in speech form.
Types of thinking.
Visual-effective thinking- a type of thinking based on the direct perception of objects, the real transformation of the situation in the process of actions with objects.
Visual-figurative thinking- a type of thinking characterized by reliance on ideas and images.
In contrast to visual-effective thinking, with visual-figurative thinking the situation is transformed only in terms of image.
Verbal and logical thinking- a type of thinking carried out using logical operations with concepts.
Theoretical thinking- This is a type of thinking with the help of which laws and rules are learned. Solving a problem with this type of thinking occurs from the very beginning to the end in the mind using ready-made knowledge. Theoretical thinking is divided into two types:
creative thinking the material of which are ideas and images of objects or phenomena of the surrounding reality;
conceptual thinking, based on human knowledge expressed in concepts, judgments and conclusions.
Empirical thinking- This is a type of thinking that provides preparation for the physical transformation of reality: setting a goal, creating a plan, project, scheme. It unfolds under conditions of severe time pressure. According to B.M. Teplov, the work of empirical thinking is mainly aimed at solving particular specific problems... while the work of theoretical thinking is aimed mainly at finding general patterns. Just like theoretical, empirical thinking is divided into two types:
visual-effective thinking - a type of thinking that allows a person to carry out practical transformative activities with real objects. It is characteristic of people in mass working professions, engaged in real productive work;
visual-figurative thinking - a type of thinking directly related to a person’s perception of the surrounding reality. It is typical for children of preschool and primary school age, as well as representatives of “operator” professions and managers of various ranks.
Creative thinking- This is thinking that allows a person to generate new creative ideas in conditions of freedom from any criticism, external and internal prohibitions.
Creative thinking is characterized by the following features:
obtaining results that no one has received before;
The ability to act in different ways, without knowing which of them can lead to the desired result;
A priori (preliminary) unknown of the ways by which this result can be achieved;
Lack of sufficient experience in solving such problems;
The need to act independently and without prompting.
Critical thinking- This is a type of thinking that is functionally opposite to creative. Critical thinking requires being strict with yourself and others in selecting and evaluating the ideas you put forward.
The differences between intuitive and analytical (logical) thinking are based on three signs: temporal(process time), structural(divided into stages), level of awareness(conscious or unconscious).
In this regard:
Analytical thinking unfolded in time, has clearly defined stages, is largely represented in the consciousness of the thinking person himself, while intuitive thinking characterized by rapidity, the absence of clearly defined stages, and is minimally conscious.
Nonverbal thinking (visual)- thinking, which is based on the vision or representation of objects that make up the content of the problem being solved.
Verbal thinking relies primarily on abstract sign structures, in particular, on the word.
People with nonverbal thinking experience significant difficulties even when solving simple problems presented in symbolic form. Those with verbal thinking have a hard time with tasks that require using visual images.
Mental operations
In the process of solving a mental problem, a person uses various mental operations:
analysis- division of a complex object into its constituent parts or characteristics;
synthesis- mental transition from parts to the whole;
comparison- establishing similarities or differences between objects;
generalization- mental association of objects or phenomena according to their common and essential characteristics;
abstraction- abstraction from the unimportant on the basis of isolating and preserving the essential properties and connections of objects or phenomena;
specification- transition from the general to the individual, corresponding to this general.
Logical forms of thinking
Exist three basic logical forms of thinking.
Concept.
Concept- is a logical form of thinking that reflects general and essential features, properties objects or phenomena of the surrounding reality.
A concept can be considered as knowledge of the essential, general in objects and phenomena of reality. Concepts crystallize knowledge about objects and phenomena of reality in a generalized and abstract form. In this respect, concepts differ significantly from representations.
Performance- This is an image of a specific object. The presentation is concrete, figurative, visual.
Concept- this is an abstract thought about an object. The concept has a generalized, abstract, non-visual character.
The concept is a higher and more comprehensive form of knowledge; it is much broader and more fully reflects reality than representation.
Judgment.
Judgment- is a logical form of thinking that reflects connections between objects or phenomena of reality or between their properties and characteristics
Judgments are formed in two main ways:
directly - when a judgment expresses what is perceived;
indirectly - through reasoning, which is a form of indirect knowledge of reality.
12.5.3 Inference.
Inference- a logical form of thinking with which a person, by comparing and analyzing various judgments, he comes to new general or particular conclusions, to new judgments.
In the process of carrying out mental activity, a person uses two types of inferences:
induction- way of reasoning from private judgments to generaldeduction - way of reasoning from general judgments to private. A typical example of an inference is the proof of a mathematical theorem.
Coming from the outside world. Thinking is carried out in the course of the flow of thoughts, images, and various sensations. A person, receiving any information, is able to imagine both the external and internal aspects of a specific object, predict its change over time, and imagine this object in its absence. What is a thinking type? Are there any techniques for determining types of thinking? How to use them? In this article we will look at the main types of thinking, their classification and features.
General characteristics of thinking
Studying information about the types and types of thinking, we can come to the conclusion that there is no single characteristic to define them. The opinions of scientists and psychologists are similar in some ways and different in others. The classification of the main types of thinking is a rather arbitrary thing, since the most characteristic types and types of human thinking are supplemented by their derivative, individual forms. But before moving on to considering the various types, I would like to find out how the process of mental activity itself proceeds. Thinking can be divided into certain mental operations that result in the formation of a concept.
- First of all, through analysis, a person mentally breaks the whole into its component parts. This occurs due to the desire for a deeper knowledge of the whole by studying each of its parts.
- As a result of synthesis, a person mentally connects individual parts into a single whole, or groups individual signs, properties of an object or phenomenon.
- In the process of comparison, many types and types of thinking are able to identify the common and different in objects or phenomena.
- The next operation of the thinking process is abstraction. This is a simultaneous mental distraction from non-existent properties while highlighting the essential features of an object.
- The generalization operation is responsible for systematizing the properties of an object or phenomenon, bringing together general concepts.
- Concretization is a transition from general concepts to a single, specific case.
All these operations can be combined in various variations, resulting in a concept - the basic unit of thinking.
Practical (visual-effective) thinking
Psychologists divide human thinking types into three groups. Let's consider the first type - visual-effective thinking, as a result of which a person is able to cope with a task as a result of a mental transformation of the situation based on previously gained experience. From the name itself it comes that initially there is a process of observation, a trial and error method, then, based on this, theoretical activity is formed. This type of thinking is well explained by the following example. A person first learned in practice to measure his plot of land using improvised means. And only then, based on the knowledge gained, geometry was gradually formed as a separate discipline. Here practice and theory are inextricably linked.
Figurative (visual-figurative) thinking
Along with conceptual thinking, figurative or visual-figurative thinking appears. It can be called thinking by representation. The imaginative type of thinking is most clearly observed in preschoolers. To solve a certain problem, a person no longer uses concepts or conclusions, but images that are stored in memory or recreated by imagination. This type of thinking can also be observed in people who, by the nature of their activities, are called upon to make decisions, taking as a basis only observation of an object or visual images of objects (plan, drawing, diagram). The visual-figurative type of thinking provides the possibility of mental representation, selection of various combinations of objects and their properties.
Abstract logical thinking
This type of thinking does not operate on individual details, but concentrates on thinking as a whole. By developing this type of thinking from an early age, you will not have to worry about problems solving important problems in the future. Abstract logical thinking has three forms, let's consider them:
- A concept is a combination of one or more homogeneous objects using essential features. This form of thinking begins to be developed in young children, introducing them to the meaning of objects and giving them definitions.
- Judgment can be simple or complex. This is a statement or denial of any phenomenon or relationship of objects. A simple judgment takes the form of a short phrase, while a complex one can take the form of a declarative sentence. “The dog barks”, “Mom loves Masha”, “The water is wet” - this is how we teach kids to reason while introducing them to the outside world.
- An inference is a logical conclusion that follows from several judgments. Initial judgments are defined as premises, and final judgments are defined as conclusions.
Everyone is capable of independently developing a logical type of thinking; for this there are a lot of puzzles, rebuses, crosswords, and logical tasks. Properly developed abstract-logical thinking in the future makes it possible to solve many problems that do not allow for close contact with the subject being studied.
Types of economic thinking
Economics is that branch of human life that everyone faces. Every day, learning something from everyday practice, a person forms his own guidelines that relate to economic activity. This is how economic thinking is gradually formed.
The ordinary type of thinking is subjective in nature. Individual economic knowledge is not so in-depth and is not able to prevent mistakes and errors. Ordinary economic thinking is based on one-sided and fragmentary knowledge in this industry. As a result, it is possible to perceive part of an event as a single whole or a random phenomenon - as constant and unchanging.
Opposite the ordinary is scientific economic thinking. A person who owns it knows the methods of rational and scientifically based economic activity. The reasoning of such a person does not depend on anyone else’s opinion; she is able to determine the objective truth of the situation. Scientific economic thinking covers the entire surface of events, reflecting the economy in its comprehensive integrity.
Philosophical thinking
The subject of philosophy is the spiritual experience of man, both psychological and social, and aesthetic, moral and religious. Both the worldview itself and the types of philosophical thinking have their origin in productive doubt about the correctness of everyday opinions. Let's consider the main features of this type of thinking:
- Conceptual validity is the sequence of solving worldview issues in accordance with the established order.
- Consistency and systematicity imply the construction by a philosopher of a theoretical system that provides answers to many ideological questions.
- The universality of theories lies in the following: a philosopher rarely gives answers to questions that concern a particular person; his theories only indicate the right path to find these answers.
- Openness to criticism. Philosophical judgments are amenable to constructive criticism and are open to revision of basic provisions.
Rational type of thinking
What type of perception and processing of information operates with competence and knowledge, ability and skill and does not take into account such operations as feeling and premonition, impulse and desire, impression and experience? That's right, rational thinking. This is a cognitive process that is based on a reasonable and logical perception of an object or situation. A person does not always have to think about anything during his life; sometimes he makes do with feelings and habits that have become automatic. But when he “turns on his head,” he tries to think rationally. You can attract such a person only with facts based on reality, and only after realizing the importance of the final result will he begin to act.
Irrational thinking
Irrational thinking does not obey logic and control over its actions. Irrationalists are active individuals. They take on many things, but there is illogicality in their actions. Their thoughts and judgments are not based on real facts, but on the expected result. Irrational thinking can be based on distorted conclusions, on understatement or exaggeration of the significance of any events, personalization or overgeneralization of the result, when a person, having failed once, draws a corresponding conclusion for the rest of his life.
Synthesizing type of thinking
Using this type of thinking, a person creates a holistic picture based on various fragments and pieces of information. Human encyclopedists, librarians, office workers, scientists, enthusiastic programmers - all of them are representatives of synthesizing thinking. It is impossible to expect them to be interested in extreme sports and travel; their usual field of activity is a constant work routine.
Human analysts
Observers, people who are able to get to the root cause of an event, those who like to think about the path of life, having only a few facts in their arsenal, detectives and investigators are typical representatives of the analytical type of thinking.
This is a kind of scientific type of thinking, the strong point of which is logic. This type of information perception can be compared to the rational one, but it is more long-term. If a rationalist, solving one problem, quickly moves on to solving the next, then the analyst will spend a long time digging, assessing the development of events, and thinking about what could have been the root cause.
Idealistic type of thinking
The most common types of human thinking include idealistic thinking. It is typical for people with somewhat inflated demands on others. They subconsciously try to find previously created ideal images in others; they tend to harbor illusions, which entails disappointment.
Idealists can operate with social and subjective factors in their decisions as accurately as possible; they try to avoid conflict situations, considering them an unnecessary waste of time. In their opinion, all people can agree among themselves. To do this, it is important for them to correctly determine the final goal. Their standards may seem too high, but the quality of their work is truly high and their behavior is exemplary.
People "Why?" and people "Why?"
Another characteristic of thinking types was proposed by Stephen Covey. He came up with the idea that different types of thinking can be divided into only two types. Later, his theory was supported by Jack Canfield, who deals with human motivation. So what is this theory? Let's figure it out.
People of the first type live in thoughts about their own future. All people’s actions are aimed not at realizing their desires, but at thinking about tomorrow. At the same time, they don’t think about whether “tomorrow” will come at all. The result of this is a lot of missed opportunities, an inability to make fundamental changes, and dreams of a bright future often never come true.
Why people live in the past. Past experience, past victories and achievements. At the same time, they often do not notice what is happening at the moment, and may not think about the future at all. They look for the causes of many problems in the past, and not in themselves.
Methodology “Type of Thinking”
Today, psychologists have developed many techniques with which you can determine your own type of thinking. The respondent is asked to answer questions, after which his answers are processed, and the dominant type of perception and processing of information is determined.
Determining the type of thinking can help in choosing a profession, tell a lot about a person (his inclinations, lifestyle, success in mastering a new type of activity, interests and much more). After reading the test question, you should answer affirmatively if you agree with the judgment, and negatively if you do not.
The “Type of Thinking” technique showed that there are rarely people whose thinking type is defined in its pure form; most often they are combined.
It is worth noting that there are many different exercises that allow you to train and develop certain types of thinking. Thus, types of creative thinking can be developed with the help of drawing, logical thinking, as mentioned earlier, with the help of crosswords and puzzles.
The highest level of human knowledge is considered thinking. The development of thinking is the mental process of creating obvious, non-proving patterns of the surrounding world. This is a mental activity that has a goal, motive, actions (operations) and a result.
Development of thinking
Scientists offer several options for defining thinking:
- The highest stage of human assimilation and processing of information, the establishment of cause-and-effect relationships between objects of reality.
- The process of displaying the explicit properties of objects and, as a result, creating an idea of the surrounding reality.
- This is a process of cognition of reality, which is based on acquired knowledge, constant replenishment of the baggage of ideas and concepts.
Thinking is studied in several disciplines. The laws and types of thinking are considered by logic, the psychophysiological component of the process - physiology and psychology.
Thinking develops throughout a person’s life, starting from infancy. This is a consistent process of mapping the realities of reality in the human brain.
Types of human thinking
Most often, psychologists divide thinking according to content:
- visual-figurative thinking;
- abstract (verbal-logical) thinking;
- visually effective thinking.
Visual-figurative thinking
Visual-figurative thinking involves visually solving a problem without resorting to practical actions. The right hemisphere of the brain is responsible for the development of this species.
Many people believe that visual-figurative thinking and imagination are one and the same. You are wrong.
Thinking is based on a real process, object or action. Imagination includes the creation of a fictitious, unreal image, something that does not exist in reality.
Developed by artists, sculptors, fashion designers - people of the creative profession. They transform reality into an image, and with its help, new properties are highlighted in standard objects and non-standard combinations of things are established.
Exercises to develop visual-figurative thinking:
Question answer
If the capital letter N from the English alphabet is turned 90 degrees, what letter will the resulting letter be?
What is the shape of a German Shepherd's ears?
How many rooms are there in the living room of your home?
Creating images
Create the image of the last family dinner. Mentally picture the event and answer the questions:
- How many family members were present, and who was wearing what?
- What dishes were served?
- What was the conversation about?
- Imagine your plate, where your hands lay, the face of a relative sitting next to you. Taste the food you ate.
- Was the picture presented in black and white or color?
- Describe the visual image of the room.
Description of items
Describe each item presented:
- Toothbrush;
- Pine forest;
- sunset;
- your bedroom;
- drops of morning dew;
- eagle soaring in the sky.
Imagination
Imagine Beauty, Wealth, Success.
Describe the highlighted image using two nouns, three adjectives and verbs, and one adverb.
Memories
Imagine the people you have interacted with today (or ever).
What did they look like, what were they wearing? Describe their appearance (eye color, hair color, height and build).
Verbal-logical type of thinking (Abstract thinking)
A person sees the picture as a whole, highlights only the significant qualities of the phenomenon, without noticing unimportant details that only complement the subject. This kind of thinking is well developed among physicists and chemists - people who are directly related to science.
Forms of abstract thinking
Abstract thinking has 3 forms:
- concept– objects are combined according to characteristics;
- judgment– affirmation or denial of any phenomenon or connection between objects;
- inference– conclusions based on several judgments.
An example of abstract thinking:
You have a soccer ball (you can even pick it up). What can you do with it?
Options: play football, throw a hoop, sit on it, etc. - not abstracts. But if you imagine that a good ball game will attract the attention of a coach, and you will be able to get into a famous football team... this is already transcendental, abstract thinking.
Exercises to develop abstract thinking:
"Who's the odd one out?"
From a range of words, select one or more words that do not fit the meaning:
- careful, fast, cheerful, sad;
- turkey, pigeon, crow, duck;
- Ivanov, Andryusha, Sergey, Vladimir, Inna;
- square, pointer, circle, diameter.
- plate, pan, spoon, glass, broth.
Finding differences
What is the difference:
- train - plane;
- horse-sheep;
- oak-pine;
- fairy tale-poem;
- still life-portrait.
Find at least 3 differences in each pair.
Main and secondary
From a number of words, select one or two, without which the concept is impossible, cannot exist in principle.
- Game - players, penalty, cards, rules, dominoes.
- War - guns, planes, battle, soldiers, command.
- Youth – love, growth, teenager, quarrels, choice.
- Boots - heel, sole, laces, clasp, shaft.
- Barn – walls, ceiling, animals, hay, horses.
- Road - asphalt, traffic lights, traffic, cars, pedestrians.
Read the phrases backwards
- Tomorrow is the premiere of the play;
- Come visit;
- let's go to the park;
- what's for lunch?
Words
In 3 minutes, write as many words as possible starting with the letter z (w, h, i)
(beetle, toad, magazine, cruelty...).
Come up with names
Come up with 3 of the most unusual male and female names.
Visual-effective thinking
It involves solving mental problems through transforming a situation that has arisen in reality. This is the very first way to process the information received.
This type of thinking actively develops in preschool children. They begin to combine various objects into a single whole, analyze and operate with them. Develops in the left hemisphere of the brain.
In an adult, this type of thinking is carried out through the transformation of practical usefulness of real objects. Visual-figurative thinking is extremely developed among people who are engaged in production work - engineers, plumbers, surgeons. When they see an object, they understand what actions need to be performed with it. People say that people in similar professions have their hands full.
Visual-figurative thinking helped ancient civilizations, for example, measure the earth, because both hands and brain are involved during the process. This is the so-called manual intelligence.
Playing chess perfectly develops visual and effective thinking.
Exercises to develop visual and effective thinking
- The simplest, but very effective task for developing this type of thinking is collection of constructors. There should be as many parts as possible, at least 40 pieces. You can use visual instructions.
- No less useful for the development of this type of thinking are various puzzles, puzzles. The more details there are, the better.
- Make 2 equal triangles from 5 matches, 2 squares and 2 triangles from 7 matches.
- Turn into a square by cutting once in a straight line, a circle, a diamond and a triangle.
- Make a cat, a house, a tree from plasticine.
- Without special instruments, determine the weight of the pillow you are sleeping on, all the clothes you are wearing, and the size of the room you are in.
Conclusion
Every person must develop all three types of thinking, but one type always predominates. This can be determined in childhood, while observing the child’s behavior.
Types of thinking are common to all people, although each person has a number of specific cognitive abilities. In other words, each person can adopt and develop different thought processes.
Content:
Thinking is not innate, but rather develops. Although all personality and cognitive characteristics of people motivate a preference for one or more types of thinking, some people can develop and practice any type of thinking.
Although thought has traditionally been interpreted as a specific and limited activity, this process is not straightforward. That is, there is no single way to carry out the processes of thinking and reasoning.
In fact, many specific ways of thinking have been identified. For this reason, today the idea is that people can imagine different ways of thinking.
Types of human thinking
It should be noted that every type of human thinking more efficient in performing specific tasks. Certain cognitive activities can benefit more than one type of thinking.
Therefore, it is important to know and learn to develop different types of thinking. This fact makes it possible to make maximum use of a person’s cognitive abilities and develop different abilities to solve various problems.
Deductive thinking is the type of thinking that allows you to draw a conclusion from a number of premises. That is, it is a mental process that begins with the “general” in order to achieve the “specific.”
This type of thinking focuses on the cause and origin of things. It requires detailed analysis of aspects of a problem to be able to draw conclusions and possible solutions.
This is a method of reasoning that is very often used in everyday life. People analyze elements and everyday situations to draw conclusions.
Beyond day-to-day work, deductive reasoning is vital to the development of scientific processes. It is based on deductive reasoning: it analyzes related factors to develop hypotheses and draw a conclusion.
Critical thinking is a mental process based on analyzing, understanding, and evaluating how knowledge that purports to represent things is organized.
Critical thinking uses knowledge to reach an effective conclusion that is more reasonable and justifiable.
Therefore, critical thinking evaluates ideas analytically to lead them to concrete conclusions. These conclusions are based on the morals, values and personal principles of the individual.
Thus, through this type of thinking, cognitive ability is combined with. Therefore, it determines not only the way of thinking, but also the way of being.
Adopting critical thinking directly affects a person's functionality as it makes him more intuitive and analytical, allowing him to make good and wise decisions based on concrete realities.
Inductive thinking defines a way of thinking that is the opposite of deductive thinking. Thus, this way of thinking is characterized by a search for explanations about the general.
Obtaining conclusions on a large scale. It looks for distant situations in order to turn them into similar ones and thus generalizes situations, but without resorting to analysis.
Therefore, the goal of inductive reasoning is to study tests that measure the likelihood of arguments, as well as the rules for constructing strong inductive arguments.
Analytical thinking is breaking down, separating and analyzing information. It is characterized by orderliness, that is, it represents a sequence of the rational: it goes from the general to the particular.
It always specializes in finding an answer, therefore in searching for arguments.
Investigative thinking focuses on investigating things. Does this in a thorough, engaged and persistent manner.
It consists of a mixture of creativity and analysis. That is, part of the evaluation and examination of elements. But its purpose does not end with the examination itself, but requires the formulation of new questions and hypotheses in accordance with the examined aspects.
As its name suggests, this type of thinking is fundamental to research and development and the evolution of species.
Systems or systematic thinking is the type of reasoning that occurs in a system formed by various subsystems or interrelated factors.
It consists of a highly structured type of thinking whose goal is to understand a more complete and less simple view of things.
Try to understand the functioning of things and solve the problems that their properties create. This involves developing complex thinking that has so far been applied to three main fields: physics, anthropology and sociopolitics.
Creative thinking involves the cognitive processes that create the ability to create. This fact motivates the development of elements that are new or different from the rest through thought.
Thus, creative thinking can be defined as the acquisition of knowledge characterized by originality, flexibility, plasticity and fluidity.
It is one of the most valuable cognitive strategies today because it allows you to frame, construct, and solve problems in new ways.
Developing this type of thinking is not easy, so there are certain techniques that can achieve this.
Synthetic thinking is characterized by the analysis of the various elements that make up things. Its main purpose is to reduce ideas on a certain topic.
It consists of a type of vital argument for teaching and personal study. Thinking about synthesis allows elements to be more reminiscent as they undergo a process of synthesis.
It is a personal process in which each person forms a significant whole from the parts that the subject represents. In this way, a person can remember several features of a concept while encompassing them in a more general and representative concept.
Interrogative thinking is based on questioning and questioning important aspects.
Thus, interrogative thinking defines the way of thinking that arises from the use of questions. There is always a reason for this reasoning, because it is this element that allows you to develop your own thinking and receive information.
Through the questions raised, data was obtained to enable a final conclusion to be reached. This type of thinking is mainly used to resolve issues in which the most important element is information obtained through third parties.
Diverse thinking
Diverse thinking, also known as lateral thinking, is a type of reasoning that discusses, doubts, and consistently seeks alternatives.
It is a thinking process that generates creative ideas through the exploration of multiple solutions. It is the antithesis of logical thinking and tends to occur spontaneously and fluidly.
As the name suggests, its main purpose is based on divergence from previously established solutions or elements. Thus, it tunes a type of thinking closely related to creativity.
It consists of a type of thinking that does not seem natural in people. People tend to associate and connect similar elements with each other. On the other hand, diversified thinking tries to find different solutions to those that are carried out as usual.
Convergent thinking
On the other hand, convergent thinking is a type of reasoning that is the opposite of divergent thinking.
In fact, while divergent thinking is driven by neural processes in the right hemisphere of the brain, convergent thinking will be driven by processes in the left hemisphere.
It is characterized by functioning through associations and relationships between elements. It has no ability to imagine, seek or explore alternative thoughts and usually results in the creation of a single idea.
Intelligent Thinking
This type of reasoning, recently introduced and coined by Michael Gelb, makes reference to the combination between divergent and convergent thought.
Thus, intellectual thinking that incorporates the detail and evaluative aspects of convergent thinking and relates them to the alternative and novel processes associated with divergent thinking.
The development of this reasoning allows creativity to be linked to analysis, positing it as thought with a high ability to achieve effective solutions in several areas.
Conceptual thinking
Conceptual thinking involves the development of reflection and self-evaluation of problems. It is closely related to creative thinking, and its main goal is to find concrete solutions.
However, unlike diversity reasoning, this type of reasoning focuses on reviewing pre-existing associations.
Conceptual thinking involves abstraction and reflection and is very important in various scientific, academic, everyday and professional fields.
It is also characterized by the development of four basic intellectual operations:
Subordination: consists of linking specific concepts to broader concepts in which they are included.
Coordination: It consists of linking specific concepts included in broader and more general concepts.
Infraordination: deals with a certain relationship between two concepts and aims to determine the specific features of concepts, relationships with others.
Elimination: It consists of detecting elements that are characterized by being different or not equal to other elements.
Metaphorical thinking
Metaphorical thinking is based on making new connections. This is a very creative type of reasoning, but it does not focus on creating or obtaining new elements, but on new relationships between existing elements.
With this type of thinking it is possible to create stories, develop imagination and generate through these elements new connections between well differentiated aspects that some aspects share.
Traditional thinking
Traditional thinking is characterized by the use of logical processes. It is solution-focused and focuses on finding similar real-life situations to find elements that may be useful for resolution.
It is usually developed using rigid and pre-designed schemes. This is one of the foundations of vertical thinking, in which logic takes on a unidirectional role and develops a linear and sequential path.
This is one of the most commonly used types of thinking in everyday life. It is not suitable for creative or original elements, but it is very useful for solving everyday situations and is relatively simple.
