Define the word thinking. Thinking as a type of activity

Thinking- this is the most generalized and indirect form of mental reflection, establishing connections and relationships between cognizable objects. In its formation, it goes through two stages: pre-conceptual and conceptual. Pre-conceptual is First stage development of thinking in a child, when the latter has a different organization than in adults. Children's judgments are isolated, about this particular subject. When explaining something, they reduce everything to the particular, the familiar. Most judgments are made by similarity or analogy, since at this stage memory plays the main role in thinking. The most early form evidence - example. Considering this peculiarity of a child’s thinking, when he is being convinced or something is explained to him, it is necessary to support his speech with clear examples.

The main feature of pre-conceptual thinking is egocentrism (not to be confused with egoism). Accordingly, a child under 5 years old cannot look at himself from the outside, is not able to correctly understand situations that require some detachment from his own point of view and acceptance of someone else’s position.

Egocentrism determines such features of children's logic as:

  • insensitivity to contradictions;
  • syncretism (the tendency to connect everything with everything);
  • transduction (transition from particular to particular, bypassing the general);
  • lack of understanding of conservation of quantity.

During the normal development of a child, pre-conceptual thinking, the components of which are concrete images, is replaced by conceptual (abstract) thinking, which is characterized by concepts and formal operations. Conceptual thinking does not come immediately, but gradually, through a series of intermediate stages. Thus, L. S. Vygotsky identified 5 stages in the transition to the formation of concepts. The first one is for a child 2-3 years old. If asked to put similar ones together, suitable friend to a friend, he puts any objects together, believing that those placed next to each other are suitable - such is the syncretism of children's thinking.

The second stage is different in that children use elements of objective similarity between two objects, but the third object can only be similar to one of the first pair - a chain of pairwise similarities arises. The third stage occurs at the age of 7-10, when children can combine a group of objects by similarity, but are not able to recognize and name the features that characterize this group. And finally, in adolescents aged 11-14 years, conceptual thinking appears, but it is still imperfect, since primary concepts are formed on the basis of everyday experience and are not supported by scientific data. Perfect concepts are formed at the 5th stage, in adolescence, when the use theoretical provisions allows you to go beyond your own experience.

So, thinking develops from concrete images to perfect concepts, designated by words. The concept initially reflects the similar, unchangeable in phenomena and objects.

There are different types of thinking.

Visual-effective thinking relies on the direct perception of objects, the real transformation of the situation in the process of actions with objects.

Visual-figurative thinking characterized by reliance on ideas and images. Its functions are related to the presentation of situations and changes in them that a person wants to achieve as a result of his activities that transform the situation. Its very important feature is the composition of unusual, incredible combinations of objects and their properties. In contrast to the visually effective, here the situation is transformed only in terms of the image.

Verbal and logical thinking- a type of thinking carried out using logical operations with concepts. It is formed over a long period (from 7-8 to 18-20 years) in the process of mastering concepts and logical operations during training.

There are also theoretical and practical, intuitive and analytical, realistic and autistic, productive and reproductive thinking.

Theoretical and practical thinking differs in the type of problems being solved and the resulting structural and dynamic features. Theoretical is the knowledge of laws and rules. An example of this is the discovery of the periodic table of elements by D. I. Mendeleev. The main task of practical thinking is to prepare a physical transformation of reality: setting a goal, creating a plan, project, scheme. One of its important features is that it is deployed under conditions of severe time pressure. Practical thinking provides very limited opportunities to test hypotheses, all this makes it sometimes more complex than theoretical. The latter is sometimes compared with empirical thinking. Here the criterion is the nature of the generalizations with which thinking deals; in one case it is scientific concepts, and in the other - everyday, situational generalizations.

Also shared intuitive And analytical (logical) thinking. In this case, they are usually based on three characteristics: temporal (time of the process), structural (division into stages), level of occurrence (awareness or unconsciousness). Analytical thinking unfolds in time, has clearly defined stages, and is represented in the human mind. Intuitive thinking is characterized by rapidity, the absence of clearly defined stages, and is minimally conscious.

Realistic thinking is directed mainly to the external world, is regulated by logical laws, and autistic associated with the realization of a person’s desires (who among us has not presented what we wanted as reality). The term is sometimes used egocentric thinking, it is characterized by the inability to accept the point of view of another person.

It is important to distinguish between productive and reproductive thinking based on the degree of novelty of the resulting result of mental activity.

It is also necessary to isolate involuntary and voluntary thought processes: involuntary transformations of dream images and purposeful solution of mental problems.

The following stages of problem solving are distinguished:

  • Preparation;
  • decision maturation;
  • inspiration;
  • checking the solution found.

The structure of the thought process of solving a problem can be represented as follows:

  1. Motivation (desire to solve a problem).
  2. Analysis of the problem (“what is given”, “what needs to be found”, what are the missing or redundant data, etc.).
  3. Finding a solution.
  4. Search for a solution based on one well-known algorithm (reproductive thinking).
  5. Finding a solution based on choice optimal option from many known algorithms.
  6. A solution based on a combination of individual links from various algorithms.
  7. Search for a fundamentally new solution (creative thinking):
    • based on in-depth logical reasoning (analysis, comparison, synthesis, classification, inference, etc.);
    • based on the use of analogies;
    • based on the use of heuristic techniques;

based on usage empirical method trial and error. In case of failure:

  1. Despair, switching to another activity, “period of incubation rest” - “ripening of ideas”, insight, inspiration, insight, instant awareness of a solution to a certain problem (intuitive thinking). The following factors contribute to “insight”:
    • high passion for the problem;
    • belief in success, in the ability to solve the problem;
    • high awareness of the problem, accumulated experience;
    • high associative brain activity (during sleep, during high temperature, fever, with emotionally positive stimulation).
  2. Logical rationale for the found solution ideas, logical proof of the correctness of the solution.
  3. Implementation of the solution.
  4. Checking the solution found.
  5. Correction (if necessary, return to stage 2).

Mental activity is realized both at the level of consciousness and at the level of the unconscious; it is characterized by complex transitions and interactions of these levels. As a result of a successful (purposeful) action, a result is obtained that corresponds to a previously set goal. If it was not provided for, then it turns out to be a by-product in relation to such a goal (a by-product of the action). The problem of conscious and unconscious in more specific form and acts as a problem of the relationship between direct (conscious) and by-products (unconscious) of action. The second is also reflected by the subject, and this reflection may participate in the subsequent regulation of actions, but it is not presented in verbalized form, consciously. The by-product “is formed under the influence of those specific properties of things and phenomena that are included in the action, but are not essential from the point of view of the goal.

The main mental operations are distinguished: analysis, comparison, synthesis, generalization, abstraction and etc.

Analysis- the mental operation of dividing a complex object into its constituent parts or characteristics.

Comparison- a mental operation based on establishing similarities and differences between objects.

Synthesis- a mental operation that allows one to mentally move from parts to the whole in a single process.

Generalization- mental association of objects and phenomena according to their common and essential characteristics.

Abstraction(distraction) - a mental operation based on highlighting the essential properties and connections of an object and abstracting from other, unimportant ones.

Main forms logical thinking are concept, judgment, inference.

Concept- a form of thinking that reflects the essential properties, connections and relationships of objects and phenomena, expressed in a word or group of words. Concepts can be general and individual, concrete and abstract.

Judgment- a form of thinking that reflects the connections between objects and phenomena; affirmation or denial of something. Judgments can be true or false.

Inference- a form of thinking in which a certain conclusion is drawn based on several judgments. Inferences are distinguished between inductive and deductive, by analogy:

  • Induction- logical conclusion in the process of thinking from the particular to the general.
  • Deduction- logical conclusion in the process of thinking from the general to the specific.
  • Analogy- logical conclusion in the process of thinking from particular to particular (based on some elements of similarity).

Individual differences in the mental activity of people are associated with such qualities of thinking as breadth, depth and independence of thinking, flexibility of thought, speed and criticality of the mind.

Breadth of thinking- this is the ability to cover the entire issue as a whole, without at the same time missing out on the particulars necessary for the matter. Depth of thinking is expressed in the ability to penetrate into the essence complex issues. The opposite quality is superficiality of judgment, when a person pays attention to little things and does not see the main thing.

Independence of thinking is characterized by a person’s ability to put forward new problems and find ways to solve them without resorting to the help of other people. Flexibility of thought is expressed in its freedom from the constraining influence of techniques and methods of solving problems fixed in the past, in the ability to quickly change actions when the situation changes.

Quickness of Mind- a person’s ability to quickly understand a new situation, think about it and make the right decision.

Haste of the mind is manifested in the fact that a person, without thoroughly thinking through a question, picks out one side of it, rushes to make a decision, and expresses insufficiently thought-out answers and judgments.

A certain slowness of mental activity may be due to the type nervous system- its low mobility, “The speed of mental processes is the fundamental basis of intellectual differences between people” (G. Eysenck).

Critical mind- a person’s ability to objectively evaluate his own and others’ thoughts, carefully and comprehensively check all put forward provisions and conclusions.

TO individual characteristics refers to a person’s preference for visual-effective, visual-figurative or abstract-logical types of thinking.

The term “thinking” by representatives various sciences was understood differently. By thinking they meant the entire psychology of man and contrasted it with the really existing material world (17th century French philosopher R. Descartes). IN late XIX V. thinking began to be understood as one of the cognitive processes. From the middle of the 20th century. it turns out that it is quite difficult process and it is not possible to accurately define thinking as a concept. There is still no single, generally accepted definition of thinking.

And yet thinking in its modern sense can be defined with different sides, as one of the cognitive, mental processes of a person. Its goal is to understand the world around us with the help of the senses or with the help of other psychological processes.

Thinking is the process of solving problems, questions, problems by transforming initial conditions according to certain rules and the laws of logic.

Thinking is the process of a person’s generalized cognition of reality at the conceptual level (knowledge about the most important and essential things that are associated with a certain word, content.

Thinking is also a process of indirect (using special means) human knowledge of reality.

Thinking is a type of activity through which a person, including it in other cognitive processes, turns them into higher ones. mental functions. The highest forms of perception, attention, imagination, memory and speech of a person are most closely related to thinking.

Features of thinking

Thinking- this is a mental cognitive process of reflecting significant connections and relationships of objects and phenomena of the objective world. It acts as the main tool of cognition. Thinking is mediated (cognition of one thing through another) cognition. The thinking process is characterized by the following features:

1. Thinking always has indirect nature. Establishing connections and relationships between objects and phenomena of the objective world, a person relies not only on immediate sensations and perceptions, but also on the data of past experience preserved in his memory.



2. Thinking based on available to a person knowledge about general laws nature and society. In the process of thinking, a person uses knowledge already formed on the basis of previous practice general provisions, which reflect the most general connections and patterns of the surrounding world.

3. Thinking comes from “living contemplation”, but is not reduced to it. Reflecting connections and relationships between phenomena, we always reflect these connections in an abstract and generalized form, as having general meaning for all similar phenomena of a given class, and not just for a given, specifically observed phenomenon.

4. Thinking is always there reflection of connections and relationships between objects in verbal form. Thinking and speech are always in inextricable unity. Due to the fact that thinking takes place in words, the processes of abstraction and generalization are facilitated, since words by their nature are very special stimuli that signal reality in the most generalized form.

5. Human thinking is organic connected With practical activities. In its essence, it is based on human social practice. This is by no means Not simple “contemplation” of the external world, but such a reflection of it that meets the tasks that arise before a person in the process of labor and other activities aimed at reorganizing the surrounding world.

Thought, however, is different from other cognitive processes. for example, from perception, imagination and memory.

The image of perception always contains only that which directly affects the senses. Perception always more or less accurately, directly or indirectly, contains or reflects information that affects the senses.

Thinking always represents what is in reality, in physical form does not exist. The concept of phenomena and objects is the result of thinking. Thinking reflects only the essential and ignores many random, unimportant signs of objects and phenomena.

Imagination and thinking are purely internal and different processes. However, they are significantly different. The result of thinking is a thought, and the result of imagination is an image. Thinking helps a person to know deeper and better the world. The result of imagination is not any law. The further the fantasy image departs from reality, the better the imagination. The closer to reality the product of thinking is, the more perfect it is.

A person with a rich imagination is not always creatively gifted or intellectually developed, and a person with a well-developed thinking does not always have a good imagination.

Memory remembers, stores and reproduces information about the surrounding world. It does not introduce anything new, does not generate or change thought. Thinking, on the contrary, generates and changes precisely thoughts as such.

Basic types of human thinking. There are several approaches to the classification of types of thinking: empirical (experienced) and static, logical, genetic principles.

So, in a person we can distinguish the following main types of thinking:

theoretical and practical,

productive (creative) and reproductive (non-creative),

intuitive (sensual) and logical,

autistic and realistic,

visual-effective, visual-figurative and verbal-logical thinking.

Theoretical is called thinking that occurs in the mind, without resorting to practical actions, i.e., thinking based on theoretical reasoning and inferences. For example, proof of some non-obvious position through mental transformation has already known provisions, definition of concepts, formulation and justification of theories that explain any phenomena of reality.

Practical they call thinking, the purpose of which is to solve some practical, life problem, different from those purely cognitive problems that were called theoretical. Such thinking can contain both mental and practical actions of a person. Practical thinking - thinking based on judgments and inferences based on solving practical problems.

Productive or creative they call such thinking that generates some new, previously unknown material (object, phenomenon) or ideal (thought, idea) product. Productive(creative) thinking - thinking based on creative imagination.

Reproductive or reproducing thinking deals with problems for which solutions have been found. In reproductive thinking, a person follows an already traveled, known path. Nothing new is created as a result of such thinking. Therefore, it is sometimes also called uncreative. Reproductive(reproducing) thinking - thinking based on images and ideas drawn from certain sources.

The names “productive” and “reproductive” in relation to thinking appeared and began to be used at the turn of the 19th - 20th centuries. Currently, the preferred names are “creative thinking” and “non-creative thinking”.

Intuitive is called thinking, the peculiarity of which is that a person has a special intellectual ability and a special feeling - intuition. Intuition is the ability to quickly find the correct solution to a problem without much reasoning and to be convinced, to feel its correctness, without having strong evidence of its truth. this decision. A person is guided by intuition, and it also leads his thinking along the right path.

Intuitive thinking - thinking on the basis of direct sensory perceptions and direct reflection of the effects of objects and phenomena of the objective world.

Intuitive thinking is usually unconscious. A person does not know, cannot give a conscious account of how he came to this or that decision, cannot logically justify it. Discursive thinking is thinking mediated by the logic of reasoning, not perception.

Logical They call thinking that is recognized as a process and can be proven and verified from the point of view of its correctness or error using logical rules.

There is an assumption that the predominance of intuitive or logical thinking in humans is to some extent determined genetically. Scientists admit that in people for whom the right hemisphere of the brain is dominant, intuitive thinking predominates, and in people for whom the left hemisphere of the brain is dominant, logical thinking is dominant.

Autistic thinking- a special type of thinking that does not always reveal the truth to a person or leads to the right decision one task or another. “Autism” is translated into Russian as “having your head in the clouds”, “free flight of fantasy”, “detachment from reality”. We are talking about thinking that does not take into account or is poorly oriented towards reality, solving problems without taking into account objective life circumstances. Such thinking in most cases is not quite normal from the point of view of the usual understanding of the norm. This thinking, however, cannot be called sick (pathological), since its presence in a person does not indicate the presence of any disease.

In contrast to autistic thinking, realistic thinking is distinguished. This type of thinking is always guided by reality, seeks and finds solutions to problems as a result of a careful study of this reality, and the solutions found, as a rule, correspond to reality. Autistically thinking people are sometimes called dreamers, and realistically thinking people are called pragmatists, realists.

Visually effective is called thinking, the process of which comes down to real, practical actions of a person with material objects in a clearly perceived situation. Internal, mental actions are practically reduced to a minimum; the task is mainly solved through practical manipulations with objects. Visually effective- This is the simplest known type of thinking, characteristic of many animals. Visually effective thinking is thinking directly involved in activity.

It represents genetically the most early view human thinking.

Visually figurative called thinking in which problems are solved by a person through internal, psychological actions and transformations of images of objects. This type thinking appears in children aged 3-4 years. Figurative thinking is thinking carried out on the basis of images, ideas of what a person perceived before.

Verbal-logical called the highest level of development of human thinking, which arises only at the end before school age and improving throughout life. Such thinking deals with concepts about objects and phenomena, proceeds entirely on the internal, mental plane, and does not require reliance on a clearly perceived situation.

Abstract thinking is thinking carried out on the basis of abstract concepts that are not represented figuratively.

Thinking processes. Thinking processes These are the processes by which a person solves problems. It could be like internal, so and external processes, as a result of which a person discovers new knowledge and finds solutions to the problems that arise before him. IN different types thinking: visual-effective, visual-figurative and verbal-logical - these processes act as different.

In visual-effective thinking, they represent purposeful practical actions of a person with real objects, leading him to a given goal. These actions are determined by the conditions of the problem and are aimed at transforming them in such a way that in a minimum number of relatively simple actions lead a person to the desired goal - the desired solution to the problem.

IN visual-figurative thinking its process is already a purely internal, psychological process, the content of which is the manipulation of images of relevant objects.

The processes that characterize verbal-logical thinking are understood as the internal reasoning of a person, where he acts with concepts according to the laws of logic, searching the right solution tasks through comparison and transformation of concepts.

Under judgment understand a certain statement containing a certain thought. Under reasoning They mean a system of logically interconnected judgments, the constructed sequence of which leads to a conclusion that represents the desired solution to the problem. Judgments can be statements about the presence or absence of a specific feature in an object or phenomenon. Logically and linguistically, propositions are usually represented by simple sentences.

In psychology and logic, the processes related to verbal-logical thinking turned out to be the most studied in detail. For centuries in the process of searching the right ways actions with concepts - those that guarantee the avoidance of mistakes, people have developed rules for actions with concepts, which are called logical operations of thinking.

Logical operations of thinking - These are mental actions with concepts, as a result of which new knowledge, and true knowledge, is obtained from generalized knowledge presented in the corresponding concepts. The basic logical operations of thinking are as follows: comparison, analysis, synthesis, abstraction, generalization And specification.

Comparison is a logical operation as a result of which two or more different objects are compared with each other in order to establish what is common and different in them. The identification of common and different is the result of a logical comparison operation. Comparison - this is an operation consisting of comparing objects and phenomena, their properties and relationships with each other and thus identifying the commonality or differences between them.

Analysis - This is a mental operation of dividing a complex object into its constituent parts.

Analysis is a logical operation of dividing a complex or composite object into separate parts, the elements of which it consists. Sometimes the connections that exist between parts or elements are also clarified in order to determine how the corresponding complex object is internally arranged.

Synthesis call the logical operation of combining parts or elements into a complex whole. As in the case of analysis, this is sometimes done in order to further determine how a complex whole is structured, by what special properties it differs from the elements of which it is composed. Synthesis - This is a mental operation that allows one to move from parts to the whole in a single analytical-synthetic process of thinking.

It rarely happens in human thinking that it includes only one logical operation. Most often, logical operations are present in a complex manner.

Abstraction is called such a logical operation, as a result of which any particular property of one or several different objects is isolated and considered, moreover, a property that in reality does not exist as separate and independent from the corresponding objects. Abstraction - a mental operation based on abstracting from unimportant signs of objects and phenomena and highlighting the main, main thing in them.

Generalization- this is a logical operation, as a result of which some particular statement, valid in relation to one or several objects, is transferred to other objects or acquires a generalized, rather than private, character. Generalization - This is the unification of many objects or phenomena according to some common characteristic.

Specification - this is the movement of thought from the general to the specific.

Specification is a logical operation opposite to generalization. It manifests itself in the fact that a certain general statement is transferred to a specific object, that is, properties inherent in many other objects are attributed to it.

Participating in a holistic process of thinking, logical operations complement each other and serve the purpose of such transformation of information, thanks to which it is possible to quickly find the desired solution to a certain problem. All thinking processes and all logical operations included in it have external organization, which are usually called forms of thinking or inferences.

Thinking is a mental cognitive process of a generalized and indirect reflection of reality in its most essential features and relationships. The highest form of thinking is conceptual.

Thinking is an active process. Its internal source is the needs and motives that encourage a person to set and solve vital problems. The need for it arises in situations where, in order to satisfy vital needs, the subject must take into account the internal, inaccessible properties of objects and phenomena, make forecasts for the development of events and processes, and plan the optimal way of behavior. Such situations are critical for the actualization of thinking.

Thinking can be defined as a system of special mental actions and operations, on the basis of which the subjective reconstruction of cognizable objects and phenomena in their essential properties, connections and relationships is carried out.

Thinking is generated in the context of human social existence (in objective and practical activity). It is closely related to speech and language. Thinking is the process of internal reasoning that results in solving a problem.

Thinking is unique to humans. However, it is not given to him in finished form. It arises and develops in him under the influence of training and upbringing. A necessary condition for this is the presence of an intellectually rich environment and communication with other people.

In practice, thinking as a separate mental process does not exist. It functions in close connection with all other cognitive processes. Thinking is closely related to knowledge. On the one hand, it generates knowledge, on the other hand, it is part of thinking, acting as a tool and condition for mental actions.

The thinking process is a certain sequence of mental actions and operations that can be considered as methods of understanding. The level of development of thinking is determined by how wide the range of mental actions that a person masters perfectly. With all the diversity and content specificity in the structure of thinking, we can single out only a few of the most universal actions, which are called mental operations.

Analysis is the mental dissection of an object, phenomenon or situation to identify its constituent elements.

Synthesis is the reverse process of analysis, which restores the whole by finding significant connections and relationships.

Abstraction is the isolation of one aspect, property and abstraction from the rest.

Comparison is a mental comparison of objects and phenomena in order to find similarities and differences between them.

Generalization (or generalization) is the discarding of individual characteristics while maintaining common ones, with the disclosure of significant connections: through comparison, through the disclosure of relationships, connections and patterns.

Concretization is a mental transition from the generalized to the individual, separate. This operation is the opposite of generalization.

Classification is the mental distribution of objects and phenomena on some basis, depending on their similarities and differences with each other.

Thinking operations usually do not appear in pure form; a person uses a set of different operations.

Judgment is the basic form of the result of the thought process.

Reasoning is the work of thought on judgment. Reasoning is justification if, based on a judgment, it reveals the premises that determine its truth. Reasoning is a conclusion if, based on premises, it reveals a system of judgments that follows from them.

It is not operations that generate thinking, but the process of thinking that generates operations.

Qualities of thinking and structure of intelligence

The quality of thinking is assessed by many indicators. Let's list them.

Breadth of thinking is the ability to embrace the entire issue, without at the same time missing out on the details necessary for the matter.

Depth of thinking is expressed in the ability to penetrate into the essence of complex issues.

Superficiality of thinking is the opposite quality of deep thinking, when a person pays attention to the little things and does not see the main thing.

Independence of thinking is characterized by a person’s ability to put forward new problems and find ways to solve them without resorting to the help of other people.

Flexibility of thought is expressed in its freedom from the constraining influence of techniques and methods of solving problems fixed in the past, in the ability to quickly change actions when the situation changes.

Quickness of mind is a person’s ability to quickly understand a new situation, think about it and make the right decision.

Haste of the mind is manifested in the fact that a person, without thoroughly thinking through a question, picks out one side, rushes to give a solution, and expresses insufficiently thought-out answers and judgments.

Criticality of mind is a person’s ability to objectively evaluate his own and others’ thoughts, carefully and comprehensively check all put forward provisions and conclusions.

A thought experiment is one of the most obvious forms of manifestation of imagination in science.

It is believed that it was Galileo who first gave a sufficient methodological indication of the thought experiment as a special cognitive formation, qualifying it as an imaginary experiment.

A thought experiment is a type of cognitive activity that is built according to the type of a real experiment and adopts the structure of the latter, but develops entirely in an ideal plan.

A thought experiment differs from a real experiment, on the one hand, in its ideality, and on the other, in the presence in it of elements of imagination as a basis for evaluating ideal structures.

Intelligence assessment

The most popular is the “intelligence quotient” IQ, which allows one to correlate the level of an individual’s intellectual capabilities with the average indicators of his age and professional group ( GPA– 100, low → 0, high → 200).

Congenital dementia (oligophrenia) should be distinguished from acquired dementia (dementia).

The most severe form of dementia is idiocy, IQ = 20 (speech and thinking are practically not formed, emotional reactions predominate).

Depending on the form, three types of thinking are distinguished: visual-effective, figurative and verbal or verbal-logical.

The development of a child's thinking occurs gradually.

In its development, thinking goes through two stages: pre-conceptual and conceptual.

Pre-conceptual thinking is the initial stage of the development of thinking in a child; Children’s judgments are isolated, about this particular subject. When explaining something, they reduce everything to a private acquaintance. The main role is given to memory. The earliest form of proof is an example.

The central feature of pre-conceptual thinking is egocentrism. Egocentrism determines such features of children's logic as: 1) insensitivity to contradictions, 2) syncretism (everything is connected to everything), 3) transduction (from particular to particular, bypassing the whole), 4) lack of concept of the conservation of quantity.

Conceptual thinking does not arrive immediately, but gradually, through a series of intermediate stages.

Visual-figurative thinking occurs in preschoolers aged 4-6 years.

The thinking of children of primary school age is conceptually specific, that is, the emerging mental operations are still associated with specific material and are not sufficiently generalized; the resulting concepts are concrete in nature.

Schoolchildren in middle and older age become capable of more complex cognitive tasks. In the process of solving them, mental operations are generalized and formalized, thereby expanding the range of their transfer and application in various new situations (abstract-conceptual thinking).

Types of thinking.

Visual-effective thinking is a type of thinking based on direct perception of objects, real transformation in the process of action with objects.

Visual-figurative thinking is a type of thinking characterized by reliance on ideas and images; the functions of figurative thinking are associated with the presentation of situations and changes in them that a person wants to obtain as a result of his activities, transforming the situation.

Verbal-logical is a type of thinking carried out using logical operations with concepts. The result of verbal-logical thinking is not an image, but a certain thought, an idea, not even always formalized in speech. Verbal thinking has the form of concepts, judgments and inferences. They are called logical.

Depending on the nature of the cognizable reality, two types of thinking are distinguished: objective and psychological. Subject thinking is aimed at understanding physical and biological objects and phenomena. It provides a person’s orientation in the surrounding objective environment. This thinking can be well developed among engineers, biologists, mechanics, geographers, physicists, etc. Psychological thinking allows us to understand people. It is aimed at understanding the individual psychological characteristics of another person: character traits, abilities, interests, emotional states, feelings, etc.

Theoretical and practical thinking are distinguished by the type of problems being solved and the resulting structural and dynamic features.

Theoretical thinking is the knowledge of laws and rules. The main task is to prepare a physical transformation of reality: setting a goal, creating a plan, project, scheme.

A distinction is also made between intuitive and analytical (logical) thinking. Usually 3 signs are used:

    temporary (time of the process)

    structural (divided into stages)

    level of flow (awareness/unconsciousness)

Analytical thinking of unfolded time has clearly defined stages and is largely represented in the consciousness of the thinking person himself.

Intuitive thinking is characterized by rapidity, the absence of clearly defined stages, and is minimally conscious.

Realistic thinking is aimed mainly at the external world and is regulated by logical laws, while autistic thinking is associated with the realization of human desires. The term "egocentric thinking" is sometimes used and is characterized primarily by the inability to accept another person's point of view.

It is important to distinguish between productive (creative) and reproductive (reproducing) thinking, based on “the degree of novelty of the product obtained in the process of mental activity in relation to the subject’s activities.”

There are also voluntary and involuntary thought processes. Involuntary – these are transformations of dream images and purposeful solution of mental problems

According to S.L. Rubinstein, every thought process is an act aimed at solving a specific problem, the formulation of which includes a goal and conditions. Thinking starts with problematic situation, needs to understand. In this case, solving a problem is the natural completion of the thought process, and stopping it when the goal is not achieved will be perceived by the subject as a breakdown or failure. The dynamics of the thought process are associated with the emotional well-being of the subject, tense at the beginning and satisfactory at the end.

The initial phase of the thinking process is awareness of the problem situation. The first sign of a thinking person is the ability to see a problem where it exists. From awareness of the problem, thought moves to its resolution. Application of the rule involves two mental operations:

    determine which rule to use for the solution;

    application of a general rule to specific conditions of a problem.

Automated action patterns can be considered thinking skills.

The thought process can be represented as the following chain: hypothesis - verification - judgment.

A thought process is a process that is preceded by awareness of the initial situation (task conditions), which is conscious and purposeful, operates with concepts and images, and which ends with some result (rethinking the situation, finding a solution, forming a judgment, etc.).

There are four stages of problem solving:

    Preparation;

    decision maturation;

    inspiration;

    checking the solution found.

The structure of the thought process of solving a problem can be presented as follows:

    motivation (desire to solve a problem),

    problem analysis,

    searching for a solution,

    1. searching for a solution based on one well-known algorithm (reproductive thinking),

      searching for a solution based on choosing the optimal option from a variety of known algorithms,

      solution based on a combination of individual links from various algorithms,

      searching for a fundamentally new solution (creative thinking),

      1. based on in-depth logical reasoning (analysis, comparison, synthesis, classification, inference, etc.),

        based on the use of analogy,

        based on the use of heuristic techniques,

        based on the use of empirical trial and error,

In case of failure:

3.5 despair, switching to another activity - insight, inspiration, insight, instant awareness of a solution (intuitive thinking),

Factors contributing to insight:

    high passion for the problem

    belief in success, in the possibility of solving a problem,

    high awareness of the problem, accumulated experience,

    high associative brain activity.

    logical justification of the found solution idea, logical proof of the correctness of the solution,

    implementation of the solution,

    checking the solution found,

    correction (if necessary, return to stage 2).

Ways to activate thinking.

To activate thinking, you can use special forms of organizing the thought process, for example, “brainstorming” or brainstorming (A. Osborne method, USA), designed to produce ideas or solutions when working in a group. “Brainstorming,” which is conducted by a group that gradually accumulates experience in solving various problems, forms the basis of the so-called synectics (W. Gordon, USA).

Method of focal objects. It consists in the fact that the characteristics of several randomly selected objects are transferred to the object under consideration (focal, in the focus of attention), resulting in unusual combinations that allow one to overcome psychological inertia and rigidity.

The method of morphological analysis consists in first identifying the main characteristics of an object, and then recording all possible options for each of them.

The control question method involves using a list of leading questions for this purpose.

The term "thinking" is familiar to everyone. Worldly wisdom notes that every person considers himself smart or smart enough. In psychology, thinking is usually defined as a person’s mediated and generalized reflection of reality in its essential connections and relationships. If at the sensory stage of cognition external influence directly, directly leads to the emergence of corresponding images in our consciousness, then the process of thinking becomes more complex. The concept of “thinking” denotes one of the fundamental and extremely significant psychological abilities for a person. This ability is fundamental due to the fact that in thinking a person manifests himself as a generic being, the mind is his distinctive feature. This fact determines the social and personal significance of thinking for a person.

Thinking is the subject of study not only of psychology, but also - and even, above all - of dialectical logic. Each of these scientific disciplines, studying thinking, has, however, its own distinct problems or field of study. The problem of logic is the question of truth, of the cognitive relationship of thinking to being. The problem of psychology is the flow of the thought process, the mental activity of the individual, in the specific relationship of thinking with other aspects of consciousness. Psychology, like the theory of knowledge, considers thinking not in isolation from being. She studies it as a special subject of her research. Wherein psychological science What interests us is not the relationship of thinking to being, but the structure and pattern of the course of an individual’s mental activity in the specific difference between thinking and other forms of mental activity and in its relationship with them. Thus differing from each other, the psychology of thinking and logic, or the theory of knowledge, are at the same time closely related to each other. And indeed, the psychology of thinking always comes and must inevitably come from one or another philosophical, logical, methodological concept. Reflection of the surrounding world in the process of thinking is carried out with the help of such mental operations How:

1) Analysis is the division of an object, mental or practical, into its constituent elements, followed by their comparison.

2) Synthesis is the construction of a whole from analytically given parts. Analysis and synthesis are usually carried out together and contribute to a deeper understanding of reality. “Analysis and synthesis,” wrote S.L. Rubinstein, “are the “common denominators” of the entire cognitive process. They relate not only to abstract thinking, but also to sensory cognition and perception. In terms of sensory cognition, analysis is expressed in the identification of some sensory property of an object that had not been properly identified before. The cognitive significance of analysis is due to the fact that it isolates and “emphasizes”, highlights significant comparisons (Nemova’s book 1).

3) Abstraction is the isolation of any side or aspect of a phenomenon that in reality does not exist as an independent entity. Abstraction is performed for a more thorough study and, as a rule, on the basis of a previously performed analysis and synthesis. The result of all these operations is often the formation of concepts. Not only properties, but also actions, in particular methods of solving problems, can become abstracted. Their use and transfer to other conditions is possible only when the selected method of solution is realized and meaningful regardless of the specific task.

4) Generalization - acts as a connection of the essential (abstraction) and linking it with a class of objects and phenomena. The concept becomes one of the forms of mental generalization.

5) Concretization - acts as an operation inverse to generalization. It manifests itself, for example, in the fact that general definition- concepts - a judgment is made about the belonging of individual things and phenomena to a certain class.

In addition to the considered operations of thinking, there are also processes of thinking. These processes include:

1) A judgment is a statement containing a certain thought.

2) Inference - is a series of logically related statements from which new knowledge is derived.

3) Definition of concepts - is considered as a judgment about a certain class of objects (phenomena), highlighting the most general characteristics.

4) Induction and deduction are methods of producing inferences that reflect the direction of thought from the particular to the general and vice versa. Induction involves the derivation of a general judgment from particular premises, and deduction involves the derivation of a particular judgment from a general premise. (nemov book 1)

The fact that thinking is accomplished through a certain system of operations gives the first reason to consider this process as an indirect reflection of reality. The second reason is that the process resulting from the thinking of an adult normal person is always and necessarily carried out with the help of verbal reflection.

The difference between thinking and other psychological processes is also that it is almost always associated with the presence of a problem situation, a task that needs to be solved, and an active change in the conditions in which this task is given. Thinking, unlike perception, goes beyond the limits of the sensory data and expands the boundaries of knowledge. In thinking based on sensory information, certain theoretical and practical conclusions are made. It reflects existence not only in the form of individual things, phenomena and their properties, but also determines the connections that exist between them, which most often are not given directly to man in his very perception. The properties of things and phenomena, the connections between them are reflected in thinking in a generalized form, in the form of laws and entities.

Human thinking always has a purposeful, voluntary character, since any act of thinking is aimed at solving a specific mental problem that has arisen in our consciousness one way or another.

Problems of studying thinking as mental process can be seen in the works of J. Piaget “The Concept of Childhood Intelligence and the Stages of Its Development.” Stages of sensory-motor intelligence, pre-operational thinking, concrete and formal operations. The theory of the systematic formation of mental actions by P.Ya. Galperin. Study of the process of concept formation. The concept of L.S. Vygotsky and the methodology for studying this process (Vygotsky-Sakharov method). Information theory of cognitive development. Group forms of work that stimulate the development of thinking. Brainstorming technique. In connection with psychological aspect thinking is also of interest to the work of domestic and foreign psychologists: S.L. Rubinstein, O. Külpe, W. Wundt and others. Special attention deserves the work of V.M. Allahverdov “Consciousness as a Paradox”, in which logic and psychology participate equally in the description and justification of mental activity. The author developed a concept of psychology that considers the psyche as a whole as a logical system. The logical aspect of thinking is presented in the works of domestic and foreign researchers. Among the latter we can highlight M. Wartofsky, A. Rosenbluth, N. Wiener, D. Ashby, L. Wittgenstein, A. Turing. IN Russian literature this is: V.A. Shtoff, S.I. Vavilov, N.A. Uemov, S.I. Ladenko, V.D. Charushnikov, A.S. Karmin, V.A. Lektorsky, B.V. Markov, V.A. Lefebvre, S.O. Kazaryan et al.

O. Seltsa, understood thinking as the functioning of intellectual operations. J. Watson understood human thinking very broadly, identifying it with internal speech and even means of non-verbal communication. J. Watson identified three main forms of thinking:

a. simple development of speech skills (reproduction of poems or quotes without changing the word order);

b. solving problems that are not new, but rarely encountered, so that they require verbal behavior (attempts to remember half-forgotten poems);

c. solving new problems that put the body in a difficult situation, requiring a verbal solution before an openly expressed action is taken.

Human. Depending on the situation, it can refer to both the creative field of activity and the educational field. Another important term is thought- is the result or intermediate stage of the thinking process. Thought can mean “concept”, “idea”, “meaning”. Thinking is the same way of understanding the world as sensation or perception, only more high level, since animals also have perception and sensations, but only humans have thinking.

Some philosophers understand thinking differently. They believe that thought is not the result of thinking as an activity: there is an abstract mental sphere in which ready-made thoughts float; and the process of thinking consists in a person’s extraction of thoughts from this sphere. But we will not get into esotericism and consider thinking from the point of view of psychology and sociology.

Thought processes.

Thought processes, or operations of thinking, are ways of understanding the surrounding reality through thoughts. Here are the main ones:

  1. Analysis. The mental or practical (manual) process of dividing an object or phenomenon into its components. Roughly speaking, this is disassembling and inspecting components.
  2. Synthesis. The reverse process is the combination of components into one whole, as well as the identification of connections between them.
  3. Classification. Decomposition of objects or phenomena into different groups according to certain characteristics.
  4. Comparison. Detecting differences and similarities in compared elements.
  5. Generalization. Less detailed synthesis - unification by common features without identifying connections between them. This process is not always separated from synthesis.
  6. Specification. The process of extracting the particular from the general is essentially a refinement for better understanding.
  7. Abstraction. Consideration of only one aspect of an object or phenomenon, since the rest are in this moment are of no interest.

Most psychologists consider the first two types of thinking processes (synthesis and analysis) to be basic, and the rest to be auxiliary. Some even consider only these two.

Types of thinking.

  1. Logics. It's kind of absolute objective thinking, based on definitions, classification, analysis, evidence and refutation. This is a kind of mathematical way of thinking that does not allow abstractions and assumptions. Logic is also the science of the methods and laws of cognitive intellectual activity. Scientists also call logic " correct thinking».
  2. Reflection. A person’s thinking aimed at himself and his own activities, that is, introspection. The significance of reflection for philosophy lies in the fact that a person not only knows something, but also knows that he knows it. In psychology, everything is somewhat simpler - value lies in the ability for introspection, self-criticism and adjustment of one’s own actions.
  3. Meditation. From the point of view of the human sciences in general and psychology in particular, this is a special type of in-depth thinking (reflection) about a specific object, phenomenon, spiritual truth or moral idea, in which a person abstracts from all other external and internal factors. The main element of meditation is contemplation.
  4. Intuition. Intuition is a kind of antonym of logic. This is the view cognitive thinking, based on the comprehension of truth without logic and analytics through imagination, insight, the use of accumulated experience and “feeling”. Plato also distinguished two types of knowledge - logical and intuitive. If we completely abstract from metaphysics, then intuition is an understanding of something based on previous experience with the same object or phenomenon. For example, when you launch Windows 8 for the first time, you intuitively understand how to open disks, copy text, view the context menu, etc., because before that you used Windows 7 for four years.

In conclusion, we cannot fail to mention two more methods cognitive activity , often undeservedly ignored in the study of thinking:

  • analogy(identification of similar phenomena, similarities), a more expanded process of thinking than comparison, since it includes the search for similar phenomena in a historical format;
  • deduction(a method of thinking in which a logical conclusion emerges from a whole chain of conclusions) - in Everyday life this type of logic became popular thanks to Arthur Conan Doyle and his Sherlock Holmes.