Concrete thinking: concept, types, combination possibilities and time of formation

Exploring this world, and then engaging in its transformation, a person constantly reveals the natural and stable connections that exist between phenomena. All this is indirectly reflected in his consciousness. This happens both when, looking at the wet asphalt, we understand that it has recently rained, and when a person establishes the laws of motion of celestial bodies.

In all cases, he reflects the world indirectly and generally, making certain conclusions, comparing facts, and also identifying patterns that take place in a wide variety of groups of phenomena. For example, without seeing elementary particles, man managed to understand their properties. And even without visiting Mars, I learned a lot about it.

Concept of thinking

Every day and constantly a person receives a wide variety of information from the outside world. As a result of the work of our senses and organs, smells and sounds, visual images, tactile and taste sensations become available to us. A person also receives certain data about the state of his body. This process occurs due to direct sensory perception. This is the primary building material with which thinking will have to work in the future. What is it? Thinking is the process of processing received sensory data, their analysis, comparison, generalization and inference. It represents the highest activity of the brain, as a result of which unique, new knowledge is created. That is, information that until this moment was not yet in the sensory experience of the individual.

Characteristics of thinking styles

Before we begin to describe thinking styles, we note that they should not be considered from a “better or worse” point of view. They are not good or bad, they are all equal and have their own pros and cons. Also, they should not be assessed as indicators of intelligence development.

Now we present the characteristics of each style, from which you will learn its main differences, positive and negative sides. Individual thinking styles can be divided into five main ones:

Synthetic thinking style

Synthesis is the creation of something new and original (things, ideas, technologies, etc.) that has certain qualities. This new thing is often created by combining initial elements, which often have opposite and even incompatible properties and qualities.

Synthesizers love to combine different positions, views, or ideas, and their favorite form of thinking is theorizing and conducting thought experiments. The motto of such people can be called the question: “What if...?”

Synthesizers are engaged in integration, searching for ways to combine incompatible things in new combinations. Unlike people with other thinking styles, they tend to recognize only one specific fact. It lies in the fact that among people there have always been and will be people with different opinions on different topics.

Synthesizers are very keenly aware of contradictions in the reasoning of others, and are actively interested in conflicts of ideas and paradoxes. They themselves are also interested in the emergence of such situations and love to provoke them, for which they skillfully use Socratic dialogue and unexpected questions.

Another passion of such people is the love of change. They see an ever-changing reality and are not afraid of uncertainty. The unknown and new paths attract them like a magnet. For this reason, synthesizers often complicate their lives. However, their creativity is a source of pride, as is their sharpness of language and ability to see the unusual and new.

Idealistic thinking style

People with an idealistic thinking style tend to think associatively and have a broad view of things. They like to give global assessments and voice intuitive guesses. At the same time, they do not strive to analyze everything in detail, relying on logic and available facts.

Idealist people are interested in human motives, needs, values, and perfectly formulate goals, both their own and those of other people. What matters to them is where a person goes and why; they try to understand what is good for a person and what is evil.

What unites idealists with synthesizers is their lack of inclination to concentrate on dry facts and precise data. But they resolve contradictions in different ways. Idealists are convinced that any disputes and disagreements can be resolved; believe that people can always find a compromise. Therefore, they do not like conflicts, considering them completely unnecessary and ineffective.

Idealists openly accept a variety of proposals, positions and ideas; they like to be considered open, helpful, and trustworthy people. But to satisfy their requests, you must always be on top, because... they place higher demands on others. By the way, it is precisely because of their “standards” that idealists are often disappointed in others.

When searching for solutions to problems, idealistic people can demonstrate unsurpassed professionalism, even when formulating the problem may be very difficult, and the main factors are values, assessments, feelings and emotions.

Pragmatic thinking style

The pragmatic style of thinking is very similar to the practical scientific style. Pragmatic people perceive only what works, because their own experience is for them a measure of the correctness or incorrectness of actions, decisions, ideas and life in general.

Unlike other people, pragmatists tend to look for new ways to satisfy their own and other people’s needs, using only what is “at hand”, without resorting to additional funds and resources, and especially to reserves. When solving problems, pragmatists demonstrate a systematic approach, where only one thing is done at a time and a specific result is achieved. This unites pragmatists with realists (we’ll talk about the latter a little later).

Idealists believe in the “noble intentions” of others, but this is not at all typical of pragmatists. They are sure that the world cannot be understood, much less controlled, because it is unpredictable. For this reason, “today” they are doing this, and then it will be seen. The behavior of pragmatic people is also unpredictable, because... Most people find it difficult to understand how they think and reflect.

Pragmatists have the ability to sense the situation, and therefore can influence supply and demand in their broadest sense. They strive to share their ideas with other people, are willing to work together, work enthusiastically in teams, and successfully develop strategies for quickly achieving results.

In general, pragmatists can be called adaptive and flexible people, both from the point of view of thinking and from the point of view of behavior. They are almost always distinguished by excellent communication skills and the ability to empathize. They empathize with other people, but they themselves feel the need for understanding, love, approval, and acceptance of their thoughts and behavior.

Analytical thinking style

People with an analytical thinking style strive to find optimal ways. They are characterized by a methodical, logical, thorough, detail-oriented, and careful problem-solving style. Before making a decision, they draw up an action plan, collecting as much information as possible about the problem, which is the reason for their fairly frequent success in everything.

Analysts concentrate on theoretical data, and are guided by facts and the real state of affairs secondarily. They do not like confusion, chaos, uncertainty and the unknown. They prefer to look at the world as something that can be subordinated to rationalism and logic, ordered and predicted.

Knowledge is of particular value for analysts, so from childhood they try to learn and master theories with the help of which they can explain the phenomena of the surrounding world and bring them to a system. The opinion of authorities is important to them; their views rarely change; They always strive to apply all acquired theoretical knowledge in practice.

When faced with a problem, analysts begin to look for procedures, formulas, methods and entire systems with the help of which the problem can be solved. As a result, they challenge themselves to determine the best solution to the problem.

In life, analysts gravitate towards predictability, stability and rationality, focusing on objective information and “procedures” for overcoming obstacles. Any activity of such people will always be subordinated to a detailed and detailed plan, system, and the desire to find the optimal path.

Analysts spend a lot of time and effort searching for the necessary information. Thanks to this, in most cases they are competent people who have the necessary data and understand the specifics of problems and situations. This often serves as a source of personal pride for analysts.

Realistic thinking style

People with a realistic thinking style prefer to act empirically. Although this resembles the behavior of pragmatic people, there are significant differences. Realists and pragmatists operate with different values ​​and assumptions, and the strategies they use are fundamentally different, although they can often complement each other.

For realists, facts are of primary importance, and they consider “real” only what can be actually felt, what can be touched, what can be heard, seen, etc. Realists are of the opinion that if something cannot be achieved at the level of facts, then there is no point in starting to work with it at all.

The style of thinking of realists is that it is extremely specific and aimed at correcting and changing the situation in order to achieve a specific goal. Problems for them appear in any case when they see something “wrong” and they have a desire to influence it.

Pragmatists are inclined to experiment, while realists are closer to error-free business management, based on the confidence that if they managed to “fix” something, then no surprises will arise in the future, and everything will go like clockwork. If something happens again, realists will again try to fix everything, pursuing the same goal.

In fact, realists are closest to analysts, because rely only on reliable facts, focus on the material, concrete and objective, act methodically and strive to achieve practically valuable results. But at the same time, realists do not like formalities and logical procedures, long searches for data and the pursuit of ideals. Realists will try to do something as best as possible based on the facts at their disposal.

Like synthesizers, realists appreciate control over the situation. They like to manage resources, people and results themselves; They do not like to conduct long analyses, drag out discussions and delay decision-making moments.

These are the common characteristics and differences of each of the five individual thinking styles. But, in addition to these characteristics, the considered styles also have more striking features by which it is easy to determine the thinking style - yours or someone else's.

Birth of a thought

Everyone knows that this process occurs in the brain. However, few people know exactly how a thought is born. And this is far from simple.

The leading role in thinking, as well as in all mental activity, is assigned to nerve cells - neurons. And a person has more than a trillion of them. Moreover, each of the neurons is a kind of factory that processes incoming data. Numerous connections extend from each nerve cell. They are connected to other neurons. It is thanks to this that nerve cells exchange electrochemical impulses with each other, which carry certain information. The data transfer speed is 100 meters per second. This is where the specific operations of thinking lie.

You can imagine a similar process in the form of bright fireworks. First, one bright star appears. This is a signal received from an external stimulus. Further, such an impulse seems to scatter along the chain of nerve cells in depth and breadth. All this is accompanied by new outbreaks that cover increasingly large areas of the brain.

The most interesting thing is that the impulse, when passing through the neural chains of the brain, overcomes certain obstacles that are located in the places where the nerve fibers connect. And this, of course, somewhat reduces their speed. However, each subsequent impulse moves along this path much easier. In other words, a person who forces his brain to work finds it much easier to think.

Of course, knowledge has high value for people. However, we need them primarily as material for thinking. That is why a person does not become smarter when he gains new knowledge. This happens as a result of their comprehension and inclusion in activities.

Thinking: forms, properties, types, methods of development in children

Anastasia Kondratieva

Thinking: forms, properties, types, methods of development in children

Thinking is the process of indirect and generalized cognition (reflection) of the surrounding world. Its essence lies in the reflection of: 1) general and essential properties of objects and phenomena, including properties that are not directly perceived; 2) significant relationships and natural connections between objects and phenomena.

Basic forms of thinking

There are three main forms of thinking: concept, judgment and inference.

A concept is a form of thinking that reflects the general and, moreover, essential properties of objects and phenomena.

Every object, every phenomenon has many different properties and characteristics. These properties, signs, can be divided into two categories - essential and non-essential.

Judgments reflect connections and relationships between objects and phenomena of the surrounding world and their properties and characteristics. Judgment is a form of thinking that contains the affirmation or denial of any position regarding objects, phenomena or their properties.

Inference is a form of thinking in which a person, comparing and analyzing various judgments, derives a new judgment from them. A typical example of inference is the proof of geometric theorems.

Properties of thinking

The main properties of human thinking are its abstraction and generalization. Abstract thinking consists in the fact that, thinking about any objects and phenomena, establishing connections between them, we single out only those properties and signs that are important for solving the issue facing us, abstracting from all other signs, in this case us not interested: while listening to the teacher’s explanation in class, the student tries to understand the content of the explanation, highlight the main ideas, and connect them with each other and with his past knowledge. At the same time, he is distracted from the sound of the teacher’s voice and the style of his speech.

Abstract thinking is also closely related to its generality. By highlighting the most important aspects, connections and relationships that are significant from one point of view or another, we thereby focus our thoughts on that common thing that characterizes entire groups of objects and phenomena. Each object, each event, phenomenon, taken as a whole, is unique, as it has many different aspects and characteristics.

Types of thinking

In psychology, the following simplest and somewhat conventional classification of types of thinking is common: 1) visual-effective, 2) visual-figurative and 3) abstract (theoretical) thinking. Thinking is also distinguished between intuitive and analytical, theoretical, empirical, autistic and mythological.

Visual-effective thinking.

In the course of historical development, people solved the problems facing them first in terms of practical activity, only then did theoretical activity emerge from it. Practical and theoretical activities are inextricably interconnected.

Only as practical activity develops does it emerge as a relatively independent theoretical mental activity.

Not only in the historical development of mankind, but also in the process of mental development of each child, the starting point will be not purely theoretical, but practical activity. It is within this latter that children's thinking first develops. In pre-preschool age (up to three years inclusive), thinking is mainly visual and effective. The child analyzes and synthesizes cognizable objects as he, with his hands, practically separates, dismembers and reunites, correlates, connects with each other certain objects perceived at the moment. Curious children often break their toys precisely in order to find out “what’s inside.”

Visual-figurative thinking.

In its simplest form, visual-figurative thinking occurs primarily in preschool children, i.e., at the age of four to seven years. Although the connection between thinking and practical actions is preserved, it is not as close, direct and immediate as before. During the analysis and synthesis of a cognizable object, a child does not necessarily and does not always have to touch the object that interests him with his hands. In many cases, systematic practical manipulation (action) with an object is not required, but in all cases it is necessary to clearly perceive and visually represent this object. In other words, preschoolers think only in visual images and do not yet master concepts (in the strict sense).

Abstract thinking.

On the basis of practical and visual-sensory experience, children of school age develop, first in the simplest forms, abstract thinking, that is, thinking in the form of abstract concepts.

Mastering concepts as schoolchildren learn the fundamentals of various sciences - mathematics, physics, history - is of great importance in the mental development of children. The formation and assimilation of mathematical, geographical, physical, biological and many other concepts during school education are the subject of numerous studies. The development of abstract thinking in schoolchildren during the assimilation of concepts does not at all mean that their visual-effective and visual-figurative thinking now ceases to develop or disappears altogether. On the contrary, these primary and original forms of all mental activity continue to change and improve, developing together with abstract thinking and under its influence.

Intuitive and analytical thinking.

Analytical thinking is characterized by the fact that its individual stages are clearly expressed and the thinker can tell another person about them. An analytically thinking person is fully aware of both the content of his thoughts and the operations that comprise them. Analytical thinking in its extreme form takes the form of careful deductive inference.

Intuitive thinking is characterized by the fact that it lacks clearly defined stages. It is usually based on a compressed perception of the entire problem at once. The person in this case arrives at an answer, which may be right or wrong, with little or no awareness of the process by which he arrived at that answer. Therefore, the conclusions of intuitive thinking need to be verified by analytical means.

Intuitive and analytical thinking complement each other. Through intuitive thinking, a person can often solve problems that he would not have solved at all or, at best, would have solved more slowly through analytical thinking.

Theoretical thinking.

Theoretical thinking is thinking that does not lead directly to practical action. Theoretical thinking is contrasted with practical thinking, the conclusion of which is, as Aristotle puts it, action. Theoretical thinking is guided by a special attitude and is always associated with the creation of a specific “theoretical world” and drawing a fairly clear boundary between it and the real world.

Empirical thinking.

We can distinguish at least three vital functions of empirical thinking.

Firstly, empirical thinking provides a person with an awareness of similarities and differences. The most important task of thinking when faced with an infinite variety of sensory-given properties and relationships of things is to separate them, to focus on what is similar and different, and to highlight a general idea of ​​objects.

Secondly, empirical thinking allows the subject to determine the measure of similarity and difference. Depending on practical and everyday tasks, a person can define the same objects, phenomena, situations as more or less similar and different.

Thirdly, empirical thinking makes it possible to group objects according to generic relations and classify them.

Ways to develop thinking

Development of visually effective thinking in children.

By the age of 5-6 years, children learn to perform actions in their minds. The objects of manipulation are no longer real objects, but their images. Most often, children present a visual, visual image of an object. Therefore, a child’s thinking is called visual-effective.

To develop visual and effective thinking, the following techniques should be used when working with children:

1) Learning to analyze a visual image (an adult can draw the child’s attention to individual elements of objects, ask questions about similarities and differences).

2) Learn to identify the properties of objects (children do not immediately understand that different objects can have similar properties; for example: “Name 2 objects that have three characteristics at once: white, soft, edible”).

3) Learning to recognize an object by a description of possible actions with it (for example, riddles).

4) Learning to find alternative methods of action (for example, “What to do if you need to know the weather outside?”).

5) Learning to compose narrative stories.

6) Learning to make logical conclusions (for example, “Petya is older than Masha, and Masha is older than Kolya. Who is the oldest?”).

Development of logical thinking in children.

To develop logical thinking in preschool children, the following techniques are used:

1) Teaching the child to compare objects (for example, “Find 10 differences in the following pictures”).

2) Teaching a child to classify objects (for example, the game “What’s extra?”).

3) Teaching a child to search for identical properties or signs of objects (for example, among toys, invite the child to find 2 identical ones).

Development of logical thinking in children of primary school age:

1) Use of exercises aimed at developing the ability to divide objects into classes (for example, “Read the words (lemon, orange, plum, apple, strawberry) and name the berries and fruits”).

2) Formation of the ability to define concepts.

3) Formation of the ability to identify essential features of objects.

Thinking acts mainly as a solution to tasks, questions, problems that are constantly put forward to people by life. Solving problems should always give a person something new, new knowledge. Finding solutions can sometimes be very difficult, so mental activity, as a rule, is an active activity that requires concentrated attention and patience. The real process of thought is always a cognitive process.

Bibliography:

1. Brief psychological dictionary / ed. A. V. Petrovsky, M. G. Yaroshevsky. – Rostov-ND, 1998.

2. Gippenreiter Yu. B. Introduction to general psychology: Textbook / Yu. B. Gippenreiter. - M.: Omega L, 2006.

3. Tertel A. L. Psychology. Course of lectures: Textbook / A. L. Tertel. – M.: Prospekt, 2006.

4. Diagnosis and correction of mental development of preschool children: Textbook/Ed. Y. L. Kolominsky, E. A. Panko. – Mn., 1997.

5. Uruntaeva G. A. Workshop on child psychology: Textbook / G. A. Uruntaeva, Yu. A. Afonkina. – M.: Education, 1995.

Types of thinking

In the brain, information processing occurs in different directions. This is created by different types of thinking that help us solve hundreds of daily problems.

The various tools that are in the arsenal of our brain, namely generalization and systematization, synthesis, analysis and much more, allow us to most fully perceive the world around us and develop. However, they are only individual elements of large-scale processes occurring in consciousness. The main types of thinking that serve as basic constructs in a person’s perception of the world around them include:

• practical or concretely effective;
• concrete-figurative;
• abstract.

The listed types of thinking differ from each other in the characteristics of the tasks they perform. The latter can be practical or theoretical.

Modern types of thinking: general characteristics of thinking and methods of development

However, these are not all the types of thinking that modern psychologists and cognitive specialists identify. In our life we ​​cannot do without the ability to think strategically, critically and imaginatively. But these are also types of thinking. They are the ones who help a person to be successful, set ambitious goals and achieve them.

So, let's look at what popular types of thinking exist, what they are, and what methods and exercises can be used to develop them.

Necessary types of thinking for a modern person:

1. Critical thinking.
2. Strategic thinking.
3. Logical thinking.
4. Analytical thinking.
5. Thinking outside the box.
6. Creative or creative thinking.
7. Systems thinking.
8. Creative thinking.
9. Spatial thinking.
10. Abstract thinking.
11. Algorithmic thinking.
12. Deductive thinking.
13. Associative thinking.
14. Mathematical thinking.

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Critical thinking

What is critical thinking and how to develop it? The ability to think critically means the ability to doubt, ask questions, analyze, form judgments based on received arguments and defend one’s point of view.

Critical thinking is an essential skill for a student. It is he who helps to choose the right literature and competently work with sources during the preparation of coursework, dissertations and other works.

How to develop critical thinking in an adult? There are several proven methods:

• constantly improve knowledge, learn new things and expand your horizons;
• communicate with smart people;
• learn to ask questions and look for answers;
• read a lot and analyze what you read;
• explore different points of view;
• come up with different options for how situations might develop;
• analyze mistakes and failures, draw conclusions;
• play chess, board games;
• solve puzzles and rebuses.

Solving puzzles helps develop thinking

Strategic Thinking

Strategic thinking is the ability to assess the risks of your actions and anticipate the consequences. Any thinking person must develop the art of seeing and creating strategies to achieve success in different areas of life.

What examples of strategic thinking can you give? The most relevant is the attitude towards learning. If a student makes a study and preparation plan at the beginning of the school year, this strategy will allow him to prepare for tests and exams with ease and confidence. But the “at random” attitude is more likely to lead to a retake.

How to develop strategic thinking? Focus on the following skills:

• observe events and look for general trends;
• ask difficult questions and try to find answers to them;
• always evaluate actions in terms of possible consequences;
• learn to think logically and clearly;
• make decisions and take responsibility;
• take time to take stock and evaluate the situation;
• constantly learn something new to expand your knowledge;
• learn to be open-minded;
• put yourself in another person's place.

Logical thinking

Logical thinking is the ability to think logically, reasoning consistently and consistently.

How to develop logical thinking as an adult? This is a very important question. After all, logic helps not only in study and work. She is an excellent travel companion in any life situation. So take note of the following exercises and ways to develop logical thinking:

• solve logical problems;
• read and analyze the texts you read;
• solve scanwords, crosswords and puzzles;
• look for logical patterns;
• study foreign languages;
• learn to write with your left hand if you are right-handed, and vice versa.

Writing with your left hand if you're right-handed is a great way to practice thinking.

Analytical thinking

Analytical thinking is the ability to work with large data of information, dividing them into logical parts and examining each according to a certain scheme.

It is impossible to think analytically without well-developed logic. Therefore, in searching for an answer to the question: how to develop analytical thinking, do not forget about the advice from the previous paragraph and supplement them with the following:

• solve math problems;
• analyze situations and information;
• look for alternative solutions;
• participate in discussions;
• learn to create smart and clear notes;
• simulate different situations.

Thinking outside the box

Non-standard, or lateral thinking is the ability to think outside the box in ordinary situations and look for unexpected solutions.

British psychologist Edward de Bono studied issues of lateral and creative thinking, and shared his findings in books. For example, in his work “Six Thinking Hats” you can find simple and effective exercises that help develop non-standard thought processes.

British psychologist Edward de Bono

How to develop unconventional thinking? Use proven exercises:

• go beyond: always look for additional solutions and properties, not limited to standard conditions;
• look for ways to use it: take any item and come up with at least 100 options for how it can be used;
• connect random words: find relationships between different objects and phenomena.

Creative or creative thinking

Creative or creative thinking is very similar to lateral thinking. It also characterizes a person’s ability to create something new and non-standard, bypassing the usual rules and patterns. The ability to think creatively helps you come up with ideas and change this world for the better.

Creativity is the most important soft skill of our time. HR managers of large companies want to see this skill not only in specialists in creative professions, but also in managers and technical workers.

How to develop creative or creative thinking? Use the following proven techniques:

• change the situation, go beyond;
• switch between tasks rather than sit on one thing;
• come up with ideas on your own and discuss them in a general brainstorming session;
• listen to happy music - studies say it improves creative thinking;
• develop a sense of humor and a positive attitude towards life;
• reproduce other people's ideas and create your own based on them.

Systems thinking

The ability to think systematically is an important skill for managers. But it will also be useful in any professional field. After all, systems thinking is a holistic perception of phenomena and objects, the ability to find and create a system by working with information, people and companies.

Systematic thinking is important not only for professional development. This ability helps to organize life, set goals and see ways to achieve them.

How to develop systems thinking? Perform simple steps every day:

• look for a system in all situations and processes;
• find the main elements that make up the system;
• develop the ability to analyze and synthesize;
• approach every situation critically;
• try to predict the development of the system;
• develop the ability to reflect, that is, conduct introspection and evaluate oneself from the outside;
• Read books to develop systems thinking, such as Ian McDermott and Jane O'Connor's The Art of Systems Thinking.

Seeing a system in everything is an invaluable skill that will definitely come in handy in life.

Creative thinking

Imaginative thinking is the ability to “draw” mental images of phenomena and objects that are not in the immediate environment.

Figurative thinking, as a rule, relies on a person’s visual memory. But this does not mean that we cannot imagine abstract phenomena or animals that we have never seen. In this case, everyone will have their own images.

How to develop imaginative thinking? For this, psychologists recommend different exercises. For example:

• study objects, people, natural phenomena, and then describe them with your eyes closed;
• choose abstract phenomena and try to mentally draw their images;
• develop photographic memory;
• observe clouds or other abstract phenomena and find images.

Spatial thinking

Spatial thinking is a type of figurative thinking, which is characterized by the ability to navigate well in space, as well as mentally create three-dimensional images and forms.

How to develop spatial thinking? Even if you skipped geometry classes as a child at school and always suffered from topographic cretinism, there are methods that will help improve this ability:

• solve geometry problems;
• try to draw mental maps of the area;
• start designing airplanes, castles, etc.;
• collect puzzles;
• draw mirror reflections of paintings;
• play board games.

Abstract thinking

Abstract thinking is one of the types of thinking that allows you to create abstract concepts and operate with them.

It is the ability to think abstractly that helps a person communicate, learn different languages, count and read, and write.

How to develop abstract thinking? To do this, you can use the following methods:

• imagine different emotions;
• read the book in reverse order;
• come up with contradictory phrases;
• make up abbreviations;
• choose an item and write down all its functions and properties;
• write down all the words starting with a certain letter within a limited time;
• give names to life events.

Brainstorm with friends to develop your thinking

Algorithmic thinking

The algorithmic type of thinking includes the ability to direct the thought process to solve certain problems, see other people’s algorithms and create your own.

Algorithmization of processes is their description with mathematical symbols, in which it is necessary to reflect the basic acts of the processes, their sequence and interconnection.

If you want to go into IT, you just need to know how to develop algorithmic thinking. Here are some ways:

• study computer science;
• play strategy games;
• get involved in programming;
• break down different processes into steps.

Deductive Reasoning

Deductive thinking is the ability to draw specific conclusions from general phenomena. That is, it is a skill that allows you to notice small details and come to accurate conclusions.

Deduction is also an important research method that students use in the practical part of coursework and dissertations. So a well-developed skill will help you not only guess moves in the Sherlock series, but also be a great student.

How to develop deductive thinking? There are several important and useful ways:

• pay attention to little things;
• develop memory;
• learn to formulate thoughts clearly and logically;
• deeply study the chosen field of knowledge;
• train concentration;
• study other people's body language;
• keep a diary and record all the events of the day;
• develop intuition;
• solve puzzles and logic problems;
• learn to listen and hear others;
• read a lot.

Becoming a real Sherlock is a very real task

Associative thinking

Associative thinking is a person’s ability to see and create relationships between different images.

The ability to associatively helps a person better remember information, imagine different ideas, create stories and find relationships between phenomena. How to develop associative thinking in adulthood? There are several ways:

• build associative chains between different words;
• remember a number of words through associations;
• look for associative definitions for different phenomena;
• come up with unusual associations for familiar objects.

Abstract thinking

How is it preferable for a person to think - concretely or abstractly? There is no clear answer to this question. Of course, in the real world there are no abstractions. What we see around us contains only concrete phenomena and objects. Abstractions take place only in the sphere of human thinking. For example, a specific birch tree grows under the window. It exists in reality. However, it is quite possible to abstract this birch with all the trees, calling it the abstract word “tree”. After this, the chain is not difficult to continue. Birch can well be called a plant, a living being, a material object, and simply an object. Each of the subsequent concepts is an even greater abstraction, that is, a generalization of a specific phenomenon.

There is nothing wrong with this type of thinking. Without it, it is impossible for a person to solve complex problems. It is in such cases that both abstract and concrete thinking are used.

However, sometimes certain problems may arise. If the volume of abstract and concrete thinking outweighs in favor of the first, it is considered that the person has mentally left the real world, moving into the imaginary one. And the latter, strictly speaking, exists only in his fantasies.

Concrete thinking is activated by people when they have clear information, knowledge and understanding of what is happening. What if all this is missing? Then abstract thinking turns on. At the same time, a person guesses, assumes and draws accurate conclusions.

Using abstract thinking, we do not take into account concrete details. Our discussions concern general concepts. In this case, a person considers the picture as a whole, without affecting the accuracy and specifics. Thanks to this, he manages to move away from dogmas and rules, considering the situation from different angles.

Abstract thinking is very useful when a person is at an intellectual impasse. In the absence of knowledge or information, he has to guess and reason. And if we abstract from specific details, then we can consider in the current situation something that was not visible before.

K. Goldstein. Abstract and concrete behavior Added by Psychology OnLine.Net 08/23/2004 (Edit 04/13/2006) Based on clinical and experimental research, we can distinguish two types of human behavior, or two general approaches to the world, which we called abstract

and
specific
behavior
(Goldstein and Gelb,
1925). Before describing them in more detail, I would like to show the difference between these two approaches using a simple example.

When we enter a dark bedroom and turn on a lamp, we act concretely, often without even realizing what we are doing. We just want it to become light, and our reaction is directly determined by the external situation in which we find ourselves. If we understand that light can wake up a person sleeping in a room, and in accordance with this we do not light the lamp, we approach the situation abstractly, that is, we go beyond the limits of directly given sensory impressions.

These kinds of attitudes or forms of behavior should not be considered either as acquired by the individual as certain mental tendencies or habits, nor as specific abilities such as memory or attention. Rather, they represent different levels of ability of the personality as a whole, each of which forms the basis of all functions of the organism within a certain circle of relations to situations in the external world.

The specific setup is realistic. In this attitude, we are surrendered to, or tied to, the direct experience of a given thing or situation in its concrete uniqueness. Our thoughts and actions are directed by immediate impulses emanating from any one particular aspect of an object or situation in our environment.

With an abstract attitude, we are distracted from the specific properties of objects and phenomena. In our actions, we are guided by a more abstract point of view, be it a category, class or generalized meaning, before which specific objects retreat. We separate ourselves from a given sense impression, and concrete things appear to us as special cases or representations of certain categories. Therefore, an abstract attitude can also be called a categorical or conceptual attitude. Abstract installation is the basis of the following abilities:

1) arbitrarily accept one or another attitude of consciousness;

2) move arbitrarily from one aspect of the situation to another;

3) hold various aspects in mind simultaneously;

4) grasp the essence of a given whole, dismember the given whole into parts and select them arbitrarily;

5) generalize, abstract general properties, plan in advance in the mind, adopt a certain attitude towards “pure possibility”, and also think symbolically;

6) separate your “I” from the outside world.

Abstract behavior is more active behavior, concrete behavior is more passive. The capabilities listed above are not necessary conditions for a particular behavior.

There are different levels of abstract and concrete behavior corresponding to the degrees of difficulty associated with completing a particular task. Thus, a particularly high level of abstract behavior is needed to consciously and voluntarily perform any purposeful action and explain it to oneself and others. A lower level of abstract behavior is required for intelligent behavior if its execution is not accompanied by awareness of one's own actions. Metaphorical thinking, which occurs in our everyday life, can be considered a special case of abstract behavior of an even lower level.

This kind of gradation also applies to specific behavior. The most concrete way of acting in a situation or with things is a reaction to one of the properties, the one that alone is experienced; for example, reactions to one particular color, or some special shape of an object, or to the practical function of an object for which it is, in fact, intended. A less specific approach is manifested in the case when a person takes into account the specific configuration of an object or situation as a whole, and does not focus his action solely on one of their features.

A healthy person combines both of these attitudes and can move from one of them to the other depending on the requirements of the situation. Some tasks can only be accomplished through an abstract attitude; for others, a specific setting is sufficient.

In their everyday behavior, patients with a violation of the abstract attitude may not be very different from healthy people, since most familiar situations do not require an abstract approach. However, the use of special tests (see Goldstein and Scherer,

1941) makes it possible to distinguish the specific behavior of patients with a defect in abstraction from the specific behavior in the norm. If a healthy person acts concretely only in appropriate situations, then the patient is entirely dependent on surrounding objects and even operates with ideas as with things. His activity is not, in essence, the activity of himself as a person. Therefore, in cases where it is necessary to be aware of their thoughts and actions, to form symbolic concepts, etc., patients fail.

We argue that at the beginning of any action the use of an abstract attitude is assumed. For those tasks that can be accomplished by a particular behavior, the situation must be planned in advance so that the behavior proceeds smoothly and unimpeded. In order to achieve this, an abstract attitude is necessary. But if it is impossible to use only concrete behavior, then how can there really be people who act only concretely? Observations of patients can again help answer this question.

Thus, in the clinic of brain lesions, we observe in patients a strong violation of the abstract attitude. Moreover, immediately after the onset of the disease, they almost completely lose contact with the world, are unable to fulfill basic requirements and therefore easily become restless. However, over time, they become noticeably better at communicating with others and become able to use the specific skills they previously knew. I cannot discuss here exactly how this happens, but I can say with certainty that it happens outside of their own consciousness (Goldstein,

1939). A test of their abilities shows that the defect persists. The visible “improvement” was caused by the efforts of the surrounding people, i.e., by such an organization of the environment in which there are practically no tasks that cannot be accomplished within the framework of specific behavior. The adequacy of the behavior of patients is the result of the interaction of the abstract behavior of others with their own concrete behavior.

A similar example is the existence of a child in the first year of his life. A child comes into the world as a helpless being, in particular because his abstract ability has not yet been developed. He would constantly be in danger of death, and, most importantly, he would not be able to use even his innate abilities if not for the appropriate care of adults. This care consists of creating a special environment that meets the physical and mental needs of the child, which changes as he grows. The organization of such an adequate “world” is, as in the case of the patient, the result of the abstract behavior of others. Communication with the mother subsequently leads to the formation of the child’s own abstract attitude.

Thus, with all the specific differences between abstract and concrete attitudes, human existence requires the interaction of both levels of behavior.

Abstract logical thinking

With this direction of the mental process, a person operates with those phenomena that he is not able to smell, see with his eyes or touch with his hands. Abstract-logical thinking uses only a few of certain patterns, isolated from the imaginary, abstract qualities of the subject of research.

Abstract-logical and concrete thinking are closely intertwined with each other. An example of this is the explanation using mathematics of those phenomena that do not exist in nature. So, when we talk about the number “2”, we understand that we are talking about two units. But at the same time, people also use this concept to simplify certain phenomena.

Another clear example is language. In nature there are no letters, no words, no sentences. Man himself invented the alphabet and composed phrases to express those thoughts that he wants to convey to others. This allowed people to find a common language with each other.

The need for abstract logical thinking arises in situations where there is some uncertainty that leads to an intellectual dead end.

What is thinking

Under thinking

in psychology they understand the process of modeling reality with the help of axiomatic provisions, which underlies human cognitive activity. Thinking is a generalized and indirect way of reflecting reality.

Many scientists and philosophers of different eras have emphasized that thought processes are a distinctive feature of human consciousness and are the very essence of man. “I think, therefore I exist,” said Descartes. Pascal said that man is a “thinking reed.”

The result of thinking is thought - concept, idea, meaning. Thought processes are contrasted with the lower forms of knowledge of reality, which are also characteristic of animals - sensation and perception.

The fact that thinking is the content and essence of human activity can be understood by the fact that it surrounds us literally everywhere. Thinking underlies all human science, art, politics, and religion. Thus, many human buildings have not only a utilitarian purpose, but also a symbolic one: the architecture of the building, its location, the nature of the lighting, even the materials from which it was built have a certain significance.

Thinking has one distinctive feature compared to other forms of cognition. With its help, you can obtain information about an object that cannot be perceived directly. This is achieved through thought processes such as deduction and analogy.

Specification

When abstracting, a person is mentally distracted from certain aspects and features of the object. This allows him to gain a deeper understanding of the essence of phenomena and things. Concrete thinking is the exact opposite of abstract thinking. It returns thought from the general to reveal its content.

It is worth noting that any human reasoning always has the goal of obtaining some result. A person compares and analyzes objects using concrete thinking. He also abstracts some of their properties, with the help of which he reveals in them those patterns that govern the object of study.

Determining your thinking style

Here we will not describe in detail each style of thinking, because... We have already given them the main characteristics, and we will present only the most striking features inherent in each of them.

How to identify a synthesizer :

• Defiant behavior, open expression of skepticism, sometimes ridicule, tendency to oppose (especially against generally held opinions), disagreement with what everyone agrees with.
• A detached view of the situation, originality in judgment, unusual proposals on solving problems and getting out of situations.
• A penchant for philosophizing, theorizing, formulating and resolving paradoxes. A frivolous (at first glance and from the point of view of others) attitude towards problems and difficulties.
• Lack of interest in the simple and banal, attempts to appear irrelevant to the problem or issue being discussed.
• Effective, but quite complex speech, a lot of introductory words and sentences, qualifying adjectives and constructions (such as “essentially”, “more or less”, “probably”, etc.)
• Skillful argumentation of one’s position, but at the same time the ability and desire (!) to smash one’s own ideas to smithereens with the simultaneous manifestation of self-irony.

How to identify an idealist :

• An open and inviting smile. Verbal and non-verbal signals that indicate a desire to achieve emotional contact and inspire trust. Sociability.
• Vivid reflection in behavior of any positive and negative emotions.
• Soft, tactful and non-provocative behavior.
• Reluctance to argue, let alone conflict, desire for a peaceful resolution of any situation.
• A tendency to talk about others and their problems, a desire to get to know a person better, a lot of questions.
• Negative attitude towards the abundance of facts and deep analytics.
• Firmness in beliefs and actions. Strict adherence to social and ethical standards.

How to define a pragmatist :

• Friendly and open manner of communication. Courage, mobility, activity, some tension in relationships.
• Love of easy and relaxed, clear, simple and cheerful communication.
• Dislike of speculative and formal conversations, conversations on abstract topics, conversations overflowing with theory.
• Signs of discomfort in tense situations. The desire to return the situation to its previous course as soon as possible.
• The ability to bring excitement to any, even the most boring situation.
• Need for freedom of action, aversion to control.
• The need for motivation, maintaining enthusiasm and interest.

How to identify an analyst :

• External coldness, restraint, dryness, closedness. Formality in communication. Apparent inattention to the words of the interlocutor (but this impression is wrong).
• Restrained, quiet and even, disciplined, firm, but careful speech.
• Lack of desire to conduct a conversation or voice your opinion as quickly as possible.
• Greater awareness of the subject of conversation in the case of dialogue.
• Reluctance to participate in conversations devoid of rationalism and logic, to conduct meaningless conversations on philosophical and “non-traditional” topics.
• Dislike of small talk, excessive frivolity and inappropriate jokes in communication.
• Stubbornness and steadfastness in tense situations. The desire to stop communication in case of continuous pressure (an option for psychological defense in stressful situations).
• “Rational”, restrained, subtle and intellectual humor.
• Thoughtfulness, seriousness and thoroughness in work and any matters.

How to spot a realist :

• Openness, confidence, sincerity, independence, assertiveness in communication.
• Having your own opinion on any issue and the desire to express it quickly.
• Clear verbal and nonverbal signs of agreement or disagreement.
• Lack of interest in theoretical and sentimental conversations.
• Positive attitude, tendency towards frankness.
• Quick excitability in stressful situations. The result is a domineering, authoritarian, harsh manner of communication with notes of stubbornness and arrogance.
• Increased interest in conversations on current affairs, current facts, news.
• Quickness in decision making, willingness to take responsibility.
• “Closeness” to ordinary people, lack of interest in “overly” intelligent companies.

In real life, a person cannot use only one style of thinking. There is a dominant style, and all the others can be manifested to a greater or lesser extent, and sometimes not even “felt.” In some situations, thinking styles may cooperate, in others they may conflict.

Scientific research has been repeatedly conducted on this topic. The results showed that approximately 50% of people operate in the process of life with one of the most optimal and familiar styles. About 35% of people use both styles with equal frequency. And the remaining 15% successfully use three or more thinking styles.

The researchers also came to the conclusion that the most adaptive, flexible and effective in life and work are people belonging to the latter category, i.e. to those who are able to equally apply one or another style, although they will be inferior to people who “professionally” own one style. But still, psychologists recommend developing the qualities of a synthesizer, an idealist, a pragmatist, an analyst and a realist.

As for mastering new styles of thinking, experts draw an analogy between this process and the study of foreign languages. When you decide to learn a new language, you don’t have to change your worldview or value system. All that is required is to form a system of new skills.

Most likely, you will be able to write, read and speak a new language, using it out of necessity or for pleasure. You will still be able to live a familiar and comfortable life, but the very knowledge of a new language will give you new opportunities.

The situation is similar with mastering new styles of thinking: when necessary, you can “turn on” the style needed at the moment, and then return to the usual one. But the results you will achieve will get better and better each time (with practice).

Personal growth specialist and business coach Alexander Makarevich will tell you how to start mastering new styles of thinking.

Visual-effective thinking

Thanks to the work of the brain, a person is able to understand the world around him and act in it. One of the types of concrete thinking is visual-effective. It has been the basis of such human activities since primitive society. Visual-effective, or concrete-effective thinking has always been responsible for solving practical problems facing a person. An example of this is the problem of cultivating land or building a home.

An effective, concrete style of thinking manifests itself in a person from the first months of his life. In addition, up to 3 years it is his main one. And only by the age of three is concrete imaginative thinking activated, allowing one to solve emerging problems in the imagination.

Starting from an early age, the baby is able to analyze objects in close proximity to him due to direct contact with them. He touches them with his hands, connects and separates them. Many children often break their toys. However, parents should not scold them for this, because for a child such an act is not at all pampering or hooliganism. When breaking a toy, the baby tries to see what is inside it. And this can be called an early research step.

In the process of solving various practical problems, the child develops the ability to think. At the same time, he uses specific situational thinking. The kid acts like a great Roman operator: “I came, I saw, I conquered.” A small child’s thinking is based on the current situation in which a certain object is involved. Specific situational thinking is implemented immediately in actions. An example of this is a situation when a two-year-old child tries to take a toy that is too high for him. Without reaching it with his hands, he will definitely climb onto the chair next to him.

Examples of concrete thinking of the visual-action type in older children are the same actions. However, the child’s behavior in this case will be more skillful. This suggests that with age, concrete thinking of an effective type does not go anywhere. It just takes slightly different forms. And already older schoolchildren rely in their thinking process on their existing experience in solving problems, imagining the potential consequences of their own actions. All this allows the child to smoothly move to the next, more complex stages of development of the thinking process.

Nevertheless, a visually effective concrete type of thinking cannot be considered inferior or primitive. It is also present in adults in their objective activities. Examples of this include cooking soup, knitting socks, or repairing a bathroom faucet. For some adults, concrete logical thinking prevails over figurative and abstract logical thinking. Such people are spoken of as masters from God, having golden hands (by the way, it’s their hands, not their heads). These specialists are capable of repairing the most complex mechanism without completely understanding the principle of its operation. While disassembling the unit, they realize the reasons for its breakdown. Having assembled the mechanism, they will not only restore its functionality, but also improve it.

Types and characteristics

One of the properties of the type of thinking characterized by reliance on ideas and images is diversity. In creating a mental image of an object, one or more of its types are involved, depending on the type of information and the desired result.

Spatial

Spatial-figurative is a type that visualizes an object in three dimensions, helps to calculate distance, height and other indicators, and determine properties based on knowledge acquired in the past.

Develops the ability to work with numbers and sizes when solving logical and creative problems.

Associative

Associative uses concepts and sensations that arise when you see an object or its name. Everyone has this type of thinking. Images arise from traces of information left in the hemisphere of the brain.

Associations can be gustatory, auditory, olfactory, visual and others.

Concretely figurative (visual)

The concrete figurative provides the representation of a change in an object, its position, without interacting with it in reality, but by representing it. Reproduces all known properties of the item.
An important property of a concrete visual form is the establishment of properties and combinations of objects that go beyond the usual. This form dominates in children of preschool and primary school age.

Read more about what visual-figurative thinking is, when it is formed and what the features of its development are.

Visual

It is based on the ability of vision to process information, highlight certain objects from the general one, remember a picture and reproduce it in whole or in parts.

This is a high-speed type that helps to translate any data into visual form, determine the similarities and differences of objects, and the relationship of details.

Artistic

The concept of mastering reality and the surrounding world, combining feelings, sensations and meaning in an image - this is what is called artistic-imaginative thinking. It contributes to the formation, development and manifestation of attitudes and thoughts towards what is happening or an object. The artistic-figurative type, which is characterized by reliance on ideas and images, manifests itself in art.

Symbolic form

The figurative-symbolic is involved in combining knowledge about values ​​and attitudes towards them. The components are projected onto an object or situation and influence motivation and personal attitude.

In a situation of moral relations, the figurative-symbolic view develops moral categories.

Visual-figurative thinking

The main means of mental activity of this type are images. They, in turn, are the result of understanding reality and its sensory perception. In other words, the image is not represented as a photographic imprint of the object. It is the result of the work of the human brain. That is why the object mentally created by an individual has some differences from the original.

People's thinking is capable of operating with three types of images. Among them:

1. Images of perception. They have a direct connection with the human senses and represent smells, sounds, pictures, etc. Such images also cannot be compared with a photographic copy of reality. After all, a person may always fail to see certain details or not hear something. The brain will complement and conjecture everything that is missing to create a complete picture.
2. Images-representations. This is information that continues to be stored in human memory for a long time. Over time, such images become less and less accurate. Not very important and significant details are forgotten or lost.
3. Images of the imagination. These elements represent the result of one of the most unknown cognitive processes. Using imagination, a person is able to recreate the desired image from a description or come up with an object that he has never seen in his life. Nevertheless, all this has direct connections with reality, since it is the result of combining and processing the information that is stored in human memory.

Each of the listed types of images takes an active part in the cognitive activity of the individual. They are also used when a person performs abstract logical thinking. Without creating images, it becomes impossible to solve various problems, as well as creative activity.

Types of thinking

Psychologists also distinguish different types of thinking. Usually each type divides people into two categories

:

• Logical - ethical
  . Representatives of the first type reason in terms of patterns, rules, and logical connections. People from the second type think based on feelings, experiences, and mood. For the former, communication is an exchange of information, and for the latter, it is an exchange of energy and emotions.
• Sensory – intuitive
  . The first type involves concrete and practical thinking, its representatives are good at noticing details; they reason from the point of view of current events, understand the current situation. The second type is global, philosophical thinking, while it is theoretical and divorced from the current situation.
• Decisive - judicious
  . People of the first type make decisions quickly and can act in a tense environment; They often make mistakes, but quickly correct the situation and learn from their mistakes. People of the second type take a long time to make decisions, they are used to acting in a calm and comfortable environment, and avoid unnecessary actions.
• Schizothymic - cyclothymic
  . Schizothymic people are characterized by subtlety of feelings, selfishness, power, and the desire to be better than others. In ordinary life they show some signs of schizophrenia. Cyclothymics are prone to manic-depressive syndrome; they are irresponsible, carefree, cheerful and sociable.
• "Changer" - "runner"
  . People of the first type are oriented towards various actions, each time they do something new. But “runners” prefer to do one thing until they complete the task; they are conservative in everyday life, carefully choosing friends, communication, hobbies, and purchases. Such people do not adapt well to sudden changes.
• Introverts - extroverts
  . This division is well known: the thoughts of the former are directed primarily at their inner world, and the thoughts of the latter are directed primarily at the external world. The former are sensitive, reserved and reasonable, while the latter are active, sociable and open.
• Internals - externals
  . People of the first type believe that everything that happens to them depends only on their personal qualities. They blame only themselves for all adversity, and rejoice in success as their achievements. People of the second type are sure that everything around them happens due to external circumstances: the actions of other people, chance, “fate,” etc.
• Positivism - negativism
  . People of the first type see in a situation primarily the qualities that it contains. They reason in affirmative constructions: “What is the weather now? “It’s good, it’s warm outside.” Negativists first notice in the same situations qualities that are absent in them, and reason with negative constructions: “What is the weather now? “Not bad, it’s not cold outside.”

In each of these types, mental activity has its own specifics. In particular, the ability to make true and false conclusions depends on this. However, overly pronounced representatives of either side tend to constantly make logical errors. These are, say, externals and internals. They often cannot objectively assess the situation and are guided by the simplest initial attitudes: “This happened because of me” or “This happened because of others,” when in fact the situation occurred due to a confluence of many circumstances. And it contains both part of the fault of the person himself and part of the fault of the environment.

Since we are talking about logical errors, it is worth considering a type of thinking that is initially erroneous. This is the so-called predicative thinking, which psychologists contrast with logical thinking. A predicate, or predicate, is what is said about an object, its quality or action that is relevant at the time of utterance. “Predicativism” is a type of reason when a person identifies dissimilar objects due to the same predicate.

Example: “Muslims do not eat pork. Vasya doesn't eat pork. Therefore, Vasya is a Muslim.” The error in reasoning is obvious. The correct reasoning in this case would be: “Muslims do not eat pork. Ahmet is a Muslim. Therefore, Akhmet does not eat pork.” The predicate is not an essential feature of the subject; it is relevant only at the time of utterance; therefore, the same predicative can be applied to many unrelated objects. Not only Muslims do not eat pork, but also vegetarians (they generally refuse meat), the poor (they simply do not have money for pork), glass bottles (these are inanimate objects, they cannot eat), etc.

Despite its initial fallibility, predicative thinking is common to many people. This is precisely the irrational type of reason on which political ideology and propaganda, religion, advertising and marketing are based. Examples of “predicativism” can easily be found in advertising slogans: “All successful people use this brand of shampoo!” — the consumer’s reaction is expected: “I use this brand of shampoo, therefore, I am a successful person.” Such a consumer will continue to use shampoo of this brand in order to maintain the status of a “successful person.” “Predictive people” are thus very easy to control, they are suggestible, and they can be easily deceived.

It was precisely this predicative type of reason that became the cause of the medieval “witch hunt,” when sorcerers and witches were found by external signs: red hair color, special clothing, voice, etc. (all these are signs that are insignificant for an object with the status of “witch.” "). It also gave rise to nationalist, racist theories, religious intolerance, and clashes between different youth subcultures. Nowadays, the predicative mind rules the so-called consumer society. Everyone wants to be like successful people, “cool”, rich and famous, while being similar purely in appearance. The “typical consumer” does not understand that Pavel Durov is successful not because he has a lot of money, but because he is a talented programmer, the developer of several large projects (and only because of this he has a lot of money). Predicative reason gives rise to such a phenomenon as envy, while the person himself does not understand what exactly he is envious of.

Formation of a visual perception of the world

Concrete-figurative thinking has its own specificity. Being a higher level of brain function, it does not particularly need words. Through feelings and images, you can even express some abstract concepts, such as, for example, resentment and love, hatred and loyalty.

As mentioned earlier, the formation of concrete visual thinking in a child begins at about three years of age. The peak of its development is considered to be the period from 5 to 7 years. It is no coincidence that children at this age are often called artists and dreamers. This is the time when they have already mastered speech well. However, children’s words do not at all interfere with the images they create. They only clarify and supplement them.

The language of images is considered more difficult than speech. Much more imaginary objects can be created. At the same time, they are, as a rule, very diverse and have a wide range of sensual shades. That is why it is hardly possible to select the words available in a person’s arsenal to designate images.

Concrete-imaginative thinking is the basis of creativity, which is considered the basis of the higher process of cognition. It is not only musicians, poets and artists who have it. Concrete-imaginative thinking is characteristic of those people who have a high level of creativity and constantly invent something new. But for most people it fades into the background. In this case, primacy shifts to an abstract-logical perception of the world.

Article “Features of thinking of mentally retarded schoolchildren”

Concreteness of thinking is the main disadvantage of the mental activity of children with disabilities

Thinking is the highest form of reflection of the surrounding reality. Thinking is a generalized and word-mediated knowledge of reality.

Thinking makes it possible to understand the essence of objects and phenomena. Thanks to thinking, it becomes possible to carry out creative, purposeful activities.

In order to better understand how the thinking of a child with impaired activity of the cerebral cortex is formed and developed, you need to remember how this happens normally:

First, thinking is a generalization

. An elementary generalization is already contained in the act of perception. In order for a child to recognize a tree in each tree, he must form some generalized image of the tree through personal experience. In this case, the image of a tree must be adequately correlated with the word tree. But this is not yet a thought.

Secondly, thinking is mediated cognition.

“Mediated” means knowing one thing through another. Hearing the angry voice and seeing the angry face of the mother, the child guesses that the mother has already seen the plate he broke.

The child creates all these mental operations of comparison, inference, all these actions of division, multiplication, creating an assumption and testing it himself to a very small extent.

An adult teaches him these mental actions; he organizes for him a series of practical visual situations in which the child must navigate and act, and then formulates these tasks verbally. Gradually, learning approaches the stage when the child acquires the ability to carry out each such complex action “in his mind.” A necessary stage, a link in such a translation of a practical action into action in the mind is its implementation in verbal terms.

But for this, the child must master all types of speech.

A mentally retarded child has an extremely low level of thinking development, which is primarily explained by the underdevelopment of the main tool of thinking - speech. Because of this, he poorly understands the meaning of the conversations of family members, the content of the fairy tales that were read to him. He often cannot take part in games because he does not understand the necessary instructions.

Due to defects in perception, the child has accumulated an extremely meager stock of ideas. Poverty, fragmentation and “bleaching” of the ideas of mentally retarded children lead to the fact that heterogeneous objects lose everything individual and original in the children’s ideas and become similar to each other.

Poverty of visual and auditory representations, extremely limited play experience, little familiarity with objective actions, and most importantly, poor speech development deprive the child of the necessary base on the basis of which thinking should develop.

The thinking of mentally retarded children is formed in conditions of defective sensory cognition, speech underdevelopment, and limited practical activity. Consequently, the child turns out to be unprepared for entering school. He is very different from a healthy child in his great concreteness of thinking and weakness in generalizations.

But does it follow from this that a mentally retarded child is fundamentally incapable of abstraction and generalization, that his thinking will never be able to go beyond the concrete? In order to answer this difficult question, we need to return once again to the question of how the transition from concrete to abstract thinking occurs and what it means to learn to think.

Let's look at examples.

a) A child admitted to a auxiliary school is asked: “What is a bird?” He answers: “She is grey, small, has a small nose or mouth.” The image of the sparrow he recently saw appears before his eyes. Answering the teacher’s question, he describes this image as best he can. At the same time, he does not take into account - large birds, that not all birds are gray. In answering the question, he does not at all seek to name the characteristics that are inherent in every bird. He has not yet been taught to define a concept.

If, answering a question, he says, “flies,” then this will be a slightly better answer, since it indicates an essential feature characteristic of any bird. However, a more correct answer would be something like this: “A bird is a living creature that has wings and can fly.” Such an answer would mean that the child has learned to define a concept and has mastered the concept itself, that is, a thought reflecting the general and essential features of an object. But with his own eyes the child did not see that all birds have wings, he did not know how to distinguish the wings of a bird sitting on the ground, and most importantly, he had not yet learned what is living and non-living. The child could not “discover” all this on his own. He could only learn about this from adults. But this requires a certain level of speech development.

b) The teacher offers the oligophrenic child a task:

“The boy had 3 candies, but he lost one. How many candies does he have left? Ignoring the question, the student speaks. “We need to look for her and find her.” The problem evoked in the student a very visual image of the missing candy. Instead of an abstract attitude to the conditions of the task, the child approached this situation specifically, utilitarianly.

c) The child is given a set of pictures and asked to sort them into groups according to the principle of “what goes with what.” He can begin classification if he has already completed similar tasks. But he can begin to arrange pictures according to his life experience: he will put clothes near the closet, a sailor on a ship, etc. Even after the experimenter has directly indicated that objects of the same type should be placed together. And, for example, vegetables must be combined with vegetables, and transport with transport, the child is not able to continue this line of reasoning. It continues to seem to him that the butterfly should be combined with flowers, since he often saw a butterfly sitting on flowers; that a cat cannot be placed near a dog, since he has an idea of ​​​​what will come of it - they will fight, etc.

We say about such a child that he thinks concretely, that generalizations are inaccessible to him. This is exactly how a mentally retarded child usually thinks in this experimental situation. Meanwhile, his healthy peer carries out the necessary classification almost without errors.

Consequently, to think concretely means to remain at the mercy of individual visual images, unable to understand the hidden general, essential. A mentally retarded child remembers rather than thinks.

When thought simply reproduces specific situational connections between objects and phenomena, it is poor and unproductive.

The main lack of thinking of mentally retarded children - concreteness - manifests itself in the learning process in the fact that children poorly learn rules and general concepts. They can learn the rules by heart, but they do not understand their meaning and do not know to what phenomena these rules can be applied. Therefore, the study of grammar and arithmetic - subjects that most require the acquisition of rules - poses the greatest difficulty for mentally retarded children.

It is legitimate to ask the question: can u. O. Do students really learn to think in high school?

Learning to think means:

1) make a transition from reflecting reality in its situational visual images to reflecting it in concepts, rules, and patterns;

2) make an even more complex transition from simple reproduction of these images and ideas to mental actions, i.e., to solving problems, formulating and testing hypotheses.

So can mentally retarded children learn to generalize? This question is still answered differently.

According to the first concept, weakness of generalization is a primary basic defect that is not subject to further psychological explanation. Everything higher and human is inaccessible to a mentally retarded child. Generalization is the highest, most complex acquisition of the human brain. The impossibility of generalization follows from brain damage. If, at the end of his life, it turned out that a student at a special school had access to complex generalizations, this would mean that an error had occurred - this person was never mentally retarded in childhood.

L. S. Vygotsky expresses a different point of view. Without at all denying the fact that the thinking of mentally retarded children is characterized by concreteness,

L. S. Vygotsky wrote that underdevelopment of higher forms of thinking is “the first and most common complication that arises
as a secondary defect
in mental retardation; but a complication that does not necessarily arise. Consequently, according to L. S. Vygotsky, mentally retarded children can learn to generalize.

But the learning process

occurs more slowly than in healthy people. In order to teach a mentally retarded person the ability to generalize, it is necessary to use special teaching tools.

One can, of course, object that these views of L. S. Vygotsky remain only a hypothesis. But this hypothesis is very important for teaching practice. If we agree with the opinion of L. S. Vygotsky that underdevelopment of higher mental functions is a frequent, but not obligatory complication, then the oligophrenopedagogist immediately faces questions: what are the causes of these complications? Is it possible to structure the process of education and training in such a way that these complications do not occur? L. S. Vygotsky himself indicates the direction in which to look for answers to these questions. This direction is the analysis of the child’s development, the history of the development of his personality, his knowledge.

Consequently, L. S. Vygotsky’s hypothesis is not only theoretically justified, but also productive in practical terms. It directs the thoughts of oligophrenopedagogues to search for ways to further transform and improve the upbringing and education of mentally retarded children.

The development of correct thinking in mentally retarded children is a difficult, but fundamentally solvable task.

It is achieved using teaching methods

. One of the important issues of this training is a methodologically competent transition from visual demonstration to verbal logical generalization.

Although mentally retarded children learn everything new much more easily with the help of concrete demonstration, getting used to practically operating with real objects, visual aids, etc., Vygotsky warned teachers of correctional schools against building a methodology based on this feature of the psyche of mentally retarded children learning only on the basis of the principle of clarity and relied on specific ideas alone. Visual teaching methods are necessary, but they cannot be limited to them. The teacher’s task is to help the child escape from specific ideas and move on to the highest stage of cognition - logical, verbal generalization.

At the same time, a too fast transition method, modeled after a mass school, is harmful. Teaching errors, attempts to teach mentally retarded children according to the model of mass schools, that is, with an unreasonably rapid transition to verbal generalizations, sometimes become the cause of incorrect, limited development of their thinking.

Researchers have discovered that when a task is too difficult for a child, there appears to be a disconnect between his visual representations and verbal knowledge. Only specially developed methodological techniques can help a mentally retarded child construct correct, meaningful generalizations.

Consequently, one of the most important difficult problems,

on the positive solution of which the optimal development of thinking of mentally retarded children depends, is the question of the transition from visual sensory cognition to verbally formalized, logical, generalized. In a study by V.G. Petrova, she noted that during lessons, correctional school teachers often limit visual explanations to only showing objects. In other words, the teacher addresses only the children’s visual analyzer.

Petrova organized the experimental lessons differently. The children were given objects to compare. Students were asked to compare two objects by performing various practical actions. So, for example, in order to establish the similarity between a mug and a bottle, children had to pour water into them, trace their bottom with a pencil on paper, stroke their walls, and in order to establish the differences between these objects, children were asked to try to cover both objects with a rubber stopper , measure their height, determine the water level, etc.

In the process of doing this work, the adult posed leading questions and thus taught the children the ability to draw logical conclusions regarding the general properties of objects. After these classes, the children learned the material much better.

Some oligophrenopedagogues of the 19th century. proposed to develop children's thinking with the help of special exercises and training in solving problems such as puzzles. The beneficial effects of special exercises cannot be denied. However, such exercises only play a supporting role. The main way to develop the thinking of mentally retarded children is the way of systematically mastering knowledge and skills that correspond to the school curriculum. It is by studying various academic subjects, solving problems, reading books and getting used to correctly formulating his thoughts orally and in writing that the child learns to analyze, generalize, build conclusions and check their correctness, i.e. learns to think.

Levels of Thinking

Human brain activity, aimed at solving problems and understanding the world around us, has its own indicators of development. This includes the specific level of thinking used by a person, namely:

1. Reason. It is the initial level of thinking. In this case, the operation of abstractions is carried out within a given template, an unchanging scheme and a rigid standard. Reason is the ability to reason clearly and consistently, to carry out the correct construction of one’s thoughts, to strictly systematize and clearly classify facts. Its main functions are division and calculation. The logic of reason is formal. She studies the structure of evidence and statements, while paying attention to the form of already “ready-made” knowledge, and not at all to its development and content.
2. Intelligence. It is also considered dialectical thinking. Reason represents the highest level of cognition of the rational type, the characteristic features of which are the creative operation of created abstractions and the study of their nature (self-reflection). The main task of this level of thinking is the unification of various components, including the synthesis of opposites, with the identification of the driving forces and root causes of the phenomena being studied. The logic of reason is a dialectic presented in the form of a doctrine of the development and formation of knowledge in the form of the unity of its form and content.

Functions and processes of thinking

Any type of thinking implements a certain set of processes that provide knowledge of the world around us.

:

• Comparison – comparison of objects and phenomena, highlighting their similarities and differences;
• Analysis – dividing an object or phenomenon into components;
• Synthesis is the opposite process to analysis, in which a whole is reconstructed from individual elements by establishing connections and relationships;
• Abstraction – highlighting one distinctive property of an object while ignoring all other, less significant ones;
• Generalization – discarding individual features to preserve and comprehend common ones, establishing significant connections.

At the same time, a small child needs to carry out these actions literally: disassemble, put objects, arrange them according to certain characteristics. It is enough for an adult to mentally imagine all these actions.

According to their functions, types of thinking in psychology are divided into reproductive, productive and creative. The first type is repetition of learned rules according to a given algorithm; This is how, for example, typical problems in textbooks are solved. Here, thought processes are aimed not at obtaining new knowledge, but at consolidating existing material. The second type is productive thinking, in which a person goes beyond existing knowledge and receives some new information; Moreover, they are new only for a given individual, but not for humanity. If the information obtained in this way is new for humanity, then the third type is involved here - creative thinking. In this case, thought processes acquire special complexity and structure.

Visual-figurative thinking is subject to a single algorithm. First, a person gives one judgment, then adds another to it, and on their basis makes a third judgment - a conclusion. It is the goal of thought processes.