Knowing this world, and then engaging in its transformation, a person constantly reveals regular and stable connections that exist between phenomena. All this is indirectly reflected in his mind. This happens both when, looking at the wet asph alt, 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 revealing patterns that take place in a wide variety of groups of phenomena. For example, without seeing elementary particles, a person was able to know their properties. And even without visiting Mars, I learned a lot about it.
The 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 directsensory 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 the 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.
Birth of thought
Everyone knows that this process takes place in the brain. However, few people know exactly how a thought is born. And this is far from easy.
The leading role in thinking, as well as in all mental activity, is assigned to nerve cells - neurons. And there are more than a trillion of them. At the same time, each of the neurons is a kind of factory that processes incoming data. Numerous connections depart from each nerve cell. They are attached to other neurons. It is thanks to this that nerve cells exchange electrochemical impulses with each other, which carry certain information. The data transfer rate is 100 meters per second. This is the concrete operations of thinking.
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 deep and wide along the chain of nerve cells. All this is accompanied by new outbreaks,which cover all large areas of the brain.
The most interesting thing is that the impulse, when passing through the neural circuits 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 puts his brain to work finds it much easier to think.
Of course, knowledge has a high value for people. However, we need them primarily as material for thinking. That is why a person becomes smarter not at all when he receives new knowledge. This happens as a result of their understanding and inclusion in activities.
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 tasks.
Various means that are in the arsenal of our brain, namely generalization and systematization, synthesis, analysis and much more, allow us to perceive the world around us and develop more fully. However, they are only separate elements of large-scale processes occurring in consciousness. The main types of thinking that serve as basic structures in the perception of the world by a person include:
- practical or concretely effective;
- concrete-shaped;
- abstract.
The listed types of thinking differ from each other in the features of the tasks they perform. The latter are practical or theoretical.
Abstract thinking
How is it preferable for a person to think - concretely or abstractly? There is no single answer to this question. Of course, there are no abstractions in the real world. In what we see around, there are only concrete phenomena and objects. Abstractions take place only in the sphere of human thinking. For example, a specific birch grows under the window. It exists in reality. However, it is quite possible to abstract this birch with all trees, calling it the abstract word "tree". After that, the chain is not difficult to continue. A birch can well be called a plant, a living being, a material object and just an object. Each of the following 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 is used.
However, sometimes certain problems can arise. If the volume of abstract and concrete thinking outweighs in favor of the first, it is considered that a person mentally left the real world, moving into an imaginary one. And the latter, in fact, exists only in his fantasies.
Concrete thinking is turned on by people when they have clear information, knowledge and understanding of what is happening. What if all this is not there? Then turn onabstract thinking. At the same time, a person guesses, assumes and draws accurate conclusions.
Using abstract thinking, we do not take into account specific details. Our reasoning concerns general concepts. A person in this case 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 in 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.
Abstract-logical thinking
With such an orientation 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 some patterns, isolated from the imaginary, abstract qualities of the subject of study.
Abstract-logical and concrete thinking are closely intertwined with each other. An example of this is the explanation with the help of 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 operate with this concept to simplify some phenomena.
Another striking example is language. In nature there are no letters, no words, no sentences. The man himself invented the alphabet and compiledphrases to express those of his 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 leading to an intellectual impasse.
Specification
When abstracting, a person is mentally distracted from some aspects and features of the object. This allows him to deeper cognize the essence of phenomena and things. Concrete thinking is the exact opposite of abstract thinking. It returns the thought from the general to reveal its content.
It is worth noting that any human reasoning is always aimed at 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.
Visual Action Thinking
Thanks to the work of the brain, a person is able to realize the world around him and act in it. One of the types of concrete thinking is visual-effective. It is the basis of such activities of people 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 the land or building a dwelling.
Effective-concrete style of thinking manifests itself in a person from the first months of his life. In addition, up to 3 years, he is his main. Andonly by the age of three is concrete-figurative thinking connected, which allows solving emerging problems in the imagination.
Starting from an early age, the baby is able to analyze objects in its immediate vicinity due to direct contact with them. He touches them with his hands, connects and separates. 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. Breaking the toy, the baby seeks to see what is inside it. And this can be called an early exploratory step.
In the process of solving various practical problems, the child manifests the ability to think. At the same time, they use concrete-situational thinking. The kid acts like a great Roman operator: "I came, I saw, I conquered." The thinking of a small child takes place on the basis of the current situation in which a certain object is involved. Specific situational thinking is realized right there in actions. An example of this is the situation when a two-year-old child seeks 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 visual-action type thinking in older children are the same actions. However, the behavior of the child in this case will be more skillful. This suggests that with age, concrete thinking of an effective kind does not go anywhere. It just takes a slightly different form. And already olderstudents rely in their thought process on their experience in solving problems, imagining the potential consequences of their own actions. All this allows the child to move smoothly to the next, more complex stages in the development of the thought process.
Nevertheless, a visual-effective concrete type of thinking cannot be considered inferior or primitive. It is also present in adults in their objective activity. An example of this is cooking soup, knitting socks, repairing a faucet in the bathroom. In some adults, concrete-logical thinking prevails over figurative and abstract-logical thinking. Such people are spoken of as masters from God, who have golden hands (by the way, it is them, not their heads). These specialists are able to fix the most complex mechanism without understanding the principle of its operation. During the disassembly of the unit, they realize the reasons for its breakdown. By assembling the mechanism, they will not only restore its performance, but also improve it.
Visual Thinking
The main means of mental activity of this kind are images. They, in turn, are the result of understanding reality and its sensory perception. In other words, the image is not presented as a photographic imprint of the object. It is the product of the human brain. That is why the object mentally created by the individual has some differences from the original.
Thinking of people is able to operate with three types of images. Among them:
- Images of perception. They have a direct connection with the authoritieshuman senses and are smells, sounds, pictures, etc. Such images also cannot be compared with a photographic copy of reality. After all, a person can always not consider certain details or not hear something. The brain will supplement and invent everything that is missing to create a complete picture.
- Representation images. This is information that continues to be stored in a person's memory for a long time. Over time, these images become less and less accurate. Not too important and significant details are forgotten or lost.
- Images of the imagination. These elements are the result of one of the most unknown cognitive processes. Using imagination, a person is able to recreate the desired image according to the description or come up with an object that he has never seen in his life. Nevertheless, all this has direct connections with reality, as it is the result of combining and processing the information that is stored in a person’s memory.
Each of the listed types of images takes an active part in the cognitive activity of the individual. They are also used in the implementation of abstract-logical thinking by a person. Without creating images, it becomes impossible to solve various problems, as well as creative activity.
Formation of visual perception of the world
Concrete-figurative thinking has its own specifics. Being a higher level of brain work, it does not particularly need words. Even some abstract concepts can be expressed through feelings and images, such asfor example, resentment and love, hatred and loy alty.
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 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 activity well. However, the words of the kids do not interfere with the images they create. They only refine and complement them.
The language of images is considered more difficult than speech. Many 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 pick up the words available in a person’s arsenal to designate images.
Concrete-figurative thinking is the basis of creativity, which is considered the basis of the higher process of cognition. It is possessed not only by musicians, poets and artists. Concrete-figurative thinking is typical for 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, the primacy passes to the abstract-logical perception of the world.
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 the person, as follows:
- Reason. It is the starting point for thinking. In this case, abstractions are operated within a given template, an unchanged schema, andhard 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 calculus. The logic of reason is formal. It studies the structure of evidence and statements, paying attention to the form of already “ready” knowledge, and not at all to its development and content.
- Mind. It is also considered dialectical thinking. Mind is 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 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 their form and content.
