By knowing this world, and after being engaged in its transformation, a person constantly reveals the regular and stable connections that exist between phenomena. All this is indirectly reflected in his mind. This happens when, when looking at the wet asphalt, we understand that it has recently rained, and then when a person establishes the laws of motion of celestial bodies.
In all cases, it reflects the world indirectly and generalized, making certain inferences, comparing facts, and also revealing patterns that occur in a wide variety of groups of phenomena. For example, not seeing elementary particles, a man was able to know their properties. And without even visiting Mars, he learned a lot about it.
Concept of thinking
Every day and constantly a person receives the most diverse 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 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 continue to work. 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 a unique, new knowledge is created. That is, information that up to this point has not yet been in the sensory experience of the individual.
The birth of thought
Everyone knows that this process takes place in the brain. However, few people know exactly how a thought is born. But this is far from simple.
The leading role in thinking, as well as in all mental activity, is assigned to nerve cells - neurons. And man has more than a trillion of them. In addition, each of the neurons is a kind of factory that processes incoming data. Numerous connections extend from each nerve cell. They are attached to other neurons. It is because of this that nerve cells exchange electrochemical impulses with each other, which carry certain information in themselves. The data transfer rate is 100 meters per second. This concludes the specific operations of thinking.
You can imagine a similar process in the form of a bright firework. First, one bright star appears. This is a signal from an external stimulus. Further, such an impulse seems to scatter along the chain of nerve cells in depth and in breadth. All this is accompanied by new outbreaks that cover more and more 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 in those places where the nerve fibers are connected. And this, of course, somewhat reduces their speed. However, each subsequent impulse moves along this path is much easier. In other words, it’s much easier for a person who makes his brain work.
Of course, knowledge is of great value to people. However, we need them primarily as a material for thinking. That is why a person does not become smarter at all when he receives new knowledge. This happens as a result of their reflection and inclusion in the activity.
Types of thinking
In the brain, information processing occurs in various directions. This is created by different types of thinking that help us in solving hundreds of daily tasks.
Various tools that are in the arsenal of our brain, namely generalization and systematization, synthesis, analysis and much more, allow us to more fully perceive the surrounding world and develop. However, they are only separate elements of large-scale processes occurring in the mind. The main types of thinking, which serve as the basic constructions in a person’s perception of the world, include:
- practical or concrete;
- concrete-shaped;
- abstract.
The listed types of thinking differ from each other in the specifics of the tasks they perform. The latter are practical or theoretical.
Abstract thinking
How is it preferable to think a person - specifically or abstractly? There is no single answer to this question. Of course, in the real world there are no abstractions. In what we see around, there are only specific phenomena and objects. Abstractions, however, take place only in the sphere of human thinking. For example, a specific birch grows under the window. She 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. A birch may well be called a plant, a living being, a material object, and simply 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 are used.
However, sometimes certain problems may arise. If the volume of abstract and concrete thinking outweighs in favor of the first, it is believed that the person mentally left the real world, passing into the imaginary. And the latter, in fact, exists only in his fantasies.
Concrete thinking is activated by people when they have clear information, knowledge and understanding of what is happening. And if all this is not? Then abstract thinking is included. At the same time, a person guesses, suggests and draws accurate conclusions.
Using abstract thinking, we do not take into account specific details. Our reasoning concerns general concepts. In this case, a person considers the picture as a whole, without affecting accuracy and specificity. Thanks to this, he manages to move away from dogma and rules, considering the situation from various 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 ignore specific details, then we can consider in this situation something that was not seen before.
Abstract logical thinking
With this orientation of the mental process, a person operates with those phenomena that are not able to smell, see with his eyes or touch his hands. Abstract-logical thinking uses only a few units of laws that are 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 in mathematics of those phenomena that do not exist in nature. So, when we talk about the number "2", we understand that the conversation is about two units. But at the same time, people operate with this concept and to simplify certain phenomena.
Another striking 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 among themselves.
The need for abstract logical thinking arises in those situations when there is a certain uncertainty leading to an intellectual impasse.
Concretization
When abstracting, a person is mentally distracted from certain aspects and signs of an object. This allows him to better understand the essence of phenomena and things. Concrete thinking is exactly the opposite of abstract. It returns thought from the general to the disclosure of its content.
It is worth noting that any reasoning of a person always has the goal of obtaining any result. A person compares and analyzes objects using specific thinking. He also abstracts some of their properties, with the help of which he reveals in them those laws that govern the object of study.
Vivid 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 home.
An action-specific 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. And only by the age of three does concrete-shaped thinking connect, allowing one to solve arising problems in the imagination.
From an early age, the baby is able to analyze objects in the immediate vicinity due to direct contact with them. He touches them with his hands, connects and disconnects. 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 a toy, the kid seeks to see what is inside her. And this can be called an early research step.
In the process of solving various practical problems, the child shows the ability to think. In doing so, he uses specific situational thinking. The kid acts like a great Roman cameraman: "He came, saw, won." The thinking of a small child is based on the current situation in which a certain subject is involved. Concrete-situational thinking is realized immediately in actions. An example of this is the situation when a two-year-old baby wants to take a toy that is too high for him. Without reaching it with his hands, he will certainly climb into a chair next to him.
Examples of concrete thinking of a clearly effective type in older children will be the same actions. However, the child’s behavior in this case will be more skilled. This suggests that with age, concrete thinking of an effective form does not go anywhere. It only takes a few other forms. And already older students rely in their thought process on their experience in solving problems, presenting the potential consequences of their own actions. All this allows the child to move smoothly to the next, more complex stages of the development of the thought process.
Nevertheless, a clearly effective concrete type of thinking cannot be considered inferior or primitive. It is present in adults in their subject 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. Such people are spoken of as masters from God who have golden hands (by the way, it is them, and not their head). These specialists are able to repair the most complex mechanism, completely not understanding the principle of its work. During disassembly of the unit, they are aware of the reasons for its breakdown. Having assembled the mechanism, they will not only restore its efficiency, 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 in the form of 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 the individual has some differences from the original.
Thinking people can operate with three types of images. Among them:
- Images of perception. They have a direct connection with the human 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 these or other details or not hear something. The brain will complement and conceive everything that is missing to create a coherent picture.
- Images representations. This is information that for a long time continues to be stored in the human memory. Over time, such 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 from the description or come up with an object that he had never seen in his life. Nevertheless, all this has direct links with reality, as it is the result of combining and processing the information that is stored in the human memory.
Each of these 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 man. Without creating images, it becomes impossible to solve various problems, as well as creative activity.
The formation of a visual perception of the world
Concrete-shaped thinking has its own specifics. Being a higher level of brain function, it does not particularly need words. Through feelings and images, even some abstract concepts can be expressed, such as, for example, resentment and love, hatred and fidelity.
As mentioned earlier, the formation of concrete, visual thinking in a child begins at about three years old. The peak of its development is considered to be a period from 5 to 7 years. It is no coincidence that children at this age are often called artists and visionaries. This is the time when they have already mastered speech activity well. However, the words of the kids do not interfere with the images created by them. They only clarify and supplement them.
The language of images is considered more difficult than speech. Imaginary objects can be created much more. Moreover, they are usually very diverse and have a wide range of sensual shades. That is why it is hardly possible to choose the words available in the arsenal of a person to indicate images.
Concrete-shaped 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-shaped thinking is characteristic of those people who have a high level of creativity and are constantly inventing something new. But for most people it fades into the background. Superiority at the same time 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 development indicators. This includes the specific level of thinking used by a person, namely:
- Reason. He is the initial level of thinking. In this case, abstraction is manipulated within the limits of a given pattern, unchanged pattern, and 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 dismemberment and calculus. The logic of reason is formal. She studies the structure of evidence and statements, while paying attention to the form of already “finished” knowledge, and not at all to its development and content.
- Mind. He is also considered dialectical thinking. Reason is the highest level of cognition of the rational type, the characteristic features of which are the creative handling of created abstractions and the study of their nature (self-reflection). The main task of this level of thinking is the union of various components, including the synthesis of opposites, with the identification of the driving forces and root causes of the phenomena 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 a unity of their form and content.