Kuleshov P.
Purpose of thinking
So, imagine some kind of open system (OS). She has an internal environment isolated from her surroundings. external environment. There are systems around it approximately equal in size to it, along with it being part of the supersystem that unites them, i.e. top level systems. Among these operating systems, both passive and active systems can be distinguished. The first are primitive, predictable, the same, the second are independent, unpredictable, unique. Let's call passive systems objects, active systems - subjects.
The internal environment of the OS is vulnerable, it can live and flourish only in favorable conditions, for which it is vital for it to distinguish between useful and dangerous, and having learned to distinguish, strive for the first and avoid the second. So, the psyche can be considered as an intermediary, designed to ensure the successful existence of the internal environment in such an unpredictable and difficult environment. organized world. One of the tools of the psyche that serves to solve this problem is precisely thinking. Those. thinking is designed to reduce the unpredictability of the environment, to make it understandable, manageable. In other words, if at first some phenomenon at the first meeting with it is perceived as complex, unpredictable, incomprehensible and therefore uncontrollable, then after careful, exploratory interaction with it, it becomes understandable. Thinking is called upon to change ideas about the phenomena of reality in such a way that what at the first meeting seemed to be a subject, after research, would be perceived as an object.
Events and signs
Is it necessary to say that thinking is a process of information processing? But what is information? We will have to delve into the study of this subject. So, in reality, of which we are pleased to be parts, there are causes and consequences generated by them. For example, the increasing trembling of the rails indicates the approach of a train. The weakening trembling of the rails indicates that the train is moving away. The reason for the jitter is the movement of the train on the rails (direct interaction). The increase or decrease in jitter indicates the direction of its movement relative to the reference point. Moreover, at this point, the rails will tremble regardless of the presence of an observer at this point. Scratches on wheels and rails testify to their direct interaction. So we can talk about two types of interactions: direct and indirect: the train and rails interact directly, and the one (subject, whether object), who perceives the trembling of the rails, interacts with the train indirectly, through this trembling. There are also two types of consequences: directed to the past and to the future. Perceiving these consequences, one can judge what happened here, and what event is approaching. In other words, there are events - direct interactions. There are signs - mediated interactions. So, the wave formed as a result of the train moving along the rails is a sign that the direct interaction between the train and the rails is taking place somewhere. If you have a skill, then you can determine the distance to the train by the strength of the jitter.
So, every event that takes place in the present time, in other words, every interaction between any open systems, generates signs: traces turned into the past and messages turned into the future. If the message is a kind of surge that does not have a long existence (in comparison with the event itself), then the trace - a mark, an imprint - remains on the interacting objects forever (in this case, on the rails and wheels of the train).
Sometimes events are ahead of their news: a supersonic aircraft is ahead of the sound wave generated by it. Nothing foreshadowed events can be called miraculous: it does not happen, but, nevertheless, it happens. But for this you need to have some kind of intelligent beings as observers, who should be surprised in order to. These beings (those same subjects or active OS) when meeting with traces and news, and also directly interacting with the phenomena of reality, each create their own unique image of reality. In order to interact with their own kind in a harmonious, productive, successful way, they have to somehow agree on the structure of reality and their joint actions in it. This is where symbols become necessary for them - substitutes for events, traces and news. In this case, letters are substitutes for sounds, hieroglyphs are substitutes for words, and so on. For example, a bear deliberately leaves its tracks on the borders of its site. He deliberately marks it. These marks serve as symbols of this bear and are addressed to other representatives of its species as a message about the occupation of this area. I propose to use the word sign as a generic concept for traces, messages and symbols.
Signs have their own meanings. So, a certain series of dents in the soil (trace), depending on their shape, freshness and depth, may have different meaning for different individuals with this sign met. First, dents can either be noticed or not noticed. And, noticing, you can attach importance to them, or not attach them. And, if they decide to attach importance, then everyone will attach their own ("A bear passed here yesterday!" - "Not yesterday, but just now! And not a bear, but an elk!"). Such discrepancies are already happening with traces and news - and they have a clear connection with reality! What to say about symbols! The meaning of symbols can be assigned completely arbitrary! Therefore, it is necessary to negotiate with the rest of the members of society, so as not to confuse everything inadvertently. But, by negotiating, individuals can take meanings for symbols only from their own own experience. For example, several people are discussing what symbol to designate an anteater. Some people lively join the discussion, talk about their observations of anteaters, describe their habits and offer their justifications for choosing just such a symbol to designate an anteater. Among those present there is someone who asks the question: "What is this - an anteater?". The people around begin to explain to him: “Have you ever seen a bear? So he looks like him in some way”, “His claws are like a mole’s, only bigger in size, and his tongue is long!”. An ignorant participant in the meeting has to sculpt a self-made image of an anteater, i.e. imagine it. But this image of a creature they have never seen will, nevertheless, be concrete! After all, he finalized it, imagined it, imagined it. He mastered it and appropriated it. Moreover, such an image can be very far from the image of a real anteater. Now, using the contract symbol of the anteater, he will ascribe to it his self-made fantasy meaning.
To classify the types of thinking in the concept offered to the attention of readers, the concepts of one's own and alienated experience are used. The individual's own experience is formed in his direct interaction with the phenomena of reality. Alienated experience is formed as a result of the generalization of specific experience (one's own and others'). Therefore, one's own experience is always concrete (self-obtained in quite specific circumstances with the help of one's own organs of perception). This concreteness is imprinted in the images of the individual's memory, which are made up of his own life impressions, and therefore are authoritative for him ("I heard it with my own ears!"). An image is a trace, an imprint, a mold that appears in the memory of an individual during his direct interaction with reality. Alienated experience is always abstract (obtained indirectly, through comprehension, assimilation, internalization of texts (in the broad sense of the word), compiled both by the individual himself on the basis of many similar events in his life, and transmitted to him by other individuals). It is alienated from all the specific circumstances of its receipt, from the properties of the individuals who obtained it, and is stored in memory in the form of concepts. Concepts are symbols denoting both individual phenomena and entire classes of similar phenomena. Concepts are products of processes of generalization, abstraction, abstraction. Concepts can be both non-verbal and verbal. The latter, with the exception of words expressing the manifestation of emotions (a panicked cry, for example, is understandable to native speakers of any language), are entirely contractual. Generalizations of one's own experience remain non-verbal in people until there is a need to communicate them to other people or some other beings.
What did we find out? The unit of information is a sign. Information is objective in the sense that, regardless of the presence of observers, every cause gives rise to its effects, and, consequently, every event gives rise to its signs. Information becomes subjective after assigning a meaning to a sign by some subject. Thinking operates not so much with signs as with their meanings. A sign without a meaning does not contain subjective information and in this form is useless for the subject. Signs such as traces and leads are carriers of objective meanings, since they immanently accompany phenomena. Through their development with the help of thinking, the subject receives a concrete idea of reality in the form of appropriate images. Isolating from the images the properties common to all of them, thinking builds a hierarchy of concepts, which must correspond to the objective laws of reality.
Types of thinking
Let us now consider the types of thinking. Specific-fractional thinking is included in the work when meeting with something unusual, incomprehensible, complex, new, unusual. If we apply here the concepts of subject and object to the object of knowledge, then we can say that the cognizer takes the position of the object here (I am the object, the object of knowledge is the subject). Those. it is assumed that the cognizable reality is more complex, unpredictable than it seemed at first glance. At a direct meeting with the cognizable, the cognizer behaves cautiously, since the object of cognition, until it is comprehensively investigated, is better considered dangerous. Here, of course, sometimes you have to take risks, but this risk is conscious, with a readiness for surprises, with a safety net. Since it is difficult to determine in advance what will be important and what will be unimportant in the new, one must be attentive to everything, one must ensure the completeness of the data on the phenomenon under study. This is discriminative thinking. It requires attentiveness to the most seemingly insignificant trifles, meticulousness, scrupulousness, corrosiveness in establishing facts, verifying the authenticity of messages. Here, nothing is taken for granted, everything is questioned, carefully rechecked. From this follows the desire for a direct personal meeting with a new phenomenon, for direct perception, for acquiring one's own experience of interacting with a new phenomenon. This is observation, experimentation, a comprehensive questioning of the subject of interest. As a result, “His Majesty the Fact” appears in all its glory. The fact is above any theory, any ideology, above all! The main thing is to find a new fact, there is no need to think and philosophize (something like discovering a new species of animals or plants, a new island). Such discoveries are direct and are the result of conscientious concrete-fractional combing of the area. This approach allows us to call this type of thinking extensive. It works wide. This kind of thinking deals with particulars, properties.
We can say that concrete-fractional thinking is turned to the future, because it deals with what is still unknown, what can only happen. This is forward thinking. It collects and collects impressions, information, opinions in the expectation that when something like this is needed in the future, it will already be at hand. This thinking, among all kinds of thinking, plays the role of a critic. It meets every statement with the question: Is this really so? And he does not offer a solution, no, that would be too hasty and presumptuous, but only a different point of view, a different perspective of perception. Somehow it so happened that the word "criticize" almost always means "smash". In fact, to criticize means to point out weaknesses.
However, there is a risk of not seeing the forest for the trees, drowning in a sea of facts.
When a new phenomenon is comprehensively investigated, it gets a place in the representation of a knowing being, it becomes understandable as a result of intensive processing by concrete-holistic thinking. The transition to a concrete-holistic type of thinking occurs spontaneously after being fed up with facts. I want to switch off or switch, do something else. And at this time, attempts are made in the mind to seamlessly dock the disparate grains of experience. At this time, the data collected with the help of concrete-fractional thinking, figuratively speaking, "are collected in one place and released into freedom." At the same time, disparate pieces of experience begin, as it were, by themselves to seek the possibility of combining into complexes, into integral, internally less intense combinations. There is a crystallization of meaning. There is a maturation of understanding of the regularities behind the facts. Unlike the previous type of thinking, concrete-holistic thinking can be called intensive. It works in depth.
Concrete-holistic thinking is accompanied by special experiences: a feeling of completeness, sufficiency of the available facts; a feeling that something inside is ripening, developing; anticipation of discovery, understanding, comprehension. And here the object of knowledge is known. He is no longer alien to the knower, who became related to him while thinking about him and watching him (I am the subject, the object of knowledge is the subject). The completion of crystallization is accompanied by a euphoric mood, exultation: “Aha! So that's it!" The product of concrete-holistic thinking must meet aesthetic requirements: what is beautiful is right. However, there is a risk of being carried away by beauty and breaking away from reality, immersing yourself in bizarre mirages of your own imagination. But if one is sensitive to the demands of the mind, then the lack of facts is usually noticed by the slowing down of crystallization, and it can be made up for by moving on to concrete-fractional thinking. It can be said that concrete-holistic thinking develops meanings and operates with meanings. This kind of thinking is turned at the present time, immersed in the abyss of direct own experience. If I may say so, concrete-holistic thinking is abiding thinking. This is where the closest, multidimensional meeting of the knower with the known takes place.
Abstract-holistic thinking is abstracted from direct experience, it is impersonal and one can rightfully speak about the object-object position of the cognizer (I am an object, the object of knowledge is an object). Compared to other kinds of thinking, this one has a developed syntax. Its task is to generalize what has been achieved by concrete-holistic thinking, depersonalize, formalize someone else's and one's own experience. Distraction from the particulars, from the unimportant. Identification of patterns and derivation of laws from them. The inclusion of new meanings in the fabric of existing ideas, checking them for consistency with logical laws. Development of a holistic view of reality or its individual aspects. This process is not always carried out consciously and strictly purposefully. Therefore, people's systems of ideas about reality are sometimes blurry, confusing, and contradictory. But even so, it is unconsciously assumed that there are some laws in the world that cannot be circumvented, there is something that always comes true.
All sorts of classifications and systematizations are made with the help of this particular type of thinking. Abstract-holistic thinking in its developed state is the world of judgments and conclusions, the world of laws and integral, internally consistent systems of laws, where everything is causally determined, where there is no place for personal arbitrariness. This is a world of crystal clearness and clarity. Abstract-holistic thinking is turned into eternal time. It may sound strange, but it's true. Eternal, it is unchanging in any circumstances, it alone can contain absolute laws. In any case, worldviews are developed here.
However, there is a temptation here to get away from reality, to get carried away by formulas and combinations of formulas, when it is no longer clear what they reflect and what they correspond to.
Abstract-fractional thinking deals with understandable things, it treats objects as simple, well-known, ordinary. This is already the position I am the subject, the object of use is the object (there is no longer any talk about the subject of cognition - it is considered to be known long ago). This is the last stage of mastering reality from its initially complete misunderstanding to its complete conquest. Of course, if one uses predominantly abstract-fractional thinking, then the complete conquest of reality can turn out to be only imaginary, because reality in abstract-fractional thinking is presented in a very simplified way, since it easily uses someone else's experience, other people's knowledge without trying to understand them. We know about reality from the stories of neighbors, from books and films, from some of our own random experience, which is interpreted in favor of the clarity and simplicity of the environment.
Abstract-fractional thinking unfolds in a simple and understandable world. Here there is no need to delve into the essence of the phenomena, to dig to the roots, it is enough for the operating instructions: what to connect where, what to load into and what to click on later to make it all work. This thinking is algorithmic, technological, applied, pragmatic. Abstract-fractional thinking is an unconscious, automatic thinking that accompanies the usual daily activities. Adherents of an abstract-fractional approach to reality avoid complexities and intricacies, strive not so much for clarity as for simplicity. And they get very upset if the world turns out to be more complicated than they want.
Here, the system of ideas about reality interacts with reality itself. Here the already known, tested, proven is reproduced. Abstract-fractional thinking expects simplicity, reliability, accessibility, controllability from reality. This is algorithmic thinking. This type of thinking is turned to the past, from which it draws information when it encounters the surrounding reality, adjusting the unlike new to the usual standards, actively simplifying and coarsening all manifestations of individuality. Viewed from here, the world seems constant and unchanging in its cyclic repetitions. Its technologies are built in the expectation that the world will not change, will always remain the same as before. And usually that resolution is enough, which allows you to use objects and processes without delving into any theoretical depths. Therefore, there is a great temptation to dismiss something incomprehensible, to pretend that nothing special has happened.
Weekdays and holidays of thinking
Of course, that one who independently went from a complete misunderstanding of some phenomenon to its complete conquest (at least to the extent that suits him), can better manage it than the one who has mastered this phenomenon abstractly: according to textbooks Yes, according to someone's stories. For example, most people use household appliances, not really delving into their device, and if something breaks, they turn to specialists. Ordinary users do not always read even a simple instruction manual. Their ideas about the principles of operation of household appliances are very superficial. We never get any clear idea about many phenomena of reality in our life, not having the time, strength, means to study them, and, most importantly, not having an interest in these phenomena, and remaining in the bosom of roughly categorical abstract fractional schemes. If such an attitude towards reality becomes familiar, habitual, desirable, then there is a temptation to ignore obvious contradictions and explain everything by deceptions of sight, touch, smell and other means of perceiving reality.
People just warn each other: "Don't upset me, don't tell me anything bad!", "Don't spoil my mood!". It turns out to be more pleasant to live in a self-made fantasy world, believing that it is cozy and durable, than to face its contradictions every hour.
The processing of information goes through all these types of thinking from the initial complete ignorance of the existence of some phenomenon to its subsequent full development. So holistic thinking itself is extremely reminiscent of the work of the assembly line. Scattered information about a certain subject is received at the input. They are actively gathering. As information accumulates, their mutual adjustment begins. The result is a holistic image of a cognizable object. This image is further compared with others, abstracted and determined to any place that best corresponds to it in the generalized image of reality. Then, based on this image, the individual interacts with reality. The process of thinking is stimulated by some unsatisfied needs. There must be some problem for the whole chain of thinking to work. In the familiar world, automatic abstract-fractional thinking dominates. Such a life proceeds almost unconsciously and consists, behaviorally speaking, of known stimuli and their corresponding learned responses.
Of these four types of thinking, concrete-fractional thinking must be recognized as the most conscious. All observations and introspection (self-reflection) are in his charge. This is it any conclusion rushes to double-check. Abstract-holistic thinking is the most consistent and balanced. With its help, all kinds of plans and projects are built. The most mysterious, unpredictable is concrete-holistic thinking. It is very difficult to manage it, but both great artistic images and great scientific abstractions are born in its bowels. Abstract fractional thinking is the most automatic. As a result, it is also the fastest.
To facilitate the understanding of the above (and my personal experience tells me that the vast majority of readers, when reading this article, will confine themselves to applying their abstract-fractional thinking and immediately mark everything that seems incomprehensible to them) I will try to explain in more detail.
Since the concept of types of thinking proposed here has a claim to the completeness of the description of thinking as a mental phenomenon, the types of thinking already discovered spontaneously and empirically and described in science should be satisfactorily explained from its positions. Let's try to find correspondences between the types of thinking mentioned at the beginning of the article and the types described here. About concrete and abstract thinking, probably, everything is already clear: two concrete, two abstract. The role of "visual-effective", most likely, can be claimed by concrete-fractional thinking, busy eliciting information. The most appropriate description for the role of "ordinary" thinking claims abstract-fractional thinking. And then, it would be more correct to speak not about "ordinary thinking", but about "ordinary ideas" about reality. Personalities conservative, not creative, in this case, are glued to the abstract-fractional thinking. Cognitive motivation, so to speak, "emotionally finances thinking." And they either have a weak resolving power of perception, or a weak cognitive motivation, and therefore the differences between objects and phenomena are either not noticed by them at all, or are recognized as insignificant. They take a lot on faith, not bothering to check the stories, rumors, gossip that reach them. This is a world of common ideas, self-evident norms and rules. They love their habitual stereotypes so much that they refuse to recognize the most obvious facts if they brazenly contradict their long-established ideas: "Ah! All this is nonsense! And I don’t need to fool my head!" For them, the processing of information very often comes down to summing up the particular new under the general, already known: And what is this? What does it look like? Some kind of box ... Well, of course, this is a box! - That's all thinking for you: Some information is collected, quickly comprehended. A sudden image of the object was created, which was quickly compared with the images of already known objects. And here it is - the conclusion! It must be admitted that needs interfere very strongly in the course of thinking, often not only distorting it, but downright disfiguring it. But, one cannot but admit that in the usual circumstances, abstract-fractional thinking is very productive, since it grows together with skills, making them accurate and fast. That is why, in certain, standard, familiar circumstances, it turns out to be quite enough for successful activity. Ordinary consciousness, in my opinion, manifests itself in unjustified trust in this way of thinking, in attempts to apply it in unusual circumstances, where it inevitably fails.
We can now clarify the concept of “scientific method (the name “scientific thinking” seems to me not quite scientific)”, which consists in a timely sequential transition from one type of thinking to another as one masters reality:
1) The use of abstract-fractional thinking fails, does not bring the expected results. Problem: Why doesn't it work?
2) Transition to concrete-fractional thinking, clarification of all circumstances accompanying the problem (even the most improbable circumstances cannot be ruled out, since their mutual influence is unknown and what was not given importance at the beginning may turn out to be the most important). At first, this is just a detailed description of everything that only attracted attention, but this is not enough. Specific-fractional thinking is designed to collect the maximum possible amount of data about an incomprehensible subject.
3) Concrete-holistic thinking is included in the work as new data is accumulated and occurs latently even during the work of concrete-fractional thinking. It combines data (both new and old) trying to organize the least contradictory combination of them (i.e. this kind of thinking works synergistically, holistically, looking for a system in a conglomerate of data). It occurs unconsciously, periodically bringing to the surface of consciousness various guesses that direct the search for concrete-fractional thinking. As data accumulates, concrete-holistic thinking suppresses the work of concrete-fractional thinking (interest in the subject weakens, you want to be distracted, do something else), while gaining strength itself. The completion of his work is marked by insight (the discovery of the desired cause of the failure that puzzled abstract-fractional thinking).
4) The result of this particular case is cataloged by abstract-holistic thinking. It depersonalizes this result, distracts from all the details of a specific path to find the cause. He is not interested in how such a result was obtained, it is important for him to check whether it corresponds to the laws known to this day. This thinking is model, schematic, structural, formal. It calmly uses the results of other people's experiences, generalizing them along with the results of the person's own experience with this thinking. The work of abstract-holistic thinking ends with the development of a formula (“the square of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares of the legs”, “all planets solar system revolve around the sun” or “trade is the engine of progress”, or something like that). Here the problem turns into a task, which, unlike the problem, has already been formulated, it can be complex, but it can be solved in principle, because there is already a formula in which you only need to introduce variables.
5) The resulting formulas are subjected to a meticulous check of concrete-fractional thinking. Various details are specified, additions are made. So many turns are scrolled between the first three types of thinking, until the concrete-fractional one gives up, declaring that it can no longer find fault with anything.
6) This formalized knowledge is used by abstract-fractional thinking, it assumes that the world (reality, the universe, the universe) or at least part of the world, some class of objects, obey the regularity expressed in the formula. This kind of thinking is widely used in activities understood as the transformation of the environment. This is applied thinking, it is what inserts variables into the formula.
People with a great cognitive need do not wait for problems in order to turn on their concrete-fractional thinking. They are looking for them, they are possessed by a passionate thirst for knowledge. But it is not enough to have a cognitive passion, it is also necessary that it be accompanied by developed mental capacity, which should be understood as abilities, primarily for intensive multidimensional thinking. Moreover, it is necessary to recognize the most important concrete-holistic thinking, which generates qualitatively new meanings, which are then used by other types of thinking. Of course, alienated types of thinking are also necessary and important, but they operate only with quantitative values, with what is already known. Concrete-fractional thinking would also wander for a long time “among the trees looking for a forest”, if it were not for the prompts of concrete-holistic thinking.
Apparently, the first two types of thinking must necessarily be represented in the scientific method, it is with their help that discoveries are made. The third type is necessary to create a theory, to generalize private conclusions and results. The presence of a well-structured theory that consistently summarizes the facts indicates the development of science. If the idea is justified in the course of activity, then for some time it will be considered correct until facts are found that clearly contradict it. Practitioners take on faith the ideas about reality set forth in the theory and, based on it, create their own technologies and actually transform something. When they fail at something, they turn back to science and the cycles of research are repeated again until the problem is solved. Then this new idea forms the basis of a new theory, and so on. So the fourth kind of thinking, abstract-fractional, is difficult to recognize integral part scientific method. Apparently, the abstract-holistic form of thinking is most consistent with "theoretical" thinking, as well as "logical" thinking.
What is the difference between "theoretical thinking" and "practical thinking"? – I get the impression that technologically, fundamentally, these thinking are no different from one another. Their goals are different. The conditions for achieving goals are different. But the whole technology is the same as in the scientific method. Therefore, it seems to me wrong to single them out as special types of thinking. Rather, it is necessary to distinguish between theoretical and practical activities. The first activity is aimed at creating integral systems for describing reality, the second - at transforming this reality. They are mutually complementary: in the course of activity, difficulties arise due to the incomplete representation of the actor about reality. The agent can try to solve the difficulties himself, or he can entrust the search for solutions to researchers, testers, and theorists. Having done their work, they will end up with a new, more complete description of reality, with the help of which it will be easy to find a way out of the difficulty. It is possible that theorists will immediately propose the right decision, since this side of reality may turn out to be already explored by them. But there is one significant difference between practical and theoretical activities: theoretical activity deals more with traces (with what has already happened), and practical activity with messages (with what is happening now and may happen in the future). The first is more static and the second is more dynamic.
Now let's delve into the study of the creative process.
"Once - we hardly paid attention to this - a weak embryo sunk into our thought, a period of its slow maturation began, it lived as if latently, lingered in our brain for a long time, betraying its presence in no way. It happened that he did not declare about for months and years.The writer deals with a thousand problems, receives a myriad of impressions, mental life this deeply hidden germ grows, feeding on mysterious juices.
Ordinary and sublime impressions, indifferent and extraordinary information, fragments of conversations, fragments of what has been read, faces, eyes, hands, dreams, dreams, delights penetrate into its hiding place - an inexhaustible abundance of phenomena, each of which can nourish this embryo, contribute to its growth. And then one fine day, when we least expect it, when we, as it seems to us, are very far from what is connected with it, it manifests itself as a long-desired and viable image. For reasons unknown to us, a crisis sets in, a sudden end to a long subconscious work, in its assertiveness often similar to the action of the elemental forces of nature and just like them, impersonal. Haydn, when he came up with the melody that was supposed to express the birth of light in The Creation of the World, exclaimed, blinded by its brilliance: “This is not from me, this is from above!”
There is no difference between a writer and a philosopher, an artist and a scientist. Instead of repeating the hackneyed story of Newton's block, it is worth citing a much less well-known, but perhaps much more instructive, example from the life of the great mathematician Henri Poincaré. For many months he searched in vain for a certain formula, thought about it tirelessly. Finally, without finding a solution, he completely forgot about it and did something else. A lot of time passed, and suddenly one morning, as if thrown up by a spring, he quickly got up from the table, went to the bureau and immediately wrote this formula without hesitation, as if he had copied it off the board. In the same way, writers descend, as if overshadowed by the long unyielding denouement of dramas, novels, short stories; street lamp, with trembling fingers, wrote down on a cigarette box. In the introduction to The Wandering Jew, Goethe tells how around midnight he jumped out of bed like a madman, how he was suddenly seized with a thirst to sing this mysterious person. And in this case, probably, it was the same as in all others like him: the poet carried the tone, the mood of the ballad for years, before it poured into his verses. And this is how Goethe ends the story of this experience with this comparison: “We only stack logs for the fire and try to keep them dry, and when the appointed hour comes, the fire will flare up by itself - to our considerable surprise.”
These “surprises of the soul” are not the same in strength and duration: from brief flashes, illuminating for a moment only one thought or a particle of an image, and up to great, encompassing many discoveries. In the latter case, a significant part of the subconscious comes to the surface, and this turns out to be a shock of great force, like tectonic catastrophes, when islands appear from the depths of the ocean and become a new homeland for plants, animals and people. (Parandovsky Ya. Alchemy of the word. M. "Pravda". 1990, p. 106)"
To describe successive steps in the implementation of a creative idea, it turned out to be convenient to use the sequence of insect development: embryo - caterpillar - pupa - imago (adult). The creative process begins with some kind of seed, germ, guess, idea, etc. This is followed by the material collection stage (caterpillar). Sometimes this material is collected for a long time and almost unconsciously, sometimes quickly and quite consciously. Further, the material is allowed to settle, mature, crystallize (chrysalis). After that, something new (imago) is born. The creative cycle is complete.
These germs are taken in the depths of abstract-fractional thinking, which builds an image of reality, and, relying on it, interacts with it. And this image is undoubtedly poorer than reality itself, it contains unjustified generalizations and assumptions, something is presented distorted, and something is omitted altogether. And sometimes this discrepancy between the image of reality and reality itself is revealed to the inquisitive gaze of a certain individual. In fact, something is happening that should not be happening in it! Astonishment. Question. The question can be anything. There may be several. But it is the question, and it is the "embryo" that prompts you to take a closer look at reality, listen, touch it and somehow pay attention in a different way. It seems obvious that different stages of the creative process must be accompanied by different mental states. In this case, the "embryo" stage is accompanied by a state of some kind of "puzzle", "confusion", "bewilderment", "doubt", "embarrassment", etc. The "embryo" stage corresponds to the transition from abstract-fractional thinking to concrete-fractional thinking.
There is a desire to understand: what is the matter here? Thus begins the collection of material concerning the unexpectedly presented side of reality. This is the transition from the "embryo" stage to the "caterpillar" stage.
It is clear that the "caterpillar" stage corresponds to the work of concrete fractional thinking. Facts, impressions, opinions and other "material" are collected, which will serve as raw material for constructing an image of that part of reality that puzzled this artist so much. What itch makes him rush about in search of impressions that haunt him? What mental state is he in? When misunderstanding only increases from the abundance of new information, only various manifestations of the will can help it. There is perseverance, and endurance, and determination. There is, of course, both a cognitive passion and a thirst for self-expression, but at the "caterpillar" stage there is still no confidence in the success of the business. So what is happening here is a pedantic, persistent collection of impressions, information and other facts, in spite of all sorts of boredom, sadness, blues, despondency, and so on. Although, it must be admitted, a considerable number of people and other creatures stop at this stage. And this side of reality remains "dark" for them.
But one day there comes a satiety of collecting material. There is some kind of indifference. This is how the transition from the "caterpillar" stage to the "chrysalis" stage takes place. Concrete-holistic thinking comes to the fore. Processing of the collected raw materials is gaining momentum. At first, she is invisible. But, the closer to completion the stage of gestation (incubation, transformation, restructuring, maturation), the more often there are tides of incomprehensible foreboding, anticipation, quivering delight. "Inspiration" is creative excitement, such mental condition which helps speed up thinking. The state of inspiration can be long-term. Inspiration arises during the transition from the chrysalis stage to the imago stage. The word "illumination" means an experience that accompanies the discovery itself, it is one-time, final. And it doesn't last long. But in strength it can surpass all other experiences. This very state of jubilation is a worthy reward for overcoming all difficulties on the path to success. Probably around here somewhere special case creative thinking, visual-figurative thinking is present (and, after all, there are images and auditory, and tactile, and others). Where to attach "intuitive" thinking? Most of all, concrete-holistic thinking can be identified with it.
It should also be taken into account that thinking is not limited in each unit of time to the solution of only one question. Many questions are simultaneously in it at different stages of solution: some have just arisen, others are about to receive a solution, others are stuck at the stage of collecting information, etc. It is especially interesting in cases where many questions mature at the same time, or almost simultaneously. Illumination gushing!
Let's try, for the time being, briefly, to build a series of creative activities. We take the sign of "self-expression" as the basis for the classification. The less connected the creator is with the limitations of reality, within which his creativity takes place, the more opportunities for self-expression he has. The work of a researcher (scientist) differs from the work of an artist (composer, architect, writer, artist, etc.) in that the researcher seeks to know the patterns of reality, while the artist strives explicitly for self-expression. The artist creates images, and the researcher creates formulas. It can even be said that the artist turns the formula into an image, and the researcher turns the image into a formula. Art is engaged in the creation of experiences, and science is the creation of concepts (sometimes very branched and multilevel). The artist, with the help of his creation, seeks to produce in the consumers of his work (readers, spectators, listeners, etc.) a certain, quite definite experience. He shares his subjective experience with consumers through the products of his creativity. Because life, poor in experiences, seems empty, boring, meaningless, people need experiences in order to feel the fullness of their lives.
The researcher cognizes objective reality. In his creations, he tries to convey to consumers the essence, the bare essence, extracted by him from the heap of phenomena of reality. Here there are fewer opportunities for self-expression than in art. The inventor is more limited in the possibility of self-expression, since his creativity must be reduced to a specific technology. An inventor is a creator of new technologies. He is looking for ways to make the same thing, but in other, more convenient ways. But artists also sometimes have great difficulties in choosing a worthy material to embody the image created by their imagination. It is sometimes difficult for a researcher to find an abstraction suitable for each given case, and he must have an imagination no less powerful than that of an artist, so that when deducing other abstractions from one abstraction, he does not forget about reality. The creativity of the designer is reduced to the embodiment of technology in specific tools, machines, job descriptions and operating instructions for the equipment. The creativity of an engineer is manifested in the use of equipment, in its ever more efficient use. There is very little scope for creativity from direct performers. This is where creativity comes into play.
The teacher's creativity consists in the ability to find an approach to each student and present him with educational material in such a way that he understands it correctly, remembers it for a long time and, most importantly, e (!!!), would voluntarily want to learn more. If the teacher is creative in his work, then he will actively look for more and more new features of the students, he will strive for a correct understanding of the features he discovers, he will constantly replenish his experience and constantly check his guesses in practice.
I think this is enough to get an idea of the creative approach to the case. Creative person is distinguished by a conscious attitude to the search for a new, unusual, non-standard in order to create an increasingly accurate, reliable image of that part of reality where his activity takes place. To do this, you need to have both the appropriate abilities and strong cognitive motivation. In addition, a person must be developed so that she has WHAT to say (to express herself creatively). This is not originality at all costs, but the creation of something that he had not created before (on a scale, of course, different).
Note! Technologically, the differences between these types of creativity are negligible. The mechanism is the same everywhere. But the goals are different. Raw materials are different. The products are also different. The raw material for the artist is life impressions, which should revive the idea (concept), fill it with figurative content. When the image has matured and been born, the task of translating it into some form, in some material, arises. Depending on the specialization of the artist, this may be a play; sculpture; a house with all sorts of curlicues; song; story; picture, etc. They will be products. artistic creativity.
For the researcher, scientific facts are the raw material. To get them, he observes reality, asks her questions with the help of various experiments. From the facts obtained, the image of the studied part of reality is then built. This image is compared with images obtained by other researchers. As a result of such work, a concept, theory or something similar is built, which generally describes the existence of the studied part of reality. The product of research activity is knowledge (formalized descriptions of reality). Philosophers, as a rule, rely on this knowledge obtained by researchers, using them as raw materials for their research. As you can see, the "scientific method" must be recognized as one of the options for the manifestation creative activity.
And what is "skill", "professionalism"? What a non-professional does for a long time and poorly, a professional does quickly and with high quality. The professional works efficiently and productively. But why???!!! There is a suspicion that during his career he has run through a huge number of creative thought cycles, solving many problems along the way. Now he knows his business so well that he manages with only abstract-fractional thinking, which in such cases turns out to be unusually automated. This means that a professional's activity is built from a large number of carefully practiced and well-matched skills. Those. it works almost without thinking, like a machine. For example, having mastered the skills of walking, people can walk and talk about something. Only some unexpected obstacle can force them to think about how to put their feet in order to overcome this obstacle. By doing something simple automatically, we thereby free our thinking to solve some really difficult problems.
In general, abstract fractional thinking is background thinking. Specific-fractional thinking actively seeks out figures among the background. Peering into the familiar, while finding more and more new shades is a pleasure for concrete-fractional thinking. But in order to create for yourself the image of a professional, to develop a system of exercises to achieve high accuracy of your actions, and then to achieve this high level, you must certainly be a creator. This means that all kinds of thinking are well developed in him, and everyone fully performs his work.
What to do?
But besides the sciences, arts and other activities, there is also just life! And, perhaps, it is worth talking not so much about “scientific” thinking as about “correct” thinking. It is possible to start each new business “correctly”, i.e. consciously, by an effort of will, forcing oneself to perceive this new matter concretely and fractionally, not allowing oneself to consider it simple and easy, since it looks like something familiar and safe. For example, a child who lives in a family that loves dogs and is used to the fact that their domestic dogs are very obedient and friendly can treat an unfamiliar angry dog as a kind and affectionate creature.
If it seems to you that you are doing everything right, but success does not come to you, then most likely you are at the mercy of limited abstract-fractional ideas. This means that you represent reality in a simpler way than it is. It means that you do not notice something significant, you do not attach importance to something important. Of course, you still need to find out how much you are not satisfied with the lack of success. If you have some big need that is very unsatisfied, which groans and growls from hunger or satiety, then, probably, the time has come to consciously turn on your concrete-fractional thinking. Engage in "combing the area." Expand your searches, give importance to everything that previously seemed insignificant to you. Take a closer look at reality, at yourself. As information accumulates, concrete-holistic thinking will turn on by itself. But you will have to endure for some time, you will have to go through a painful state of even greater misunderstanding than what it was before the beginning of such a corrosive, scrupulous study of the circumstances accompanying failure. Yes, you will inevitably find that reality is much more complicated than it seemed at first. Yes, you will find so many nooks and crannies on the way to a clear understanding that you can lose faith in the very success for which everything was started.
Do not stop! You are a thought reactor! For a chain reaction to start, a critical amount of reactants must accumulate in the reactor. Hold on! Accumulate a critical mass of facts, information, data and - hold on! This state is also called "nurturing a plan." We can say that you are pregnant with an idea. All that was left was to deliver the due date.
Illumination happens unexpectedly. Most often, during classes, something has nothing to do with the case. This is a very pleasant state. Ecstasy, euphoria, exultation. This is a worthy reward for the efforts, for the patience, for the determination to bring what has been started to the end. But in addition to joy, you now have an understanding of the reasons for your failure. There is a key to solving the problem. And what at first seemed, just the same, outrageously clear, and then hopelessly confusing, now it has become clear again, but at a different, higher level of understanding of reality.
Now you have a point. There is a feeling of something deep, something primordial, something lying at the source of all causes. You may well be satisfied with what you have achieved and stop here. But you haven't solved the problem yet, you just realized what it is. After a short respite, we must take up the derivation of the formula. Now we need to formulate a principle, create a concept or something like that. It is necessary to catch the bare essence from a personal vivid experience. When you formulate the principle, formalize the idea, it will be time to reconsider your ideas about reality. Now the reality will appear before you in a more complete form. Besides, you already own the formula of the situation. Now the situation is in front of you at a glance! Now is the time to build a plan for success. Of course, the plan still needs to be put into practice! But thinking has done its job. As the plan is fulfilled, it remains only to consciously switch to concrete-fractional thinking whenever any complications arise. Do not get attached to abstract-fractional thinking, it is precisely this that is the supplier of illusions and unrealizable hopes! As you approach the goal, you will still make many discoveries for yourself, you will understand a lot if you use your thinking correctly. When the goal is reached, you will find that reality is no longer as hostile to you as it seemed at first.
Have you ever thought about a creative approach not only to some individual cases, but to life in general? And if you understand life as a profession? Maybe here to become professionals? BUT?
Table "Types of thinking"
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Thinking is the highest form of reflection of the surrounding reality. Thinking (if we recall the most concise of the definitions given in general psychology) is a generalized and word-mediated knowledge of reality. Thinking makes it possible to know the essence of objects and phenomena. Thanks to thinking, it becomes possible to foresee the results of certain actions, to carry out creative, purposeful activities.
The very definition of mental retardation contains an indication that its first sign is a violation cognitive activity. It was this circumstance that made it necessary to create a special section of schools for the education of mentally retarded children.
In order to better understand how the thinking of a child with impaired activity is formed and develops
; cerebral cortex, you need to remember how this happens in the body. : First, thinking is a generalization.
An elementary generalization is already contained in the act of perception. ?-In order for the child to recognize a tree in each tree, he has |; some generalized image of a tree must be formed in the course of personal experience. In this case, the image of the tree must be adequately correlated with the word wood. But this is not yet a thought.
Man thinks in terms. In the process of schooling, all the essential features of the concept of "tree" are revealed to the child: "A tree is a plant consisting of a root system, a trunk and a crown." Is such a general thought about a tree a continuation, an intensification of the same process of generalization that took place during perception? Yes and no. It is a continuation because it necessarily relies on the image of a tree that has been formed through personal experience. But this mental generalization also contains a qualitatively different process. It discards as superfluous, insignificant all those details and specific details, the presence of which is so necessary for specific recognition and perception (this is abstraction, or distraction). And it adds something new. This new thing might be absent from the child's personal experience (he might not see the roots of trees and not know the word "crown"), but it appears in the child's ideas with the help of verbal explanations that convey to him the experience and knowledge of mankind. An extensive circle of knowledge and concepts that the child's thinking operates with is brought into his consciousness by adults with the help of verbally formulated knowledge. For a solid assimilation of this knowledge, the child must have a stock of ideas. But the volume of this knowledge brought in through speech far exceeds the stock of ideas that the child manages to acquire in the course of his individual life. To master these concepts and knowledge, a full command of speech is necessary.
Secondly, thinking is mediated cognition. "Mediated" means the knowledge of one through the other. Hearing an angry voice and seeing the angry face of the mother, the child guesses (or, in other words, understands) that the mother has already seen the plate he broke. Having received the task in class to divide 6 apples into two, the child performs a similar operation on sticks and comes to the conclusion that each will get 3 apples. Comparing the product he made in the workshop with the sample that the teacher gave him, the child finds differences in them, analyzing which he comes to the conclusion that one of the elements of the product needs to be corrected.
All these mental operations of comparison, inference, all these actions of division, multiplication, creation of an assumption and its verification, the child, to a very small extent, creates himself. An adult teaches him these mental actions, he organizes for him a series of practical visual situations in which the child
must orient and act, and then formulate these tasks verbally. Gradually, training approaches the stage when the child acquires the ability to carry out each such complex action"in the mind". A necessary step, a link in such a translation of a practical action into an action in the mind is its verbal execution. But for this, the child again must master all types of speech.
A mentally retarded preschool child has an extremely low level of development of thinking, which is primarily due to the underdevelopment of the main instrument of thinking - speech. Because of this, he poorly understood the meaning of the conversations of family members, the content of those fairy tales that were read to him. He often could not be a participant in the games, because he did not understand the necessary instructions and instructions; he was less and less often approached with ordinary instructions, as they saw that the child could not understand their meaning.
Due to defects in perception, the child has accumulated an extremely meager stock of ideas. Poverty, fragmentation and "discoloration" of the ideas of mentally retarded children are very well described by M. M. Nudelman. He shows how heterogeneous objects lose everything individual, original in the representations of children, become like each other, become similar.
The poverty of visual and auditory representations, the extremely limited play experience, little familiarity with objective actions, and most importantly, the poor development of speech deprive the child of the necessary base on which thinking should develop.
Zh. I. Shif and V. G. Petrova formulate all these thoughts very clearly. They write that the thinking of mentally retarded children is formed in conditions of inferior sensory cognition, speech underdevelopment, and limited practical activity. Consequently, a mentally retarded child is unprepared to enter school. He is very different from a healthy child in the great concreteness of thinking and the weakness of generalizations.
But does it follow from this that a mentally retarded child is fundamentally incapable of abstraction and generalization, that his thinking can never go beyond concreteness?
In order to answer this difficult question, we must once again return 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 entering a special school is asked: “What is a bird?” He replies: "She is gray, small, has a small nose or mouth." Before his eyes rises the image of a sparrow, which he recently saw. Answering the question of the teacher, he describes this image as best he can. At the same time, he does not take into account that there are large birds, that not all birds are gray
t^o colors. Answering the question, he does not at all seek to name the signs that are inherent any bird. He has not yet been taught yes-1|"» to give a definition of this or that concept.
jg, If, when answering a question, he says flies, then it will be not-"5" how much the best answer, since it indicates a significant at-" sign, characteristic of every bird. However, the correct answer was ^.^y something like this: “A bird is a living creature that has \ dcee wings and able to fly. Such an answer would be evidence-i.-ral that the child had learned to define the concept and master
* affairs by the concept itself, i.e., a thought reflecting the general and existent
""eriBbie signs of the object. But the child did not see with his own eyes, l 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 alive and inanimate. All this the child could not "discover" himself. He could find out about this only from adults, but this requires a certain level of development of speech.
b) The teacher offers the oligophrenic preschooler a task;
“The boy had 3 sweets, he lost one. How many candies does he have left? Ignoring the question, the student speaks. "We must look for her and find her." The task caused the student to have a very visual image of the missing candy. Instead of an abstract attitude to the conditions of the problem, the child approached the given situation in a concrete, utilitarian way. The understanding of the conditional meaning of task 1 and the choice of a method of action corresponding to the conditions of the task still needs to be taught to the child.
c) The child is given a set of pictures and offered to sort them into groups according to the principle “what goes with what”. He can start classifying if he has already completed similar tasks ^ But he can begin to lay out the pictures in accordance with his life experience: he will put clothes near the closet, the sea - „ka-on the ship, etc. Even after the direct instructions of the experimenter that it is necessary to put objects of the same kind together. BUT 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 the flowers, since he often saw how the butterfly sits on KhgZhveah; that a cat cannot be put 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, what Generalizations are not available to him. This is 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 in the jaws of single visual images, not being able to understand the general, essential hidden behind you. To think concretely also means the ability to use in solving problems those mental processes and forms of thinking that were "discovered" by humankind in the course of its development.
A mentally retarded child remembers rather than reflects.
In everyday life the word specifically sometimes they use it in a positive sense, “Speak specifically,” they advise the speaker at the meeting. But at the same time, they mean only a specific application of generally recognized and well-known provisions. In order for thought to have meaning in its concrete application, it must first rise from the concrete to the generalized, the abstract; it is in this abstraction and generalization that the value of genuine thinking lies; only after that does it make sense to apply the found general, natural to the particular, specific. When thought simply reproduces specific situational connections between objects and phenomena, it is poor and unproductive.
In the book Features mental development secondary school students” provides a large amount of experimental data characterizing the inferiority of mental operations of mentally retarded children (synthesis, analysis, comparison, etc.). So, for example, M. V. Zvereva and A. I. Lipkina came to the conclusion that mentally retarded children, when comparing objects, show a tendency to establish differences, while at the same time not being able to catch similarities. Professor L.V. Zankov found that when comparing objects or phenomena, mentally retarded children often rely on random external signs, without highlighting essential features. Their judgments regarding compared objects are sometimes built according to the type: “The sparrow is gray, and the crow croaks”; in other words, the judgment has the form of a comparison, but in fact it is not such a comparison. The experience of every auxiliary school teacher testifies to the extraordinary concreteness of the students' thinking.
The main shortcoming of the thinking of mentally retarded children - the weakness of generalizations - manifests itself in the learning process in the fact that children do not master the rules and general concepts well. They often learn the rules by heart, but 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 assimilation of rules, is the greatest difficulty for mentally retarded children. It is also a difficult task for them to master new general concepts and the rules they deal with when studying other academic subjects. At the same time as Scientific research, and school experience testify that the students of the auxiliary school develop quite quickly and perform each of the mental operations better in the upper grades than in the first. It is legitimate to raise the question: can these shifts be assessed as quantitative improvements, within the same quality, or can children really learn to think?
To learn to think means: 1) to make the transition from the reflection
aiya reality in its situational visual images to be reflected in concepts, rules, patterns; 2) perfect dsht an even more complex transition from simple reproduction of these images and ideas to mental actions, i.e., 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, the weakness of generalization is the primary basic defect, not subject to further psychological explanation. All higher, human mentally retarded At crowbar child is not available. Generalization is the highest, most complex acquisition of the human brain. Brain damage ^ implies the impossibility of generalization. At are complex generalizations, this would mean that there was an error
- ka, - this person was never mentally retarded in childhood; steel.
i L. S. Vygotsky expresses a different point of view. Not at all not Denying the fact that the thinking of mentally retarded children is characterized by concreteness, L. S. Vygotsky (as already indicated in Chapter 5) wrote that the underdevelopment of higher forms of thinking is “the first and most frequent complication ^ arising as a secondary syndrome in mental retardation, but a complication that does not necessarily arise. Therefore, according to L. S. Vygotsky, mentally retarded children ^ can learn to generalize. But this process (learning) is slower than in healthy people. In order to teach the mentally retarded the ability to generalize, it is necessary to use special teaching aids.
One can, of course, object that these views of L. S. Vygotsky
* remain only a hypothesis. But this hypothesis is very important for pedagogical practice. If we agree with the opinion of L. S. Vygotsky that the underdevelopment of higher mental functions is a frequent, but not an obligatory complication, then the questions immediately arise before the oligophreat teacher: what are the causes of these complications? Is it possible to build the process of education and training in such a way that these complications do not occur?
""at L. S. Vygotsky himself indicates the direction in which it is necessary to look for answers to these questions. This direction is the analysis of the development of the child, the history of the development of his personality, his "" "knowledge.
Consequently, the hypothesis of L S. Vygotsky is not only theoretically substantiated, but also productive in practical terms. It directs the thought of oligophrenic educators to search for ways to further transform and improve the upbringing and education of mentally retarded children.
But it is necessary to consider other theories, more precisely, hypotheses of the nature of childhood dementia. Deep analysis of various theo-
The concept of childhood dementia is given in L. S. Vygotsky's article "The Problem of Mental Retardation".
Let us analyze some of the main provisions of this work L. S. You-roic Koro. He details and critically analyzes the data of the German psychologist Kurt Lewin, the author of the dynamic theory of mental retardation. According to this theory, the main causes of mental retardation in children are inertness, stiffness, and the lack of differentiation of their affective-volitional, or, in other words, personal sphere. (The concepts used by K. Levin are different from the concepts familiar to us that characterize the features studied by Academician I.P. Pavlov nervous processes). Speaking about the inflexibility of affects (emotions), about the undifferentiated layers of the personality, K. Levin has in mind the immaturity, inertness of the intentions and actions of children, the peculiarities of the flow of their emotions. For K. Levin, the concepts of the affective and affective-volitional spheres to a certain extent reflect the qualities and attitudes of the child's personality. However, along with this, K. Levin reveals a somewhat formal, purely dynamic way of assessing these qualities. He writes about the elasticity or fragility of the structure of the material from which the personality is allegedly built, about the fluidity or inertia of different personality systems, about the differentiation or non-differentiation of the layers of the personality. From This shows the considerable schematicity of the concepts used by him in characterizing the emotional sphere. But L. S. Vygotsky drew attention to the rational grain, which is contained in the theory of K. Levin. This rational grain consists in pointing out the dependence of thought, or rather the ability to think, on feelings and needs. We can agree with this positive assessment, since thinking, like any other human activity, is conditioned by its needs.
The well-known work of F. Engels on the role of labor in the process of human development contains a very important indication: “People are used to explaining their actions from their thinking, instead of explaining them from their needs (which, of course, are reflected in the head, realized). ..” 2 . However, although K. Levin refers to the sphere of needs (this is correct), the very concept of needs remains undeveloped for him and, like the concept of the affective-volitional sphere, is limited only dynamic characteristics. Paying tribute to the positive trend in the theory of K. Levin, L. S. Vygotsky further criticizes this theory and its author for being metaphysical.
K. Levin, based on data from experimental studies of the sphere of needs, intentions and the structure of actions of mentally retarded children, explains the concreteness of their thinking, the inability to abstract and generalize with the rigidity and inertia of the affective sphere. He argues thus. Con-
"See Vygotsky L. S. The problem of mental retardation-V. book. Selected psychological research M, 1956.
t Engels F. Dialectics of nature. M., 1969, p. 151.
The concreteness of the mentality of a weak-minded child means that every thing and every event acquires its own special meaning for him. He cannot distinguish them as independent parts, regardless of the situation. Therefore, abstraction, i.e., the formation of a group and its generalization on the basis of a known essential relationship between objects, is extremely difficult for this child.
By its very nature, abstraction requires some kind of abstraction from the situation that completely binds the retarded child. In other words, if we return to the examples given earlier, for a mentally retarded child the image of the gray sparrow he has just seen is so strong and significant that he is not able, due to his emotional inertia, to discard this image in order to master the abstract concept of "bird" . In another case, he is so riveted by the idea of a lost candy that he is unable to move on to counting the remaining ones.
L. S. Vygotsky does not at all dispute the fact that the mental processes of mentally retarded children are distinguished by stiffness. He does not deny the proposition that the development of the child's psyche (both normal and feeble-minded) is based on the unity of affect and intellect. But L. S. Vygotsky criticizes K. Levin for his metaphysical, i.e., for a primitive understanding of the idea of child development. He says that not only stiffness and inertness affect thinking, causing its concreteness. There is also an inverse relationship, i.e., the opposite effect. As the child's thinking develops with the help of speech, it, this thinking, influences the structure of his actions, the dynamics of his affective reactions, makes this dynamics more mobile. A deeper, generalized understanding of the situation allows the child to rise above it, as it were, to begin to act more independently and intelligently.
L. S. Vygotsky formulates this thought twice - once very difficult theoretically, the other time-figuratively, vividly.
He's writing: " Special Studies show that the degree of development of concepts is the degree of transformation of the dynamics of affect, the dynamics of real action, into the dynamics of thinking. The path from contemplation to abstract thinking and from it to practical action (here Vygotsky repeats the thought of V. I. Lenin.- S. R.) there is "a way of transforming the inert and stiff dynamics of a situation into a mobile and fluid dynamics of thought and the way of the reverse transformation of this latter into a reasonable, expedient and free dynamics of practical action" 1. Thinking, understanding patterns, mastering concepts leads to a decrease in the binding of a visual situation, to greater freedom and mobility of the child's actions.The ability to generalize makes the child less inert and stiff, more free and flexible.Thought raises the child not only
/ "Vygotsky L S. Selected psychological studies. M., 1956, < 476.
his visual representations, but also over his own impulses and passions.
Somewhat further, speaking about the fact that in the course of the development of the child the relationship between affect and intellect changes and that it is in the change in this relationship that the maturity of the child’s personality is visible, it is along this line that differences between the mentally retarded and the normal are possible, L. S. Vygotsky writes: "Thinking can be the slave of the passions, their servant, but it can also be their master" 1 .
We will return to the question of the relationship between thinking, emotions, and affects in the chapter on personality. Here we must confine ourselves to some conclusions.
The thinking of a mentally retarded child cannot be considered in isolation from the sphere of his needs, interests, and orientation. But to deduce the weakness of thinking from the affective sphere, to consider affective inertness as the cause of the concreteness of thinking, is unjustified. Since the child's thinking cannot be regarded as an innate ability, since this process arises - in the norm and in pathology - during the life of the child, one should look for the reasons for its originality and its shortcomings in the very individual development of the child's thinking.
Thus, the dynamic theory of mental retardation by K. Levin, although it played a certain role in understanding this phenomenon, did not explain it.
Much more productive were Vygotsky's ideas about the nuclear signs of mental retardation caused by a painful inferiority of the brain. These nuclear features appear to be open by school academician IP Pavlov and the weakness of the closing function of the cortex, the inertia and weakness of the nervous processes already described in Chapter 4. This makes it difficult to form generalizations, but does not make such formation fundamentally impossible.
The development of correct thinking in mentally retarded children is a difficult but fundamentally solvable task. It is achieved with the help of teaching methods specially developed by oligophrenopedagogy. One of the important issues of this training is a deliberate, methodically competent transition from visual demonstration to verbal and logical generalization.
Features of visual thinking of students of the auxiliary school were studied by Zh. I. Shif with the help of an experimental technique successfully found by her. An entertaining task was used, the essence of which was that the children had to find among the ten objects given to them those that could be used, i.e. play the role of three objects missing in the set - a mug (the first task), a mallet (second task) and traffic jams (third task). The studied students of the mass school, solving this problem, first looked for
"Vygotsky L. S. Selected psychological studies. M., 1956 p. 479.
subject similarity between the existing and given objects, sometimes they suggested imaginary ways of altering, changing the objects in the set, and at the last, more difficult stage, they established similarity on the basis of functional suitability, i.e., on the suitability of an existing object to perform a new role (for example, a thimble as a cup).
students III class auxiliary schools used mainly the method of highlighting similarities on a functional basis and did not make suggestions about the possibility of transforming objects. The pupils of the fifth grade of the auxiliary school were already concerned with establishing object similarities, and the pupils of the seventh grade could solve the problem in two ways and find a large number of objects similar to the given ones.
From these data, Shif draws quite legitimate conclusions about the characteristics and shortcomings of visual thinking in mentally retarded children. Their visual images are not dynamic enough, they are not sufficiently directed under the influence of the task. However, as schooling increases, the completeness of the mental analysis of objects increases, the methods of visual thinking improve, the role of imagination in it increases, and visual generalization becomes more accessible.
Although mentally retarded children learn much more easily everything new with the help of a specific demonstration, getting used to practically operating with real objects, visual aids, etc., Vygotsky warned teachers in auxiliary 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 visibility and relied on one specific idea. Visual teaching methods are necessary, but they should not be limited. The task of the teacher is precisely to help the child to escape from specific ideas and move on to the highest level of cognition - logical, verbal generalization.
At the same time, too fast, built on the model of a mass school, the way of transition is harmful. Mistakes in teaching, attempts to teach mentally retarded children according to the model of mass schools, that is, with an unjustifiably rapid transition to verbal generalizations, sometimes become the cause of an incorrect, limited development of their thinking. V. Ya. Vasilevskaya and I. M. Krasnyanskaya studied the features of the cognitive activity of students I 311:.. in ^ o ^ yugative school when comprehending visual material. They discovered that when a task is excessively difficult for a child, there is, as it were, a separation of his visual representations and verbal knowledge. As a result, verbal stereotypes arise that acquire an inert character. Only specially developed methodological techniques can help a mentally retarded child build correct, meaningful generalizations.
Consequently, one of the most important difficult problems, on the positive solution of which the optimal development of the thinking of mentally retarded children depends, is the question of the transition
from visual sensory cognition to verbal, logical, generalized. The study by V. G. Petrova contains the most successful answer to this question. She noted that in the lessons of the auxiliary school teachers often limit visual methods of explanation only by showing objects. In other words, the teacher addresses only the children's visual analyzer.
In G, Petrova organized the experimental lessons differently. The children were given objects to be compared. The students were asked to compare two objects by performing various practical actions to do this. So, for example, in order to establish the similarity between a mug and a bubble, the 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, the children were asked to try to cover both objects with a rubber stopper , measure their height, determine the water level, etc.
An adult (experimenter or teacher) posed leading questions in the process of doing this work and thus taught children the ability to draw logical conclusions about the general properties of objects.
After these lessons, the students learned the material much better.
So far, we have considered one deficiency of thinking that is central to all mentally retarded children, namely, the weakness of generalizations, or concreteness. The thinking of students in auxiliary schools is also characterized by other features. Among them, in particular, is the inconsistency of thinking. This feature is especially pronounced in those mentally retarded children who are prone to fatigue quickly. This category includes children with vascular insufficiency who have suffered trauma, rheumatism, etc. Having begun to solve a problem correctly, they often “go astray” on the right path due to an accidental mistake or accidental distraction by some impression. Such children, having prepared well homework, when answering, they can lose the thread of thought and talk about something that is not related to the case. In these cases, the purposefulness of thinking is violated, although there is an interest in the good performance of this or that business, there is an adequate personal attitude towards it. Sometimes it seems to the teacher that it is worth the child to want more, try harder, and he will be able to perform certain tasks without mistakes. However, it is not. The fact is that the flickering nature of attention, the continuously fluctuating tone of mental activity does not give the child the opportunity to think about any issue with concentration for a long time. The result is scattered and inconsistent thoughts.
In other cases, violations of the logic of judgments arise due to excessive stiffness, viscosity of intellectual processes, a tendency to get stuck on the same particulars and details.
Types of thinking
Depending on what place the word, image and action occupy in the thought process, how they relate to each other, three types of thinking are distinguished: concrete-effective, or practical, concrete-figurative and abstract. These types of thinking are also distinguished on the basis of the characteristics of the tasks - practical and theoretical.
Actionable Thinking
Visual-effective - a type of thinking based on the direct perception of objects.
Specifically effective, or objectively effective, thinking is aimed at solving specific problems in the conditions of production, constructive, organizational and other practical activities of people. Practical thinking is, first of all, technical, constructive thinking. It consists in the understanding of technology and in the ability of a person to independently solve technical problems. The process of technical activity is the process of interaction between mental and practical components of work. Complex operations of abstract thinking are intertwined with the practical actions of a person, inextricably linked with them. The characteristic features of concrete-effective thinking are pronounced observation, attention to details, particulars and the ability to use them in a specific situation, operating with spatial images and schemes, the ability to quickly move from thinking to action and vice versa. It is in this kind of thinking that the unity of thought and will is manifested to the greatest extent.
Concrete-figurative thinking
Visual-figurative - a type of thinking characterized by reliance on representations and images.
Concrete-figurative (visual-figurative), or artistic, thinking is characterized by the fact that a person embodies abstract thoughts, generalizations into concrete images.
Abstract thinking
Verbal-logical - a kind of thinking, carried out with the help of logical operations with concepts.
Abstract, or verbal-logical, thinking is mainly aimed at finding common patterns in nature and human society. Abstract, theoretical thinking reflects general connections and relationships. It operates mainly with concepts, broad categories, and images, representations play an auxiliary role in it.
All three types of thinking are closely related to each other. Many people have equally developed concrete-active, concrete-figurative and theoretical thinking, but depending on the nature of the tasks that a person solves, then one, then another, then a third type of thinking comes to the fore. Visual Action Thinking
Visual-effective thinking is one of the types of thinking, characterized by the fact that the solution of the problem is carried out with the help of a real, physical transformation of the situation, testing the properties of objects. The elementary forms of N.D. thinking observed in higher animals were studied by I.P. Pavlov, V. Koehler, N.N. Ladygina-Kots and other scientists. In a child Thinking n.-d. forms the first step in the development of thinking. In an adult, Thinking n.-d. coexists with visual-figurative and verbal-logical thinking.
Visual-figurative thinking
Visual-figurative thinking is one of the types of thinking. Associated with the representation of situations and changes in them. With the help of Thinking, n.-o. the whole variety of various actual characteristics of the object is most fully recreated. In the image, the vision of an object from several points of view can be fixed simultaneously. An important feature of the N.-o. is the establishment of unusual, "incredible" combinations of objects and their properties. In this capacity, Thinking n.-o. almost indistinguishable from the imagination. Thinking n.-o. - one of the stages of the ontogenetic development of thinking.
Verbal-logical thinking
Verbal-logical thinking is one of the types of thinking characterized by the use of concepts, logical constructions. Thinking of S.-L. functions on the basis of linguistic means and represents the latest stage in the historical and ontogenetic development of thinking. In the structure of Thinking s.-l. formed and operated different kinds generalizations.
theoretical thinking
Theoretical thinking is a type of thinking based on the identification and analysis of the main initial contradiction of the situation under study or the problem being solved. The search for a means of resolving the contradiction leads to the formation of a method of action, the latter allows solving entire classes of problems. Thinking is based on an analysis of the internal characteristics of the phenomena being studied; it allows one to mentally change the object of study and thereby study it most fully, revealing internal characteristics and relationships. The thinking of t. differs from empirical thinking, which is based on the generalization of sensually perceived visually given properties and relations. Thinking is characteristic of scientific activity.
practical thinking
Practical thinking is one of the types of thinking that is usually compared with theoretical thinking. P. thinking is associated with setting goals, developing plans, projects, and is often deployed in conditions of time pressure, which sometimes makes it even more difficult than theoretical thinking.
Creative thinking
Creative thinking is one of the types of thinking characterized by the creation of a subjectively new product and new formations in the cognitive activity itself to create it. These neoplasms relate to motivation, goals, assessments, meanings. Thinking is distinguished from the processes of applying ready-made knowledge and skills, called reproductive thinking.
Pralogical thinking
Pralogical thinking is an early stage in the development of thinking, at which the formation of its basic logical laws has not yet been completed: the existence of cause-and-effect relationships is already recognized, but their essence appears in a mystified form (the concept was introduced by L. Levy-Bruhl). Phenomena correlate on the basis of cause - effect and when they simply coincide in time. Participation (complicity) of events adjacent in time and space serves in Thinking as the basis for explaining most of the events taking place in the surrounding world. At the same time, a person appears to be closely connected with nature, especially with the animal world. In Thinking, natural and social situations are perceived as processes taking place under the protection and opposition of invisible forces. Magic is a product of thought as a common attempt in primitive society to influence the surrounding world, based on the involvement of phenomena.
1.3 Creative thinking.
What is creative thinking .
In answering this question, we will try to find out how creative thinking differs from thinking, which is usually not called creative. The first feature of creative thinking proper is that, in solving known or typical problems, such thinking almost never follows the already known paths. Every time, faced with a new task, even if this task is not much different from previously solved tasks, a creative thinking person tries to approach its solution in a different way, not like everyone else, and not like he himself acted before. This expresses the most important feature of creative thinking - its constant striving for the new, unusual, original, original.
In contrast, uncreative thinking almost never specifically seeks to find new solutions to known problems and, first of all, tries known methods of solving new problems. Even if a person who is characterized by uncreative thinking is faced with a completely new task for him, he still repeatedly tries to solve it in the old way and does not stop his attempts to use the old, well-known methods of solving the problem until they are completely exhausted. . Only after that, and even then not always, will he try to find a new way to solve the corresponding problem. The second feature of creative thinking is that a creatively thinking person is not content with one single way of solving a problem that he has actually found, almost always strives to find all possible ways to solve the same problem. In contrast, the uncreative thinker is almost always satisfied with the only way he finds to solve a problem.
The third characteristic feature of creative thinking is the desire of a creatively thinking person among all possible ways of solving a problem available to him to find the best solution or to improve the known solution as much as possible. This tendency is not characteristic of uncreative or reproductive thinking.
The fourth feature of creative thinking is the ability of a creative thinker to search, find and effectively use various kinds of clues, based on which you can quickly solve the problem. In this case, a hint is understood as additional, not included in the conditions of the problem, information, skillfully using which, you can find the right solution - one that is difficult to find without this hint. Uncreative thinking, as a rule, does not look for and does not use clues, even Creative thinking is one of the most interesting phenomena that distinguish a person from the animal world. Already at the beginning of life, a person manifests an urgent need for self-expression through creativity, a person learns to think creatively, although the ability for such thinking is not necessary for survival.
Creative comprehension is one of the ways of active knowledge of the world, and
it is this that makes progress possible, both for the individual and
humanity as a whole.
Attempts to explain the phenomenon of creative thinking were made even in ancient times.
philosophers and do not stop until now. In the twentieth century, they began to study it
also psychologists and cybernetics. Despite such a long
attention to the problem, not all of its aspects are fully disclosed, therefore
research in this area is ongoing.
This paper provides an overview of various concepts and approaches to the study
creative thinking, the distinctive features of a creative personality are considered, and the factors influencing the manifestation of creative abilities, if they are obvious, are analyzed. The psychological components of creativity identified by scientists are properties of adult thinking. In students, the ability to be creative develops gradually, passing through several stages of development. These stages proceed sequentially. Studies of student creativity allow us to distinguish at least three stages in the development of creative thinking:
Visually - effective;
Causal;
heuristic.
Visual-active thinking allows the student to understand spatial and temporal relationships. Thinking is born from action. Very important for the development of thinking are tasks for the study of the image-representation, for the development of fantasy. There are several psychological qualities that underlie fantasizing:
A clear and precise representation of the images of objects;
Good visual and auditory memory, allowing for a long time to keep the image-representation in the mind;
The ability to mentally compare two or more objects and compare them in color, shape, size and number of details;
The ability to combine parts of different objects and create objects with new properties.
One of the directions for the development of creativity at the stage of visual-effective thinking is going beyond the usual mental stereotypes. This quality of creative thinking is called originality, and it depends on the ability to mentally connect distant, not usually connected in life, images of objects. Creative thinking: 1. The ability of mental experimentation, spatial imagination. 2. The ability to independently transfer knowledge to solve a new task, problem, search for new solutions. 3. Combinatorial skills (the ability to combine previously known methods, ways of solving a problem, problems in a new combined, complex way - morphological analysis). 4. Prognostic abilities (the ability to foresee the possible consequences of decisions made, the ability to establish cause-and-effect relationships). 5. Heuristic thinking, intuitive insight, insight. To these skills, one should add specific skills to work with information, for which it is important to be able to select the necessary (for specific purposes) information from various sources, analyze it, systematize and generalize the data obtained in accordance with the cognitive task, be able to identify problems in various fields of knowledge, in the surrounding reality, put forward reasonable hypotheses for their solution. It is also necessary to be able to set up experiments (not only mental, but also natural ones), draw reasoned conclusions, build a system of evidence, be able to statistically process the data obtained from experimental and experimental tests, be able to generate new ideas, possible ways to find solutions, present results, be able to work in a team , solving cognitive, creative tasks in cooperation, while performing different social roles, as well as to master the art and culture of communication. The psychological components of creativity identified by scientists are properties of adult thinking. In students, the ability to be creative develops gradually, passing through several stages of development. These stages proceed sequentially. Creativity, on the other hand, requires greater independence and independence from well-known solutions. Therefore, the upbringing of creative abilities requires time and patience from the child and adults.
The development of creative thinking is associated with the development of mental processes: perception, memory, imagination, speech.
People involved in creativity: inventors, scientists - have long understood that one of the main dangers that prevents the emergence of a new idea is the inertia of thinking. When solving any problem, familiar solutions first pop up in our minds and they prevent the emergence of a new, unusual, original one. To help overcome the inertia of thinking, special techniques and methods are being developed that activate the creative process.
Methods and techniques for the development of creative thinking.
The main driving force of creativity is the need for self-expression. Creative attitudes are the basis of a creative personality. First of all, it is the willingness to act in a situation of uncertainty, sensitivity to the new, resistance to the desire to act stereotypically and willingness to act outside the box. Creative attitudes are formed, on the one hand, under the influence of the need for self-expression, on the other hand, creative competencies. Creative competencies are the skills and abilities to work in a situation of uncertainty. These skills and abilities can be formed during the use of special methods of creative thinking: - the method of analogies and alternatives (think in several directions and by analogy); - the method of figurative-conceptual thinking (the ability to arbitrarily generalize and concretize images in one's imagination); - guessing method (intuition). - brainstorming method (group problem solving); - method of heuristic questions (Socrates method, setting tasks for yourself, dividing the task into subtasks); - TRIZ method (technique for solving inventive problems); - method of constructing mental maps (graphical representation of plans, projects, ideas, ideas); - the method of arbitrary notes (activation of creative thinking when receiving any new information). Method of analogies and alternatives.
Method of analogies and alternatives.
Alternatives are many possible solutions that you implement as solution ideas. Analogies are a set of similar problems and their solutions, taken from experience. The method of analogies and alternatives is spontaneous thinking in different directions without trying to choose the best solution and without detailed study of individual options. This method allows you to use the existing experience to the fullest. Using this method allows you to form a mental attitude to find a variety of solutions and overcome the inertia of thinking.
The method of figurative-conceptual thinking.
The method of figurative-conceptual thinking is aimed at developing the imagination, the ability to work with images in the imagination. At the same time, it is important to learn how to manage images from their concrete-sensory form to a generalized one. An additional source of stimulation for creating an image is the actual and imagined sensations that you experience.
guessing method
We have to resort to the guessing method in situations of uncertainty, where there is no way to try and build the optimal solution. In this case, the best way out is to trust the unique abilities of our brain, which reveal themselves as intuition.
Note method
“Faraday used a method that I tentatively call the portable memory bank method. It's very simple. You buy a small notebook and carry it with you everywhere, just like young Einstein and Faraday did.
The method works because it satisfies the first law of behavioral psychology: as soon as you write down an impression or thought, you form a special type of creative behavior. If you fail to write down your insight, you are instead encouraging uncreative behavior. Simple, isn't it?
After a very short practice, you will feel a sharp jump in the quality and quantity of creative thoughts. In fact, the impulsive writing down of thoughts is the rough formation of a stream of images. This habit creates a feedback between your consciousness, which generates ideas, and your self-report, which is symbolically drawn up in a notebook ”(W. Wenger).
brainstorming method
"Brainstorming", or "brainstorming" - one of the most common methods of liberation and activation of thinking.
For the first time this method was used in 1939 in the USA by A. Osborne as a way of obtaining new ideas in the conditions of the prohibition of criticism. It has been noted that the fear of criticism interferes with creative thinking, so the main idea of the assault is to separate the procedure for generating ideas in a closed group of specialists from the process of analyzing and evaluating the ideas expressed. When designing corporate information systems (CIS), the topic of brainstorming can be questions: “Goals and objectives of CIS at different organizational levels”, “Expensive (good) or cheap (bad) CIS: what do we need?”, “Why (from whom ) start automating our firm?”.
As a rule, the assault does not last long (about 40 minutes). Participants (up to 10 people) are invited to express any ideas (joking, fantastic, erroneous) on a given topic (criticism is prohibited). More than 50 ideas are usually expressed. Time limit for speeches - up to 2 minutes. The most interesting moment of the assault is the onset of the peak (hype), when ideas begin to “gush”, i.e., participants spontaneously generate hypotheses.
Upon further analysis, only 10-15% of ideas turn out to be reasonable, but some of them are very original. The results are usually evaluated by a group of company experts who did not participate in the generation.
The leader of the "brainstorming" - the analyst - must be fluent in the audience, select an active group of enterprise specialists - "generators", not suppress bad ideas - they can serve as catalysts for good ones. The art of the presenter is the art of asking questions to the audience, "warming up" the generation. Questions serve as a "hook" through which ideas are extracted. Questions can also stop overly verbose experts and serve to develop the ideas of others.
The main motto of the assault is "The more ideas, the better." Fixation of the course of the session - traditional (protocol or tape recorder).
1. Statement of the problem. Preliminary stage. At the beginning of the second stage, the problem should be clearly formulated. There is a selection of participants in the assault, the definition of a leader and the distribution of other roles of participants, depending on the problem posed and the chosen method of conducting the assault.
2. Generation of ideas. The main stage on which the success (see below) of the entire brainstorming largely depends. Therefore, it is very important to follow the rules for this stage: The main thing is the number of ideas. Don't make any restrictions. A complete ban on criticism and any (including positive) assessment of the ideas expressed, since the assessment distracts from the main task and knocks down the creative mood. Unusual and even absurd ideas are welcome. Combine and improve any ideas.
3. Grouping, selection and evaluation of ideas. This stage is often forgotten, but it is the one that allows you to highlight the most valuable ideas and give the final result of the brainstorming. At this stage, unlike the second, the assessment is not limited, but, on the contrary, is welcomed. Methods for analyzing and evaluating ideas can be very different. The success of this stage directly depends on how “equally” the participants understand the criteria for selecting and evaluating ideas. Some recommendations.
The problem is a perceived contradiction. As long as the contradiction is not recognized, this is a problem in the everyday sense, solved randomly. In the everyday sense, it can be represented in different ways: 1) a statement of its manifestations (“it doesn’t work out”), 2) questions that essentially boil down to “what to do?”, 3) options for avoiding the problem (attributing responsibility, ignoring , protection). If we are solution-oriented, then it is necessary to move from random solutions (trial and error method) to the recognition of the contradiction (necessary and actual, need (P) and reality (R)), concretization of the problem (elaboration of its components). Further, if the problem is simple, then we move on to hypotheses for its solution (generation of ideas), then to examination and verification. If the problem is complex, then particular problems are formulated and a hierarchy of priorities for solving the problem system is built (here you can use a mind map). Then we get a complex brainstorming session, which can be carried out effectively in a very well-coordinated and professional team or in complex scientific work.
When generating ideas, use the methods known to you (analogies and alternatives, images).
Types of analogies:
Direct analogy - the object under consideration is compared with a more or less similar object from another branch of technology, or with an object from wildlife.
Personal analogy - directly related to the theater of emotions (empathy method), problem-solving a person gets used to the image of the object being improved, trying to find out the feelings that arise in this case. I am such a tree, I am a white crow that wants to be painted.
Symbolic analogy is a generalized abstract analogy, the subject is associated with the most important feature, the rest are discarded.
Fantastic analogy - fabulous elements are introduced into the solution of the problem - little men, living water, salamanders, Maxwell's demons. Over time, they have names from reality.
Mindmapping (mind maps, mental maps) is a convenient and effective technique for visualizing thinking and alternative recording. It can be used to generate new ideas, capture ideas, analyze and organize information, make decisions, and much more. This is not a very traditional, but very natural way of organizing thinking, which has several undeniable advantages over conventional recording methods.
This technique is based on the principle of "radiant thinking", referring to associative thought processes, the starting point or point of application of which is the central object. (The radiant is a point celestial sphere, from which the visible paths of bodies with identically directed velocities, for example, meteors of the same stream, seem to emanate). This shows the infinite variety of possible associations and, consequently, the inexhaustibility of the possibilities of the brain. This way of recording allows the link diagram to grow and supplement indefinitely. Mind diagrams are used to create, visualize, structure and classify ideas, and as a tool for learning, organizing, problem solving, decision making, and writing articles.
Tony Buzan, author of mind mapping technique, suggests that we stop fighting ourselves and start helping our thinking. To do this, you just need to discover the undeniable connection between effective thinking and memory and ask yourself what exactly contributes to memorization.
The larger the sheet, the better. Minimum - A4. Position horizontally;
In the center is the image of the entire problem/task/area of knowledge;
Thick main branches with captions emanate from the center - they mean the main sections of the diagram. The main branches branch further into thinner branches;
All branches are signed with keywords that make you remember this or that concept;
It is desirable to use capital letters;
It is desirable to use as diverse visual decoration as possible - shape, color, volume, font, arrows, icons;
It is important to develop your own style in drawing mind maps.
TRIZ (theory of inventive problem solving)
G.S. Altshuller formulated the problem in the development of his method in the following way: "How, without a continuous enumeration of options, to immediately reach strong solutions to the problem?" The principles underlying TRIZ will help to solve this problem:
The principle of objectivity of the laws of development of systems - the structure, functioning and change of generations of systems are subject to objective laws. Strong decisions are decisions that correspond to objective laws, regularities, phenomena, and effects.
The principle of contradiction - under the influence of external and internal factors, contradictions arise, aggravate and resolve. The problem is difficult because there is a system of hidden or explicit contradictions. Systems evolve, overcoming contradictions on the basis of objective laws, regularities, phenomena and effects. Strong solutions are solutions that overcome contradictions.
The principle of concreteness - each class of systems, as well as individual representatives within this class, have specific features that make it easier or more difficult to change a particular system. These features are determined by resources: internal - those on which the system is built, and external - the environment and situation in which the system is located. Strong solutions are solutions that take into account the specific features of specific systems, as well as individual characteristics associated with the personality of a particular person solving the problem.
So: the methodology of problem solving is built on the basis of the general laws of evolution studied by TRIZ, the general principles of resolving contradictions and the mechanisms for solving specific practical problems.
TRIZ includes:
Mechanisms for transforming a problem into an image of a future solution;
Mechanisms for suppressing psychological inertia that impedes the search for solutions (it is difficult to find extraordinary solutions without overcoming our stable ideas and stereotypes);
An extensive information fund - a concentrated experience in solving problems.
Articulating Contradiction helps you better understand the root of your problem and find its exact solution.
EXAMPLE. Sergei Faer, election campaign consultant: “Before the elections to the State Duma of the Russian Federation, a book-biography of Irina Khakamada came out of the printing house. Having studied the book, I realized that if every resident of the district reads it, then Khakamada will win - despite the compromising evidence spread by opponents.
Controversy: Voters should buy and read an informative book in order to learn as much good about Khakamada as possible. But voters will not buy a thick book, much less read it (even if the book is given away for free). In other words: the book must be thin so that the voter wants and can quickly get acquainted with it, and the book must be thick and meaningful in order to convey information about the candidate in full. How to be?
Solution: We chose the brightest episodes from the book, and from the photo archive we chose photos of Irina at different ages. And they released a series of postcards, on the back of which there are a couple of paragraphs from the biography. People love the postcards. These are not agitation that you want to immediately throw into the ballot box. In addition, when buying postcards, voters saw that there was a number (from 1 to 12) on it, and they tried to collect a whole series. They themselves searched in the kiosks, came to the headquarters, asked the agitators ... (This, by the way, is the very "ideal end result" when the voter himself is looking for information about our candidate).
EXAMPLE. A fish that lives in South African waters hunts for insects above the surface of the water. However, at this point, she herself can become easy prey for predators.
Controversy: The eye of a fish must be adapted to the air in order to see insect prey well, and the eye must be adapted to the water in order to see predators.
Resolution of the contradiction: A four-eyed fish has two pupils in each eye. She exposes half of her eye outward and looks at what is above the surface, while the lower one at this time observes what is happening above the water. In addition, the retina is divided into two parts - the fish sees not a separate picture, but a common one.
In psychology under thinking understand the process of cognitive activity of an individual, characterized by a generalized and indirect reflection of reality. Objects and phenomena of reality have such properties and relationships that can be known directly, with the help of sensations and perceptions (colors, sounds, shapes, placement and movement of bodies in visible space).
The first feature of thinking- its mediated nature. What a person cannot cognize directly, directly, he cognizes indirectly, indirectly: some properties through others, the unknown through the known. Thinking is always based on the data of sensory experience - sensations, perceptions, ideas - and on previously acquired theoretical knowledge. Indirect knowledge is also indirect knowledge.
The second feature of thinking- its generalization. Generalization as knowledge of the general and essential in the objects of reality is possible because all the properties of these objects are connected with each other. The general exists and manifests itself only in the individual, in the concrete.
Human thinking proceeds in the form of judgments and conclusions.. Judgment is a form of thinking that reflects the objects of reality in their connections and relationships. Each judgment is a separate thought about something. A consistent logical connection of several judgments, necessary in order to solve any mental problem, understand something, find an answer to a question, is called reasoning. Reasoning has practical meaning only when it leads to a certain conclusion, a conclusion. The conclusion will be the answer to the question, the result of the search for thought.
inference- this is a conclusion from several judgments, giving us new knowledge about the objects and phenomena of the objective world. Inferences are inductive, deductive and by analogy.
The mental activity of a person is a solution to various mental problems aimed at revealing the essence of something. A mental operation is one of the ways of mental activity through which a person solves mental problems.
Thinking operations are varied. This is analysis and synthesis, comparison, abstraction, concretization, generalization, classification. Which of the logical operations a person will use will depend on the task and on the nature of the information that he subjects to mental processing.
Depending on what place the word, image and action occupy in the thought process, how they relate to each other, distinguish three types of thinking: concrete-effective, or practical, concrete-figurative and abstract. These types of thinking are also distinguished on the basis of the characteristics of the tasks - practical and theoretical.
Actionable Thinking
Visual and effective- a type of thinking based on the direct perception of objects.
Specifically effective, or objectively effective, thinking is aimed at solving specific problems in the conditions of production, constructive, organizational and other practical activities of people. Practical thinking is, first of all, technical, constructive thinking. It consists in the understanding of technology and in the ability of a person to independently solve technical problems. The process of technical activity is the process of interaction between mental and practical components of work. Complex operations of abstract thinking are intertwined with the practical actions of a person, inextricably linked with them. Characteristic features concrete-effective thinking are bright strong observation, attention to detail, particulars and the ability to use them in a particular situation, operating with spatial images and schemes, the ability to quickly move from thinking to action and back. It is in this kind of thinking that the unity of thought and will is manifested to the greatest extent.
Concrete-figurative thinking
Visual-figurative- a type of thinking characterized by reliance on ideas and images.
Concrete-figurative (visual-figurative), or artistic, thinking is characterized by the fact that a person embodies abstract thoughts, generalizations into concrete images.
Abstract thinking
Verbal-logical- a kind of thinking, carried out with the help of logical operations with concepts.
Abstract, or verbal-logical, thinking is mainly aimed at finding general patterns in nature and human society. Abstract, theoretical thinking reflects general connections and relationships. It operates mainly with concepts, broad categories, and images, representations play an auxiliary role in it.
All three types of thinking are closely related to each other. Many people have equally developed concrete-active, concrete-figurative and theoretical thinking, but depending on the nature of the tasks that a person solves, then one, then another, then a third type of thinking comes to the fore.
The information received by a person from the surrounding world allows a person to represent not only the external, but also the internal side of an object, to represent objects in the absence of themselves, to foresee their change in time, to rush with thought into boundless distances and the microcosm. All this is possible through the process of thinking. In under thinking understand the process of cognitive activity of an individual, characterized by a generalized and indirect reflection of reality. Objects and phenomena of reality have such properties and relationships that can be known directly, with the help of sensations and perceptions (colors, sounds, shapes, placement and movement of bodies in visible space).
The first feature of thinking- its mediated nature. What a person cannot cognize directly, directly, he cognizes indirectly, indirectly: some properties through others, the unknown through the known. Thinking is always based on the data of sensory experience - representations - and on previously acquired theoretical knowledge. Indirect knowledge is also indirect knowledge.
The second feature of thinking- its generalization. Generalization as knowledge of the general and essential in the objects of reality is possible because all the properties of these objects are connected with each other. The general exists and manifests itself only in the individual, in the concrete.
People express generalizations through speech, language. Verbal designation refers not only to a single object, but also to a whole group of similar objects. Generalization is also inherent in images (representations and even perceptions). But there it is always limited visibility. The word allows you to generalize without limit. Philosophical concepts of matter, motion, law, essence, phenomenon, quality, quantity, etc. - the broadest generalizations expressed in a word.
The results of people's cognitive activity are recorded in the form of concepts. A concept is a reflection of the essential features of an object. The concept of an object arises on the basis of many judgments and conclusions about it. The concept as a result of the generalization of people's experience is the highest product of the brain, the highest stage of cognition of the world.
Human thinking proceeds in the form of judgments and conclusions.. Judgment is a form of thinking that reflects the objects of reality in their connections and relationships. Each judgment is a separate thought about something. A consistent logical connection of several judgments, necessary in order to solve any mental problem, understand something, find an answer to a question, is called reasoning. Reasoning has practical meaning only when it leads to a certain conclusion, a conclusion. The conclusion will be the answer to the question, the result of the search for thought.
inference- this is a conclusion from several judgments, giving us new knowledge about the objects and phenomena of the objective world. Inferences are inductive, deductive and by analogy.
Thinking is the highest level of human cognition of reality. Sensual basis of thinking are sensations, perceptions and representations. Through the sense organs - these are the only channels of communication between the body and the outside world - information enters the brain. The content of information is processed by the brain. The most complex (logical) form of information processing is the activity of thinking. Solving the mental tasks that life puts before a person, he reflects, draws conclusions and thereby cognizes the essence of things and phenomena, discovers the laws of their connection, and then transforms the world on this basis.
Thinking is not only closely connected with sensations and perceptions, but it is formed on the basis of them. The transition from sensation to thought is a complex process, which consists, first of all, in the selection and isolation of an object or its attribute, in abstraction from the concrete, individual and the establishment of the essential, common to many objects.
Thinking acts mainly as a solution to problems, questions, problems that are constantly put forward before people by life. Solving problems should always give a person something new, new knowledge. The search for solutions is sometimes very difficult, so mental activity, as a rule, is an active activity that requires focused attention and patience. The real process of thought is always a process not only cognitive, but also emotional-volitional.
For human thinking, the relationship is not with sensory cognition, but with speech and language. In a stricter sense speech- the process of communication mediated by language. If language is an objective, historically established system of codes and the subject of a special science - linguistics, then speech is a psychological process of formulating and transmitting thoughts by means of language.
Modern psychology does not believe that inner speech has the same structure and the same functions as extended outer speech. By internal speech, psychology means an essential transitional stage between the idea and expanded external speech. The mechanism that allows you to recode common sense into a speech statement, i.e. inner speech is, first of all, not an extended speech statement, but only preparatory stage.
However, the inseparable connection between thinking and speech does not at all mean that thinking can be reduced to speech. Thinking and speaking are not the same thing. Thinking does not mean talking about yourself. Evidence of this is the possibility of expressing the same thought in different words, as well as the fact that we do not always find the right words to express our thought.
The objective material form of thinking is language. A thought becomes a thought both for oneself and for others only through the word—oral and written. Thanks to the language, people's thoughts are not lost, but are transmitted in the form of a system of knowledge from generation to generation. However, there are additional means of transmitting the results of thinking: light and sound signals, electrical impulses, gestures, etc. modern science and technology widely use conventional signs as a universal and economical means of transmitting information.
Thinking is also inextricably linked with the practical activities of people. Any type of activity involves thinking, taking into account the conditions of action, planning, observation. By acting, a person solves any problems. Practical activity is the main condition for the emergence and development of thinking, as well as a criterion for the truth of thinking.
thought processes
The mental activity of a person is a solution to various mental problems aimed at revealing the essence of something. A mental operation is one of the ways of mental activity through which a person solves mental problems.
Thinking operations are varied. These are analysis and synthesis, comparison, abstraction, concretization, generalization, classification. Which of the logical operations a person will use will depend on the task and on the nature of the information that he subjects to mental processing.
Analysis and synthesis
Analysis- this is a mental decomposition of the whole into parts or a mental separation from the whole of its sides, actions, relations.
Synthesis- the reverse process of thought to analysis, it is the unification of parts, properties, actions, relations into one whole.
Analysis and synthesis are two interrelated logical operations. Synthesis, like analysis, can be both practical and mental.
Analysis and synthesis were formed in the practical activity of man. People constantly interact with objects and phenomena. Their practical development led to the formation mental operations analysis and synthesis.
Comparison
Comparison- this is the establishment of similarities and differences between objects and phenomena.
The comparison is based on analysis. Before comparing objects, it is necessary to select one or more of their features, according to which the comparison will be made.
The comparison can be one-sided, or incomplete, and multi-sided, or more complete. Comparison, like analysis and synthesis, can be of different levels - superficial and deeper. In this case, the person's thought comes from external signs similarities and differences to the internal, from the visible to the hidden, from the appearance to the essence.
abstraction
abstraction- this is a process of mental abstraction from some signs, aspects of the concrete in order to better know it.
A person mentally highlights some feature of an object and considers it in isolation from all other features, temporarily distracted from them. An isolated study of individual features of an object, while simultaneously abstracting from all the others, helps a person to better understand the essence of things and phenomena. Thanks to abstraction, a person was able to break away from the individual, concrete and rise to the highest level of knowledge - scientific theoretical thinking.
Specification
Specification- a process that is the opposite of abstraction and is inextricably linked with it.
Concretization is the return of thought from the general and abstract to the concrete in order to reveal the content.
Thinking activity is always aimed at obtaining some result. A person analyzes objects, compares them, abstracts individual properties in order to reveal what is common in them, in order to reveal the patterns that govern their development, in order to master them.
Generalization, therefore, is the selection in objects and phenomena of the general, which is expressed in the form of a concept, law, rule, formula, etc.
Types of thinking
Depending on what place the word, image and action occupy in the thought process, how they relate to each other, distinguish three types of thinking: concrete-effective, or practical, concrete-figurative and abstract. These types of thinking are also distinguished on the basis of the characteristics of tasks - practical and theoretical.
Actionable Thinking
Visual and effective- a type of thinking based on the direct perception of objects.
Specifically effective, or objectively effective, thinking is aimed at solving specific problems in the conditions of production, constructive, organizational and other practical activities of people. Practical thinking is, first of all, technical, constructive thinking. It consists in the understanding of technology and in the ability of a person to independently solve technical problems. The process of technical activity is the process of interaction between mental and practical components of work. Complex operations of abstract thinking are intertwined with the practical actions of a person, inextricably linked with them. Characteristic features concrete-effective thinking are bright strong observation, attention to detail, particulars and the ability to use them in a particular situation, operating with spatial images and schemes, the ability to quickly move from thinking to action and back. It is in this kind of thinking that the unity of thought and will is manifested to the greatest extent.
Concrete-figurative thinking
Visual-figurative- a type of thinking characterized by reliance on ideas and images.
Concrete-figurative (visual-figurative), or artistic, thinking is characterized by the fact that a person embodies abstract thoughts, generalizations into concrete images.
Abstract thinking
Verbal-logical- a kind of thinking carried out with the help of logical operations with concepts.
Abstract, or verbal-logical, thinking is mainly aimed at finding common patterns in nature and human society. Abstract, theoretical thinking reflects general connections and relationships. It operates mainly with concepts, broad categories, and images, representations play an auxiliary role in it.
All three types of thinking are closely related to each other. Many people have equally developed concrete-active, concrete-figurative and theoretical thinking, but depending on the nature of the tasks that a person solves, then one, then another, then a third type of thinking comes to the fore.
Types and types of thinking
Practical-active, visual-figurative and theoretical-abstract - these are the interconnected types of thinking. In the process of the historical development of mankind, the human intellect was initially formed in the course of practical activity. So, people have learned to measure empirically land, and then on this basis gradually arose a special theoretical science - geometry.
Genetically, the earliest kind of thinking is action-oriented thinking; actions with objects are of decisive importance in it (in its infancy it is also observed in animals).
On the basis of practical-effective, manipulative thinking arises visual-figurative thinking. It is characterized by operating with visual images in the mind.
The highest level of thinking is abstract, abstract thinking . However, here, too, thinking retains a connection with practice. As they say, there is nothing more practical than a correct theory.
The thinking of individuals is also divided into practical-effective, figurative and abstract (theoretical).
But in the process of life, one and the same person comes to the fore either one or another type of thinking. So, everyday affairs require practical-effective thinking, and a report on a scientific topic requires theoretical thinking, etc.
Structural unit of practical-effective (operational) thinking - action; artistic - image; scientific thinking concept.
Depending on the depth of generalization, empirical and theoretical thinking are distinguished.
empirical thinking(from the Greek. empeiria - experience) gives primary generalizations based on experience. These generalizations are made at a low level of abstraction. Empirical knowledge is the lowest, elementary level of knowledge. Empirical thinking should not be confused with practical thinking.
As noted by the well-known psychologist V. M. Teplov (“The Mind of a Commander”), many psychologists take the work of a scientist, a theorist, as the only model of mental activity. Meanwhile, practical activity requires no less intellectual effort.
The mental activity of the theoretician is concentrated mainly on the first part of the path of cognition - a temporary retreat, a retreat from practice. The mental activity of the practitioner is concentrated mainly on the second part of it - on the transition from abstract thinking to practice, that is, on that "hit" in practice, for the sake of which the theoretical digression is made.
A feature of practical thinking is subtle observation, the ability to focus on individual details of an event, the ability to use to solve a particular problem that special and singular that was not completely included in theoretical generalization, the ability to quickly move from thinking to action.
In the practical thinking of a person, the optimal ratio of his mind and will, the cognitive, regulatory and energy capabilities of the individual is essential. Practical thinking is associated with the operational setting of priority goals, the development of flexible plans, programs, great self-control in stressful conditions of activity.
Theoretical thinking reveals universal relations, explores the object of knowledge in the system of its necessary connections. Its result is the construction of conceptual models, the creation of theories, the generalization of experience, the disclosure of the patterns of development of various phenomena, the knowledge of which provides transformative activity person. Theoretical thinking is inextricably linked with practice, but in its final results it has relative independence; it is based on previous knowledge and, in turn, serves as the basis for subsequent knowledge.
Algorithmic, discursive, heuristic and creative thinking are distinguished depending on the standard/non-standard nature of the tasks being solved and operational procedures.
Algorithmic thinking is focused on pre-established rules, the generally accepted sequence of actions necessary to solve typical problems.
discursive(from lat. discursus - reasoning) thinking based on a system of interconnected inferences.
heuristic thinking(from the Greek heuresko - I find) - this is productive thinking, consisting in solving non-standard tasks.
Creative thinking- thinking that leads to new discoveries, fundamentally new results.
There are also reproductive and productive thinking.
reproductive thinking- reproduction of previously obtained results. In this case, thinking merges with memory.
Productive Thinking- thinking that leads to new cognitive results.