Sensations and perception make it possible to directly know individual objects and phenomena of the real world. With the help of the senses, we perceive reality directly. For example, we look at a wall and see its color; we determine the size of two different pencils in front of us; we perceive this figure as a triangle. We can directly determine what the weather is today: we went outside or onto the balcony and found out whether it is cold or warm. But you can determine the weather without leaving your home, indirectly, using a thermometer for this purpose. Seeing what division mercury is on, we will determine whether it is warm or cold outside now. In this case, we proceed from the fact that there is a relationship between the height of the mercury column and air temperature (there is no relationship between the height of a pencil, for example, and air temperature). Thus, the thermometer is a tool that allows us to answer the question: what is the weather like? And we learned about the air temperature not directly with the help of sensations and perceptions, but indirectly. A barometer helps us learn about atmospheric pressure because there is a relationship between atmospheric pressure and the reading of a barometer needle. This kind of knowledge is not a direct indication of our analyzers, but is an indirect knowledge.
If reality is reflected in sensations by its individual aspects, qualities, signs, and in perception - in the aggregate of all these qualities, signs, then through thinking, such features, properties, signs and phenomena are reflected, which usually cannot be known using only the senses. ~
One more example. Can you measure the height of a tree? It is possible, but directly measuring its height with a ruler is both difficult and long. Then a man, at the hour when the length of his shadow is equal to his height, measures the shadow of a tree and in this way, by means of the length of the shadow, learns about the height of the tree, i.e. knows indirectly. And the knowledge obtained in this way is mediated knowledge, and the process of acquiring this knowledge, which is a process of thinking, turns out to be mediated cognition of reality.
Life all the time poses such tasks that cannot be solved, relying only on the perception of surrounding objects and phenomena or on the recall of what has already been perceived before. It is necessary to look for answers to many questions indirectly, drawing conclusions from already available and many other similar single objects, phenomena and facts.
Generalized reflection (knowledge) of reality is the most important sign of thinking. It is not always possible for a person's experience to provide sufficient material for generalization. People in their activities constantly rely on the common experience learned from others, generalized and enshrined in the language. Generalizations reflect the general and therefore the most essential properties of objects and phenomena, their general and therefore regular connections. Summarizing, we know the essence of the subject. Only with the help of thinking do we cognize that which is common in objects and phenomena, those regular, essential connections between them that are not directly accessible to sensation and perception and that constitute the essence, the regularity of objective reality. Therefore, we can say that thinking is a reflection of regular essential connections.
So, thinking is a process of mediated and generalized cognition (reflection) of the surrounding world.
6.2. Thinkingand speech
An extremely important feature of thinking is its inseparable connection with speech. Highlighting something common in the objects and phenomena of the surrounding world, a person designates it with words. Through the word, for the first time, a person learns about what he has not yet seen (and perhaps he will never see!)
L. Uspensky writes in the remarkable book “A Word about Words”: “From early childhood to old age, a person’s entire life is inextricably linked with language. The child has not yet learned how to speak properly, and his pure ear already catches the murmur grandmother's tales... A teenager goes to school. A young man walks to an institute or university. A whole sea of words, a noisy ocean of speech, picks him up there, behind the wide doors. Through the live conversations of teachers, through the pages of hundreds of books, for the first time he sees the immensely complex universe reflected in the word ... New person is related to ancient thoughts, with those that have developed in the minds of people millennia before his birth. He himself gains the opportunity to address great-grandchildren who will live centuries after his death. And it's all thanks to the language.
In the language system, each word is historically assigned a certain meaning. The meaning of a word is always a generalization. Man thinks with the help of language, using words. There is a speech the form thinking. Thoughts are always clothed in speech form. Everyone can be convinced of the close connection between speech and thinking if they ask themselves the question: What language do they think in?
Speech is not only a form, but also an instrument of thought. Expressing thoughts in a detailed verbal form, we contribute to the success of mental activity. Speech helps you think. The need to express!, a thought in words, to communicate it to another often requires additional, careful thinking through it. In these cases, we notice that some of what seemed to us already clear, understandable, needs to be clarified, in deeper and more thorough consideration. The choice of words and expressions necessary for the message encourages us to think about the details of the thought, sometimes even the subtlest shades of its content. A story about something to another person is the best way to understand your own thought, to think through its content to the end. The link between thinking and speech, which is inseparable from it, does not mean, however, that thinking is reduced to speech. Thinking and speech, thought and word are not identical to each other. The same idea can be expressed in different languages. One and the same word can express language concepts - these are homonyms, for example, a key, a scythe, a pen, etc. And one concept can be expressed by different words - these are synonyms; for example, a path is a road, a bully is a bully, a border is a border, etc.
Like all mental processes, thinking is an activity of the brain. This is a complex analytical and synthetic activity carried out by the joint work of both signaling systems. At the same time, since thinking is a reflection of reality generalized with the help of a word, the second signal system plays a leading role in this activity. £ e constant and close interaction from the first s / s determines the inextricable connection of a generalized reflection of reality, which is thinking, with sensory knowledge of the objective world through sensations, perceptions, ideas.
Physiological mechanisms Speech itself is a secondary signal activity of the cortex, which is a complex coordinated work of many groups of nerve cells in the cerebral cortex. 6.3. Basic forms of thinking
Every thought process is carried out in the form judgments which are always expressed in words, even if the words are not spoken aloud.
Judgment- this is a statement of something about something, an affirmation or denial of any relationship between 1 between objects or phenomena, between certain or other signs of them.
In other words, a judgment is a form of thinking in which something is affirmed or denied. For example, the proposition “After the lightning, thunder rumbles” asserts the existence of a certain connection in time between two phenomena in nature. A judgment can be either true or false. For example, the proposition "All the planets revolve around the sun" is true, but the proposition "All of you will do well in the psychology exam" is problematic. Every proposition claims to be true, but none is absolute truth. Therefore, there is a need for a mental and practical verification of the judgment. Any hypothesis is a vivid example of the need to test and prove the stated judgment. The work of thought on a judgment, aimed at establishing and verifying its truth, is called reasoning.
To We come to judgments both directly, when they state what is perceived (“It is rather noisy in the auditorium”, “All the roads are covered with snow”, etc.), and indirectly - through inferences.
Immediate judgment: "The boy is eating an apple." Indirect narrowing: "A dog is an animal."
Judgments may or may not correspond to reality, therefore, judgments are distinguished as true, false (erroneous) and conjectural.
True Judgments about any subject is knowledge about this subject. For example, "Mercury is a conductor of electricity", "Moscow is the capital of Russia".
False or erroneous judgments express ignorance: "Twice three - eight."
Alleged are called judgments that can be true or false, i.e. they may or may not be true. For example, "Maybe it will rain tomorrow."
To have a judgment means to affirm or deny something: "This table is wooden." knowledge. Thinking, man knows general properties indirectly, i.e. through other previously acquired knowledge. It is precisely at this that it becomes possible to understand what a person himself cannot see, hear, feel, sensually perceive and represent. For example, a doctor makes a diagnosis based on the symptoms of a disease. He draws a conclusion from them in accordance with the knowledge obtained before.
Thus, the search for an answer that cannot be obtained directly from perceptions or by recalling specific facts, but requires conclusions from acquired knowledge, is a mental activity. And the most essential feature of thought processes is that a person transcends his direct experience. The mediated nature of thinking gives us the opportunity to significantly expand our knowledge of reality. The scope of what we think is wider than what we perceive. Relying on perception, but going beyond it, as a result of thinking, we come to know the distant past of the earth, the development of the plant and animal world, the history of mankind, discover new laws, etc. As a result of all these reasoning, we can now say that thinking - This indirect knowledge(or reflection) of reality.
But thinking is not only mediated, but also generalized knowledge(reflection) of the surrounding world.
Sensations and perceptions give us knowledge of the individual - individual objects and phenomena (or their sides, properties, qualities) of the real world. Such knowledge is by no means sufficient. Life, practice require the ability to foresee the results of our actions, the consequences of various phenomena, events that we perceive. Knowledge of the individual does not provide a sufficient basis for foresight. Each, even the most simple, conclusion requires some knowledge and generalizations made before. The general property applies to this case as well. Here is an example of a piece of paper. What will happen to him if he is thrown into the fire? Will burn. Why do we know this, because we did not throw this leaf into the fire. But we have seen paper burn many times. We summarized these facts and now we know. What if we were shown a sheet of unknown material? We wouldn't be so sure. Therefore, in order to foresee, it is necessary to generalize individual objects, phenomena, facts and, based on these generalizations, draw a conclusion about inference- a form of thinking that allows a person to draw a new conclusion from a series of judgments. In other words, based on the analysis and comparison of existing judgments, a new judgment is made.
There are two main types of reasoning - inductive and deductive, or induction and deduction.
Induction- this is a conclusion from particular cases to a general position. Induction begins with the accumulation of diverse knowledge about homogeneous objects and phenomena, which makes it possible to find in them essentially similar and essentially different things and to omit the insignificant and secondary. Summarizing similar features of these objects and phenomena, they make a new general conclusion, or conclusion, establish general rule or law. For example, it is known that gold, copper, iron, cast iron smelting. Hence, from these judgments we can obtain a new general judgment: "All metals are smelting."
Deduction- such a conclusion in which the conclusion is from a general judgment to a single judgment or from a general position to a particular case. For example, two judgments: "All bodies expand when heated" and "Air is a body." Hence the conclusion (new judgment): "Consequently, air expands when heated."
Both types of reasoning - induction and deduction - are closely related to each other. Complex processes of reasoning are always a chain of inferences in which both types of conclusions are intertwined and interact.
mental operations
The mental activity of people is carried out with the help of mental operations: comparison, analysis and synthesis, abstraction, generalization and concretization. All these operations are different aspects of the main activity of thinking - mediation, i.e. revealing more and more significant objective connections and relations between objects, phenomena, facts.
Comparison- this is a comparison of objects and phenomena in order to find similarities and differences between them. K.D. Ushinsky considered the operation of comparison to be the basis of understanding. He wrote: “... comparison is the basis of all understanding and all thinking. We know everything in the world only through comparison ... If you want to
some object external environment was clearly understood, then distinguish it from the objects most similar to it and find in it a similarity with the objects most distant from it: then only find out for yourself all the essential features of the object, and this means understanding the object.
Comparing objects or phenomena, we can always notice that in some respects they are similar to each other, in others they are different. The recognition of objects as similar or different depends on what parts or properties of objects are for us in this moment essential. It often happens that the same objects are considered similar in some cases, and different in others. For example, a comparative study of domestic animals from the point of view of their usefulness to humans reveals many similar features between them, but a study of their structure and origin reveals many differences.
Comparing things, phenomena, their properties, comparison reveals identity and difference. Revealing the identity of some and the differences of other things, comparison leads to their classification. Classification is carried out according to some feature that turns out to be inherent in each subject of this group. So, in a library, books can be classified by authors, by content, by genre, by binding, by format, etc. The attribute by which the classification is made is called the basis of classification.
Comparing, a person identifies, first of all, those features that are important for solving a theoretical or practical life task.
Analysis and synthesis- the most important mental operations, inextricably linked. In unity, they give a complete and comprehensive knowledge of reality.
Analysis - this is a mental division of an object or phenomenon into its constituent parts or a mental selection of individual properties, features, qualities in it. Perceiving an object, we can mentally single out one part after another in it and thus find out what parts it consists of. For example, in a plant, we distinguish the stem, root, flowers, leaves, etc. In this case analysis - the mental decomposition of the whole into its component parts.
Analysis can also be a mental selection as a whole of its individual properties, features, aspects. For example, mental selection of color, shape of an object, individual behavioral features or character traits of a person, etc. Analysis is possible not only when we perceive an object or any whole in general, but also when we remember it, imagine it to ourselves. It is also possible to analyze concepts, when we mentally single out their various features, analysis of the course of thought - proof, explanations, etc.
Synthesis- this is a mental connection of individual parts of objects or a mental combination of their individual properties. If analysis provides knowledge of individual elements, then synthesis, based on the results of analysis, combining these elements, provides knowledge of the object as a whole. So, when reading in the text, individual letters, words, phrases stand out and at the same time they are continuously connected with each other: letters are combined into words, words - into sentences, sentences - into certain sections of the text. Or let's remember a story about any event - individual episodes, their connection, dependence, etc.
As well as analysis, synthesis can be carried out with the direct perception of objects and phenomena or with their mental representation. There are two types of synthesis: as a mental union of parts of the whole (for example, thinking through the composition of a literary and artistic work) and as a mental combination of various features, properties, aspects of objects and phenomena of reality (for example, a mental representation of a phenomenon based on a description of its individual features or properties).
Analysis and synthesis often arise at the beginning of practical activity. We actually dismember or assemble an object, which is the basis for developing the ability to perform these operations mentally. Developing on the basis of practical activity and visual perception, analysis and synthesis should also be carried out as independent, purely mental operations. Every complex thought process involves analysis and synthesis. For example, by analyzing individual actions, thoughts, feelings literary heroes or historical figures, and as a result of synthesis, a holistic description of these heroes, these figures is mentally created.
Abstraction. Often, when studying a phenomenon, it becomes necessary to highlight some feature, property, one part of it for more in-depth knowledge, distracting (abstracting) for a while from all the others, not taking them into account. For example, in order to assimilate the proof of a geometric theorem in a general form, one must abstract from the particular features of the drawing - it is made with chalk or pencil, what letters indicate the vertices, the absolute length of the sides, etc.
Abstraction is a mental selection of essential properties and features of objects or phenomena while simultaneously abstracting from non-essential features and properties.
The attribute or property of an object singled out in the process of abstraction is thought independently of other attributes or properties and become independent objects of thinking. So, for all metals, we can distinguish one property - electrical conductivity. Observing how people, cars, planes, animals, rivers, etc. move, we can single out one common feature in these objects - movement and think about movement in general, study movement. With the help of abstraction, we can get abstract concepts - courage, beauty, distance, heaviness, length, width, equality, cost, etc.
Generalization and specification. Generalization closely related to abstraction. Man could not generalize without being distracted by the differences in what he generalizes. It is impossible to mentally unite all the trees, if you do not abstract from the differences between them. When generalizing, objects and phenomena are connected together on the basis of their common and essential features. The signs that we obtained during abstraction are taken as a basis, for example, all metals are electrically conductive. Generalization, like abstraction, occurs with the help of words. Every word refers not to a single object or phenomenon, but to a set of similar single objects. For example, in the concept that we express by the word “fruit”, similar (essential) features are combined that are found in apples, pears, plums, etc.
In educational activities, generalization is usually manifested in definitions, conclusions, rules ... It is often difficult for children to generalize, since they are not always able to single out not only general, but essential general features of objects, phenomena, facts.
Specification- this is a mental representation of something single, which corresponds to a particular concept or general position. We are no longer distracted from the various features or properties of objects and phenomena, but, on the contrary, we strive to imagine these objects or phenomena in a significant wealth of their features. Essentially, the concrete is always an indication of an example, some kind of illustration of the general. Concretization plays an essential role in the explanation we give to other people. It is especially important in the explanations given by the teacher to children. Careful consideration should be given to the choice of example. Leading by example is sometimes difficult. In general, the thought seems clear, but it is not possible to indicate a specific fact.
Pupils and students often find it difficult to give examples illustrating their answer. This occurs during the normal assimilation of knowledge, when the formulation of general provisions is assimilated (or memorized), and the content remains unclear. Therefore, the teacher should not be content with the fact that students correctly reproduce general provisions, but should seek to specify these provisions: giving an example, illustration, a specific particular case. This is especially important in school, and above all in primary school. When a teacher gives an example, he reveals, shows how in this particular case the general is found, which is illustrated by an example. Only under this condition does the particular provide significant assistance to the understanding of the general.
Concepts and their formation
Generalizations that a person makes in the process of thinking are fixed in concepts. concept is a form of thinking that reflects the general and essential properties of objects and phenomena. In other words, a concept is a set of essential properties of an object. For example, a chair has many characteristics: color, material, size, softness. But only those that make a chair a chair are essential. They are: a piece of furniture designed to sit, it has a back support. This is the most essential features of this concept, its content. The concept of "tree" includes all the features inherent in a tree, and does not include what is characteristic only of birch, or spruce, or oak, etc.
Reflecting the general, essential, regular in objects or phenomena of reality, the concept acts as the highest stage of reflection of the world. The concept is denoted by a word, which is a sensual, material shell of the concept. To think in terms means to think in words. in a certain sense. After all, you won’t sit down on the word “chair”, and you won’t be full of the word “bread”. In sensory cognition, a person gets acquainted with the objects and phenomena of reality themselves, which he then generalizes with this concept. To own a concept means to own the entire body of knowledge about the objects and phenomena to which this concept refers.
Most of the concepts we have are assimilated ready-made from other people. However, mastery of a concept is not a simple “transfer” of knowledge, for example, from an adult to a child. Assimilation of concepts, mastering them is a complex process. It has the most direct relation to the development of thinking both of all mankind and of each individual person. Here, all generations of people receive most of the concepts from previous generations, assimilate these concepts, deepen, clarify, enrich and, on the basis of their own experience and knowledge, create new concepts about those objects and phenomena of reality about which previous generations have not yet created concepts.
In children, the acquisition of a concept largely depends on the experience on which they rely. Significant difficulties arise when a new concept denoted by a certain word does not agree with what is already associated with this word in the child, i.e. with the content of the given concept (often incorrect or incomplete), which he already owns. Most often this happens in cases where a strictly scientific concept, assimilated by children at school, diverges from the so-called worldly, pre-scientific concept, already learned by them outside of special education, in the process of everyday communication with other people and the accumulation of personal sensory experience (for example, a bird - this is an animal that flies, so butterflies, beetles, flies are birds, but chicken, duck are not, they do not fly Or: predatory animals are "harmful" or "terrible", such as rats, mice, and a cat is not a predator , she is a pet, affectionate).
In the assimilation of concepts, the correct organization of the sensory experience of students is especially important. The more abstract the concept, the more difficult it is to rely on material that can be shown to children, the more one has to use a story about things that can help the assimilation of an abstract concept. Thus, the formation of concepts, the transition to it from sensory forms of cognition, is an established process in which involved comparison, analysis, synthesis, abstraction, generalization and more or less complex forms of reasoning. An important role in the assimilation of concepts belongs to definition. The definition contains an indication of the most essential features of an object or phenomenon that make up the essence of this concept, reveals its relation to other, more general concepts. The definition fixes the most important thing that must be learned when mastering the concept. For example, the definition of the concept of "proverb" is given. A proverb is one of the types of oral folk art: common figurative expression, aptly defining any life phenomenon. Unlike proverbs, sayings are devoid of a direct instructive meaning and are limited to a figurative, allegorical definition of a phenomenon. Examples of sayings: “No candle to God, no poker to hell”, “By the ear and the sun”, “All cats are gray at night”, “Neither give nor take, “Neither cold nor hot”, “Not two, not one and a half” , "Neither light nor dawn."
Once again, let us recall that the essential features of concepts are properties and relations, in the event of the loss, absence or change of which, an object or phenomenon becomes by its nature or in some important respect different. Insignificant signs entail the appearance of only external, particular characteristics and differences without changing the essence of the object or phenomenon.
Solving mental problems
Every mental activity is purposeful. A person begins to think when he has there is a need to understand something. Thinking usually begins with a problem or a question, with surprise or bewilderment, with a contradiction. When we encounter some difficulty that needs to be overcome, we begin to think, to reflect. In other words, mental activity is always a solution to a problem that contains a question, the answer to which is not immediately and not immediately.
Problem solving is a natural completion of the thought process. Any termination of it until the goal is achieved will be experienced by the subject as a breakdown or failure. A solution to a problem or an answer to a question has to be sought using intermediate links between the question and the answer (for example, a simple arithmetic problem). Here it is very important to be able to notice the incomprehensible, requiring clarification, i.e. ability to see the question. To formulate what the question is means to already rise to a certain understanding, and to understand a task or problem means to find a way to solve it. The first sign of a thinking person is the ability to see problems where they are. The power of a great mind is often manifested in the fact that in something familiar a person sees a problem that needs to be solved (Lomonosov, Pavlov, Tsiolkovsky, Bekhterev, Mendeleev and many others). So, many people saw the fall of objects on the ground and considered this concept a phenomenon, and for Newton this became a question, the study of which led him to discover the law of gravity.
Practical activity, practice creates boundless conditions for the emergence and posing of new questions. It is social needs that motivate people to ask new questions that lead to scientific discoveries, inventions, rationalization proposals. The emergence of questions is the first sign of the beginning work of thought and the emerging understanding. At the same time, each person sees the more unresolved problems, the wider the circle of his knowledge. Each solved problem raises a circle of new problems: more people knows, the better he knows what else he does not know - he sees problems in many ways from what seemed to him before clear and understandable.
Cognitive interests, curiosity, manifested in human questions, are of paramount importance in the development of his thinking. It is no coincidence that child psychologists and writers pay serious attention to the questions asked by young “why-why” children. So, K. Chukovsky in his wonderful book “From Two to Five” writes that most of the questions that a child asks us are caused by the urgent need of his tireless brain to comprehend the environment as soon as possible, that those adults who brush aside annoying questions child, commit an irreparably cruel deed: they forcibly retard his mental growth, hinder his spiritual development. He gives a variety of questions from children, and notes that each child has his own, special questions. And here is a shorthand record of questions asked at machine-gun speed by one four-year-old boy to his father for two and a half minutes: Where does the smoke go? Do bears wear trousers? And who shakes the trees? Is it possible to get such a large newspaper to wrap a live camel? Does an octopus hatch from eggs or is it milk-pine?
And here are the questions of another child: How did the sky come about? How did the sun come about? Who makes bedbugs? ... Or a five-year-old girl: Who is a giant? Can a giant fit in our room? What if he gets on all fours? And how many times is Thumbelina smaller than the giant?
It is so important that schools encourage children to ask questions, but this, unfortunately, often does not happen. The famous teacher V.A. Karakovsky: “Have you noticed what children stop doing when they come to first grade? They stop asking questions. Or rather, they ask them, but not the famous “why”, with which they literally plagued all adults until recently. The nature of the questions changes: “Can I raise the pen?”, “Can I ask?”, “Can I go out?” The new school life embraces the child so tightly with its rigid regulation (how to sit, how to stand, how to walk, what, when and how to do), that there is no longer room for ordinary curiosity.”
So, mental activity begins when a problem arises, a question. It is very important to be able to clearly formulate the question, to make it specific (for example, the general question: “Why is the light bulb not on?” Replace with “Where did the break in the electrical circuit occur?”). In other words, having heard the question, one should realize what exactly the essence of the question is, and this means understanding the direction in which the answer to the question should be sought. To ask a specific question, one must have knowledge. So, replace the question: “Why is the light bulb not on?” to the question: "Where did the break in the chain occur?" It is possible only if there is knowledge of why the light bulb may not burn. With more extensive knowledge, it is easier to specify a general question.
Problem solving begins with data analysis, those. find out what data is available and can lead to the solution of the problem. These data are compared with each other and with the question, correlate with the previous knowledge and experience of the person. The solution of new problems relies to a large extent on the principles already used earlier in solving other problems similar to new ones. When solving problems, the answer to the question of a particular problem usually arises in the form of an assumption. Initially, only a hypothesis arises, the correctness of which must be proven, verified. Testing the hypothesis (assumption) in many cases is carried out empirically. The consequences arising from the assumption are outlined and it is checked whether they are justified in practice. For example, when designing complex mechanisms, they create a model, find out if it operates according to assumptions, if there are errors, then where, what to change, etc. A significant role in testing hypotheses is played by the so-called mental experiment, or checking the assumption "in the mind", a mental representation what will happen in different conditions with this or that object or phenomenon. For example, a chess player widely relies on a mental experiment when he outlines what move to make and mentally imagines various possible moves for himself and his opponent. In case of erroneousness of the put forward provisions, a new hypothesis is sought, which is then re-tested. Its success depends to a large extent on the extent to which the sources and nature of previous failures are identified. The success of an assumption depends to a large extent on the knowledge that the person who made this assumption has. The more knowledgeable he is in the area to which the problem belongs, the more likely and justified his assumptions. For example, the success of solving the problem of poor progress will be higher for the teacher who knows the psychology of the child better, the conditions of his family life, because his assumptions about the reasons for the child’s poor progress will be more accurate than for the teacher who has very superficial information about psychological features schoolchild about how he lives at home, etc.
play an important role in problem solving sensual support, perception of objects and their images or mental representation of them. But sometimes visual images can make it difficult to decide, for example, changing a familiar drawing. A necessary support for solving many problems is a practical action corresponding to the problem and the search for its solution, various manipulations with objects. It is practical actions that make it possible to judge the correctness or fallacy of hypotheses.
Thus, the processes of thinking, caused by social or personal needs, begin with the formulation of a question. The very formulation of the question outlines certain ways of its solution. Further, some assumptions or hypotheses about possible solutions are put forward. And finally - testing assumptions or hypotheses. Verification is carried out on the basis of practical human activity. So, it was a well-known fact that the dog salivates (licks itself at the sight of food). I.P. Pavlov saw this as a problem, asking himself the question: why does the so-called psychic salivation occur? Two hypotheses have arisen: 1) the dog knows that it will be fed now, looks forward to the pleasure of food, and therefore salivates; 2) Is mental salivation a reflex?
I.P. Pavlov tested the hypotheses, and as a result of numerous experiments, the second hypothesis was confirmed, which allowed him to create the doctrine of conditioned reflexes (based on a broad generalization on the development of a conditioned reflex to various stimuli: light, sound, smell).
Types of thinking
Thinking is the most complex and multifaceted mental activity, therefore, the selection of its types is carried out for various reasons.
First of all, Depending on the extent to which the thought process is based on perception, representation or concept, there are three main types of thinking: object-active (or visual-active), visual-figurative and abstract.
These are not only stages in the development of thinking, but also its various forms inherent in an adult and playing important role in mental activity. It is possible to speed up and intensify the passage of certain stages of the development of thinking, but none of them can be bypassed without damage to the mental make-up of the personality as a whole: objective-effective thinking is thinking associated with practical, direct actions with an object (for young children to think objects - means to act, to manipulate with them); visual-figurative thinking, which must be based on perception or representation (typical for preschoolers and partly for younger students); abstract thinking with concepts devoid of direct visibility inherent in perception and ideas (characterizes older students and adults).
Secondly, according to the nature of the flow of the process of thinking, one can speak of concluding thinking; which goes step by step, and intuitive thinking, where the final result is achieved without knowing or thinking through the intermediate steps.
Thirdly, if we take the nature of the results of thinking as a basis, then we can have reproductive thinking (when we clearly follow the course of thought of another person, for example, the proof of a mathematical theorem in a textbook, we perfectly understand the course and logic of the thought of a writer, scientist, understand the most complex modern knowledge, etc.) and creative thinking (if we create new ideas, objects, original solutions and proof).
Fourth, thinking is divided according to the effectiveness of control into critical and non-critical.
Fifth, depending on the focus on practice or theory, one can speak of theoretical and practical thinking. Distinguish between the theoretical mind and the practical mind. The features of both minds were brilliantly revealed by B.M. Teplov in his work "The Mind of a Commander". He wrote: “The difference between these two types of thinking cannot be sought in the differences in the mechanisms of thinking themselves, in the fact that “two different intellects” operate here. A person has one intellect, and the basic mechanisms of thinking are the same, but the forms of mental activity are different, since the tasks are different. standing in both cases before the mind of man" 1 .
B.M. Teplov showed that theoretical and practical thinking are related to practice in different ways. And the point is not that one of them is connected with practice, while the other is not, but that the nature of this connection is different. The work of theoretical thinking is mainly aimed at finding general patterns and principles of development, organization and other phenomena and facts of reality. The work of practical thinking is mainly aimed at solving particular, specific problems of any scale. A developed practical mind is characterized by enormous capacity for work, combined with boundless curiosity, with a keen interest in the most diverse
1 Warm B.M. The mind of a commander. - M., 1985. -T. 1. - P. 221. In other areas of life, the teacher has an unlimited interest in children, in knowledge, people, circumstances surrounding them. According to A.P. Chekhov, the higher a person is in mental development, the freer he is, the more pleasure life gives him.
6.8. Qualities of the Mind
Individual differences in the mental activity of people are manifested in various qualities of thinking. The most significant of them are independence, breadth, depth, flexibility, speed and criticality.
Independence thinking is manifested in the ability of a person to put forward new ideas, tasks and find the necessary / answers and solutions, without resorting to the opinion and frequent help of other people. Independence of thinking has always been considered one of the most important dimensions of personality. So, F.M. Dostoevsky contrasts personality and impersonality primarily in terms of the ability or inability to think independently. Anyone who does not have independent thinking focuses only on other people's knowledge, experience, opinion, and when solving any issues and problems, he relies on ready-made formulas, template solutions. There is no need to talk about any creativity with such thinking.
breadth of mind It manifests itself in the broad outlook of a person, in active cognitive activity, covering the most diverse areas of science and practice.
Closely related to the breadth of thinking is such a quality as depth- the ability to penetrate into the essence of the most complex issues, the ability to see the problem where other "people have no questions. People with such a mind show a strong need to get to the bottom of the causes, sources of phenomena and events, the ability to foresee their further development (this is the quality of the mind - the most valuable characteristic of a teacher.) Sometimes broad thinking can be shallow, superficial.There are people who can talk about everything, but it is not interesting to listen to them, since they are unoriginal, banal in their reasoning.
Since thinking is broad, it means that someone may have narrow. This is such thinking, the subject of which is mainly some small (narrow) part of reality. Narrow thinking can be meaningful and deep (thinking of a “narrow specialist”), or it can be poor, shallow, superficial.
Flexibility of mind expressed in the ability to be free from. accepted template methods and methods for solving problems, of any content and level, in the ability to quickly change their actions when the situation changes, quickly switch from one method of solution, behavior to another, diversify attempts to solve a problem or task and thereby find new ways to solve them faster.
An important quality mind is the ability to foresee. The development of this particular quality allows a person to productively perform the function of managing activities, especially if many people are involved in this activity. B.M. Teplov wrote: ““To manage means to foresee,” says the old saying. To foresee means, through the twilight of uncertainty and the fluidity of the situation, to discern the main meaning of the events taking place, to catch their main trend and, based on this, to understand where they are going. Foresight is the highest the stage of turning complex into simple, the ability to highlight the essential ... Foresight is the result of deep penetration into the situation and comprehension of the main thing in it, decisive, that determines the course of events "".
Simplicity and clarity of thought, the ability to turn "complex into simple", synthetic power of the mind, deep analysis of the situation, problems from a certain point of view, in the light of certain ideas, flexibility and freedom of mind, foresight and determination, integrity of perception and strength personality orientation, emotional richness, richness of speech and perseverance - these qualities are possessed by smart people.
6.9. Some Featuresthinking of younger students
The thinking of younger schoolchildren is inextricably linked with perception. The student perceived only individual external details and aspects of the educational material or caught the most essential, the main internal dependencies - all this is of great importance for understanding and successful assimilation to complete the task correctly.
1 Warm B.M. Selected works. - In 2 volumes - M., 1985. -T. 1. - P. 16. Let's give an example.
First-graders were shown a reproduction of Uspenskaya's painting "Children".
The boy is sitting in the middle of the room on a chair, his legs are in a basin of water, in one hand he holds a doll and pours water from a mug on it. A girl stands nearby, looks at her brother with fear and presses another doll to her, apparently afraid that this doll will get it. A frightened cat runs away, which is splashed with water.
A sheet of white paper covered the basin, the doll and the mug in the hands of the boy - now it is not clear what he is doing.
Task: Look closely at the picture. What can be drawn here to restore the picture completely. The paper closes the main connecting semantic link, without which the whole image looks implausible and ridiculous. To restore this link, to reveal the semantic situation depicted in the picture, is the main task of the child.
Some children successfully solve this problem. They start by reasoning: “Why is the girl looking scared? Why is the cat running away? Scared? What? It is clear that the cat was not afraid of the girl, she was frightened herself. So it's about the boy. What is he doing?
Not all children adhere to this scheme, but some elements of it are present in their reasoning.
Ira R.: “The cat is leaving... There is a puddle here, and cats are afraid of water. The boy is probably pouring water, so there is a puddle here, and the girl is afraid that the boy will wet the doll.
Valya G.: “It is necessary to draw that the boy is knocking. ("Why do you think so?") He has his hands like that. He taps with a stick. The girl looks frightened - why is he knocking, he will knock the doll again. And the cat was afraid of the noise.
These children, with different answers, caught the main thing - the dependence of the girl's and the cat's fright on the boy's behavior. They perceive them as a single, indissoluble whole.
Children who do not have reasoning skills do not see the interdependence of the behavior of the characters in the picture and cannot grasp the depicted semantic situation. They just start fantasizing without any analysis.
Andrey Ya .: “A boy plays paper with a cat. (“Why is the cat scared and running away?”) He must have been playing and frightened her somehow. ("L What was the girl afraid of? The girl thought that the cat would be so scared that she might die.” Sasha G.: “The boy is probably drawing. (“Why is the cat running away!”) He threw sandals - a cat and ran. Or he drew a dog - she got scared.
Some children cannot complete the story at all.
Sasha R.: “It is necessary to finish the legs, we will finish the hands. We will finish the sandals, we will finish the half of the cat. I don't know what else to draw."
When performing this task, the individual differences of schoolchildren are clearly manifested. Some children go to the answer to the question by logical reasoning, which gives them the opportunity to comprehend the meaning of the depicted and justifiably fill in the missing elements. Other first graders, not trying to reason logically, vividly represent what is happening in the picture; their picture seems to come to life, the characters begin to act. At the same time, the image that arises in their head often leads them far away from the content of the picture.
Those children who have a well-developed and logical thinking, and visual-figurative.
Some junior schoolchildren they immediately catch in the educational material the essential connections between the individual elements, highlight the common in objects and phenomena. Other children find it difficult to analyze the material, reason, generalize on an essential basis. Especially bright individual characteristics the student's thinking manifests itself when working with mathematical material.
Children are given five columns of numbers and are asked to complete the task.
The sum of the digits of the first column is 55. Quickly find the sum of the digits of the remaining four columns:
| 12 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 |
Some students immediately find a general principle for constructing rows.
Lena V. ( III class) right there: “Second column-60. ("Why?") I looked: each number in the next column is one more, and there are five numbers, which means 60, 65, 70, 75. Other students need more time to identify the principle of constructing a vertical row of numbers, they need certain exercises.
On the 3rd, M. performed this task in the following way: she calculated the sum of the second vertical row, got 60, then the third - got 65; only after that she felt some regularity in the construction of rows. The girl argues: “First - 55, then - 60, then -65, everywhere it increases by five. So, in the fourth column there will be 70. I'll see (considers). That's right, 70. So after all, each number in the next column is one more. All numbers are five. Of course, each column is five times larger than the other. The last bar is 75."
Some children were not able to grasp the general principles of constructing series of numbers at all and recounted all the columns in a row without generalizing anything.
Similar features of thinking are also manifested in the work of schoolchildren with any other educational material.
The third-graders were given 10 cards each, on each of which the text of the proverb was printed, and they were asked to combine the proverbs into groups according to the main meaning contained in them.
Some students successfully completed the task:
To be afraid of wolves - do not go into the forest.
Cheek brings success.
Seven raise one straw.
Try on seven times, cut once.
Hurry up and make people laugh.
Seven do not wait for one. Those who got up early went away.
“It's about courage. A brave man is not afraid of wolves or enemies.
“It’s all about lazy people: they are in no hurry to work, and when they start working, they all do an easy task together, and one could do it alone.”
“You have to do everything right, think first.”
"Never be late." And here is how other children grouped the same proverbs:
To be afraid of wolves - to the forest "It's all about animals",
do not walk.
It's not a bear - it won't go into the forest.
Seven one straw "These proverbs are one
raise. nakov, there are seven everywhere
Try on seven times, there is one,
cut off.
Seven do not wait for one.
We see that some schoolchildren generalize proverbs according to an essential substantive feature, others - according to an external, random, lying on the surface. These children need to be specially taught to generalize, to carefully monitor what signs they “catch” when perceiving the educational material.
It should be noted that in some children the ability to generalize is equally developed - they generalize any material equally well or equally poorly. Other schoolchildren generalize mathematical material freely, immediately, while generalizing non-mathematical material they experience great difficulties. Conversely, some students easily and freely generalize non-mathematical material, and mathematical - only after many training exercises. Therefore, in order to judge the peculiarities of a child's thinking, it is necessary to analyze his performance (and repeated!) of tasks from different fields of knowledge.
The assimilation of any academic subject largely depends on how the child's ability to generalize the material is developed. Can he single out the common in the different and, on this basis, cognize the main thing hidden behind diversity? external manifestations and non-essential signs, whether it can highlight the essential general properties of objects, i.e. properties without which an object cannot exist as such?
The task of the school is to form such an important property for thinking as the ability to generalize in all children on the material of all subjects and at the highest level. Questions and tasks
1 . What is common and different between thinking and perception as cognitive processes?
2. What is a “concept” and how is it related to a word? this
3. Why is thinking called generalized knowledge of the world?
4. Explain your understanding of mediation as a characteristic of thinking.
5. How do you understand the relationship of thinking with other cognitive processes?
6. In your opinion, what qualities of the mind are necessary to solve non-standard problems, find a way out of extraordinary situations, guess riddles, charades, solve crossword puzzles?
7. Solve the crossword puzzle below. Take your time to look at the answers.
PSYCHOLOGICAL CROSSWORD
Horizontal: 1. Uniqueness, originality of the psyche and personality of a person. 2. Subtle observer, connoisseur of human psychology. 3. Past. 4. Reflection of the properties of objects of the objective world as a result of their impact on the senses. 5. The work of a child psychologist to prevent possible problems in the mental and personal development child. 6. Concentration of perception, thoughts on something. 7. Motives that cause the activity of the individual and determine its direction. 8. “Mutual conversation, sociable speech between people, their verbal communication, the exchange of feelings and thoughts in words” (V.I. Dal). 9. The one for whom the practical child psychologist carries out his activities. 10. Preservation and reproduction in the mind of a person of previous impressions, knowledge, experience. 11. The classic form of verbal communication, in which the statements of the interlocutors replace each other. 12. Temporary release from work for rest, subjectively perceived as very short. 13. An extreme degree of commitment to any idea or cause, based on blind faith in the correctness of one's judgments and actions. 14. One of the largest domestic child psychologists. 15. Period, stage in the development of the child. 16. Empathy for another person. 17. The development of the human psyche during his life. 18. The totality of all mental, spiritual properties of a person, manifested in his behavior. 19. A person's tendency to experience anxiety. 20. A person who has reached such a level of mental development that makes him able to control his behavior and activities, to be independent in his judgments and attitudes. 21. Period (sometimes very stormy) of transition from one stage age development child to another. 22. Necessity, need for something that requires satisfaction. 23. Use of scientific data, inventions, discoveries in practice. 24. Application by a practical psychologist of standardized questions and tasks that have a certain scale of meanings.
Vertically: 2. Psychological research a person in order to identify the level of development and individual characteristics of his psyche. 3. Internal, mental, emotional state of a person. 4. The mental process, which consists in the creation of new images, new concepts based on perceptions and ideas obtained in past experience. 5. Willingness to selflessly act for the benefit of others, regardless of their own interests. 6. Mutual support in activities, teamwork. 7. Attractive power, charm. 8. A person's desire for the fullest possible identification and development of his personal capabilities. 9. One of the newly created preferred middle educational institutions. 10. Ink spot on paper. 11. The transformation of forms of external objective activity transferred into inner plan, in mental processes. 12. The ability to notice essential, including subtle, features of objects and phenomena. 13. A slow, imperturbable person with stable aspirations and a more or less constant mood, with a weak external expression of mental states. 14. One of the famous domestic psychologists, founder of the Leningrad Psychological School. 15. Individual characteristics of a person, which are expressed in the speed of occurrence, the depth and strength of the occurrence, the depth and strength of the manifestation of feelings, in the speed of movements, general mobility. 16. One that works with someone. 17. The doctrine of numbers, denoted by numbers, and of actions on them. 18. Constant attraction, disposition to something. 19. Any thorny plant, as well as a separate thorn (old). 20. A room necessary for the work of a practical psychologist, but not always provided to him. 21. A sense of moral responsibility for one's behavior to other people.
Answers: Horizontally: 1. Individuality. 2. Psychologist. 3. Retro. 4. Feeling. 5. Prevention. 6. Attention. 7. Motivation. 8. Conversation. 9. Child. 10. Memory. 11. Dialogue. 12. Vacation. 13. Fanaticism. 14. Zaporozhets. 15. Age. 16. Empathy. 17. Ontogeny. 18. Character. 19. Anxiety. 20. Personality. 21. Crisis. 22. Need. 23. Introduction. 24. Testing. Vertical: 2. Psychodiagnostics. 3. Mood. 4. Imagination. 5. Altruism. 6. Interaction. 7. Charm. 8. Self-actualization. 9. Lyceum. 10. Blob. 11. Interiorization. 12. Observation. 13. Phlegmatic. I. Ananiev. 15.Temperament. 16. Employee. 17. Arithmetic. ^.Tendency. 19. Thorns. 20. Cabinet. 21. Conscience. 22. Feelings. Section III. FEELINGS AND WILL
Emotions and will are the emotional and volitional components of any mental processes. Thus, when solving a problem, the process of thinking includes our attitude to problem (emotion), our purpose and effort to solve it (will).
Theme 1 EMOTIONS AND FEELINGS
At the previous lesson on the topics “Sensory cognition”, it was noted that in decision-making, regulation of behavior, building a professional life path, management of actions, two types of knowledge are distinguished: direct(sensual) arising from the interaction of objects with our sense organs, and indirect(rational) reasoning, speech (rational, mental).
Sensory cognition includes such mental processes as sensation, perception, attention, memory. Rational knowledge includes thinking and intellect.
Thinking and intelligence terms that are similar in content. The term "intelligence" corresponds to the word "mind". When they say that this "man is smart", then this emphasizes his individual characteristics of intelligence. As a child grows, we often hear that "the mind of a child develops." This emphasizes the development of the child's intelligence.
we understand that the street is bad weather, the wind. We went through such psychic phenomena as sensation and perception, reflecting certain aspects of reality in different combinations (separate or more complete). Thinking helps a person to get sensations and perceptions, compare, compare, distinguish and reveal relationships, identify relationships: that is, thinking more deeply cognizes the essence of the surrounding world, reflects being in its connections and relationships. The disclosure of relationships, connections between objects is an essential task of thinking.
Thinking and intelligence- these are the most important distinctive features person. Term modern man - Homo sapiens(reasonable person). The deafened Beethoven, the blinded Homer have not ceased to be great, but the man who has lost his mind seems to be struck in the very essence of man.
Thinking is first and foremost cognition, which, from a psychological point of view, creates a representation of the external world, its models and images. But perception is also knowledge. What is the difference between these two mental processes? For example, a person, looking out into the street, sees that the roof of a neighboring house is wet. This is an example of perception. But if a person, based on the wet roof of a neighboring house, concludes that it has rained, then this is already an example. simple thinking, i.e. mediated thinking, when a conclusion is drawn from one fact about another. Thus, thinking is much more complicated: first, a model is created external conditions, and then the next model is derived from it. In the example above, the first pattern is a wet roof (referring to perception) and the second pattern is a recent rain (referring to thinking).
So, intelligence - ability to think thinking is the process of realization of the intellect. Thanks to the intellect, man has taken a dominant position on Earth, received additional means for biological survival, but at the same time, the intellect of man has also created colossal destructive forces. For most activities, there is minimum intelligence which provides a person with the opportunity to successfully engage in this type of activity. So, for mathematicians, chess players, etc., this minimum is very high, while for others (for example, the work of a courier) it is much lower. But such a fact is also possible when high intelligence can negatively affect a person’s relationships with other people, which leads to a decrease in success, and vice versa, if a person’s intelligence is below the optimum, then the ability to understand the situation, predict the development of events, etc. decreases. With a significant excess of the optimum, the leader becomes incomprehensible to the people of his group, and at the same time, the higher intellectual level group, the higher the optimum intelligence for the leader of this group.
If the child has a very high level intelligence (more than 155 points on tests IQ), then this negatively affects his adaptation in relation to other children, since he is ahead of his peers in mental development by more than 4 years and become strangers in their teams.
For human thinking, the relationship with speech and language.
it would not be carried out in forms.
What stages does a person’s thought go through before it is expressed in a detailed speech of one person to another? First of all - this motif(driving force of the process). Further - emergence of thought or a general outline of the content that should be embodied in the statement. But before being embodied in a speech statement, it is necessary to go through the stage inner speech- an essential transitional stage between the concept (or "thought") and expanded external speech . Inner speech generates (generates) a detailed speech statement, including the original idea in the system of grammatical codes of the language.
Thinking and speaking are not the same thing. Thinking does not mean talking about yourself (one and the same thought can be expressed in different words, but sometimes we do not find a single word to express our thought). The basic unit of language is word, which has complex structure and consists of two parts: "subject relation" and "meaning". Each word designates some object, points to it, evokes in us the image of this or that object (in this, the language of man differs from the "language" of animals, whose sounds express only a certain effective state, but never designate objects). This is the first function of the word (subject relatedness).
Second word function - meaning of the word- makes it possible to analyze objects, to highlight their essential properties, to attribute objects to a certain category.
The actual use of a word is always the result of choosing the right meaning from a system of meanings. This system of connections, singled out from many possible meanings, is called in psychology the meaning of the word(from visual designation - fur tree, pine tree, to more general concept - tree, plant; further to - plant, animal). The system of semantic connections behind the word expressing the concept allows thought to move in many directions, therefore, the concept can be considered the most essential mechanism at the basis of the movement of thought.
concept- this is mediated and generalized knowledge about the subject, based on the disclosure of its more or less significant objective connections and relationships. In any word, the carrier of the concept, both emotional-figurative, visual components and systems of logical connections are distinguished. Only their ratio different people, depending on the mental development, different (in children preschool age prevail over the word emotional-figurative experiences; schoolchildren lower grades - visual, specific-figurative and situational connections; for high school students and adults complex logical connections).
The concept can be revealed in different ways: by an external description of phenomena, by listing essential features and sequences, by giving a definition ( thesaurus). The most important indicator of mastering the concept is the ability to use it in cognitive and practical activities. The following sequence of stages of assimilation of the concept is distinguished: specific single use of the concept; selection of concepts from the circle related concepts, but not distinguishing between essential and non-essential features; definition of generalized essential features without the ability to widely use the concept; highlighting essential features, wide use of the concept.
Consider the main stages or phases thinking process.
The thought process begins in the mind problem situation (PS). (This stage is not for everyone - one who is not used to thinking perceives the world as a matter of course; the more knowledge, the more problems are seen). The problem situation contains a contradiction and does not have an unambiguous solution.
As a result of the analysis of the problem situation task is formulated (FZ). This means that in the early conditions it was possible to preliminarily dissect the known (given) and the unknown (sought), as well as to determine the requirement (goal). Task always sets before the subject a goal formulated in a question, with which each task ends and which does not contain an answer. The goal is given in certain conditions, and the subject solving the problem must navigate in its condition, highlight the most important from the content. This allows you to create hypothesis the path that the decision should take, i.e. create general solution scheme (OSR).
The task is solved in various ways, depending on the conditions, the type of mental activity of the subject, the method of solution ( algorithm, heuristics, rules, etc.). If the solution of the task will follow the rules, then this means the need to perform two more stages: at the first stage, determine the rule necessary for solving the problem, and at the second stage, apply this general rule to specific, particular conditions.
Having determined the way to solve the problem, you can turn to allocation of private operations (solution strategies - SR), which can be both simple and have a complex character and consist of a whole chain of successive links. Having received some result, the person who solves the problem compares it with the original condition and if the result matches the condition, it ends the decision, and if it doesn't, it starts the action again until the result is consistent with the initial condition.
The described process should be determined by the main task and not go beyond its conditions; non-compliance with this will inevitably lead to the impossibility of solving the problem. But a person is not always able to single out the stages successively passed by thought in the course of solving a problem. At intuitive thinking, it seems to a person that the decision came suddenly, like an insight ( insight).
What requirements ensure the full-fledged nature of the solution of the problem?
· problem solver must remember it and not lose the connection of the question with its condition.
· He must orientate himself in the conditions of the task and slow down all manifestations of direct, impulsively arising operations that are not subordinate to its general semantic scheme.
· He must create a well-known "internal field" within which all his searches and operations must proceed and in no case go beyond the boundaries of this logical field.
· He must perform the necessary counting operations, not forgetting what place each operation occupies in the overall strategy for solving the problem.
· He must compare the result obtained with the initial condition.
mental operations.
The main mental operations are analysis, synthesis, comparison, abstraction, concretization and generalization.
Analysis - this is a mental decomposition of the whole into parts or a mental separation from the whole of its sides, actions, relations (Example: the table can be unfolded into a table top, legs, drawers, spacers, etc.). Analysis happens practical(when the thought process is directly included in speech activity) and mental (theoretical). If analysis is divorced from other operations, it becomes vicious, mechanistic (for example, a child takes apart, breaks a toy into separate parts, without any further use of them).
Synthesis - this is a mental union of parts, properties, actions into a single whole. The operation of synthesis is the opposite of analysis. Synthesis is not a mechanical connection of parts and therefore is not reduced to their sum. (When connecting the individual parts of the machine, during their synthesis, not a pile of metal is obtained, but a machine that moves. When chemical compound oxygen and hydrogen make water. Both synthesis and analysis occupy an important place in educational process. So, when learning to read sounds and letters, syllables are made up, from syllables - words, from words - sentences).
Comparison - this is the establishment of similarities or differences between objects and phenomena or their individual features (comparison when applying one object to another: rulers to paper, etc.). Comparison happens unilateral(incomplete, on one basis) and multilateral(complete, in all respects); superficial and deep; immediate and indirect .
abstraction consists in the fact that the subject, isolating any properties, signs of the object under study, is distracted from the rest (speaking of green as a beneficial effect on human vision, while not pointing to a specific green object). Here, the attribute, separated from the object, is thought independently of other attributes of the object, becomes an independent object of thought. Abstraction is usually carried out as a result of analysis. Through abstraction, abstract concepts of length, breadth, quantity, equality, value, etc. were created. Thanks to abstraction, a person can be distracted from a single concrete.
Specification involves the return of thought from the general and abstract to the concrete in order to reveal the content. If the expressed thought turns out to be incomprehensible to others, then in this case they try to concretize it (please give an example according to what was said - this is concretization).
Generalization - mental association of objects and phenomena according to their common and essential features (apples, pears, plums, etc. are combined in one concept of "fruit"; a person analyzes objects and identifies in them general patterns; psychologist studies people in order to reveal the general laws of their development).
Types of thinking.
Human thinking not only includes various operations, but also proceeds at various levels, in various forms, which indicates the existence of different types of thinking.
According to the degree of expansion thinking can be discursive(step by step process) and intuitive(characterized by the speed of the flow, the lack of clearly defined stages, minimal awareness).
From point of view novelty and originality of the tasks to be solved thinking stands out creative (productive) and reproducing (reproductive). Creative thinking aimed at creating new ideas, new formations. But it is necessary to distinguish objectively the new (i.e. what has not been done by anyone yet) from subjectively new (i.e. new for this particular person). So, a student, performing experiments on special subjects, discovers new properties, positions, conclusions, etc., unknown to him personally. But this unknown to the student does not mean that it was not known to the teacher. Excessive criticality, internal censorship, the desire to find an answer immediately, can act as obstacles to the development of creative thinking. rigidity(the desire to use old knowledge) and conformity(fear of standing out and becoming funny to others).
Unlike creative thinking reproductive is the application of existing knowledge and skills. In those cases when, in the process of applying knowledge, they are verified, identifying shortcomings and defects, they speak of critical thinking.
By the nature of the tasks to be solved thinking is divided into theoretical and practical. In psychology, for a long time, only the theoretical aspect of thinking was studied as aimed at discovering the laws, properties of objects, and if the question of practical thinking was raised, it was narrowed down to the concept of sensorimotor intelligence, which was considered inseparably from perception and from direct manipulation with objects. Meanwhile, not only "theorists" think in life. BM Teplov in his work "The Mind of a Commander" showed that practical thinking is not the initial form of thinking of a child, but a mature form of thinking of an adult. In the work of any organizer, administrator, production worker, etc. Every hour there are questions that require intense mental activity. Practical thinking is associated with setting goals, developing plans, projects, and is often deployed in conditions of time pressure, which makes it even more difficult than theoretical thinking. Opportunities to use hypotheses in "practice" are more limited, since these hypotheses will be tested not in special experiments, but in life itself, and there is not always time for these tests. The highest manifestations of the human mind were observed equally among great practitioners (Peter I, A.V. Suvorov) and great theorists (M.V. Lomonosov, K.E. Tsiolkovsky).
Depending on the content of the problem being solved distinguish the following types of thinking: subject-effective(solving problems with the help of a real, physical transformation of the situation, testing the properties of objects - is typical for children up to three years, the movement of the hands is ahead of thinking, this type of thinking is also called manual, it is also found in adults - the work of a tester, designer); visual-figurative(operating with images - seeing an object from several points: it manifests itself in preschoolers, 4-7 years old, their practical actions fade into the background, the object is known by its visual representation; in adults - when starting to repair an apartment, they imagine in advance what will come of it. This kind of thinking created images of the atomic nucleus, internal structure the globe); verbal-logical thinking(functions on the basis of linguistic means, a person establishes general patterns, foresees the development of processes in nature and society, generalizes various visual material).
All types of thinking are closely interconnected, constantly mutually passing into each other. So, when working with diagrams and graphs, it is difficult to separate visual-figurative and verbal-logical thinking when the content of the task is diagrams and graphs.
Action-Practical Thinking allowed P.N. Yablochkov (the inventor of the first electric light bulb) to solve a complex theoretical problem - how to make the distance between the corners of the lamp located on the same vertical line remain constant and not increase. Sitting in a cafe and writing something, he put two pencils next to him. And immediately thought: place the coals in the lamp in parallel.
Thinking is not formed in a person immediately. In newborns, it is absent, in an infant, conditioned reflexes are formed. This means that his brain can flexibly connect 2 stimuli with each other and respond adequately to them. For example, an infant smiles at its mother and cries at the sight of a stranger. Only by the end of the first year of life do the first elements of thinking begin to appear in the child.
According to the Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget, there are 4 stages of thinking development:
- The stage of sensorimotor intelligence (at the age of 1-2 years) - the ability to perceive and cognize objects of the real world develops; the child begins to distinguish himself from the outside world.
- Stage of operational thinking (at the age of 2-7 years) - speech develops, egocentrism of thinking develops.
- The stage of specific operations (at the age of 7-8 to 11-12 years old) - it becomes possible to logically explain their actions, move from one point of view to another, the ability to combine objects into classes develops.
- Stage of formal operations (from 12-15 years onwards) - the ability to perform operations in the mind using logical reasoning and abstract concepts.
What is thinking?
From the above, we can define thinking.
Thinking- it's complex cognitive process, which is the highest form of reflection by the brain of the surrounding world.
Thinking in fact, it is always a search and discovery of something new. Thinking begins where a problem situation arises.
The main signs of thinking:
Mediation.
The thinking of a single person is mediated by the development of the thinking of all mankind. Thinking is a kind of "model of the universe inside us." It is formed in an environment of its own kind, where it is possible to absorb the social experience of others, to be in constant interaction with them.
Generalization.
Thinking is a generalized knowledge of the essential properties and phenomena of the surrounding reality, as well as the connections and relationships that exist between them. Objects can be generalized on the basis of one attribute (simple generalizations) or on the basis of many attributes (complex generalizations). For example, when we pronounce the word "aircraft", we combine (generalize) into this class many flying objects that differ in size, shape, flight range, purpose, etc.
Purposefulness and arbitrariness.
Thinking is always associated with the solution of some problem and is accompanied by a certain volitional effort on the part of a person. The absence of a problematic situation brings the thought process closer to stereotypical behavior.
Thinking is always directed towards the goal. For example, the need to change the interior of one's apartment gives rise to the goal of rearranging furniture, moving some wall partitions, etc. I.e. A mental solution has been found. Next, the will must be connected, because. without will, thinking very rarely leads to the achievement of the goal. To think is to act.
Thinking as a cognitive theoretical activity is closely connected with action. Man cognizes reality by influencing it, understands the world by changing it. Action is the primary form of the existence of thinking.
The thought process is always aimed at solving some problem, and it distinguishes 4 main stages or phases:
1. Awareness of the problem situation begins with a sense of surprise caused by the situation. And then comes the formulation of the question, problem, task. The very formulation of the problem is an act of thinking, which often requires a lot and complex mental work. To formulate what the question is means already to rise to a certain understanding, and to understand a task or a problem means, if not solving it, then at least finding a way, i.e., a method, for solving it. Therefore, the first sign of a thinking person is the ability to see problems where they are.
The emergence of questions is the first sign of the beginning work of thought and the emerging understanding. The situation of “initial comprehensibility”, expressed by the absence of questions, is an indicator of the absence of the work of thought.
2. Solution of the problem performed in different ways, depending on the nature of the task itself. This process requires the involvement of theoretical knowledge. The first step of thought in this case is to attribute the emerging question or problem to a certain field of knowledge.
3. Nomination and enumeration of hypotheses. The solution of some, especially complex problems is made on the basis of hypotheses. The richer the practice, the wider the experience and more organized system knowledge, in which this practice and this experience are generalized, the thought has more control points for testing and criticizing its hypotheses.
The degree of criticality of the mind is very different for different people. Criticality is an essential sign of a mature mind. The critical mind carefully weighs the pros and cons of its hypotheses and puts them to the test.
4. Making a judgment on the matter. Then the result of mental work descends directly into practice. It subjects it to a decisive test and poses new tasks for thought - the development, refinement, correction or change of the originally adopted solution to the problem.
Irina Bazan
Literature:
Yu.V. Shcherbatykh " General psychology»
S.L. Rubinstein "Fundamentals of General Psychology"
A.V. Karpov "General psychology"
V.M. Kozubovsky "General psychology"