Psychology unit III- thinking

I have prepared slides to meet the needs of B.Sc nursing students .

1. THINKING Mrs.AKILA.A ; M.sc (N) Associate Professor

2. Humans are rational beings and our rationality consists in our ability to think and reason. Thinking is involved in all conscious mental activity, whether it is acquiring new knowledge, remembering, planning or day dreaming. INTRODUCTION

3. Thinking is a mental activity in its cognitive aspect or mental activity with regard to psychological aspects-ROSS. Thinking is a behaviour which is often implicit and hidden and in which symbols are ordinarily employed- GARRETT- 1968 DEFINITION

4. THINKING IS A 1.Mental process in which we deal with thoughts and ideas actively. 2.It is an activity which involves many parts 0f our body-receptors(sense organs), connectors (nerves) and effectors(muscles). 3.It is an cognitive process 4.It is a motivated activity(purposive mental process) NATURE OF THINKING

5. 1. Concepts : Generalised meaning that is attached to an object, such as house, honesty, man etc. 2. Language : Concepts are formed with the help of language . It can be developed through oral questions, arguments, discussions. 3.Images: These are abstractions of certain features of our previous experience. 4.Inner speech : It is a type of symbolic mediation in thinking. These are motor side of thinking. ELEMENTS OF THINKING

6. Perceptual or Concrete thinking Conceptual or Abstract thinking Convergent thinking Divergent thinking Reflective Thinking Creative thinking Critical thinking Non directed or associated thinking TYPES OF THINKING

7. PERCEPTUAL OR CONCRETE THINKING : This is the simplest form of thinking, that is interpretation of sensation according to one’s experience. It is also called as concrete thinking as it is carried out on the perception of actual or concrete objects and events. CONCEPTUAL OR ABSTRACT THINKING : it is an abstract thinking where one makes use of concepts, the generalised ideas and language. It economizes efforts in understanding and problem solving. so it is considered as superior than perceptual thinking.

8. CONVERGENT THINKING : It is a closed or single point thinking, based on the principles of convergence. Quick and narrowing process of thinking leads with pinpoint with solutions. Example: MCQ. DIVERGENT THINKING: It is contradictory to convergent thinking. here, there will be number of solutions to single problem, encourages a open thinking and broad scanning operation. Example: Open ended questions

9. REFLECTIVE THINKING: It aims at complex problems, it requires re organisations of all the relevant experiences and finding new ways of reacting to a solution or removing an obstacle instead of simple association of experience or ideas. It takes logic in to account. CREATIVE THINKING : This chiefly aimed to create something new.It is in search of new relationship and associations to describe and interpret the nature of things, events and situations.

10. Example: scientists usually formulates the problem, gather evidence and to invent tools for its solution. Charecteristics of creative thinking: Creative thinking is an internal mental process, hence it is an important component of cognitive behaviour. Universal phenomenon, since everyone is capable of creative thinking. It results in the production of something new. It involve all dimensions of divergent thinking it is comprehensive and built wide.

11. Factors influencing creativity : Ideational fluency 2.Originality 3.Flexibility 4.Divergent thinking Self confidence Persistence Ability to see and build new relationship

12. STEPS / STAGES IN CREATIVE THINKING: 1.Preparation : Problem will be investigated , informations and experiences are gathered. 2.Incubation This is a period of rest, when tthere is no obvious activity and Problem is thought about uncosciously .

13. 3.Illumination(Insight ): Individual perceives a new relationship among the various aspects of the problem and its result in a solution . 4.verification: It is the stage where result is evaluated. It involves satisfactorily resolving or not resolving the problem . 5.Revision : if the solution is satisfactory , then there will be fifth stage. Any modifications needed are made.

14. CRITICAL THINKING: 1.This type of thinking that helps a person to step from his own personal beliefs, prejudices and opinions to sort out the facts and discover the truth, even at the expense of his basic belief system. 2.Here one resorts to set higher cognitive abilities and skills for the proper interpretation, analysis, evaluation and inference.

15. Critical thinking It is higher ordered , well disciplined thought process which involves the use of cognitive skills like conceptualization, interpretation, analysis, synthesis and evaluation for arriving at an unbiased, valid and reliable judgement of the gathered or communicated information .

16. NON DIRECTED OR ASSOCIATE THINKING: It is unique type of thinking which is non directed and without goal. It is reflected through dreaming and other free flowing activities. Example: 1. Daydreaming (fantasy) 2. Delusions (false unshakable belief- which is abnormal) - may think or believe that person is multimillionaire or ruler of the universe, even the guilt feelings exists in delusions.

17. Thinking Triangle :Blooms taxonomy(1956) LEVELS OF THINKING knowledge UNDERSTANDING APPLICATION ANALYSIS SYNTHESIS EVALUATION

18. 1.Knowledge : Lowest level in cognitive domain Knowledge is defined as the remembering of previously learned material from specific facts to complex theories. 2.Comprehension : Understanding the meaning of materials, translation, interpolation and interpretation of instructions and problems. 3. Application : Previously learned information is applied to new and unfamiliar situations.

19. 4.Analysis: when we analyse, we break down information into parts and try to understand the relationship between parts. 5.Synthesis: We build a structure or pattern from diverse elements or put parts together to form a whole, creating a new meaning or structure. 6. Evaluation: Higher order thinking, one is able to make judgements about the value of ideas for a given purpose according to some set of criteria.

20. There are few methods which help to develop thinking through training. 1.Adequacy of the knowledge and experience 2. Adequate motivation and definiteness of aims 3.Adequate freedom and flexibility 4.Incubation 5.Intelligence and wisdom 6.Proper development of concepts and language 7.Adequacy of reasoning skills Development of memory

21. According to Jean piaget , stages of development of memory: 1.Sensory motor (Birth – 2 years) 2.Pre operational (2-7 years ) 3.Concrete operational (7-11 years) 4.Formal operational (11 -15 years) Pre conceptual (2-4years) Intuitive (4-7 years)

22. 1.Sensory motor stage (Birth- 2 years): The child learns about himself and environment through motor and reflex actions. Parents or favourite toy continue to exist even though they may be outside the reach of child’s senses. 2.Preoperational stage (2-7 years) Preconceptual Phase (2-4 years) Concept formation is rudimentary, Early part, children seems to identify the objects and put them into certain classes. Example: All men are daddy

23. Mode of thinking and reasoning is quite logical at this stage. Thinking is transductive in nature. Thinking will be too imaginative and far removed from reality. Thought process is ego centric in nature. Intuitive phase (4-7 years) Progress towards the formation of various concepts at a more advanced level Example: Child will agree that apples, oranges and bananas are all fruits despite the differences in shape, colour.

24. Child’s thinking is not logical and is full of contradictions. Cognitive abilities like reversibility and conservation will be absent at this stage. 3.Concrete operational stage : Marked development in thought process Child learns to deal with concepts and ideass Ability to think in terms of set of inter related. Thinking will be logical and systematic. No longer ego centric Ability to carry out complex operations. Reversibility cognitive skill will be present.

25. 4.Formal operational stage: Intellectual development will be more sophisticated. Ability to deal with abstraction by logical thinking. Child utilizes the symbolism in problem solving Child can able to appreciate the hypothetical problems by mentally. Develops an abstract view of world and test hypothesis .

26. Language is the means we use to communicate meaning to ourselves and others. Language is a tool for representing ideas since we use language to form concepts, both concrete and abstract. Language helps to create new ideas and assign names to these ideas. Language building is given important in any school curriculum. RELATIONSHIP WITH LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION :

27. We can think everything we want, even though it may not be expressible in language. Some times, we may be clear with the content, but we find difficulty to express it, due to lack of accessibility to right words. Sometimes, we may think in images rather than words. Language facilitates the sharing of our thoughts and ideas. A healthy discussion, strengthen our thoughts and ideas. It is best to say that thinking and language influence one another.

28. Communication is the exchange and flow of information and ideas from one person to another. It involves Sender encoding message Decoding Feedback response Receiver

29. Thinking is an internalised form of interpersonal communication. The essence of relationship is communication. At times, when the relationship becomes strained, communication gets blocked because of faulty assumptions and thinking. Communication and critical thinking are connected in any important ways. People who can think from different perspectives are likely to be less impulsive. There is an connection between communication and critical thinking in all interpersonal relationships .

30. It is an mental process that involves discovering, analysing and solving problems. Goal of Problem solving: To overcome obstacles and to find a solution that best resolves the isssue . Ways of Problem Solving / Solutions: 1 . Mechanical solution (using certain algorithms or rules) 2. Heuristics (experienced based short cuts in problem solving ) Problem solving

31. 3.Logical Principles (using reasoning, a controlled form of thinking) 4.Insightful solutions (suddenly find a novel solutions, that is experience)

32. Awareness of the problem Comprehension of the Problem Formulation of plans of action Evaluation and choice of final plan Putting in to action and verification Yes No Exit Process of Problem solving

33. OBSTACLES TO PROBLEM SOLVING : 1.Insufficient knowledge 2. Lack of understanding of a problem 3.Mind set 4.Functional Fixedness

34. In order to think clearly and correctly, the nurse should learn to observe accurately, so she can collect factual data. Nurses should hold fast to what is rational, logical and correct. Nurses should remember that some patients may have difficulty in communicating their thoughts. Nurses should use critical thinking skills everyday to assess, plan for and provide quality patient care Importance of thinking in nursing

35. Partialism Adversary thinking Time scale error Initial judgement Arrogance and Conceit Errors in thinking

36. Thinking is a complex mental activity, It is symbolic in character, initiated by a problem, which the individual is facing, involves the response of the individual to this problem. Nurses has to think critically, should solve the patients problem . Conclusion

37. THANK YOU