Thinking

Thinking in psychology

1. THINKING Mrs. U SREEVIDYA MSC (N)

2. People think-that’s obvious. Human are rational beings & our rationality consists in our ability to think & reason. It is because of our capacity for better thinking that we are superior to other animals in learning & in making adjustment. During most of our waking hours, & even when we are asleep & dreaming, we are thinking .

3. What are you thinking about right now?

4. Thinking: 1. Ross: “Thinking is a mental activity in its cognitive aspect or mental activity with regard to psychological aspects”. 2. Garrett: “Thinking is a behaviour which is often implicit and hidden and in which symbols are ordinarily employed”. 3. Gilmer: “Thinking is a problem-solving process in which we use ideas or symbols in place of overt activity”. 4. Mohsin: “Thinking is an implicit problem-solving behaviour ”.

5. It is essentially a cognitive activity. It is always directed to achieve some end or purpose. It is described as a problem-solving behavior. It is a symbolic activity. It is mental exploration instead of motor exploration. It can shift very rapidly. It is internal activity.

6. Perceptual or concrete thinking Conceptual or abstract thinking Reflective thinking Creative thinking Critical thinking Logical thinking/ reasoning Non directed / Associative thinking Convergent Vs Divergent thinking

7. It is based on perception. Perception is the process of interpretation of sensation according to one’s experience. It is also called concrete thinking as it is carried over the perception of actual or concrete & events. It is one-dimentional & literal thinking which has limited use of metaphor without understanding nuances of meaning. Being the simplest form of thinking, small children are mostly benefitted by this type of thinking.

8. It does not require the perception of actual objects or events. It is also called abstract thinking as it makes the use of concepts or abstract ideas. It is superior to perceptual thinking's as it economizes efforts in understanding & helps in discovery & invention. It is ability to appreciate nuances of meaning. It is multidimensional thinking with ability to use metaphors & hypotheses appropriately. Language plays an important part in conceptual thinking.

9. 3. Reflective Thinking: This type of thinking aims in solving complex problems; thus it requires reorganization of all the relevant experiences to a situation or removing obstacles instead of relating with that experiences or ideas. This is an insightful cognitive approach in reflective thinking as the mental activity here does not involve the mechanical trial and error type of efforts. In this type, thinking processes take all the relevant facts arranged in a logical order into an account in order to arrive at a solution of the problem.

10. 4. Creative Thinking: This type of thinking is associated with one’s ability to create or construct something new, novel or unusual. It looks for new relationships and associations to describe and interpret the nature of things, events and situations. Here the individual himself usually formulates the evidences and tools for its solution. For example; scientists, artists or inventors. Skinner, the famous psychologist says creative thinking means that the prediction and inferences for the individual are new, original, ingenious and unusual. The creative thinker is one who expresses new ideas and makes new observations, new predictions and new inferences.

11. Characteristics of Creative Thinking: a. Creative thinking, in all its shapes and forms is absolutely an internal mental process and hence should be considered as an important component of one’s cognitive behaviour . b. Every one of us is capable of creative thinking and hence it is a universal phenomenon. c. Creative thinking results in the production of something new or novel including a new form of arrangement of old elements. d. Creative thinking in all its dimensions involve divergent thinking instead of the routine and final types of convergent thinking. The mind must have complete freedom to wander around to create a new idea. e. The field of creative thinking and its out part is quite comprehensive and built wide. It covers all the aspects of human accomplishments belonging to an individual’s life.

12. 5. Critical Thinking: It is a type of thinking that helps a person in stepping aside from his own personal beliefs, prejudices and opinions to sort out the faiths and discover the truth, even at the expense of his basic belief system. The critical thinking is of a higher order 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 judgment of the gathered or communicated information or data as a guide to one’s belief and action.

13. It is the cognitive process of looking for reasons for beliefs, conclusion, actions or feelings. It is the process of drawing conclusions based on evidence. It is form of controlled thinking in which the thought process is directed consciously towards the solutions of a problem. Reasoning is the highest form of thinking to find out causes & predict effects. An individual tries to solve a problem by incorporating two or more aspects of his past experience. 6

14. 7 . Non-directed or Associative Thinking: There are times when we find ourselves engaged in a unique type of thinking which is non-directed and without goal. It is reflected through dreaming and other free-flowing uncontrolled activities. Psychologically these forms of thought are termed as associative thinking. Here day-dreaming, fantasy and delusions all fall in the category of withdrawal behaviour that helps an individual to escape from the demands of the real world by making his thinking face non-directed and floating, placing him somewhere, ordering something unconnected with his environment. A person under the influence of such delusions may think or believe that he is a millionaire, the ruler of the universe, a great inventor, a noted historian or even God. 

15. Convergent thinking is cognitive processing of information around a common point, an attempt to bring thoughts from different directions into a union for common conclusion Divergent thinking starts from a common point & moves outward into a variety of perspectives. Eg; teachers use the content as a vehicle to prompt diverse or unique thinking among students rather than a common view. 8

16. There are six levels of thinking / learning within cognitive hierarchy of behaviors; Level1: Knowledge Level 2: Comprehension Level 3: Application Level 4: Analysis Level 5: Synthesis Level 6: Evaluation

17. It involve recall of facts, principles & terms in the forms in which they are learned. Key words: who, what, when, omit, where, which, choose, find, how, define, label, show, spell, list, match, name, relate, tell, recall, select. Eg;When did --------------------------happen? Which one ---------------------------?

18. It represent the lowest form of understanding. The student knows what is being communicated without relating it to other material or seeing it in its fullest meaning. It demonstrates understanding of facts & ideas by organizing, comparing, translating, interpreting, giving descriptions & stating main ideas. Key words: Compare, contrast, demonstrate, interpret, explain, extend, illustrate, infer, outline, relate, rephrase, translate, summarize, show, classify. Eg;What facts or ideas show--- -------? Which is the best answer---------- ?

19. It involve the use of abstractions in concrete situation such as nursing or other specific situations. It is solving problems by applying acquired knowledge, facts, techniques & rules in a different way. Key words: apply, build, choose, construct develop, interview, make use of, organize, experiment with plan, select, solve, utilize, model, identify. Eg;What would result if--------------? Can you make use of the facts to--------?

20. It is examining & breaking information into parts by identifying motives or causes; making inferences & finding evidence to support generalization. Key words: analyze, categorize, compare, contrast, discover, dissect, divide, examine, inspect, simplify, survey, take part in, test for, distinguish, list, distinction, theme, relationships, function, motive, inferences, assumption, conclusion. Eg;What are key parts or features of---------? What motive is there-----------------? What evidence can you find---------------?

21. It is compiling information together in a different way by combining element in a new pattern or proposing alternative solution. Key words: build, choose, combine, compile, compose, construct, create, design, develop, estimate, formulate, imagine, invent, makeup, originate, plan, predict, propose, solve solution etc. Eg; Can you propose an alternative---------? Can you formulate a theory for-----------? What facts can you compile-----------?

22. It is presenting & defending opinion by making judgment about information, validity of ideas or quality of work based on a set of criteria. Key words: award, choose, conclude, criticize, decide, defend, determine, evaluate, judge, justify, measure, compare, mark, rate, recommend, prioritize, prove, disprove etc. Eg;What is your opinion of-----------? Would it be better if---------------? How would you rate the--------------?

23. Development of Thinking Thinking is one of the most important aspects of learning process. Our ability to learn and solve the problems depends upon our ability to think correctly which helps us in adjustment and is necessary for a successful living. As no person is born-thinker, one has to acquire knowledge of technique and practice of proper thinking.

24. Development of Thinking Piaget argued that the logical way of thinking evolved gradually, at about the age of two years and in about seven years. Piaget explained, thinking children did not like thinking adults. Children's minds seem to be different with a larger person. Children seem to solve the problem in an entirely different level. Differences children who are smaller and bigger is not too related to the issues that older children have more knowledge, but because they are different kinds of knowledge, the present invention Piaget began studying the development of mental structure. Jean Piaget was a Swiss developmental psychologist and philosopher known for his epistemological studies with children. His theory of cognitive development and epistemological view are together called "genetic epistemology"

25. ( 2 ) 1. Sensory Motor Stage Lasts from birth until the age of 2 years. At this stage, infants build an understanding of the world by coordinating the experiences of sensors (such as seeing and hearing) with physical motor actions, the so-called sensory motor. At the beginning of this stage, the newborn has a little more than a reflex patterns. The following developmental stages according to Piaget:

26. 2. Pre-operational stage Lasted roughly from age 2 to 7 years. At this stage, children begin to describe the world with words and pictures. Symbolic thinking beyond the simple relationship between the sensor information and physical action. However, even preschoolers can symbolically depicts the world, according to Piaget, they are still not able to implement what is called "surgery"-an internalized mental actions that allow the children to do mentally what was previously done physically.

27. ( 2 ) 3. Concrete operational stage Lasted roughly from ages 7-11 years. At this stage children can carry out operations, and logical reasoning replaces intuitive thought as far as thought can be applied to the specific examples or concrete. For example, concrete operational thinking can not imagine the steps necessary to solve an algebra problem, which is too vague to be considered at this stage of development.

28. 4. Formal Operational Stage It appears from the age of 11-15 years. At this stage the individual beyond the real world, concrete experiences and think in abstract and more logical. As part of a more abstract thinking, adolescents develop a picture of an ideal state. They can think what kind of parents the ideal and compare their parents with this ideal standard. They began to prepare for the possibilities for the future and in awe of what they can do. In solving the problem, the formal operational thinker is more systematically, develop hypotheses about why things happen like that, then test this hypothesis by way of deductive reasoning.

29. There are few methods which help to develop thinking through training. Adequacy of the Knowledge and Experience Adequate Motivation and Definiteness of Aims Adequate Freedom and Flexibility Incubation Intelligence and Wisdom Proper Development of Concepts and Language Adequacy of Reasoning Process

30. 1. Clutter creates confusion. Get organized & work with a fresh canvas. On an average, we spend about 45 minutes a day looking for things eg; Where are my keys? Keep only the current project you are working on in front of you.

31. Multi-tasking is highly over-rated & causes a loss of upto 40% efficiency. Get yourself one hour of focused seclusion to work on your important task. It will increase both productivity, creativity & morale.

32. Go to a gallery, pick up an art book or spend time with nature. This is a best practice that allows you to visualize & map your projects, & strategies. It is also a life saving memory device that will help you remember more & organize your thinking.

33. When you have been working on something for more than an hour, you start loosing concentration & focus. So, stop, get up & walk around & then go back to your work.

34. THINKING IN RELATION TO LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION Through the use of language, we can develop complex & abstract concepts. We learn through discussion the essential characteristics of concepts. Language like thought is directed to some purpose or goal. It has a unity & organization about the goal. Language is the symbolic vehicle by which thought is carried. Language allow new learning to be communicated to others & saved for future generations. The use of language – the communication of information. Language provides us with categories that we use to construct our view of people & events in the world around us.

35. Our thinking, reasoning and problem-solving behaviour all are largely influenced by our “sets”, which is a kind of habit or a way in which we have accustomed ourselves in perceiving certain situations. Thus our thinking will be defective and harmful if it is not based on correct data or information. Our biases, prejudices and beliefs sometimes do not enable us to think logically.

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