The phases of the thought process include. The main phases and operations of mental activity
Psychology and esotericism
Thinking is a socially conditioned mental process, inextricably linked with speech, of searching for and discovering an essentially new process of indirect and generalized reflection of reality in the course of its analysis and synthesis. Thinking arises on the basis of practical activity from sensory cognition and goes far beyond its limits. Thinking is the basic component of intelligence. 1 The most common classification among them considering such varieties mental activity as a demonstrative visual and ...
17. The concept of thinking, its types. Phases of the thought process and mental operations.
Thinking this is a socially conditioned, inextricably linked with speech mental process of searching for and discovering something essentially new, a process of mediated and generalized reflection of reality in the course of its analysis and synthesis.
Thinking different from others psychological processes also lies in the fact that it is almost always associated with the presence problem situation, the task to be solved, and an active change in the conditions in which this task is set. Thinking arises on the basis of practical activity from sensory cognition and goes far beyond its limits. Thinking is the basic component of intelligence.
There are severalclassifications of types of thinking.
1) The most common among them is a classification that considers such varieties of mental activity as visual-effective, visual-figurative and verbal- logical thinking.
Visual Action Thinking a type of thinking based on the direct perception of objects, the real transformation of the situation in the process of actions with objects.Visual-figurative thinkingtype of thinking, characterized by reliance on ideas and images; the functions of figurative thinking are associated with the representation of situations and changes in them that a person wants to receive as a result of his activity that transforms the situation.Verbal-logical thinkingkind of thinking, carried out with the help of logical operations with concepts.
2) There are theoretical and practical, intuitive and analytical, productive and reproductive thinking. Theoretical and practical thinking are distinguished by the type of tasks being solved and the resulting structural and dynamic features.
theoretical thinking is the knowledge of laws, rules. The main taskpractical thinkingpreparation of the physical transformation of reality: goal setting, creation of a plan, project, scheme. One of the important features of practical thinking is that it unfolds under severe time pressure. In practical thinking, limited opportunities to test hypotheses, all this makes practical thinking sometimes more difficult than theoretical.
3) A distinction is also made betweenintuitive and logical thinking. Three signs are usually used: temporal (time of the process), structural (division into stages), level of flow (consciousness or unconsciousness).
Boolean thinking is deployed in time, has clearly defined stages, in to a large extent represented in the mind thinking person. intuitive thinking is characterized by the speed of flow, the absence of clearly defined stages, and is minimally conscious.
4) According to the degree of novelty of the product obtained in the process of mental activity in relation to the knowledge of the subject, productive and reproductive thinking are distinguished. Productive thinking delivers a product that is novel, reproductive thinking reproduces previously created knowledge.
5) According to the adequacy of the reflection of reality, realistic, autistic and egocentric thinking is distinguished.realistic thinkingaimed mainly at external world, regulated by logical laws, relatively adequately reflects reality. autistic thinking is connected with the realization of human desires (to pass off what is desired as actually existing).egocentricthinking is characterized primarily by the inability to accept the point of view of another person, which makes thinking narrow and inconsistent with reality.
Thinking processthis is a process that is preceded by awareness of the initial situation (problem conditions), which is conscious and purposeful, operates with concepts and images, and which ends with some result (rethinking the situation, finding a solution, forming a judgment, etc.).
Allocate four phases of the thought process:
1. Awareness of the problem situation.
2. Problem solving. It consists in transforming the structure of the situation and in relating the problem to a specific branch of knowledge.
3. Formation of a solution a new conclusion, fixing the solution of the problem achieved in it.
4. Checking the correctness of the developed judgment in practice.
Main mental operationsKeywords: analysis, comparison, synthesis, generalization, abstraction, classification. Analysis mental operation of dividing a complex object into its constituent parts or characteristics. Comparison mental operation based on the establishment of similarities and differences between objects. Synthesis a mental operation that allows in a single process to mentally move from parts to the whole. Generalization mental association of objects and phenomena according to their common and essential features.abstractiondistraction mental operation based on the allocation of essential properties and relationships of the subject and abstraction from others, unimportant. Classification systematization, distribution of any objects, phenomena, concepts into classes, groups, categories based on common features.
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In an extended thought process, since it is always directed towards the solution of some problem, several main stages or phases can be distinguished.
1. The initial phase of the thought process is more or less clear awareness of the problem situation.
Awareness of a problematic situation can begin with a sense of surprise (from which, according to Plato, all knowledge begins), caused by a situation that gave the impression of extraordinaryness. This surprise may be generated by an unexpected failure of a habitual action or way of behaving. Thus, the problem situation can first arise in an actionable way. Difficulties in terms of action signal a problem situation, and surprise makes you feel it. But it is still necessary to comprehend the problem as such. It requires work of thought. Therefore, when a problem situation is depicted as the beginning, as the starting point of thinking, one should not imagine it as if the problem should always be given in a ready-made form before thinking, and the thought process begins only after it has been established. Already here, from the very first step, one has to make sure that in the process of thinking all its moments are in an internal dialectical interconnection, which does not allow them to be mechanically broken and arranged side by side in a linear sequence. 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 to already 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. method to resolve it. Therefore, the first sign of a thinking person is the ability to see problems where they are. Many things are problematic to the penetrating mind; only for those who are not accustomed to think independently, there are no problems; everything is taken for granted only to him whose mind is still inactive. 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; the ability to see the problem is a function of knowledge. Therefore, if knowledge presupposes thinking, then thinking, already at its starting point, presupposes knowledge. Each problem solved raises a number of new problems; To paraphrase Socrates, the more a person knows, the better he knows what he does not know.
2. From understanding the problem, thought moves to its solution. The solution of the problem is accomplished in various and very diverse ways - depending, first of all, on the nature of the problem itself. There are tasks for the solution of which all data are contained in the visual content of the problem situation itself. These are mainly the simplest mechanical tasks that require taking into account only the simplest external mechanical and spatial relationships - the tasks of the so-called visual-effective or sensorimotor intelligence (see below). To solve such problems, it is enough to correlate visual data in a new way and rethink the situation. Representatives of Gestalt psychology erroneously try to reduce any solution to a problem to such a transformation of the "structure" of the situation. In fact, this way of solving the problem is only a special case, more or less applicable only to a very limited range of problems. The solution of problems to which the processes of thinking are directed requires, for the most part, the involvement of theoretical knowledge as prerequisites, the generalized content of which goes far beyond the visual situation. The first step of thought in this case is to assign, at first very roughly, the question or problem that arises to a certain field of knowledge.
Inside, thus, the initially outlined sphere, further mental operations are performed, differentiating the circle of knowledge with which the this problem. If knowledge is obtained in the process of thinking, then the process of thinking, in turn, already presupposes the presence of some kind of knowledge; if a mental act leads to new knowledge, then some knowledge, in turn, always serves as a reference point for thinking. A solution or an attempt to solve a problem usually involves the involvement of certain provisions from existing knowledge as methods or means of resolving it.
These provisions sometimes take the form rules , and the solution of the problem is accomplished in this case by applying the rules. Applying or using a rule to solve a problem involves two different mental operations. The first, often the most difficult, is to determine which rule should be used to solve a given problem, the second is to apply a certain already given general rule to the particular conditions of a particular problem. Students, well decisive tasks, which are given to them for a certain rule, very often turn out to be unable to then solve the same problem if they do not know which rule this problem is for, because in this case they need to first perform an additional mental operation of finding the corresponding rule.
Practically, when solving a problem according to this or that rule, very often they do not think about the rule at all, do not realize and do not formulate it, at least mentally, as a rule, but use a completely automatically established method. In a real thought process, which is a very complex and multifaceted activity, automated schemes of action - specific "skills" of thinking - often play very essential role. Therefore, it is not necessary to oppose skills, automatisms, and rational thought only outwardly. Formed in the form of rules, the positions of thought and automated schemes of action are not only opposite, but also interconnected. The role of skills, automated schemes of action in the real thought process is especially great precisely in those areas where there is a very generalized rational system knowledge. For example, the role of automated action schemes in solving mathematical problems is very significant.
3. Solving a very difficult problem, first appearing in the mind , is usually first outlined as a result of taking into account and comparing a part of the conditions that are taken as initial ones. The question is: does the impending solution not diverge from the rest of the conditions? When this question arises before thought, which resumes the original problem on new basis, the emerging solution is perceived as hypothesis . Some, especially complex, problems are solved on the basis of such hypotheses. Awareness of the emerging solution as a hypothesis, i.e., as an assumption, generates the need to verify it. This need becomes especially acute when, on the basis of a preliminary consideration of the conditions of the problem, several possible solutions or hypotheses arise before the thought. The richer the practice, the wider the experience and the more organized the system of knowledge in which this practice and this experience are generalized, the greater the number of control instances, reference points for checks and criticisms thought disposes of its hypotheses.
The degree of criticality of the mind is very different in different people. Criticality is an essential sign of a mature mind. An uncritical, naive mind easily takes any coincidence as an explanation, the first solution that comes up as the final one. The critical mind carefully weighs all the pros and cons of its hypotheses and puts them to the test.
4. When this test is over, the thought process comes to the final phase - to the final within the given thought process judgment on this issue, fixing the solution of the problem achieved in it. The result of mental work is then translated more or less directly into practice. It subjects it to a decisive test and sets new tasks for thought - development, clarification, correction or change of the originally adopted solution to the problem.
The need for thinking arises, first of all, when, in the course of life and practice, a new goal appears before a person, new problem, new circumstances and conditions of activity. For example, this happens when a doctor is faced with some new, hitherto unknown disease and tries to find and use new methods of its treatment. By its very essence, thinking is necessary only in those situations in which these new goals arise, and the old, old means and methods of activity are not sufficient (although necessary) to achieve them. Such situations are called problematic. With the help of mental activity, originating in a problem situation, it is possible to create, discover, find, invent, etc. new ways and means to achieve goals and meet needs.
In an extended thought process, since it is always directed towards solving some problem, several main stages or phases can be distinguished. The initial phase of the thought process is more or less clear awareness of the problem situation.
Awareness of a problematic situation can begin with a sense of surprise (from which, according to Plato, all knowledge begins), caused by a situation that gave the impression of extraordinaryness. This surprise may be generated by an unexpected failure of a habitual action or way of behaving. Thus, the problem situation can first arise in an actionable way. Difficulties in terms of action signal a problem situation, and surprise makes you feel it. But it is still necessary to comprehend the problem as such. It requires work of thought. Therefore, when a problem situation is depicted as the beginning, as the starting point of thinking, one should not imagine it in such a way that the problem must always be given in a ready-made form in advance, before thinking, and the thought process begins only after it has been established. Already here, from the very first step, one has to make sure that in the process of thinking all its moments are in an internal dialectical interconnection, which does not allow them to be mechanically broken and arranged side by side in a linear sequence. 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 to already 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. method to resolve it. Therefore, the first sign of a thinking person is the ability to see problems where they are. Many things are problematic to the penetrating mind; only for those who are not accustomed to think independently, there are no problems; everything is taken for granted only to him whose mind is still inactive. 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; the ability to see the problem is a function of knowledge. Therefore, if knowledge presupposes thinking, then thinking, already at its starting point, presupposes knowledge. Each problem solved raises a number of new problems; the more a person knows, the better he knows what he does not know (S.L. Rubinshtein).
Thinking is the search and discovery of the new. In those cases where you can get by with the old ones, already known ways actions, previous knowledge and skills, a problematic situation does not arise and therefore thinking is simply not required. For example, a second grade student is not forced to think by a question like: “How much will 2x2 be?” To answer such questions, only the old knowledge already available to this student is quite enough; thinking is redundant here. The need for mental activity also disappears in those cases when the student has mastered well a new way of solving certain problems or examples, but is forced to solve these similar problems and examples that have already become known to him again and again. Consequently, not every situation in life is problematic; provoking thought.
From understanding the problem, thought moves to its solution.
It is necessary to distinguish between a problem situation and a task. A problematic situation means that in the course of an activity a person came across - often quite unexpectedly - something incomprehensible, unknown, disturbing, etc. For example, a pilot is flying an airplane and suddenly begins to notice some extraneous, obscure noise in the engine. Immediately, the pilot’s activity includes the thinking necessary to reveal the meaning of what happened. Thus, the problem situation that has arisen turns into a task perceived by a person. The second emerges from the first, is closely related to it, but differs from it. A problematic situation is a rather vague, not yet very clear and little conscious impression, as if signaling: “something is wrong”, “something is not right”, etc. For example, a pilot begins to notice that something incomprehensible is happening to the motor, but he has not yet figured out what exactly is happening, in which part of the motor, for what reason; and even more so, he still does not know what actions should be taken to avoid possible danger. In such problematic situations, the process of thinking begins. It begins with an analysis of the problematic situation itself. As a result - its analysis arises, the task (problem) in the proper sense of the word is formulated.
The emergence of a problem - in contrast to a problem situation - means that now it has been possible at least preliminary and approximately to separate the given (known) and the unknown (sought). This division appears in the verbal formulation of the problem. For example, in an educational task, its initial conditions are more or less clearly fixed (what is given, what is known, etc.) and the requirement, the question (what is required to prove, find, determine, calculate, etc.). Thus, in the order of only the first approximation and quite preliminary, as it were, the desired (unknown) is outlined, the search and finding of which results in the solution of the problem. Consequently, the original, initial formulation of the problem only to the smallest extent and quite approximately defines what is sought. In the course of solving the problem, i.e., as more and more new and more essential conditions and requirements are revealed, the desired (unknown) is increasingly determined. Its characteristics are becoming more meaningful and clear. The final solution of the problem means that the desired is revealed, found, defined in full. If the desired (unknown) were completely and completely determined already in the initial formulation of the problem, i.e. in the formulation of its initial conditions and requirements, then there would be no need to look for this unknown. It would immediately become known, i.e., no problem would arise that requires thinking to solve it. And vice versa, if there was no initial formulation of the problem, outlining at least in what area the unknown should be searched, i.e. minimally, as it were, anticipating what is sought, then this latter would simply be impossible to find. There would be no preliminary data, "hooks" and blueprints for his search. problem situation (in folk tales: “Go there I don’t know where, find something, I don’t know what myself”) would not give rise to anything but a painful feeling of bewilderment and confusion.
In the course of solving a problem, thinking as a process appears especially clearly. The interpretation of thinking as a process of thinking as a process means, first of all, that the very determination (causation) of mental activity, first of all, that the very determination (causation) of mental activity is carried out as a process. In other words, in the course of solving a problem, a person reveals more and more new conditions and requirements of the problem, previously unknown to him, which causally determine the further flow of thinking. Consequently, the determination of thinking is not initially given as something absolutely ready and already completed, it is precisely formed, gradually formed and developed in the course of solving the problem, that is, it appears in the form of a process. In the initial conditions of the process, it is not "programmed" in advance - everything is entirely and completely - its further course; in the course of solving the problem, new conditions for its implementation continuously arise and develop. Since everything cannot be completely “programmed” in advance, as the thought process proceeds, constant corrections and clarifications are necessary (as a response to new conditions that cannot be fully anticipated from the outset).
Finding a solution to a problem is often described as a sudden, unexpected, instantaneous discovery, "insight", etc. This fact is denoted in the same way as a guess, "insight", heuristics (from the word "eureka" - "found!"), etc. This is how the result, the product of thinking, is fixed, but the task of psychology is to reveal the internal thought process that leads to it. In order to reveal the causality of this seemingly sudden “insight”, that is, the instantaneous finding of the unknown (sought), it is necessary, first of all, to take into account that in the course of solving the problem, at least a minimal, very insignificant and at first very approximate mental anticipation is always carried out. unknown (desired). Thanks to such anticipation, it is possible to throw a bridge from the known to the unknown, as if to fill the gap between them.
In order to better understand the main "mechanisms" of the thought process, let us consider the following three mutually opposite points of view on the mental anticipation of the unknown, which are expressed in psychology and determine the ways in which students' thinking is formed in the course of solving problems.
This is, firstly, the position that each previous stage ("step") cognitive process gives rise to the one immediately following it. This thesis is correct, but not sufficient. In fact, in the course of thinking, at least a minimal anticipation of what is sought is carried out more than one "step" forward. Therefore, everything cannot be reduced only to the relationship between the previous and immediately following stages. In other words, one should not underestimate, underestimate the degree and "volume" of mental anticipation in the course of solving a problem.
The second, opposite point of view, on the contrary, exaggerates, absolutizes, overestimates the moment of anticipation unknown solution, i.e. result (product) that has not yet been identified and has not yet been achieved in the course of thinking. Anticipation - always only partial and approximate - immediately turns here into a ready and complete definition of such a result (solution). The error of this point of view can be shown by the following example. The student struggles with the solution of a difficult problem, which, of course, he does not yet know; he can find it only at the end, as a result, as a result of his thought process. The teacher who already knows the solution knows future result this process begins to help the student. An experienced teacher will never “prompt” him the whole course of the solution at once; he will give him gradually and as needed only small "tips", so that the main part of the work is done by the student himself. This is the only way to form and develop (and not replace) the independent, real thinking of students. If, on the other hand, the main way of the solution is prompted immediately, i.e., the future result of thinking is communicated ahead of time and thus "helps" the student, then this will only slow down the development of his mental activity. When the student knows in advance the entire course of the solution from the first to last stage, his thinking either does not work at all, or works to a minimal extent, very passively. Students always need qualified help from the teacher, but this help should not completely eliminate their thinking, replacing the process with a predetermined, ready-made result.
Thus, both of these considered points of view recognize the presence of mental anticipation in the process of searching for the unknown, although the first of them underestimates and the second exaggerates the role of such anticipation. The third point of view, on the contrary, completely denies anticipation in the course of solving the problem.
The third point of view has become very widespread in connection with the development of the cybernetic approach to thinking. It consists in the following: in the course of the thought process, it is necessary to go through in a row (i.e., remember, take into account, try to use, etc.) one by one all, many or some of the features of the corresponding object associated with it general provisions, theorems and solutions, etc. As a result, it is necessary to choose from them only what is necessary for the solution. For example, if a parallelogram is specified in the initial conditions of the problem, then in the process of thinking about the problem, one must remember, sort through all the properties of this object in a row and try to use each of its properties in turn to solve. and will turn out to be appropriate for the given case.In fact, as special psychological experiments have shown, thinking never "works" according to the method of such a "blind", random, mechanical enumeration of all or some options solutions.
In the course of thinking, at least to a minimal extent, it is anticipated which particular feature of the object under consideration will be singled out, analyzed and generalized. By no means any, no matter what, but only a certain property of the object comes to the fore and is used to solve. The rest of the properties are simply absent, as it were, not "noticeable" at all and disappear from the field of view. This manifests "orientation", selectivity, determinism of thinking. Consequently, at least the minimum, most approximate and very preliminary anticipation of the unknown in the process of its search makes it unnecessary to "blind" mechanical enumeration of all or many properties of the object in question. And, conversely, in those cases where there is no such anticipation, mechanical enumeration becomes inevitable.
It is on the principle of enumeration that all modern "thinking" machines built by cybernetics work. The programs of these machines contain in advance all the main options and methods for solving possible problems, so that in each individual case the “choice” of the desired option is carried out by mechanical enumeration of all or some of the available options. As a result, with the help of such machines, it is indeed possible to solve certain groups of problems, and this is undoubtedly an outstanding achievement of cybernetics. However, cybernetic machines, as we see, work on a completely different principle than human thinking. Consequently, such machines do not "simulate" or reproduce the thinking of a person, although with their help he can solve many complex problems. It is all the more important to find out how the mental anticipation of the unknown is carried out by a person in the course of his cognitive activity. This is one of the central problems of the psychology of thinking. In the process of its development, psychological science overcomes the above three erroneous points of view on the mental anticipation of the unknown (sought). Solving this problem means revealing the basic "mechanism" of thinking.
The solution of the problem is accomplished in various and very diverse ways - depending primarily on the nature of the problem itself. There are tasks for the solution of which all data are contained in the visual content of the problem situation itself. These are mainly the simplest mechanical tasks that require taking into account only the simplest external mechanical and spatial relationships - the tasks of the so-called visual-effective or sensorimotor intelligence. To solve such problems, it is enough to correlate visual data in a new way and rethink the situation. Representatives of Gestalt psychology erroneously try to reduce any solution to a problem to such a transformation of the "structure" of the situation. In fact, this way of solving the problem is only a special case, more or less applicable only to a very limited range of problems. The solution of problems to which the processes of thinking are directed requires, for the most part, the involvement of theoretical knowledge as prerequisites, the generalized content of which goes far beyond the visual situation. The first step of thought in this case is to assign, at first very roughly, the question or problem that arises to a certain field of knowledge.
Inside, thus, the initially outlined sphere, further mental operations are performed, differentiating the circle of knowledge with which the given problem is correlated. If knowledge is obtained in the process of thinking, then the process of thinking, in turn, already presupposes the presence of some kind of knowledge; if a mental act leads to new knowledge, then some knowledge, in turn, always serves as a reference point for thinking. A solution or an attempt to solve a problem usually involves the involvement of certain provisions from existing knowledge as methods or means of resolving it.
These propositions sometimes appear in the form of rules, and the solution of the problem is accomplished in this case by applying the rules. Applying or using a rule to solve a problem involves two different mental operations. The first, often the most difficult, is to determine which rule should be used to solve a given problem, the second is to apply a certain already given general rule to the particular conditions of a particular problem. Students who regularly solve problems that are given to them for a certain rule, very often find themselves unable to solve the same problem later if they do not know what rule this problem is for, because in this case they need to first perform an additional mental operation of finding the relevant rule.
Practically, when solving a problem according to this or that rule, quite often they do not think about the rule at all, do not realize and do not formulate it at least mentally, as a rule, but use a completely automatically established method. In the real thought process, which is a very complex and multifaceted activity, automated schemes of action - specific "skills" of thinking - often play a very significant role. Therefore, it is not necessary to oppose skills, automatisms, and rational thought only outwardly. Formed in the form of rules, the positions of thought and automated schemes of action are not only opposite, but also interconnected. The role of skills, automated schemes of action in the real thought process is especially great precisely in those areas where there is a very generalized rational system of knowledge. For example, a very significant role of automated action schemes in solving mathematical problems.
The solution of a very complex problem, first arising in the mind, is usually first outlined as a result of taking into account and comparing part of the conditions that are taken as initial ones. The question is: does the impending solution not diverge from the rest of the conditions? When this question arises before thought, which resumes the original problem on a new basis, the outlined solution is recognized as a hypothesis. Some, especially complex, problems are solved on the basis of such hypotheses. Awareness of the emerging solution as a hypothesis, i.e., as an assumption, generates the need to verify it. This need becomes especially acute when, on the basis of a preliminary consideration of the conditions of the problem, several possible solutions or hypotheses arise before the thought. The richer the practice, the wider the experience and the more organized the system of knowledge in which this practice and this experience are generalized, the greater the number of control instances, reference points for testing and criticizing their hypotheses has thought.
The degree of criticality of the mind is very different for different people. Criticality is an essential sign of a mature mind. An uncritical, naive mind easily takes any coincidence as an explanation, the first solution that comes up as the final one. The critical mind carefully weighs the pros and cons of its hypotheses and puts them to the test.
When this verification ends, the thought process comes to the final phase - to the final judgment within the given thought process on this issue, fixing the solution of the problem achieved in it. Then the result of mental work descends more or less 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.
As mental activity proceeds, the structure of mental processes and their dynamics change. At first, mental activity, proceeding along paths that have not yet been beaten for a given subject, is determined primarily by mobile dynamic relationships that take shape and change in the very process of solving a problem. But in the course of the mental activity itself, as the subject repeatedly solves the same or homogeneous tasks, more or less stable mechanisms deposited in the subject are formed and fixed in it - automatisms, thinking skills that begin to determine the thought process. Since certain mechanisms have developed, they determine, to one degree or another, the course of activity, but they themselves, in turn, are determined by it, taking shape depending on its course. So, as we formulate our thought, we form it. The system of operations that determines the structure of mental activity and determines its course is itself formed, transformed and consolidated in the process of this activity.
6.3. Basic mental operations
Thoughts are as much a reality as matter. But they are not visible. But they appear in matter. I just need to find them. For example, the leaves on a branch are arranged differently, at the beginning and at the end. But there is a general principle.
Thoughts can only be extracted from where they are (you can pour water only from where it is). If you cannot extract a thought from an object, this does not mean that it is not there. So I can't think.
The world is built on thought. This is the only way to think. First see things, and then find the law that explains them (you need to fall several times and hit hard, only then learn to ride a bicycle). The same, just hitting, you can start to think (ask yourself) why am I falling? If you only say so-and-so, then you will not learn to think.
Psychology studies the process of thinking of an individual and explores how and why, during what cognitive process arises and develops this or that thought. Psychology studies the patterns of the course of the thought process itself, which leads to cognitive results that meet the requirements of logic. The process of thinking and its results are inextricably linked and do not exist without each other.
Psychologically, to investigate thinking as a process means to study the internal hidden causes that lead to the formation of certain cognitive results.
The main task of thinking is to identify essential necessary relationships based on real dependencies, separating them from random coincidences in time and space.
Thinking is defined as a generalized and indirect reflection of reality, its essential properties, connections and relationships.
Thinking as a special mental process has a number of specific characteristics and features.
6. Thinking and speech
Thinking is a process of reflection common properties objects and phenomena and the search and creation (understanding) of the relationships and relationships between them. Thinking is a generalized knowledge of objective reality. It is characteristic that thinking begins with a delay in movement, although it is movement itself (theorist versus practitioner). This is due to a problematic situation, a task that needs to be solved. Methods of experimentation and error, when we empirically try various combinations, are not yet thinking, although some authors claim this. (Compare, for example, Köhler's very illustrative experiments with chimpanzees or Ladygina-Kots's, to make it clear that we are talking about some kind of pre-stage of thinking, namely, "problem posing." But after problem posing, thinking proceeds in a different way, and not by the method experiences and mistakes!
The phases of thinking are as follows:
1. A problem situation (as a rule, accompanied by surprise, which Plato already considered as the beginning of knowledge. The orienting reflex at the level of animals illustrates well what in question: the animal freezes, full of intense attention, facing the decision of the situation and orienting in it).
The problem (question) is posed, “if the activity has a goal, but does not have a clear or well-known path and goal. The researcher must find and test the path to the goal. If he finds a way, he will find a solution, although not always the best ... We talk about thinking if the attempts of the researcher go beyond the immediate proposed situation and if, at the same time, he uses memory and concepts acquired earlier ”(Woodworth).
When we wash and dress in the morning, this is not yet a problematic situation, but if, for example, in the morning after getting out of bed, we injure our hand so that we cannot control it at all, then washing and dressing will become a problem for us, the injury will put us in front of a problematic situation. , although quite simple. Therefore, the decisive sign of a problem situation is the fact that we are aware of it as a problem situation.
Therefore, we can speak of an upper and lower threshold, depending on the fact that we already recognize some situations as problematic, in contrast to all other situations that are not problematic for us;
by the upper threshold, we mean situations that are unsolvable for us, the solution of which we simply refuse to solve in advance.
The problem situation leads us to:
2. Determination of the goal. The goal becomes the defining, determining trend of the thinking process, organizes and directs our activities until we find a solution.
3. Decision. Thinking does not always have to be logical, but logical thinking is a guarantee of correct thinking. Due to the fact that modern logic sees primary logical material in connections, and thinking is the comprehension of connections, it is necessary to get acquainted with those basic operations of logic that are traditionally considered as methods leading to the formation of logically correct connections.
Analysis and synthesis
By parsing complex reality, by decomposing it into simple and already known facts(analysis) we try to understand the unknown and the complex. Therefore, analysis involves comparison and differentiation (comparation and discrimination). For example, we carefully study the symptoms of a disease, some of them are the same as in a certain disease, but two of them, very significant symptoms, are different from them. We compare and analyze.
Therefore, analysis is carried out from the whole to the elements, while synthesis is carried out from familiar phenomena to unknown complexes. And in our case, analysis and synthesis complement and test each other. Synthesis usually leads given material to hypothetical assumptions that reality will or will not test as correct.
Abstraction and determination (concretization)
Abstraction consists in simplifying reality by abstracting from details and in symbolizing this reality. It differs from analysis in that in it there is no longer any consciousness of connection with a concrete whole quantity.
The result of abstraction is schematic abstracts (abstract schemes) as a manifestation of the holistic nature of human thinking: “animal”, “something”, “something” are the fruit of abstraction, just like the concept of infinity, identity, etc.
Abstraction is essential. A single concrete reality would in itself be an impenetrable and impenetrable jungle for us. Abstraction is a simplification, a schematizing map of reality, the first generalization of our experience.
Concretization, determination is a process that is completely opposite to abstraction. We start from abstracts and accept the forgetting of abstraction: we return to concrete phenomena. We act like this, for example, when we transfer general information (about some nosological unit) to the case of a specific disease in a specific patient.
The main phases of the thought process
In an extended thought process, since it is always directed towards the solution of some problem, several main stages or phases can be distinguished.
The initial phase of the thought process is more or less clear awareness of the problem situation.
Awareness of a problematic situation can begin with a sense of surprise (from which, according to Plato, all knowledge begins), caused by a situation that gave the impression of extraordinaryness. This surprise may be generated by an unexpected failure of a habitual action or way of behaving. Thus, the problem situation can first arise in an actionable way. Difficulties in terms of action signal a problem situation, and surprise makes you feel it. But it is still necessary to comprehend the problem as such. It requires work of thought. Therefore, when a problem situation is depicted as the beginning, as the starting point of thinking, one should not imagine it in such a way that the problem must always be given in a ready-made form in advance, before thinking, and the thought process begins only after it has been established. Already here, from the very first step, one has to make sure that in the process of thinking all its moments are in an internal dialectical interconnection, which does not allow them to be mechanically broken and arranged side by side in a linear sequence. 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. Many things are problematic to the penetrating mind; only for those who are not accustomed to think independently, there are no problems; everything is taken for granted only to him whose mind is still inactive. 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; the ability to see the problem is a function of knowledge. Therefore, if knowledge presupposes thinking, then thinking, already at its starting point, presupposes knowledge. Each problem solved raises a number of new problems; the more a man knows, the better he knows what he does not know.
From understanding the problem, thought moves to its solution.
The solution of the problem is accomplished in various and very diverse ways - depending primarily on the nature of the problem itself. There are tasks for the solution of which all data are contained in the visual content of the problem situation itself. These are mainly the simplest mechanical tasks that require taking into account only the simplest external mechanical and spatial relationships - the tasks of the so-called visual-effective or sensorimotor intelligence (see below). To solve such problems, it is enough to correlate visual data in a new way and rethink the situation. Representatives of Gestalt psychology erroneously try to reduce any solution to a problem to such a transformation of the "structure" of the situation. In fact, this way of solving the problem is only a special case, more or less applicable only to a very limited range of problems. The solution of problems to which the processes of thinking are directed requires, for the most part, the involvement of theoretical knowledge as prerequisites, the generalized content of which goes far beyond the visual situation. The first step of thought in this case is to assign, at first very roughly, the question or problem that arises to a certain field of knowledge.
Within the sphere thus initially outlined, further mental operations are performed, differentiating the circle of knowledge with which the given problem is correlated. If knowledge is obtained in the process of thinking, then the process of thinking, in turn, already presupposes the presence of some kind of knowledge; if a mental act leads to new knowledge, then some knowledge, in turn, always serves as a reference point for thinking. A solution or an attempt to solve a problem usually involves the involvement of certain provisions from existing knowledge as methods or means of resolving it.
These propositions sometimes appear in the form of rules, and the solution of the problem is accomplished in this case by applying the rules. Applying or using a rule to solve a problem involves two different mental operations. The first, often the most difficult, is to determine which rule should be used to solve a given problem, the second is to apply a certain already given general rule to the particular conditions of a particular problem. Students who regularly solve problems that are given to them for a certain rule, very often find themselves unable to solve the same problem later if they do not know what rule this problem is for, because in this case they need to first perform an additional mental operation of finding the relevant rule.
Practically, when solving a problem according to this or that rule, very often they do not think about the rule at all, do not realize and do not formulate it, at least mentally, as a rule, but use a completely automatically established method. In the real thought process, which is a very complex and multifaceted activity, automated schemes of action - specific "skills" of thinking - often play a very significant role. Therefore, it is not necessary to oppose skills, automatisms, and rational thought only outwardly. Formed in the form of rules, the positions of thought and automated schemes of action are not only opposite, but also interconnected. The role of skills, automated schemes of action in the real thought process is especially great precisely in those areas where there is a very generalized rational system of knowledge. For example, the role of automated action schemes in solving mathematical problems is very significant.
The solution of a very complex problem, first arising in the mind, is usually first outlined as a result of taking into account and comparing part of the conditions that are taken as initial ones. The question is: does the impending solution not diverge from the rest of the conditions? When this question arises before thought, which resumes the original problem on a new basis, the outlined solution is realized as hypothesis. Some, especially complex, problems are solved on the basis of such hypotheses. Awareness of the emerging solution as a hypothesis, i.e., as an assumption, generates the need to verify it. This need becomes especially acute when, on the basis of a preliminary consideration of the conditions of the problem, several possible solutions or hypotheses arise before the thought. The richer the practice, the wider the experience and the more organized the system of knowledge in which this practice and this experience are generalized, the greater the number of control instances, reference points for testing and criticizing their hypotheses has thought.
The degree of criticality of the mind is very different for different people. Criticality is an essential sign of a mature mind. An uncritical, naive mind easily takes any coincidence as an explanation, the first solution that comes up as the final one. The critical mind carefully weighs the pros and cons of its hypotheses and puts them to the test.
When this test ends, the thought process comes to the final phase - to the final one within the given thought process. judgment on this issue, fixing the solution of the problem achieved in it. Then the result of mental work descends more or less 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.
As mental activity proceeds, the structure of mental processes and their dynamics change. At first, mental activity, proceeding along paths that have not yet been beaten for a given subject, is determined primarily by mobile dynamic relationships that take shape and change in the very process of solving a problem. But in the course of the mental activity itself, as the subject repeatedly solves the same or homogeneous tasks, more or less stable mechanisms deposited in the subject are formed and fixed in it - automatisms, thinking skills that begin to determine the thought process. Since certain mechanisms have developed, they determine, to one degree or another, the course of activity, but they themselves, in turn, are determined by it, taking shape depending on its course. So, as we formulate our thought, we form it. The system of operations that determines the structure of mental activity and determines its course is itself formed, transformed and consolidated in the process of this activity.
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