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Mediocrity is the most important characteristic of thinking. Thinking, its forms and types. Types and types of thinking

Mediocrity of thinking- this is a property of thought, the essence of which lies in the possibility of going beyond immediate experience. Sometimes you need to take intermediate steps that seem to go in the opposite direction of the goal, such as solving a problem using detours or indirect paths.

1. Three vessels are given: 30, 12 and 3 liters. How to measure 15 liters? (This problem can be solved by addition: 12 + 3= 15.)
2. Three vessels are given: 37, 21 and 3 liters. How to measure exactly 10 liters of water? (Can be solved by subtracting both smaller numbers from the larger one: 37 - 21 - 3 - 3= 10.)
3. How can you get a match lying at the bottom of a two-meter pipe buried in the ground?

If significant difficulties are encountered along the way of solving a problem, then such a task can be divided into several smaller tasks, or subtasks.

Retrospective Thinking- the ability to conduct a thorough analysis of what is happening and draw appropriate conclusions.

The wise man creates more opportunities for himself than chance presents to him; the wise man creates a weapon from everything that comes to hand; the wise one will turn chance into luck - in other words, a retrospective analysis of the decision, returning to the result already obtained, is an important step in the process of professionalizing the specialist’s thinking.

Retrospective analysis of the conflict- this is an attempt to assess the situation some time after the resolution or end of the conflict, when its participants occupy slightly different positions in the team. Over time, some of the most significant moments of behavior in conflict situation can be reproduced more sharply. And since there is no particular need for psychological protection to alleviate emotional experiences, which often leads to a distortion of the event, the desire to convey it in an idealized form, more reliable data can be obtained.

1. Five diggers dig a 5 m ditch in five hours. How many diggers will dig 100 m of ditch in 100 hours?
2. Three horses ran 24 km in an hour. How many kilometers per hour did each horse run?
3. Kolya asked:
- - I have 10 marks, what about you, Sasha?

Sasha replied:

I have as many stamps as you, and half of all my stamps.

How many stamps does Sasha have?

1. He who does not think again cannot think correctly. Second thoughts are the best.
2. An intelligent person does not get offended, but draws conclusions.
3. After analyzing the process and the result of the resolved situation, it is advisable to answer the following questions for yourself.

What new have I learned?

What surprised me most, pleased me, upset me?

What did I learn from being in this situation?

What conclusions do I draw for the future?

Curiosity of mind- the ability to be surprised by everything new; cognitive interest; “playing” with an idea; openness to unfinished and uncertain situations; the need to search for the question: what would I do differently?

Curious people think about the causes of the incident. Where there is no more material for the curious to see and hear, for the curious the work is just beginning. This is the work of thought, awakened by a specific, random fact, but behind which thought is looking for a certain pattern. Curiosity- preservation of a direct relationship to the world (they fuss, rush about, admire, gasp and groan). However, there is no development in this personality type.

N.V. Gogol accurately noted: curiosity is faceless, its manifestations are the same, and curiosity gives rise to unique individuals, because the path into the depths of truth is unique.

In the case of curiosity, the impulse comes from the person himself, which radically changes the nature of interest. And, most importantly, it does not fade away with the end of this or that situation, but, on the contrary, flares up even more, captures him entirely, forcing him to dive deeper and deeper into the activity of interest. A person’s thought again and again returns to what remains unclear to the end. Curiosity means the ability to step through yourself.

Curiosity- this is a superficial, situational, reactive, episodic interest, associated with the experience of one’s cognitive relationship to the subject in this moment. Such interest is fragile, unstable and quickly disappears, often leaving almost no traces in the life of the individual. For a professional interested in personal growth and collaboration, it is important to learn how to select something personal and exciting from the flow of information.

Experiments conducted on rats have shown that there is about one rat in a thousand that will occasionally go into the part of the cage where it receives an electric shock.

1. Grandma needs to fry six cutlets, but only four cutlets fit in the frying pan. Each cutlet needs to be fried for 5 minutes on one side and 5 minutes on the other. How long will it take to fry six cutlets in this frying pan? How can you do this in 15 minutes?
2. Give a reasoned answer to the question: “Prying your nose into other people’s affairs - good or bad?”

1. Curiosity always promotes ingenuity (S. Zweig).
2. The thinner the ice, the more everyone wants to see whether it will hold up (G.W. Shaw).

The first feature of thinking is its indirect nature. What a person cannot know directly, directly, he knows indirectly, indirectly: some properties through others, the unknown - through the known. Thinking is always based on the data of sensory experience - sensations, perceptions, ideas - and on previously acquired theoretical knowledge. Indirect knowledge is mediated knowledge. The second feature of thinking is its generality. Generalization as knowledge of the general and essential in the objects of reality is possible because all the properties of these objects are connected with each other. The general exists and manifests itself only in the individual, in the concrete.

People express generalizations through speech and language. A verbal designation refers not only to a single object, but also to a whole group of similar objects. Generalization is also inherent in images (ideas and even perceptions). But there it is always limited by clarity. The word allows one to generalize limitlessly. Philosophical concepts of matter, motion, law, essence, phenomenon, quality, quantity, etc. - the broadest generalizations expressed in words.

Thinking is the highest level of human knowledge of reality. The sensory basis of thinking is sensations, perceptions and ideas. Through the senses - these are the only channels of communication between the body and the outside world - information enters the brain. The content of information is processed by the brain. The most complex form of information processing is the activity of thinking. Solving the mental problems that life poses to a person, he reflects, draws conclusions and thereby learns the essence of things and phenomena, discovers the laws of their connection, and then transforms the world on this basis.

Thinking is associated with sensations and perceptions, it is formed on the basis of them. The transition from sensation to thought is a complex process, which consists in isolating and isolating an object or its sign, in abstracting from the concrete, individual and establishing the essential, common to many objects. Thinking acts mainly as a solution to tasks, questions, problems that are constantly put forward to people by life. The real process of thought is always a process not only cognitive, but also emotional-volitional.

The objective material form of thinking is language. A thought becomes a thought both for oneself and for others only through the word - oral and written. Thanks to language, people's thoughts are not lost, but are passed on as a system of knowledge from generation to generation. Means of transmitting thinking: light and sound signals, electrical impulses, gestures, etc. Taking on a verbal form, a thought is at the same time formed and realized in the process of speech. The movement of thought, its clarification, the connection of thoughts with each other, and so on, occur only through speech activity. Thinking and speech (language) are one.

Thinking is inextricably linked with speech mechanisms, with speech-auditory and speech-motor mechanisms, with the practical activities of people. Practical activity is the main condition for the emergence and development of thinking, as well as a criterion for the truth of thinking.

Thinking is a function of the brain, the result of its analytical and synthetic activity. It is ensured by the operation of both signaling systems with the leading role of the second signaling system. When solving mental problems, a process of transformation of systems of temporary nerve connections occurs in the cerebral cortex. Finding a new thought physiologically means closing neural connections in a new combination.

Consciousness is the highest form of reflection of the real world, characteristic only of people and the function of the brain associated with speech, which consists in a generalized and purposeful reflection of reality, in the preliminary mental construction of actions and anticipation of their results, in the reasonable regulation and self-control of human behavior.

The core of consciousness, the way of its existence, is knowledge. Consciousness belongs to the subject, the person, and not to the surrounding world. Consciousness is a subjective image of the objective world, the subjective side of the psyche, awareness of the nearest sensory-perceptible environment and awareness of a limited connection with other persons and things located outside a person beginning to become conscious of himself, and at the same time awareness of nature.

Consciousness is characterized by such aspects as self-awareness, introspection, and self-control. Their formation occurs when a person distinguishes himself from environment. Self-awareness is the most important difference between the human psyche and the psyche of the most developed animals.

Consciousness is always connected with processes occurring in the brain and does not exist apart from them.

Consciousness is the highest form of reflection of the world and is associated with articulate speech,

logical generalizations, abstract concepts that are inherent only to humans.

The core of consciousness, the way of its existence, is knowledge.

Work develops consciousness.

Speech (language) shapes consciousness.

Consciousness is a function of the brain.

Consciousness is multicomponent, but constitutes a single whole.

Consciousness is active and has the ability to influence the surrounding reality.

Consequently, for the characteristics of the highest form of life, consciousness, we must thank the socio-historical experience of generations, labor, language and knowledge.

Mediocrity of thinking has specific features. Thinking is mediated by human practical activity aimed at mastering reality, communication and speech. Initially, the knowledge of properties that are not accessible to sensory reflection is a direct result of activity aimed at practical goals. Over time, cognitive actions acquire an independent status, internal (mental) actions and activities aimed at solving cognitive problems are formed. This is greatly facilitated by the linguistic form of expression and consolidation of the information received, as well as the exchange of experience between people.

In the course of further development, mental activity is separated from practical activity and becomes the way of existence of individual people.

Complication cognitive activity poses a new task for a person - the study of his own thinking. Dialogue begins to be consciously used not only as a method of cognition, but also of self-knowledge. A system of correct, disciplined thinking is being developed, with which the development of the science of logic begins.

Thinking has deep socio-historical roots. The leading role in the development of thinking belongs to natural scientific language and speech. As L.S. said Vygotsky, not only individual mental processes, but all consciousness as a whole owes its origin to the word.

Consciousness, according to Vygotsky, has a systemic and semantic structure. On the one hand, it is a system of mental functions, on the other, a system of meanings.

In the early stages of the development of this system, the central place in it is occupied by perception, later by memory, and even later by thinking. Each of the mental processes throughout the development of consciousness has a reverse effect on previously established mental functions, raising them to a higher level; further, these transformed mental functions encourage further development those processes that contributed to their transformation.

For a preschooler, writes Vygotsky, to think means to remember, and for a schoolchild to remember means to think. Perception and memory fill thinking with sensory content. The influence of memory on perception is manifested in its properties such as projectivity and apperception. Thinking gives perception meaning; as a result, the sensory becomes rational.

Thinking, like all mental processes, is mediated by the entire totality of products of the cultural and historical experience of mankind, including methods of carrying out activities that are learned, appropriated and used by the individual in his life.

Means of thinking can and are engineering structures (measuring instruments, tracking devices, computers), graphic designs (drawings, diagrams, diagrams, models), symbolic intermediaries: from words natural language to detailed speech, from individual scientific terms to detailed theoretical constructions, from individual logical-mathematical or physical symbols to formulas reflecting the laws of connections and transformations of elements of relevant objects.

Everything that is a goal in thinking, after achieving it, becomes a means. The definition of what is an end and what is a means depends on the nature of the problems being solved. On this basis, all forms of sensory reflection of reality should be included in the category of means of thinking. Thinking arises in situations of deficiency of sensory experience, but understanding a complex situation and discovering ways to resolve it may not always, but often occurs by analogy with what is sensed. Next question associated with the specifics of thinking as a process. The answer to this question takes us back to the beginning, to where thinking begins.

The ancient philosopher Plato saw this beginning in a feeling of wonder. His student Aristotle - in a priori reasons: target, formal, material and driving - predetermining the direction of action and its design in the form of practical or verbal thinking. Along with this, another type of thinking is introduced, which does not owe its origin to the body (material cause), which is not characteristic of everyone, but only a select few, and which is called theoretical, that is, having a divine nature.

According to the teachings of the 17th century English philosopher J. Locke, thinking begins with simple ideas- sensations, the combination of which, mediated by operations, leads to the formation of complex ideas - concepts.

In the teachings of the French philosopher R. Descartes, the starting point from which thinking originates is not sensation or perception, but doubt about truth sensory knowledge. The sensory experience of mastering reality, according to R. Descartes, is provided by reflexive mechanisms common to humans and animals. Feelings of doubt are unique to humans. Awareness of the very fact of doubt gives rise to movement in a direction perpendicular to the sensory. This is the beginning of thinking.

The teachings of philosophers exploring the question of the beginnings of thinking from different theoretical positions, but using for these purposes the only method of introspection available at that time, had a great influence on the psychology of the 20th and present centuries. In modern psychology, it is believed that thinking arises in a problem situation. The first, more or less objective sign of a problem situation is the stopping of a previously ongoing process (movement or action) and a question asked in the most general form, such as: what is it, what’s the matter, how? Subjective signs of a problem situation are: a state of uncertainty, undisclosedness, incomprehensibility of objective relations in it, a feeling of confusion, confusion or surprise. The question contains these states and expresses them.

A situation in which two main determinants of action are defined or outlined - the goal and the need to achieve it, but there are no ready-made, currently established means of achieving the goal and satisfying the need - is called problematic.

In nature, problem situations do not exist; they arise only in the life of a person or human society, prompting the search for new means and ways to satisfy needs. F. Perls called such situations dead-end and associated them with states of empty consciousness, with the absence of any images or ideas in the human mind. Problematic or similar situations mark a transition from what is to what is not, but will only be, from the reproduction of past experience in human activity to the construction of new ideas.

A state of uncertainty and awareness of the existence of a problem situation, contained in questions general type, act as a motivating principle of thinking. Next, analytical-synthetic processes come into play, thanks to which the subject of thinking separates what is given to him in this situation from what is unknown and needs to be found. As a result, the subject is defined in a problem situation, and the situation is transformed into a task. This ends the first phase of thinking as a process.

The very formulation of the problem, as S.L. Rubinstein writes, is an act of thinking. To formulate a question means to rise to a known understanding, and to understand a task or problem means to find a way, that is, a method for solving it.

From awareness of the problem, the subject moves to its immediate resolution. This process is carried out in the form of practical testing of a problem situation or putting forward and testing hypotheses. In the most developed forms of thinking, this process is realized in the form of conscious hypothetico-deductive activity.

Choosing the most successful idea or developing (inventing) an adequate way to solve a problem means moving to the last phase - the formulation of the product of thinking in the form of judgments, conclusions or practical transformations of the problem situation in the direction of its resolution and resolution. In the last, final phase of thinking, conditions are created for the subject to return to the process that was interrupted by the problem situation and restore the previously ongoing process, unless, of course, the factors motivating it have lost their relevance.

Phases are fairly large units of thinking, quite accessible to external observation or introspection (self-observation), if the subject has such an ability. Phase dynamics reflect cyclicity, structural integrity and completeness of thinking as a problem-solving process. A logical question arises: what specific means are used to implement each of the phases and the entire cycle as a whole?

Experimental and practical psychology contains a fairly definite answer to this question - with the help of operations. Thinking is an operational process. The most studied operations of thinking are: analysis and synthesis, comparison, abstraction, generalization and concretization. Let's consider each of them separately.

Analysis means breaking a whole into parts; synthesis - the reunification of parts and the formation of new wholes. Analytical function most characteristic sensory processes, synthetic - perceptual. The genetic roots of these operations go back to external practical actions. In the future, each of them can be transformed into a more or less independent type of activity.

It is known that some people are most prone to analytical activities. They are called analysts or critics. Others are more capable of synthesizing and generating ideas. The creative process as a whole is carried out in a dialogue between analysts and synthesizers. Analysis and synthesis as operations of thinking are interdependent and mutually consistent in such a way that together they form a single analytical-synthetic activity unfolding in two directions: analysis through synthesis or, conversely, synthesis through analysis.

Comparison means comparing things, properties, phenomena, ideas and identifying relationships of similarity or difference between them. Comparison underlies the likening, recognition and recognition of not only material, but also graphic, symbolic or ideal objects. This operation is part of both elementary acts of thinking and complex forms of mental activity.

Comparison is one of the main operations in the early stages of development of cognitive activity. By comparing objects according to sensory-perceptible features, identifying common and distinctive features, children master ways of constructing empirical classes. The basic techniques of literary creativity - analogy, metaphor, synecdoche - contain operations of comparison.

Abstraction and concretization are another dyad of mutually agreed upon operations. Abstraction means highlighting, isolating, extracting or isolating individual properties, aspects, phenomena, methods of action or activity. It is customary to distinguish between sensory, empirical and theoretical abstraction. Sensual is expressed in the abstraction of some aspects of directly perceived reality from others. It is typical for children preschool age, which to the question, “What is a dog?” - they answer: “the dog barks, it has a tummy, a tail, paws and ears.”

Empirical abstraction forms the substantive basis of concepts and classifications constructed through observations and comparisons of many specific images. An example is the classification of plants or animals in biology. Criteria biological concepts and classifications contain, as a rule, empirical knowledge regarding sensory-perceptible characteristics.

Theoretical abstraction underlies concepts that have no sensory analogue in objective reality. There are many such concepts in analytical algebra, geometry, as well as in philosophy and psychology, for example, “unconscious” or “thinking.”

Concretization as an operation of thinking consists in selecting examples when mastering concepts and filling the concepts with concrete, sensory content. Specification is included in all types of activities and acquires special meaning in literary and artistic creativity.

The measure of the relationship between concretization and abstraction is regulated by the concepts: norm, deviation, originality, pathology. Excessive specification without abstraction is one of the signs of dementia, and a high degree of abstraction without specification is characteristic feature some types of schizophrenia. The dynamics of the relationship between concretization and abstraction are similar to those between the operations of analysis and synthesis. Mutual transitions of paired operations from one to another are a condition for flexibility of thinking.

The last of the above operations of thinking is a generalization, which, on the one hand, is the result of the interaction of all of the above operations, and on the other hand, has independent meaning. Generalization means combining properties, objects, ideas or knowledge into one group, which is given a name. The development of generalizations is associated with the emergence of the first words and the development of speech. The level of generalization determines the type of concepts that are formed as a product of thinking, functioning as a means of thinking and representing meaningful aspects of thinking.

In genetic terms, the source of generalizations is intersubjective, including practical, communicative and cognitive (cognitive) interaction. Practice, communication and knowledge are the three main components human existence. The role of each of these components is different at different stages of development of the individual and society

At the early stages of the historical-genetic process, practical activity predominates, which is carried out with the help of practical actions in the space directly opening up to sensory experience. This method of mastering reality includes communication and cognition. Then communication is autonomized and separated into an independent activity. Cognition at this stage becomes a way of existence for individual groups of people. Following this, a stage comes when knowledge becomes a condition for the successful life of the majority. At this stage, mass education begins, the number of levels of training increases, personal computers and electronic means of communication appear. Communication takes on new forms.

Thinking on this epochal scale develops from thinking in the form of action to thinking in the form of an image and from it, without breaking the connection with previous forms, to thinking in the form of the Word. From the beginning, the Word, then speech, and later, along with natural languages, artificial languages become the main means of practical, communication and cognitive development of a person. Cultural and historical sections in the development of thinking are another characteristic of this process.

The initial form of human thinking is external objective action. The dynamics of the relationship between action and activity are such that action included in activity aimed at satisfying needs can be transformed into activity. In this case, the goal becomes the motive. In turn, activity can be transformed into action as a condition for the implementation of new types of activity.

Operations are by their origin transformed and automated actions included in other, more complex actions. In case of difficulties, the operation can unfold into action, change in this process and transform into a new operation.

Achieving the goal, i.e. overcoming the distance from what is to what is not yet, but will only be, requires, to a certain extent, the exertion of all forces and overcoming oneself, in other words, means going beyond the limits of actual subjective experience. In this sense, action performs a transcendental function.

From a genetic perspective, action develops in the direction from external, aimed at an external goal, to internal, mental, purposeful actions, the operational composition of which is collapsed, reduced and not presented to consciousness. This is the path of internalization. The transition of internal, mental actions and operations from their characteristic collapsed and abbreviated form to an expanded one external form- the path of exteriorization. On this path, the thought is formalized and realized in the external plane (materializes).

The entire history of the development of thinking, both a social phenomenon and the individual ability of an individual, shows that this process is most directly related to the emergence and development of words, language and speech. A word is a universal sign that can be correlated with any phenomenon external to the subject of the world and any subjective state. A word, like any sign, has two sides - external (sound scale) and internal (meaning). The external - sensory-perceptible side of words and speech in general creates the possibility of communication without interruption from direct practical interaction between people. By accepting a message from another, a person changes his actions, corrects them, and in this coordinated process, purposeful collective activity develops. The first word is a message addressed to another person. The universality of a verbal message is that, being a means of influencing another, the word becomes a means of influencing oneself and, thus, a means of controlling one’s own actions and thinking.

In the genesis of speech, a change in the forms of speech activity is observed, as a result of which external speech is transformed into internal speech. In this process, the sound of a word or message is reduced and not introspectively recorded, just as preschool children are not aware of the sound side of their own speech. The degree to which inner speech participates in thinking can only be determined using instrumental methods. This kind of research was carried out by A.N Sokolov.

The stimulus material used in this study was progressive matrices Ravenna from the D. Ravenna test, arithmetic and linguistic problems presented visually or auditorily. In one of the series of studies, micromovements of the tongue and electrical activity of the speech muscles were recorded as objective indicators of the participation of speech in problem solving. In another series - in experiments with central speech interference - the subjects were asked to silently, silently solve problems while simultaneously reciting poetry, meaningless syllables or (natural series) numbers out loud.

According to a study of motor excitability and electrical activity of speech muscles, it was found that the intensity and duration of internal speech:

- increases with increasing degree of complexity and novelty of the tasks being solved;
- more pronounced during auditory presentation of stimulus material;
- more common in children than in adults.

Experiments with central inhibition have shown that speech interference during linguistic tasks causes something like “sensory aphasia,” in which subjects, perceiving individual words, did not understand the meaning of phrases and sentences. On this basis, it was concluded that hidden verbalization is directly related to the semantic processing of perceived information.

In the course of further development, mental activity is separated from practical activity and becomes the way of existence of individual people.

The increasing complexity of cognitive activity poses a new task for a person - the study of his own thinking. Dialogue begins to be consciously used not only as a method of cognition, but also of self-knowledge. A system of correct, disciplined thinking is being developed, with which the development of the science of logic begins.

Consciousness, according to Vygotsky, has a systemic and semantic structure. On the one hand, it is a system of mental functions, on the other, a system of meanings.

In the early stages of the development of this system, the central place in it is occupied by perception, later by memory, and even later by thinking. Each of the mental processes throughout the development of consciousness has a reverse effect on previously established mental functions, raising them to a higher level; further, these transformed mental functions encourage further development of those processes that contributed to their transformation.

Means of thinking can be and are engineering structures (measuring instruments, tracking devices, computers), graphic designs (drawings, diagrams, diagrams, models), sign-symbolic intermediaries: from words of natural language to extended speech, from individual scientific terms to detailed theoretical constructions, from individual logical-mathematical or physical symbols to formulas reflecting the laws of connections and transformations of elements of relevant objects.

Everything that is a goal in thinking, after achieving it, becomes a means. The definition of what is an end and what is a means depends on the nature of the problems being solved. On this basis, all forms of sensory reflection of reality should be included in the category of means of thinking. Thinking arises in situations of deficiency of sensory experience, but understanding a complex situation and discovering ways to resolve it may not always, but often occurs by analogy with what is sensed. The next question is related to the specifics of thinking as a process. The answer to this question takes us back to the beginning, to where thinking begins.

According to the teachings of the 17th century English philosopher J. Locke, thinking begins with simple ideas - sensations, the combination of which, mediated by operations, leads to the formation of complex ideas - concepts.

In the teachings of the French philosopher R. Descartes, the starting point from which thinking originates is not sensation or perception, but doubt about the truth of sensory knowledge. The sensory experience of mastering reality, according to R. Descartes, is provided by reflexive mechanisms common to humans and animals. Feelings of doubt are unique to humans. Awareness of the very fact of doubt gives rise to movement in a direction perpendicular to the sensory. This is the beginning of thinking.

A situation in which 2 main determinants of action are identified or outlined - the goal and the need to achieve it, but there are no ready-made, currently established means of achieving the goal and satisfying the need - is called problematic.

The state of uncertainty and awareness of the existence of a problem situation, contained in questions of a general type, act as a motivating beginning of thinking. Next, analytical-synthetic processes come into play, thanks to which the subject of thinking separates what is given to him in this situation from what is unknown and needs to be found. As a result, the subject is defined in a problem situation, and the situation is transformed into a task. This ends the first phase of thinking as a process.

Analysis means breaking a whole into parts; synthesis - the reunification of parts and the formation of new wholes. The analytical function is most characteristic of sensory processes, while the synthetic function is characteristic of perceptual processes. The genetic roots of these operations go back to external practical actions. In the future, each of them can be transformed into a more or less independent type of activity.

Comparison is one of the main operations in the early stages of development of cognitive activity. By comparing objects according to sensory-perceptible characteristics, identifying common and distinctive features in them, children master the methods of constructing empirical classes. The basic techniques of literary creativity - analogy, metaphor, synecdoche - contain operations of comparison.

Abstraction and concretization are another dyad of mutually agreed upon operations. Abstraction means highlighting, isolating, extracting or isolating individual properties, aspects, phenomena, methods of action or activity. It is customary to distinguish between sensory, empirical and theoretical abstraction. Sensual is expressed in the abstraction of some aspects of directly perceived reality from others. It is typical for preschool children, who, when asked, “What is a dog?” - they answer: “the dog barks, it has a tummy, a tail, paws and ears.”

Empirical abstraction forms the substantive basis of concepts and classifications constructed through observations and comparisons of many specific images. An example is the classification of plants or animals in biology. The criteria for biological concepts and classifications contain, as a rule, empirical knowledge regarding sensory-perceptible characteristics.

Concretization as an operation of thinking consists in selecting examples when mastering concepts and filling the concepts with concrete, sensory content. Concretization is included in all types of activities and acquires special significance in literary and artistic creativity.

The measure of the relationship between concretization and abstraction is regulated by the concepts: norm, deviation, originality, pathology. Excessive specification without abstraction is one of the signs of dementia, and a high degree of abstraction without specification is a characteristic feature of some types of schizophrenia. The dynamics of the relationship between concretization and abstraction are similar to those between the operations of analysis and synthesis. Mutual transitions of paired operations from one to another are a condition for flexibility of thinking.

The last of the above operations of thinking is a generalization, which, on the one hand, is the result of the interaction of all the listed operations, and on the other hand, has independent meaning. Generalization means combining properties, objects, ideas or knowledge into one group, which is given a name. The development of generalizations is associated with the emergence of the first words and the development of speech. The level of generalization determines the type of concepts that are formed as a product of thinking, functioning as a means of thinking and representing meaningful aspects of thinking.

In genetic terms, the source of generalizations is intersubjective, including practical, communicative and cognitive (cognitive) interaction. Practice, communication and knowledge are the three main components of human existence. The role of each of these components is different at different stages of development of the individual and society

From a genetic perspective, action develops in the direction from external, aimed at an external goal, to internal, mental, purposeful actions, the operational composition of which is collapsed, reduced and not presented to consciousness. This is the path of internalization. The transition of internal, mental actions and operations from their characteristic collapsed and abbreviated form to an expanded external form is the path of exteriorization. On this path, the thought is formalized and realized in the external plane (materializes).

The entire history of the development of thinking, both a social phenomenon and the individual ability of an individual, shows that this process is most directly related to the emergence and development of words, language and speech. A word is a universal sign that can be correlated with any phenomenon external to the subject of the world and any subjective state. A word, like any sign, has two sides - external (sound scale) and internal (meaning). The external – sensory-perceptible side of words and speech in general creates the possibility of communication without interruption from direct practical interaction between people. By accepting a message from another, a person changes his actions, corrects them, and in this coordinated process, purposeful collective activity develops. The first word is a message addressed to another person. The universality of a verbal message is that, being a means of influencing another, the word becomes a means of influencing oneself and, thus, a means of controlling one’s own actions and thinking.

Progressive Ravenna matrices from the D. Ravenna test, arithmetic and linguistic tasks presented visually or auditorily were used as stimulus material in this study. In one of the series of studies, micromovements of the tongue and electrical activity of the speech muscles were recorded as objective indicators of the participation of speech in problem solving. In another series - in experiments with central speech interference - the subjects were asked to silently, silently solve problems while simultaneously reciting poetry, meaningless syllables or (natural series) numbers out loud.

According to a study of motor excitability and electrical activity of speech muscles, it was found that the intensity and duration of internal speech:

Increases with increasing degree of complexity and novelty of the problems being solved;

More pronounced during auditory presentation of stimulus material;

More often seen in children than in adults.

SELF-TEST QUESTIONS

TO THE MODULE “SPECIFICITY OF THINKING COMPARED TO OTHER MENTAL PROCESSES”

1.What are the functional differences between sensory forms of reflection and thinking?

2.What are the structural features of thinking compared to sensory forms of reflection?

3.What is the essence of the law of awareness formulated by E. Claparède?

4. At what stage of life does the symbolic function appear?

5.What is an objective sign of differentiation between the signified and the signified?

6.What are the ways of representing real events according to J. Bruner?

7.Give examples of going beyond immediate information.

8.What are the conditions for the emergence of thinking?

9.What is the role of words in the development of higher mental functions?

Generalization and mediation - essential features thinking.

The trigger for turning on the active thought process, understood as a problem-solving process, is a problematic situation - a conflict between what is given to a person and what he intends to achieve. In this sense, we can talk about genuine thinking as creativity, when a person has a task with a set goal (setting a goal can also become independent problem), but there are no means to achieve it.

A problematic situation is a subjective concept. What is a problem for one may not be a problem for another. The reasons for the difficulties that a person experiences sometimes lie in internal obstacles, for example, in inadequately assessed life experiences, in habitual ways of behavior and communication, including with oneself. One should abandon them, but a person is not always aware of them. Let's assume that the person perceived the situation as a problem. The next fundamentally important step, which is given so much attention in a world where personal success is valued, is to understand that this problem personal and her decision vital. Since mental activity is extremely complex and requires a lot of energy from a person, he most often unconsciously delays taking responsibility for a problematic situation in the hope that it will “go away on its own.” Unfortunately, everything happens the other way around, and if a person puts off solving a problem, then the situation tends to get worse.

So, the person recognized the situation as problematic and accepted responsibility for solving it. From this moment, mental activity is mobilized, and the resolution of the problem situation will proceed according to the following scheme:

stage I - setting the problem and limiting the search area;
stage II - constructing a hypothesis and testing it;
stage III- reflection on actions and results after testing the hypothesis.

The presence of a diagram in no way indicates what content its stages will be filled with and what features of mental activity will be manifested.

In psychology, the concept of “task” is used widely and in different senses.

Every day a person has to solve many vital psychological problems: communication, establishing relationships, recognizing people and predicting their behavior, assessing one’s own capabilities, etc. By studying psychology, he hopes to solve them more successfully in the future. This is logical, since when studying, for example, mathematics, a person learns to solve problems in mathematics. But tasks with a psychological plot occupy an insignificant place among other tasks that psychologists use in their work. Usually these are simple in content, but tricky in nature. The simplicity of the plot makes it easier to see the obstacles in the way of their resolution.

solutions that are contained not in the task as such, but in the psychological laws of human perception and understanding.

In psychology, it is customary to distinguish between sensory (sensation), perceptual (perception), mnemonic (memory), mental, control (attention), etc. tasks. How are mental tasks different from others? It is believed that tasks of two categories can be classified as mental:

requiring reflection and accounting internal properties, connections, relations between objects that cannot be discovered by any systematic observation (perception);
requiring search way to solve, not in advance known to man(otherwise he just remembers the solution).

Now it becomes clear why psychologists use tasks with “non-psychological” content for their own purposes. For a psychologist, the subject content does not matter, since he is not interested in What, A How. The structure of any subject task includes as its main component the subject, the person who solves it. This expands the concept of “task”, since the range of conditions includes the individual characteristics of a person, his knowledge and methods of action - everything that acts as a means of achieving a goal. In what follows, we will talk about tasks in precisely this sense: it is important, not What I decide and like me I do this.

Each subject area of knowledge uses the concept of “task” with a single objective structure: Given: set of conditions; Necessary: requirements for the result. A person, solving a problem, transforms its objective components into subjective ones. To formulate or, as they say, set a task means to clearly define a goal and accurately describe the conditions necessary to achieve it. The requirements for the result are transformed into a subjectively set goal, and a set of conditions into the means of achieving it (Fig. 10).

Thinking - complex, heterogeneous, multi-level psychological process- manifests itself differently in specific situations. When studying and describing mental activity, psychologists use various classifications based on both empirical data and theoretical reasoning confirmed by experimental research.

New stages in the development of thinking appeared due to:

1) mastering new means of thinking: actions, image, logic; .
2) expansion of spheres (planes) in which a task (situation) can be presented to a person: visual, verbal.

Thus, in psychology it is customary to distinguish three forms of thinking (Fig. 11), which in the history of the development of mankind and each person individually appear in the following sequence:

Rice. 10.

ty: visually effective, visually figurative And verbal-logical.

The first part of the name of all three forms fixes the conditions of the situation (task): visual - the situation is given in its materiality and concreteness (represented in a picture, diagram, drawing), verbal - the situation is described in one or another sign system. The second part of the name implies the means (way) by which a person learns the world and solves the problem situations that arise before him: through practical action - effective; with the help of figurative representations - figurative; based on logical concepts - logical.

Striving for a particular goal, a person certainly thinks about how, in what way, using what means, he can achieve it. In the early stages of human development, people tended to

Rice. 11. Venn forms of thinking visually effective form of thinking, when the means of thinking was real practical action, with the help of which a person changed the world around him and thus found essential - what allowed him to "grab" adequate way way out of the current situation. The action itself became the primary thought process. This form of thinking* did not lose its significance even later.

The use of real action is possible only when solving a certain class of problems, the conditions of which are given in terms of direct perception. The solution of such problems is subject to the spatial and temporal laws of real objective activity according to the “here and now” principle. These can be very complex and, most importantly, extremely life-threatening tasks. IN modern world they have to be addressed by car drivers and pedestrians, athletes and players.

The development of labor activity, primarily craft production, required a different form of thinking - visually figurative, in which the means was image. This allowed man to solve vital problems in a qualitatively different, safer way, as well as create something new, something that does not exist in nature. How does something appear that is not in natural environment, nature?

Operating with images allows a person to rotate, transform and combine visual images into internally. Our ancestor drew attention to the fact that in objects that have concave shape(for example, a hollow tree), water accumulates, and, having given the clay such a shape, he created a bowl, a prototype of the future vessel. The colors of nature amazed man, and he began to paint those objects that were devoid of shades pleasing to the eye. Visual-figurative thinking is closely intertwined with visual-effective thinking and significantly expands its capabilities. Both forms of thinking are accessible to tasks presented in a visual plan , most often visual perception. And the composer solves problems in terms of auditory perception: having heard the “music of rain,” he selects and isolates the most characteristic sounds, then translates them into notes and makes the instruments produce sounds that listeners associate with rain.

With the development of mental work, new opportunities opened up for man, as a result of which arose verbal-logical a form of thinking in which logic was the means of thinking. Verbal-logical thinking has become accessible to tasks, the conditions of which are given in verbal terms (the language of formulas, symbols), i.e. people began to translate specific life tasks into more safe form, verbal, and use a more suitable means for this form - logic. In the structure of verbal-logical thinking, different kinds generalizations.

The choice of method for solving problems is determined by their adequacy of a particular situation. However, many problems can be solved in different ways. In this case, the choice depends on the individual psychological characteristics of the person. It is known that for full-fledged mental work, some people need to see (imagine) the conditions of the problem, the process of solving it, while others prefer strict logical reasoning. These forms of thinking do not exclude, but complement each other. True, among psychologists there is another point of view, according to which imaginative and logical thinking are antagonists. In any case, research by physiologists indicates that the degree of participation of the right (imaginative) and left (verbal) hemispheres when a person solves a particular problem is different.

The division of thinking into figurative and verbal fixes the difference in their content (image, words). The forms of thinking also differ in the ways of working and the peculiarities of using certain techniques.

When working with visual images, a person operates with what he has in front of his eyes, i.e. ideas about reality in all its diversity and contradictions, and chooses an answer, to some extent ordering and completing the image into a complete picture. Reasoning logically is somewhat more difficult. In this case, the mental image is embodied in speech and verbalized. Words have many meanings, and the statement must be constructed in such a way that any person understands it unambiguously. From the countless relationships between objects and phenomena, the most significant ones are selected, suitable for constructing logical chains. When choosing concepts (words), a person searches for given signs by reasoning, since, firstly, the pattern of preservation and change of signs is presented implicitly and, secondly, there are so many signs themselves that they cannot be retained in memory without special fixation in speech .

Both forms of thinking - verbal and figurative - are subject to logic, but with different specifics.

In figurative thinking, “grasping” a situation is carried out simultaneously, often intuitively, i.e. Without detailed analysis and reasoning, conclusions cannot be formulated verbally. Therefore, the thought process in the form of images proceeds quickly, the decision comes suddenly in the form of a kind of mental picture, like an insight. Images can contain features of varying degrees of significance in the most incredible combinations. In figurative thinking reflect- 80

huddles personal experience person, his personal meaning. Verbal-logical thinking is characterized by a rigidly defined combination of elements, a strict sequence of judgments, validity of conclusions, and the use of logical techniques that differ in the degree of complexity, structure and content. IN verbal thinking reflects the scientific experience of mankind, recorded in concepts containing the most essential features.

In the study of figurative thinking, a special place is occupied by its variety - spatial thinking, which is based on geometric images. It is professionally significant for many technical specialties.

The structural unit of spatial thinking is an image that reflects the real spatial features of the perceived object: shape, size, relationship of elements on a plane or in space. The main feature of any image is the spatial arrangement of its elements. The image reflects not only individual perceptual signs and properties, but also their structure and orientation in space.

Spatial thinking is considered as a specific type of mental activity, since it provides an analysis of the spatial properties and relationships of real objects, their graphic images, and the manipulation of these relationships and properties in the process of solving problems. Psychological mechanism spatial thinking is the activity of creating an image and operating with it when solving problems. Research has shown that the creation of an image occurs on the basis of orientation to the size of an object and its shape. Performing tasks to create an image while focusing on the size of an object presupposes the ability to evaluate its proportions, mentally transferring the standard size to other objects, trying it on in different images. Creating an image when focusing on the shape of an object requires the ability to evaluate proportions and details, mentally superimposing the image on different images, comparing them, and clearly perceiving the shape.

Operating with images can be characterized by:

change in the spatial position of the image;
transformation, image structure;
transformation of the structure and spatial position of the image at the same time.

Operating with images becomes possible thanks to their important feature: the presence of a reference point as an element of any image. The image is fixed in space in a coordinate system with a certain reference point. The most common three options for determining the reference point are:

the starting point is determined by the subject - the person sets the coordinate system Push, therefore the display of the object changes with the change in the position of the observer;
the reference point is determined by the object - the object is displayed in the so-called object-centric coordinate system, which is defined in the object itself. Such a display is not related to the position of the observer, but changes depending on the choice of the object's display axes;
the coordinate system is set arbitrarily - for example, displaying an object when wearing special glasses that deflect its image by several degrees.

In all three cases, the object and its content remain unchanged, but for a person it is important from what point this object is presented to him. The usual, and therefore most convenient for a person, is a coordinate system with a reference point determined by the subject. Recoding, i.e. transfer from one frame of reference to another occurs without loss of content (without decay of form) if a person knows how to do it. Mastery of this technique is absolutely necessary for teaching a number of technical disciplines.

The information on the basis of which the image is built can be presented in various forms. The speed and accuracy of completing a task involving the construction of spatial representations based on figurative (symbolic) information are determined not only by the individual characteristics of a person, but also by the form of information encoding used. This is of great practical importance.

Classifications describing different types of thinking are presented in Table 5.

The list of criteria given in it can be continued. Particularly significant for pedagogical practice is the distinction between theoretical and empirical thinking.

It should be noted that the concepts “empirical” and “theoretical” are widely used in the scientific literature. About empirical and theoretical 82

Pitchforks of thinking and criteria for distinguishing them

Criterion	Type of thinking	Characteristics of the species
	Reproductive	Application of ready-made, already acquired knowledge and skills (but not simple reproduction of previously received information, but transformed and assimilated)
	Productive	The process of achieving a goal that has already been set, psychologically determined by a person, the process of searching for the necessary means in objectively given conditions, the creation of a subjectively or objectively new product
awareness	Intuitive	Fast progression, lack of clearly defined stages, minimal awareness
awareness	Analytical	Unfolded in time, has clearly defined stages, presented in the consciousness of the thinking person himself
Focus	Realistic	Directed to external world, governed by logical laws
Focus	Autistic	Realization of a person’s desires, wishful thinking, up to the inability to accept another person’s point of view
Type of problems	Practical	Preparation of the physical transformation of reality: setting a goal, creating a plan, a project...
Type of problems	Theoretical	Knowledge of laws, rules...
Type of cognition	Empirical - reason	Operates within the limits of established knowledge with data from experience, arranging them according to firmly established rules. This “rule-based” method is characterized by rigid certainty, strictness of delimitation and statements, and a tendency to simplify.
Type of cognition	Theoretical - mind	Has the ability to analyze and generalize both the data of sensory experience and one’s own thoughts and, overcoming their one-sidedness, generate new knowledge. Capturing the unity of opposites allows one to comprehend the various aspects of an object in their dissimilarity, mutual transitions and essential characteristics, which gives knowledge a deeper and more generalized character. The advantage manifests itself when it comes to foresight, when it is necessary to go beyond the statement of facts, to reveal internal connections between facts, and to determine the nature of these connections

Retical is said when one characterizes thinking, knowledge, methods, objects and levels of knowledge.

The most common is the distinction between empirical and theoretical knowledge (and, accordingly, thinking) according to object research. Thus, knowledge that reflects external signs direct experience. Theoretical knowledge is considered to be knowledge that reflects internal properties, connections and relationships objects and phenomena of the surrounding world based on mediated experience.

However, psychologists who experimentally study the characteristics of human thinking believe that differences are not determined by the object as such. Philosophers agree with them, referring to empirical knowledge as a certain state object (phenomenon), in which it is considered as ready, formed, devoid of own history development, stopped in time and space, like mechanical system. This assumption is made in metaphysics (from Greek me ta physika - after physics), where the main method of cognition (method of obtaining knowledge) is comparison.

The theoretical level of cognition involves consideration of an object (phenomenon) in its development. Why is this necessary? You can predict the movement of an object or a change in a phenomenon if you know how this object appeared and how it developed. Everything has its own history, its own cell - the genetically original one from which this particular object developed. But “hidden in the finished product is the process of its origin.” Indeed, no matter how much we compare people by their external signs, we will never understand what a person is. It requires going beyond the visible.

At the empirical level, a person uses rules formal logic, studying regulatory rules and the laws of adequate and demonstrative reasoning, abstracting from specific content and focusing only on form.

The theoretical level involves the use dialectical logic, studying the development of knowledge, focusing on specific content. It has its own laws, principles and rules, for example “the transition of quantity into quality”, “unity of opposites”, “negation of negation”. Dialectical logic originated as long ago as formal logic. Its origins in Ancient China, where several thousand years before our time the principles of polarity and harmony, patterns of linear and structural variability were formulated. In the European picture of the world, dialectical logic in the Hegelian version is adopted.

Empirical and theoretical levels of knowledge are equally necessary. They arose historically; Every individual person masters them to one degree or another.

The empirical level of knowledge is a real stage in the development of any science (human) that meets its (his) tasks and requirements. Remember when the European scientific picture of the world began to take shape. These were the 16th-17th centuries, which literally brought down an avalanche on humanity new information: continents, countries, seas, plants and animals opened up. All this had to be somehow organized, classified, described and given a name. Without such work, further advancement of science would be impossible. Empirical knowledge, and after it learning, moves from the concrete, sensory perceived to the abstract, or, as they say, from simple to complex. Let's look at this in more detail.

The external world appears to a person as a world of specific objects and phenomena. They are given to man precisely in their specificity and individuality. Each item has a number of characteristics. It may be similar to another object in one way or another or, on the contrary, different from it. By comparing objects, we discover something in common in them, which allows us to combine them into a class. For example, comparing the Moon and a balloon, an orange and a soccer ball, you can select shape as their common feature and combine them into one class - the class of balls. Psychologists described this process as a product of a kind of layering of sensory images, when divergent signs are erased, and common ones, on the contrary, are mutually reinforced.. The resulting general idea is then associated (combined) with the word. For example, a child is shown a birch, spruce, linden, palm tree and is told that this is called a tree. In this case, “tree” is something formally abstract and does not exist in nature.

IN Everyday life such a mechanism leads to the formation of everyday ideas, and in concrete scientific practice - empirical concepts. They reflect external connections, properties and relationships of objective reality, and state facts. This is quite sufficient where you need to be able to distinguish classes of objects based on their similar external features.

Empirical thinking, focusing on the specific conditions of the problem (“about what?”), has, as it were, two different stages of existence:

empirically everyday(everyday), when a person is looking for ways to solve a problem in the field of everyday ideas;
empirical-scientific, when an attempt is made to scientifically analyze the solution to a problem, but only when focusing on specific conditions of interaction of material objects.

It is characteristic of the empirical type of thinking that a person, knowing the natural scientific laws underlying the problem, “does not see” them in its specific conditions. This is how G.A. illustrates these differences. Berulava, commenting on teenagers’ answers to problems based on biology, but presupposing knowledge of the laws of physics. (The test does not require you to formulate an answer; you are only asked to choose it from three possible options.)

Question: Why don't seaweeds need hard stems?

Correct answer: A buoyant force acts on the algae, which compensates for the effect of gravity on them.

If a teenager chooses the correct answer, then we can assume that he has the ability to solve natural science problems, regardless of their subject content. However, most often teenagers, and not only them, who have studied the relevant section of physics and answered well on it (recited the textbook text), choose the following answers: “Because plants float in water” or “Because plants are lighter than water.” These answers characterize the empirical-everyday level and indicate that a person experiences difficulties in the transition from everyday ideas to scientific interpretation.

Generalizations of empirical type are called formal, since they are united according to formal rather than substantive characteristics. This knowledge allows us to navigate familiar conditions, recognize objects and phenomena and react to them accordingly. However, they are not enough to solve the most complex problems of life, they... do not help to predict, foresee, foresee. But that’s why science is created, to predict!

The ability to work according to the rules of formal logic is necessary, but not sufficient condition For modern man. This type of thinking cannot suit, for example, the practice of management or marketing, where it is necessary to solve problems that do not have an unambiguous approach. At the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries. The limitations of “rule conformity” were felt by many poets and musicians, artists and scientists, but few realized them. A. Einstein wrote that what prevents him from understanding his own discoveries is his own thinking, the rules by which he thinks. Nothing surprising. New goals, a breakthrough to another level of knowledge require different means. What is our thinking? This is a tool for solving specific problems. New tasks have appeared - acquire new tools!

Theoretical reproduction of a real concrete object is carried out in a way ascent from abstract to concrete. Here we should stop and make some clarifications. The concepts of “concrete” and “abstract” are understood differently in formal and dialectical logic.

Specific(from lat. concretus - condensed, fused) - multifaceted, complex, developed, holistic, “unity of diversity.” Distinguish sensual concrete as the starting point of research in empirical knowledge and mental concrete as a completion, the result of a study, as a scientific concept about an object in theoretical knowledge. Abstract(from lat. abstractio - abstraction) is an expression of incompleteness, lack of development, lack of development. Distinguish formally abstract, final empirical study(from concrete to abstract) and abstract as genetically original sensory-concrete, the stage of ascent from the abstract to the concrete in theoretical knowledge. In this case, the abstract is as real as the concrete, for example, an acorn (genetically original) and an oak tree as a result of the development of an acorn, or a bud and a fruit.

Generalized characteristics of empirical and theoretical thinking can be represented in the following form.

Empirical thinking - reason, operates within the limits of established knowledge with the data of experience, arranging them according to firmly established rules, which gives it the character of “a kind of spiritual automaton” (B. Spinoza). This “rule-based” way of thinking is characterized by rigid certainty, strictness of distinctions and statements, and a tendency to simplify. This is important because it allows you to correctly classify phenomena and bring knowledge into the system.

Theoretical thinking - the mind, has the ability to analyze and generalize both the data of sensory experience and one’s own thoughts and, overcoming their one-sidedness, generate new knowledge. Capturing the unity of opposites, this method allows us to comprehend the various aspects of an object in their dissimilarity, mutual transitions and essential characteristics, which gives knowledge a more profound and generalized character. The advantage of the theoretical level of knowledge manifests itself when it comes to foresight, when it is necessary to go beyond the statement of facts, to reveal internal connections between facts, and to determine the nature of these connections.

Intelligence(from lat. intellcctus - reason, understanding, knowledge) is a word widely used not only in science, but also in everyday life. It is one of those concepts that are “already clear.” Indeed, it is difficult to find a person who does not know what it is. But even psychologists cannot agree on its strict definition. Currently, there are different interpretations of intelligence. Here are some of them:

stable structure mental abilities;
system of mental operations, style and strategy for solving problems, cognitive activity, cognitive style, etc.;
global ability to act intelligently, think rationally and cope well with life circumstances (D. Wexler);
mechanisms of biopsychic adaptation to the current circumstances of life (V. Stern, J. Piaget);
the effectiveness of an individual approach to situations in which skills are determined by culture (K. Fischer);
information processing strategy - not genetically fixed, but exists in development under the influence of reactionary living conditions (J. Hunt);
measures what a person can do at the moment (A. Anastasi);
speed of mental processes (G. Eysenck). .

In these characteristics of intelligence, at least three positions can be traced: 1) biological - the ability to adapt to a new situation; 2) psychological - a set of cognitive processes; 3) pedagogical - ability to learn.

In a number of psychological concepts, intelligence is identified with a system of mental operations, with a style and strategy for solving problems, the effectiveness of an individual approach, i.e. with all that can be called the operational and technical side of thinking ("How I'm thinking" "How I do").

Intelligence has complex structure, and psychologists have not yet come to a consensus on what to include in its composition. L. Thurstone, using statistical methods, studied various aspects of intelligence and identified seven primary mental potencies in it:

1) counting ability: operating with numbers and performing arithmetic operations;
2) verbal (verbal) flexibility: the ease with which a person can explain himself using the most appropriate words;
3) verbal reproduction: the ability to understand spoken and written language;
4) spatial orientation: the ability to imagine various items and shapes in space;
5) memory;
6) reasoning ability;
7) the speed of reproducing similarities or differences between objects and images.

American psychologist J. Guilford, developing Thurstone's approach, created a model of intelligence in which he identified 120 factors, based on what mental operations they are needed for, what results they lead to and what their content is (figurative, symbolic, semantic, behavioral). Currently, tests have been developed to diagnose 100 factors. The Guilford model is widely used in the USA in the development of various training programs. The most significant contribution to the study of intelligence is considered to be the identification of the concept of divergent thinking associated with the generation of many solutions based on unambiguous data, which, according to Guilford, is the basis of creativity. Convergent thinking is aimed at finding the only correct result, and it is this type of thinking that is diagnosed in traditional tests.

The idea of measuring intelligence arose at the beginning of the 20th century. thanks to the French psychologist A, Vina. Fulfilling an order from the French Ministry of Education, the scientist tried to outline a range of tasks that could help identify children with mental retardation in order to further optimize their learning. By this time, psychology already had detailed description what intellectual techniques and mental actions people master at each age stage. Wiene suggested calculating the indicator of intellectual development using the formula:

where UM is mental age (what it should be), and HB is real chronological age.

According to the accepted age classification, by the end of schooling the basic intellectual base of a person is prepared and the next stage begins - the professionalization of intelligence. It is believed that intelligence reaches its peak by the age of 20.

In diagnosing the intellectual sphere, it is customary to distinguish between two types of tests - success tests, or subject testing, and development tests, or psychological testing.

The purpose of subject testing is determine a person’s level of preparedness in a relevant academic subject, for example, mathematics, physics, or the Russian language. This is a test of the assimilation of the knowledge that was taught using tasks of the same subject content. Success tests include tests, tests, and exams.

Purpose of psychological testing- determine the level of a person’s abilities and characteristics in a particular area, for example, intellectual, emotional, volitional. For this purpose, developmental tests are used that are developed on abstract material or on material that has not been studied. This is necessary in order to check whether a person has abilities, i.e. formed™ in him of those techniques (means, methods) that underlie the development of one or another subject content.

Psychological testing (testology, psychodiagnostics) originated in Europe at the end of the 19th century, but became widespread in the next century. Today, there are several thousand diagnostic techniques that help identify the most significant psychological characteristics of a person. Intelligence tests can be divided into “speed” tests and “level” tests. In the first case, tasks are given at the same level of difficulty under strict time limits; in the second, tasks are divided into blocks different levels difficulties. There are test variants where both types of difficulties are used.

Intellectual development tests measure a person's level of proficiency in various techniques and ways of thinking. Tests consist of tasks built on different materials(words, numbers, figures, drawings, etc.) and always have the only correct answer. Most widespread received so-called nonverbal tests that allow us to assess the level of intellectual development of a person, regardless of the level of language proficiency.

Many intelligence tests are valid (from English, validity - usefulness, validity, reliability), i.e. correlate with academic performance, which is not surprising. Many of them are based on one or another model of learning ability, for example, described by F. Vernon (Fig. 12). Here are some of the most common tests.

Rice. 12.

F. Vernon test: allows you to determine a person's level of awareness, attentiveness, verbal intelligence, including vocabulary, technical intelligence, including numerical and spatial operations, construction from cubes, arrangement of pictures and folding of an object, coding and searching for missing parts.

Test A. Anastasi: allows you to explore the ability to generalize and analyze material, flexibility and inertia of thought processes, speed and accuracy of perception, emotional components and spatial imagination, language use and the ability to choose the optimal strategy. To determine the integral indicator “general abilities”, Anastasi identifies “critical points of intelligence”, which form the basis of short selection (indicative) tests that allow making preliminary conclusions based on solving tasks completed by a person in a short period of time.

Short Orientation Test (SOT): belongs to the category of tests of general mental abilities that determine IQ. (The term IQ is the coefficient mental development- was introduced in the 1950s. German psychologist G.Yu. Eysenck. Earlier, in 1911, another German psychologist, W. Stern, proposed using the concept of “intelligence quotient.”) In tests of this type, tasks are selected in such a way as to ensure an adequate sampling of all the most important intellectual functions. So, they include:

ability to generalize and analyze material;
inertia of thinking, switchability;
emotional components of thinking, distractibility;
speed and accuracy of perception;
distribution and concentration of attention;
language use, literacy;
selection of optimal strategy, orientation;
spatial imagination.

Test G.Yu. Eysenck: allows you to explore the level of associative thinking, mental flexibility, originality of approaches and a person’s ability to think logically. There are several varieties of this test, including verbal, numerical, visuospatial and other blocks.

It is safe to say that psychologists have “measured” the intelligence of millions of people in almost all countries of the world. As a result, they managed to obtain a so-called standard sample, i.e. percentage distribution of people into groups depending on the level of intelligence development. An average level of intelligence (IQ from 90 to 109) is typical for half of the population (50%). Very high intelligence (IQ of 130 and above), as well as mental defect (IQ of 69 and below), are rare: 2.2%. 6.7% of the population have high (IQ from 120 to 129) and borderline intelligence (IQ from 70 to 79). “Good” (IQ from 110-119) and reduced norms (IQ from 80-89) are recorded in 16.1%.

Mastery of formal logic techniques allows a person to build up his intellectual tools. A high level of IQ guarantees its owner the successful solution of many problems. Is it possible to improve your performance in mental activity? Undoubtedly. To do this, you must first develop the following skills:

highlight essential properties of objects and abstract from non-essential ones;
find significant connections (genetically original) between things and phenomena of the surrounding world;
prove the truth of your judgments and refute false conclusions;
express your thoughts in a reasoned, consistent and reasonable manner;
be aware of the methods of mental activity used in various fields;
carry out the transfer of techniques and operations of thinking from one area to another;
foresee the development of phenomena;
draw reasonable conclusions; ,
master the techniques of dialectical logic.

But is it possible to say that any intellectually developed person is also necessarily wise? Unfortunately no.

Until now, we have been talking about forms of thinking, based on the characteristics of the presentation of the problem (visually or verbally) and the means by which it is solved (actions, image, logic). All this relates to the operational and technical side of thinking and answers the question “how do I think?”, “how do I do it?” But we do not evaluate the quality of thinking by these categories. There are such concepts as breadth of thinking and depth, independence and flexibility, criticality and speed.

Latitude thinking - the ability to cover the entire issue (process) as a whole, without at the same time missing the necessary details.

Depth thinking is expressed in the ability to penetrate into the essence of complex issues.

Independence thinking is characterized by a person’s ability to put forward new problems and find ways to solve them without resorting to the help of other people.

Flexibility thinking means freedom from patterns, techniques and methods learned in past experience, the ability to quickly change actions under changed circumstances.

Criticality - the ability to objectively evaluate one’s own and others’ thoughts, carefully and comprehensively check all put forward provisions and conclusions.

Rapidity- the ability to quickly understand a new situation, think and make the right decision.

There is something more to thinking than mastery of various techniques, skills and rules. This is a personal aspect, differences in the semantic side of thinking: “why do I think?”, “why do I do?” As practice shows, the same task, using the same means and arriving at the same answer, different people solve differently, finding different meanings in them, showing different attitudes both to the task itself and to other people.

Among all types of thinking, perhaps the most valued is creative thinking, the ability to create new things. In psychology, the study of processes creative activity, identifying psychological characteristics creative people Many works have been devoted to this; conditions have been identified and described that stimulate creative thinking and hinder its development. Thus, situations of uncertainty and openness stimulate thinking, a person’s ability to be independent, independent and responsible (appearing together.0, the ability to ask questions and fantasize. On the contrary, such features as admiration for authority, the desire for success at all costs, risk avoidance, as well as rigid stereotypes in thinking and behavior are a serious obstacle to the development of creative thinking.

See: Berulava G.A. Test of natural scientific thinking. Biysk: Scientific Research Center BiGPI, 1993.

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