Thinking and cognition is the social nature of human thinking. The social nature of human thinking. Thinking and problem solving

Study of the structure of personality intelligence.

Test Description

The intelligence test and at the same time the Amthauer career guidance test can be used for ages 12 years and older, but mainly up to 30-40 years old, since it is performed in limited time intervals. Definite superiority in results TSI may have in the same age group persons with higher education, best culture thinking and greater speed of thought processes.

Test procedure

Before starting each subtest, test takers must first have a good understanding of the content of the examples.

A fixed time is allocated for each subtest:

Subtest	Time, min	Subtest	Time, min
1	6	5	10
2	6	6	7
3	7	7	9
4	8	8	10
		9	3 (memorization) 6 (play)

Test instructions

In each subtest of the methodology, 16-20 tasks are given, during which it is important to thoroughly understand the meaning of the presented sample solutions and move on to the next tasks in time: perhaps they will be easier for you and you will generally gain a large amount of points.

It is very useful to recheck yourself if the time for working on a subtest has not yet expired. It is not at all necessary to strive to solve absolutely all tasks. You should not make any notes in the text of the methodology; all answers are written on special sheets (forms), where the last name, as well as the date and time of the start of work, are indicated.

If the instructions are clear, wait for the signal to start work.

Test material

Description of tasks in section 1 and sample solutions

Each of the tasks is an unfinished sentence that is missing one word. You need to choose from the list of words below the one that you think is most suitable to complete the sentence so that it acquires the correct meaning. If you find such a word, you need to put on the answer sheet next to the task number the letter behind which the found word stands among other answer options.

Sample 1.

Rabbit most similar to...
a) cat; b) squirrel; c) hare; d) fox; d) hedgehog.

If you find the correct answer, then the following is written on the answer sheet: 1c, meaning that " The rabbit is most similar to the hare».

Sample 2.

The opposite hope is…
a) sadness; b) anger; c) tenderness; d) despondency; d) despair.

The answer sheet states: 2d, meaning that " The opposite of hopeis despair" Naturally, there is no need to write down the resulting sentence on the answer sheet: you have very limited time. It’s better to check your answers again, and if you suddenly find another solution, then cross out the previous letter and put another one next to it.

Section 1. Tasks 1-20

The tree always has...
a) leaves; b) fruits; c) kidneys; d) roots; d) shadow.
Comment is...
a) law; 6) lecture; c) explanation; d) consequence; d) hint.
The opposite of betrayal is...
and love; b) parasitism; c) cunning; d) cowardice; d) devotion.
Women... are taller than men.
a) always; b) usually; c) often; d) never; d) sometimes.
Lunch cannot take place without...
a) table; b) service; c) food; d) water; d) hunger.
The opposite activity of rest is...
a) labor; b) care; c) fatigue; d) walk; d) training.
To trade you must have...
a) store; b) money; c) counter; d) goods; d) scales.
When a dispute ends in mutual concession, it is called...
a) the convention; b) compromise; c) interchange; d) conspiracy; d) reconciliation.
A person who is bad at innovation is called...
a) an anarchist; b) liberal; c) democrat; d) radical; d) conservative.
Sons... surpass fathers in life experience...
a) never; b) often; c) rarely; d) usually; d) always.
At the same weight, the most protein contains...
a) meat; b) eggs; c) fat; d) fish; d) bread.
The ratio of winnings and losses in the lottery makes it possible to determine...
a) number of participants; b) profit; c) the price of one ticket; d) number of tickets; d) probability of winning.
Aunt... may be older than her niece.
a) always; b) rarely; c) almost always; d) never; d) necessarily.
The statement that all people are honest...
a) false; b) cunningly; c) absurd; d) true; d) not proven.
The height of a six year old child is approximately... see.
a) 160; b) 60; c) 140; d) 110; e) 50.
Length of the match... cm.
a) 4; b) 3; c) 2.5; d) 6; d) 5.
A statement that has not been fully proven is called...
a) ambiguous; b) paradoxical; c) hypothetical; d) confused; d) obvious.
To the north of all these cities is located…
a) Novosibirsk; b) Murmansk; c) Krasnoyarsk; d) Irkutsk; d) Khabarovsk.
An offer does not exist without...
a) verb; b) subject; c) appeals; d) points; e) words;
The distance between Moscow and Novosibirsk is approximately...km.
a) 3000; b) 1000; c) 7000; d) 4800; e) 2100.

Description of tasks in section 2 and sample solutions

In this section, you are offered rows containing 5 words, of all five words, four can be combined into one group according to a common meaning suitable for all these four words. The fifth word, which is superfluous in meaning, should be your answer to the task, which can otherwise be called this: “Find the superfluous word that does not fit in meaning to the other four of the five named.” This extra word is indicated by the corresponding letter, which must be written next to the task number.

Sample 1.

1. a) table; b) chair; c) dove; d) sofa; d) closet.

Answer 1c, because " pigeon"does not refer to pieces of furniture, but that is the meaning of combining the words. The word “dove” is superfluous in meaning among the named words.

Sample 2.

2. a) go; b) rush; c) crawl; d) run; d) lie down.

Answer 2d, because " lie» does not refer to the designation of modes of transportation. The word “lie” is superfluous in meaning among the named words.

Section 2. Tasks 21-40

a) Write; b) chop; c) sew; d) read; d) bed.
a) Narrow; b) angular; c) short; d) tall; d) wide.
a) Bicycle; b) motorcycle; c) train; d) tram; d) bus.
a) West; b) course; c) direction; d) travel; d) north.
a) See; b) talk; c) touch; d) sniff; d) hear.
a) Lie down; b) rise up; c) sit down; d) lean against; d) stand up.
a) Circle; b) ellipse; c) arrow; d) arc; d) curve.
a) Kind; b) true; c) responsive; d) cowardly; d) honest.
a) Divide; b) release; c) bind; d) cut; d) distinguish.
a) Border; b) bridge; c) society; d) distance; d) marriage.
a) Curtain; b) shield; c) seine; d) filter; d) wall.
a) Sailor; b) carpenter; c) driver; d) cyclist e) hairdresser.
a) Clarinet; b) double bass; c) guitar; d) violin; d) harp.
a) Reflection; b) echo; c) activity; d) echo; d) imitation.
a) Study; b) planning; c) training; d) report; d) advertising.
a) Envy; b) stinginess; c) gluttony; d) stinginess; d) greed.
a) Reason; b) conclusion; c) decision; d) beginning; d) agreement.
a) Thin; b) thin; c) narrow; d) portly; d) short.
a) Neck; b) cork; c) leg; d) back; d) pen.
a) Foggy; b) frosty; c) windy; d) gloomy; d) rainy.

Description of tasks in section 3 and sample solutions

Section 3 contains tasks in which one word is missing in the second pair of words. The first pair of words is complete, consisting of two words interconnected in meaning; you need to understand the meaning of this relationship in order to, in accordance with it, select the missing word in the second pair from the five words given below.

Sample 1.

1. Forest: tree; meadow: ?
a) bush; b) pasture; c) grass; d) hay; d) path.

Answer 1c, since the mutual relation forests And trees has the same meaning as mutual relation meadows And herbs.

Sample 2.

2. Dark: light; wet: ?
a) rainy; b) raw; c) cloudy; d) wet; d) dry.

Answer 2d, since the mutual relation dark And light has the same contradictory meaning as mutual relationship wet And dry.

Section 3. Tasks 41-60

School: director; circle: ?
a) chairman; b) member; c) leader; d) manager; d) visitor.
Clock: time; thermometer: ?
a) device; b) measurement; c) mercury; d) warmth; d) temperature.
Search: find; reflect: ?
a) remember; b) come to a conclusion; c) investigate; d) sing; d) remember.
Circle: ball; square: ?
a) prism; b) rectangle; c) body; d) geometry; d) cube
Action: success; treatment: ?
a) goods; b) labor; c) finishing; d) achievement; d) price.
Animal: goat; food: ?
a) product; b) food; at lunch; d) bread; d) kitchen.
Hunger: thinness; labor: ?
a) effort; b) fatigue; c) enthusiasm; d) fee; d) rest.
Moon: Earth; Earth: ?
a) Mars; b) star; c) Sun; d) planet; d) air.
Scissors: cut; ornament: ?
a) embroider; b) decorate; c) create; d) draw; d) saw out.
Car: motor; yacht: ?
a) board; b) keel; c) feed; d) sail; d) mast.
Novel: prologue; opera: ?
a) poster; b) program; c) libretto; d) overture; d) aria.
Spruce: oak; table: ?
a) furniture; b) closet; c) tablecloth; d) wardrobe; d) headset.
Tongue: bitter; eye: ?
a) vision; b) red; c) glasses; d) light; l) vigilant.
Food: salt; lecture: ?
a) boredom; b) outline; c) humor; d) conversation; d) language.
Year: spring; life: ?
a) joy; b) old age; c) birth; d) youth; d) study.
Solution: pain; over speed: ?
a) distance; b) protocol; c) arrest; d) accident; d) air resistance.
Science: mathematics; edition: ?
a) printing house; b) story; c) magazine; d) newspaper “Vesti”; d) editors.
Mountains: pass; river: ?
a) boat; b) bridge; c) ford; d) ferry; d) shore.
Skin: touch; eye: ?
a) lighting; b) vision; c) observation; d) look; d) embarrassment.
Sadness: mood; anger: ?
a) sadness; b) rage; c) fear; d) affect; d) forgiveness.

Description of tasks in section 4 and sample solutions

The tasks in this section contain only two words, which are united by a common meaning. You should try to convey this general meaning in one, or at most two, words. This one word will be the answer to the task; it must be written down next to the task number.

Sample 1.

Wheat, oats – ?

Answer: cereals, since this word accurately conveys the general meaning of both words, uniting them with this common meaning.

Sample 2.

Bread butter - ?

Answer: food, since this word correctly expresses the general meaning of both named words.

Section 4. Tasks 61-76

Apple, strawberry – ?
Cigarette, coffee – ?
Clock, thermometer – ?
Nose, eyes - ?
Echo, mirror – ?
Picture, fable – ?
Loud quiet - ?
Seed, egg – ?
Coat of arms, flag – ?
Whale, pike – ?
Hunger, thirst - ?
Ant, aspen - ?
Knife, wire – ?
Above, below - ?
Blessing, curse -?
Praise, punishment - ?

Description of tasks in section 5 and sample solutions

This section contains simple problems that are essentially practical rather than arithmetic. Therefore, when solving them, you need to be careful about the practical meaning of your answers. This will allow you to check the correctness of your decision not only by the content of the calculations, but also by the necessity of these and not other calculations.

Sample 1.

The book costs 25 coins. How much do 3 books cost?

Answer: 75 (coins) since you really need to multiply here: 25 x 3.

Sample 2.

A boat floats down a river at a speed of 10 km/h, and the speed of this current is 4 km/h. What is the speed of the boat relative to the shore?

Answer: 14 km/h, since in this problem it is necessary to add the speed of the boat and the water current: 10 + 4 .

Section 5. Tasks 77-96

The boy had 100 coins, of which he spent 15. How many coins did he have left?
How many kilometers will a car travel in 9 hours if its speed is 70 km/h?
Fruit in 15 boxes weighs 280 kg, and each empty box weighs 3 kg. What is the net weight of the fruit?
A trench can be dug by 6 people in 72 hours. How many hours will it take 18 people to dig the same trench?
A pack of three ballpoint pens costs 5 coins. How many ballpoint pens can you buy with 60 coins?
A person runs 1.5 meters in a quarter of a second. How far will this person run in 10 seconds?
The tree is located 20 m north of the house, and the house is located 15 m north of the pond. What is the distance from the tree to the pond?
A piece of cloth 3.5 m long costs 70 coins. How much does 2.5 m of the same material cost?
Four workers will complete the task in 90 days. How many workers are needed to complete the same task in half a day?
A 48 cm long wire expands to 56 cm when heated. What will be the length of a 72 cm wire when heated?
In the workshop, 280 chairs are made in 8 hours. How many chairs will be made in this workshop in an hour and a half?
The alloy is composed of two parts silver and three parts tin. How many grams of tin are required to obtain 15 g of alloy?
One person earns 3 hundred coins a day, and another - 5 hundred. Together they earn 120 hundred coins in half a month. How many hundred coins does the first of these two people earn in 15 days?
During the same time, the first weaving workshop produces 60 m of fabric, and the second - 40 m. How much fabric will the second workshop produce by the time the first one has already produced 90 m of fabric?
Someone gave an eighth of his money for postage stamps and three times more more money for the paper, after which he was left with 8 coins.
There are 43 items packed into two boxes. The first box contained 9 more items than the second. How many items are in the first box?
A piece of cloth 60 m long was cut into two parts so that one of them was two-thirds of the other. What is the length of the larger piece of material?
The company exported three-quarters of its products, and sold a fifth of these products to its workers. What percentage of products remain in the company's warehouse?
Juice that fills 6/7 of the container costs 72 hundred coins. How many hundred coins is 1/2 the volume of the same container worth?
In one family, each daughter has an equal number of brothers and sisters, and each son has twice as many sisters as brothers. How many daughters are there in the family?

Description of tasks in Section 6 and sample solutions

In this section, each task is represented by a series of numbers located in a certain relationship with each other. It is necessary to continue the number series based on the peculiarity of this connection of numbers that you discovered.

Sample 1.

2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14…

Answer: 16 , since in this series of numbers the peculiarity of their connection with each other is the constant increase of each next date by 2 units.

Sample 2.

9, 7, 10, 8, 11, 9, 12…

Answer: 10 , since in this number series the peculiarity of the connection between numbers is that when moving from the first number to the second, you need to subtract 2 units, and when moving from the second number to the third, you need to add 3 units, etc.

Section 6. Tasks 97 –116

6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 24…
16, 17, 19, 20, 22, 23, 25…
19, 16, 22, 19, 25, 22, 28…
17, 13, 18, 14, 19, 15, 20…
4, 6, 12, 14, 28, 30, 60…
26, 28, 25, 29, 24, 30, 23…
29, 26, 13, 39, 36, 18, 54…
21, 7, 9, 12, 6, 2, 4…
5, 6, 4, 6, 7, 5, 7…
17, 15, 18, 14, 19, 13, 20…
279, 93, 90, 30, 27, 9, 6…
4, 7, 8, 7, 10, 11, 10…
9, 12, 16, 20, 25, 30, 36…
5, 2, 6, 2, 8, 3, 15…
15, 19, 22, 11, 15, 18, 9…
8, 11, 16, 23, 32, 43, 56…
9, 6, 18, 21, 7, 4, 12…
7, 8, 10, 7, 11, 16, 10…
15, 6, 18, 10, 30, 23, 69…
3, 27, 36, 4, 13, 117, 126.. .

Description of tasks in section 7 and sample solutions

In each task you are presented with one figure, divided into several parts. These parts are given in no particular order. Mentally connect the parts, and find the figure that you get in the row of figures a), b), c), d), e).

Sample

Solution

Answer: A. By connecting parts of figures 01, we get figure “a”. When connecting parts 02, a “d” shape appears. Accordingly, from 03 we get “b”, from 04 – “g”.

Section 7. Tasks 117-136

On this moment, images in preparation (Editor).

Description of tasks in Section 8 and sample solutions

The first row of figures consists of five different cubes, designated by letters (“a”, “b”, “c”, “d”, “e”). The cubes are arranged so that out of six faces you see three of each cube. In each of the subsequent rows you are presented with one of these five cubes, rotated in a new way. Your task is to determine which of these five cubes corresponds to the cube given in the next task. Naturally, new icons may appear in inverted cubes.

Sample

At the moment, the images are in preparation (Editor).

For cube 01 the answer would be: A. Cube (01) represents the modified position of cube "a". The second cube (02) corresponds to cube “d”, the third (03) to cube “b”, (04) to “c”, (05) to “d”.

Section 8. Tasks 137-156

Section 9

To complete the tasks in this section, you will first need to learn a group of words. Then you will receive tasks that will help you find out how well you remember these words.

Once you are allowed to turn this page, try to remember as best you can the rows of words placed in the table.

To remember the words below you are given 3 minutes:

Description of tasks in section 9 and sample solutions

In each task you will be given the first letter of one of the words you have learned. You must remember what the word starting with this letter meant: flower, tool, bird , piece of art or animal. Remember that all memorized words begin with different letters, i.e. no initial letter is repeated.

Sample 1.

First letter - " f" From a group of words meaning:

flower,
tool,
bird,
piece of art,
animal,

starting with the letter " f"only begins violet, that is flower. Therefore, write the number on your answer sheet 1 .

Sample 2.

The first letter of the word is “z”. From a group of words meaning:

flower,
tool,
bird,
piece of art,
animal,

starting with the letter " h"the word begins" hare", that is animal. Therefore, the answer sheet will have: 5 .

Section 9. Tasks 157-176

Job No.	First letter of a word	1. Flowers	2. Tools	3. Birds	4. Works of art	5. Animals
157.	B
158.	E
159.	H
160.	SCH
161.	I
162.	F
163.	X
164.	U
165.	M
166.	P
167.	D
168.	A
169.	WITH
170.	N
171.	Sh
172.	TO
173.	T
174.	ABOUT
175.	AND
176.	G

Key to the test

Subtest 1: " DP» ( addition of proposals): 1d, 2c, 3d, 4d, 5c, 6a, 7d, 8b, 9d, 10c, 11b, 12d, 13c, 14a, 15d, 16a, 17c, 18b, 19d, 20a.
Subtest 2: " IP» ( word exclusion): 21d, 22b, 23a, 24d, 25b, 26d, 27c, 28d, 29d, 30d, 31d, 32d, 33a, 34c, 35d, 36c, 37a, 38d, 39b, 40d.
Subtest 3: " An» ( analogies): 41c, 42d, 43b, 44d, 45c, 46d, 47b, 48c, 49b, 50g, 51g, 52b, 53b, 54c, 55g, 56d, 57c, 58c, 59b, 60g.
Subtest 4: " About» ( generalization): 61 – fruits; 62 – stimulants; 63 – devices; 64 – sense organs; 65 – reflection; 66 – work of art; 67 – strength; 68 – embryos; 69 – symbols; 70 – aquatic animals: 71 – organic needs; 72 – living organisms; 73 – metal products; 74 – position in space; 75 – wishes (sanctions); 76 – educational measures.

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Phylogeny of inventive thinking.

Rubin M.S., Rubina N.V.

2013

The purpose of the article: to show the phylogeny of the formation and development of inventive thinking, its features and differences from related concepts (thinking, creativity, creativity, etc.), the connection between the formation of inventive thinking and TRIZ tools.

1. Model of inventive thinking.

We will describe inventive thinking in the form of three interacting components: analysis of an existing system, synthesis of a new system and evaluation of the proposed solution. The key to inventive thinking is identifying and resolving conflicting requirements.

2. Phylogeny of the development of inventive thinking.

We can distinguish four stages of the formation and development of inventive thinking in the process of evolution:

The animal world, in which adaptive and behavioral mechanisms are built on the basis of reflexes and instincts;

Primitive people who have thinking based on the second signaling system, but the rudiments of culture and civilization are still forming;

Formation of cultural civilizations and inventive thinking as its component;

Development of inventive thinking, increasing the level of qualities of inventive thinking.

The development of inventive thinking is directly related to the formation of a fruitful personality type in accordance with the classification of E. Fromm.

In the process of development, the formation of inventive thinking required:

Formation of model, abstract thinking in people (second signaling system);

The ability to hold different, somewhat contradictory models in a single image;

The ability to change representation models in such a way that these contradictions are resolved.

The emergence of contradictory models leads to psychological tension. When it is resolved, the tension disappears and the person receives satisfaction from the solved task.

Phylogeny of inventive thinking

Stage	Property	Form of manifestation	Examples
Stage 1	Irritability	Tropisms, kinesis	Protozoa
Stage 2	Sensitivity	Taxis sensory response	Coelenterates, molluscs
Stage 3	Unconditioned reflexes	Instinctive behavior Sensory abilities	Roundworms, lower insects
Stage 4	Conditioned reflexes	Learning, Manipulation	Annelids, social insects
Stage 5	Higher nervous activity	Perception, first signaling system, memory	Fish, amphibians, reptiles
Stage 6	Rational activity	Communication, social behavior	Birds, mammals
Stage 7	Visual-effective thinking	Assimilation and accommodation	Great apes,
Stage 8	Creative thinking	Integrity of perception, imagination, second signaling system	Pithecanthropus, Neanderthals
Stage 9	Inductive Reasoning	Constructing analogies, modeling, playing	Primitive tribes
Stage 10	Deductive Reasoning	Identifying patterns	Early agricultural societies
Stage 11	Abstract-logical, convergent thinking	Abstraction, construction of process diagrams	Sumerians, Babylonians,
Stage 12	Divergent thinking	Creativity, dialectical thinking	Ancient Egypt
Stage 13	Inventive Thinking	Systematic, model-based, critical, predictive, thinking	Ancient China, Antiquity. New time

3. The social nature of inventive thinking.

Inventive thinking, like thinking in general, has a social nature. It is formed and developed, like, in particular, the second human signaling system, exclusively as a part of society, as a tool for people to interact with each other. Thus, inventive thinking is formed under the influence of those social fields of interaction (cultural environment) that exist in a given place and at a given moment. And vice versa: the inventive thinking of an individual influences the culture as a whole. Thus, inventive thinking is a form of interaction between people and each other and the environment.

4. Estimates in inventive thinking and their properties.

A feature of human thinking is its ability to evaluate any material or intangible object. Conventionally (without taking into account the level), we can assume that the assessment can be of three types: positive, neutral or negative. Assessments are formed under the influence of the social environment. Assessments are built on the basis of cause-and-effect chains or on the basis of induction (transferring the assessment of one subject to the assessment of another subject). Assessments have constituent elements, have the property of being integrated, the property of inertia, and can lead to contradictions and conflicts. The article will formulate recommendations for the formation of assessments in the development of inventive thinking.

5. Inventive thinking and creativity.

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State educational institution higher professional education

Leningradsky State University them. A.S. Pushkin

Course work

"ThinkingHowmentalprocess»

Performed:

2nd year student

correspondence department of KpiSP

Evstafieva A.V.

Checked:

Associate Professor, PhD in Psychology sciences

Aleshkin N.I.

Saint Petersburg,

general characteristics thinking

Sensory cognition and thinking

Thinking and speech

Social nature of thinking

Logic and psychology of thinking

Thinking as a process

Analysis and synthesis

Motivation thinking

Thinking and problem solving

Problem situation and task

Determination of thinking as a process

Thinking while solving problems

Types of thinking

Visual-effective thinking

Visual-figurative thinking

Abstract thinking

Individual characteristics of thinking

Literature

General characteristics of thinking

A person’s life constantly presents him with acute and urgent tasks and problems. The emergence of such problems, difficulties, surprises means that in the reality around us there is still a lot of unknown, incomprehensible, unforeseen, hidden, requiring an ever deeper knowledge of the world, the discovery in it of more and more new processes, properties and relationships of people and things. The Universe is infinite, and the process of understanding it is endless. Thinking is always directed into these endless depths of the unknown, the new. Every person makes many discoveries in his life (it doesn’t matter that these discoveries are small, only for himself, and not for humanity). For example, every schoolchild, solving a learning problem, necessarily discovers something new for himself.

Thinking is a socially conditioned, inextricably linked with speech, mental process of searching and discovering something essentially new, a process of indirect and generalized reflection of reality in the course of analysis and synthesis. Thinking arises on the basis of practical activity from sensory knowledge and goes far beyond its limits.

Sensory cognition and thinking

Cognitive activity begins with sensations and perceptions. Any, even the most developed, thinking always maintains a connection with sensory knowledge, that is, with sensations, perceptions and ideas. Mental activity receives all its material from only one source - from sensory knowledge. Through sensations and perceptions, thinking is directly connected with the outside world and is its reflection. The correctness (adequacy) of this reflection is continuously verified in the process of practical transformation of nature and society.

The sensory picture of the world that our sensations and perceptions give us every day is necessary, but not sufficient for its deep, comprehensive knowledge. In this sensory picture of the reality directly observed by us, the most complex interactions of various objects, events, phenomena, etc., their causes and consequences, and mutual transitions into each other are almost not dissected. It is simply impossible to unravel this tangle of dependencies and connections, which appears in our perception in all its colorfulness and spontaneity, with the help of sensory knowledge alone. For example, the feeling of warmth given by a hand touching an object ambiguously characterizes the thermal state of the latter. This sensation is determined, firstly, by the thermal state of the given object and, secondly, by the state of the person himself (in the second case, everything depends on which bodies - warmer or colder - the person touched before). Already in this simplest example, both of these dependencies appear for sensory cognition as one undivided whole. In perception, only the general, summary result of the interaction of the subject (person) with the cognizable object is given. But in order to live and act, one must, first of all, know what objects are in themselves, that is, objectively, regardless of how they are perceived by a person, and, in general, regardless of whether they are cognized or not.

Since within the framework of sensory cognition alone it is impossible to fully dissect such a general, total, direct effect of the interaction of a subject with a cognizable object, a transition from sensations and perceptions to thinking is necessary. In the course of thinking, further, deeper knowledge of the external world is realized. As a result, it is possible to dismember and unravel the most complex interdependencies between objects, events, and phenomena.

Let's use the simplest example of determining the thermal state of a body. Thanks to thinking, it becomes possible to separate and abstract each of the two indicated dependencies from each other. This is achieved through indirect cognition. The dependence on the state of the person determining the thermal state of the object is simply excluded, since the temperature of the object can be measured indirectly - using a thermometer, and not directly - through the thermal sensations of the hand touching it. As a result, the sensory image of an object is now uniquely determined only by the object itself, that is, objectively. This is how abstract, abstract, indirect thinking operates, which seems to be distracted from some properties of an object in order to gain a deeper understanding of its other properties.

In the process of thinking, using the data of sensations, perceptions and ideas, a person at the same time goes beyond the limits of sensory knowledge, that is, he begins to cognize such phenomena of the surrounding world, their properties and relationships that are not directly given in perceptions and therefore are not directly observable . For example, physicists study the properties of elementary particles that cannot be seen even with the most powerful modern microscope. In other words, they are not directly perceived: they cannot be seen - they can only be thought about. Thanks to abstract, abstract, indirect thinking, it was possible to prove that such invisible elementary particles still exist in reality and have certain properties. These properties of particles that are not directly observable are learned in the process of thinking, again in an indirect, not direct, i.e., indirect, way.

Thus, thinking begins where sensory knowledge is no longer sufficient or even powerless. Thinking continues and develops the cognitive work of sensations, perceptions and ideas, going far beyond their limits. We can easily understand, for example, that an interplanetary spacecraft moving at a speed of 50,000 kilometers per second will move to a distant star six times slower than a beam of light , whereas we are not able to directly perceive or imagine the difference in the speed of bodies moving at a speed of 300,000 kilometers per second and 50,000 kilometers per second. In real cognitive activity Each person’s sensory cognition and thinking continuously transform into one another and mutually determine each other.

Thinking and speech

For human mental activity, its relationship is essential not only with sensory cognition, but also with language and speech. This reveals one of the fundamental differences between human psyche and the psyche of animals. The elementary, primitive thinking of animals always remains only visually effective; it cannot be abstract, mediated by cognition. It is connected only with directly perceived objects that are currently in front of the animal’s eyes, and does not go beyond the visual-effective plane.

Only with the advent of speech does it become possible to “separate” one or another of its properties from a cognizable object and consolidate, fix the idea or concept of it in a special word. A thought acquires in a word the necessary material shell, only in which does it become an immediate reality for other people and for ourselves. Human thinking, no matter what forms it takes, is impossible without language. Every thought arises and develops in inextricable connection with speech. The deeper and more thoroughly thought out this or that thought, the more clearly and clearly it is expressed in words, verbally and writing. And vice versa, the more the verbal formulation of a thought is improved and honed, the clearer and more understandable this thought itself becomes.

Special observations during psychological experiments show that some schoolchildren and even adults often experience difficulties in solving a problem until they formulate their reasoning out loud. When the solvers begin to specifically and more clearly formulate and pronounce one after another the main reasoning (even if at first clearly erroneous), then such thinking out loud usually makes solving the problem easier. By formulating his thoughts out loud for others, a person thereby formulates them for himself. Such formulation, consolidation, and recording of thoughts in words means the division of thoughts, helps to focus attention on various moments and parts of this thought and contributes to a deeper understanding of it. Thanks to this, detailed, consistent, systematic reasoning becomes possible, that is, a clear and correct comparison of all the main thoughts that arise in the thinking process.

The word, the formulation of thought, thus contains the most important necessary prerequisites for discursive, i.e., reasoning, logically dissected and conscious thinking. Thanks to the formulation and consolidation in the word, the thought does not disappear or fade away, barely having time to arise. It is firmly fixed in speech formulation, oral or even written. Therefore, there is always the opportunity, if necessary, to return to this thought again, think it over even more deeply, check it and, in the course of reasoning, correlate it with other thoughts. The formulation of thoughts in the speech process is the most important condition for their formation. The so-called inner speech can also play a large role in this process: when solving a problem, a person thinks not out loud, but to himself, as if talking only to himself.

Thus, human thinking is inextricably linked with language, with speech. Thinking necessarily exists in a material, verbal shell.

Social nature of thinking

The organic, inextricable connection between thinking and language clearly reveals the social, socio-historical essence of human thinking. Cognition necessarily presupposes the continuity of all knowledge acquired in the course of human history. This historical continuity of knowledge is possible only if it is recorded, consolidated, preserved and transmitted from one person to another, from generation to generation. Such recording of all the main results of knowledge is carried out with the help of language - in books, magazines, etc. In all this, the social nature of human thinking is clearly manifested. The mental development of a person necessarily occurs in the process of assimilation of knowledge developed by humanity in the course of socio-historical development. The process of cognition of the world by an individual is determined by the historical development of scientific knowledge, the results of which each individual masters during training. In fact, it is communication between man and humanity.

Throughout the entire period schooling The child faces a ready-made, established system of knowledge, concepts, etc., discovered and developed by man during the entire previous history. But in this way, what is known to humanity and is not new to it inevitably turns out to be initially unknown and new to every child. Therefore, mastering the entire historically accumulated wealth of knowledge requires great mental effort from the child, serious creative work, although he masters a ready-made system of concepts, and masters it under the guidance of adults. Consequently, the fact that children assimilate knowledge already known to mankind and do this with the help of adults does not exclude, but, on the contrary, presupposes the need for independent thinking in children. Otherwise, the assimilation of knowledge will be purely formal, superficial, thoughtless, and mechanical. Thus, mental activity is necessary basis both for the assimilation of knowledge (for example, by children), and for the acquisition of completely new knowledge (primarily by scientists) in the course of the historical development of mankind.

Logic and psychology of thinking

In the process of socio-historical development of knowledge and transformation of nature and society, scientific knowledge is generated, developed and systematized. In other words, a set of basic achievements and results of knowledge recorded with the help of language, formed into a system of science - physics, chemistry, biology, sociology, psychology, etc., arises and continuously increases. historical development cognition and the resulting system scientific knowledge is the subject of the theory of knowledge, that is, epistemology as part of philosophy and logic. The theory of knowledge as a philosophical discipline explores the most general patterns of all cognitive activity. For example, she explores the emergence and development in the course of human history of such categories as “being”, “matter”, “consciousness”, “quality”, “quantity”. Based on philosophical, extremely general principles theory of knowledge, human thinking is studied by two complementary specific, private sciences - formal logic and psychology.

Logic studies the logical forms of thinking - concepts, judgments and inferences.

A concept is a thought that reflects the general, essential and distinctive (specific) characteristics of objects and phenomena of reality. For example, the concept “person” includes such essential features, such as labor activity, production of tools, articulate speech. All this distinguishes people from animals. The content of concepts is revealed in judgments, which are always expressed in verbal form - oral or written, out loud or silently.

Judgment is a reflection of the connections between objects and phenomena of reality or between their properties and characteristics. For example, the proposition: “Metals expand when heated,” expresses the connection between temperature changes and the volume of metals. By thus establishing various connections and relationships between concepts, judgments are statements made by someone about something. They affirm or deny any relationships between objects, events, and phenomena of reality. For example, when we say: “The earth revolves around the sun,” we thereby affirm the existence of a certain objective connection in space between two celestial bodies.

Judgments can be general, particular and individual. In general judgments, something is affirmed (or denied) regarding all objects of a given group, a given class, for example: “All fish breathe with gills.” In private judgments, affirmation or negation no longer applies to all, but only to some subjects, for example: “Some students are excellent students”; in single judgments - to only one, for example: “This student did not learn the lesson well.”

Judgments are formed in two main ways: 1) directly, when they express what is perceived; 2) indirectly - through inferences or reasoning. In the first case, we see, for example, a brown table and make the simplest judgment: “This table is brown.” In the second case, with the help of reasoning, one deduces from some judgments and obtains other (or other) judgments. For example, D.I. Mendeleev, on the basis of the periodic law he discovered, purely theoretically, only with the help of inferences, deduced and predicted some properties of chemical elements still unknown in his time.

In such work of thought, which produces inferences and consists in reasoning (and, in frequency, predictions), its indirect nature is most clearly manifested. Inference, reasoning - this is the main form of indirect knowledge of reality. For example, if it is known that “all shale is flammable” (first proposition) and that “this substance is oil shale” (second proposition), then one can immediately infer, i.e., conclude that “this substance is flammable” (the third proposition is derived of the first two). Moreover, it is no longer necessary to specifically resort to direct experimental verification of this conclusion. Consequently, an inference is a connection between thoughts (concepts, judgments), as a result of which from one or more judgments we obtain another judgment, extracting it from the content of the original judgments.

The initial judgments from which another judgment is derived are called premises of the inference.

Based on such methods and formulas of reasoning, one can compare with each other certain concepts and judgments that a person uses in the course of his mental activity. As this comparison proceeds, all the main thoughts that arise in the process of thinking about the gradually solved problem are checked. The truth and correctness of every thought then becomes strictly substantiated and demonstrative. Essentially, the entire process of proof (for example, a mathematical theorem) is ultimately built as a chain of syllogisms that correlate various judgments, concepts, etc. with each other.

Thus, syllogism and all other logical forms are absolutely necessary for the normal course of mental activity. Thanks to them, any thinking becomes demonstrative, convincing, consistent and, therefore, correctly reflects objective reality. That's why formal logic, which specifically studies such forms of thinking as concept, judgment and inference, thereby studying very significant patterns of mental activity.

The patterns studied by formal logic, although necessary, are completely insufficient for a complete, deep, comprehensive explanation of human thinking.

The subject of formal logic is not all thinking, but only one side of it, although, as we have seen, it is very significant (logical forms of thinking). Formal logic examines, as it were, ready-made, existing, already arisen thoughts - concepts, judgments, etc. - and establishes certain relationships (formulas) between them. A syllogism is one example of such a relationship or such a formula.

The formula of a syllogism, like any other formula of formal logic, does not express the process of thinking, does not indicate how exactly the process of emergence and development of a given thought proceeds. For example, in a syllogism, the largest, i.e., general premise usually appears first, then the smaller, i.e., particular premise follows, and only then is a conclusion drawn from both premises. But this does not mean, of course, that in a living, actual, real process of thinking, first only a general position (general judgment) appears and only then does some particular judgment arise. The general and the particular are always inextricably interconnected. Moreover, in real thinking, the premise of a syllogism or any other conclusion is never given immediately in a ready-made form. They must be identified, extracted, isolated with the help of thinking.

Formal logic is thus distracted and abstracted from the immediate conditions of the emergence and development of certain thoughts. It is completely distracted, in particular, from the relationship of thinking with sensory knowledge. In other words, it does not explore at all, unlike psychology, how exactly the content of our thinking arises and is enriched on the basis of sensations, perceptions and ideas. In logical formulas, for example in a syllogism, already frozen, complete, completely clearly and completely formulated thoughts, i.e., results, finished products of thinking, are correlated with each other.

But there is another, no less significant side of mental activity - the thought process itself, in the course and result of which this or that person produces results, products of thought in the form of concepts, judgments, etc. This is the second, also very important side of thinking is no longer studied by formal logic, but by psychology. For each individual, when he thinks (i.e. during training and assimilation of knowledge, during work activity, in the process of communicating with other people, while thinking about some task or reading a book, in the process of artistic and scientific creativity) , new thoughts, guesses, assumptions, ideas, plans arise and develop.

Psychology studies the process of thinking of an individual, that is, it studies how and why this or that thought arises and develops.

Thus, the subject of logic is the relationship between cognitive results, products that arise in the process of thinking; psychology studies the patterns of the thought process that lead to cognitive results that satisfy the requirements of logic. Both logic and psychology study the same cognitive activity, but with different sides, in different qualities: logic mainly from the side of results (products of thinking - concepts, judgments, conclusions), and psychology - from the side of the process. Since the process of thinking and its results are inextricably interconnected and do not exist without each other, psychology and logic are closely related and complement each other in the study of thinking.

Thinking as a process

To psychologically study thinking as a process means to study the internal, hidden reasons leading to the formation of certain cognitive results. Such results, products of thinking, are, for example, the following facts: a given student solved or did not solve the problem; whether or not he has an idea, a solution plan, a guess; whether or not he has acquired certain knowledge, methods of action; whether he has formed a new concept, etc. Behind all these externally appearing facts, psychology strives to reveal the internal thought process that leads to them. Thus, she explores internal, specific reasons that make it possible to explain, and not just state and describe externally occurring mental phenomena and events. Psychological science proceeds from the principle of determinism (the principle of causality): external causes act through internal conditions.

Analysis and synthesis

The thinking process is, first of all, analysis, synthesis and generalization. Analysis is the selection of certain aspects, elements, properties, connections, relationships, etc. in an object; This is the division of a cognizable object into various components. For example, a schoolboy in a circle class young technicians, trying to understand the method of operation of any mechanism or machine, first of all, highlights various elements or machine, first of all, identifies the various elements, parts of this mechanism and disassembles it into separate parts. So - in the simplest case - he analyzes and dismembers the cognizable object.

During the analysis of any object, its properties that are the most important, significant, significant, interesting, turn out to be especially strong irritants and therefore come to the fore. Such stimuli cause an active process of excitation (primarily in the cerebral cortex) and, according to the physiological law of induction, inhibit the differentiation of other properties of the same object, which are weak stimuli. Thus, physiological basis the mental process of analysis will have a certain ratio of excitation and inhibition in the higher parts of the brain.

Unlike analysis, synthesis involves combining elements into a single whole.

Analysis and synthesis are always interconnected. The inextricable unity between them clearly appears already in the cognitive process of comparison. At the initial stages of familiarization with the world around us, various objects are learned primarily through comparison. Any comparison of two or more objects begins with a comparison or correlation of them with each other, that is, it begins with synthesis. During this synthetic act, an analysis of the compared phenomena, objects, events, etc. occurs - the identification of what is common and different in them. For example, a child compares different representatives class of mammals and, with the help of the teacher, gradually identifies the most common characteristics of these animals. So comparison leads to generalization.

In the course of generalization, something common stands out in the compared objects - as a result of their analysis. These properties common to various objects are of two types: 1) common as similar features and 2) common as essential features. For example, you can find something similar between the most dissimilar objects; in particular, cherry, peony, blood, raw meat, boiled crayfish, etc. can be combined into one group, into one class of color commonality. However, this similarity (commonality) between them does not in any way express the truly essential properties of the listed items. In this case, the similarity is based on their purely external, only very superficial, insignificant characteristics. Generalizations that are made as a result of such a superficial, shallow analysis of objects are of little value and, moreover, constantly lead to errors. A generalization based on a superficial analysis of purely external properties, for example, of a whale, leads to the deeply erroneous conclusion that a whale is not a mammal, but a fish. In this case, a comparison of these objects identifies among their common features only similar but insignificant ones ( appearance, fish-like body shape). And vice versa, when, as a result of analysis, general properties are isolated as essential, it becomes clear that the whale does not belong to fish, but to mammals. Consequently, every essential property is at the same time common to a given group of homogeneous objects, but not vice versa: not every common (similar) property is essential to a given group of objects. Common essential features are identified during and as a result of in-depth analysis and synthesis.

The laws of analysis, synthesis and generalization are the main internal, specific laws of thinking. Only on their basis can all external manifestations of mental activity be explained. Thus, a teacher often observes that a student who has solved a problem or learned a theorem cannot carry out a transfer, i.e., use this solution in other conditions, cannot apply the theorem to solve problems of the same type if their content, drawing, etc. Somewhat modified.

Often described and practically very important facts of this kind require a psychological explanation. One of the reasons for the transfer or non-transfer of knowledge from a given situation to another is, first of all, the variation (change) of conditions when presenting a task. If you significantly vary the conditions of problems whose solution is based on the same theorem, then the solution will be transferred from one problem to another. Conversely, without such variation, transfer is impossible. It appears that transfer depends directly on variation. However, this is still an insufficient, very superficial and non-psychological explanation of an externally observable fact (transfer).

In fact, varying the conditions (drawing, etc.) in which the student is presented with a task is not the action of the student, but only of the teacher. To link transfer directly with variation means to directly correlate the external, pedagogical influence (the teacher’s variation of the conditions of the task) only with the result of the students’ mental activity, i.e. external factor transfer or non-transfer. Nothing can be said here about the student’s thinking process itself, about the internal, specific laws of his mental activity leading to this result. How the internal conditions of his thinking mediate the external, pedagogical influence remains unknown. Then it is impossible to purposefully educate a child, it is impossible to shape his thinking.

In fact, varying the conditions of the task psychologically means that favorable preconditions have been created for the student’s mental activity. Varying the conditions helps the student analyze the task proposed to him, highlight the most essential components in it and generalize them. As he highlights and summarizes essential conditions different problems, he transfers the solution from one problem to another, which is essentially similar to the first. So behind the external dependence “variation - transfer” there is a psychologically revealed, internal dependence"analysis - generalization". The externally observed result (transfer) turns out to be a natural consequence internal process student's thinking. In order to transfer a solution from one problem to another, it is necessary to reveal what is essentially common between them. The disclosure of this general principle of solution as a result of the analysis of both problems is internal, psychological level transfer.

Motivation thinking

Analysis and synthesis, in general, mental activity, like any other activity, is always caused by some needs of the individual. If there are no needs, there is no activity that they could cause.

Studying thinking, like any other mental process, psychological science takes into account and, to one degree or another, specifically examines what specific needs and motives forced this person engage in cognitive activity and under what specific circumstances did he have a need for analysis, synthesis, etc. (in contrast to psychology, formal logic abstracts not only from the relationship of thinking with sensory cognition, but also from the relationship of mental activity with needs, motives, emotions ). What thinks, thinks, is not “pure” thinking itself, not the thought process itself as such, but a person, an individual, a personality with certain abilities, feelings and needs. The inextricable connection between mental activity and needs is clearly revealed by the most important fact that all thinking is always the thinking of the individual in all the richness of his relationships with nature, society, and other people.

The motives of thinking studied in psychology are of two types: 1) specifically cognitive and 2) nonspecific. In the first case, the incentives and driving forces mental activity is served by interests and motives in which they manifest themselves cognitive needs(curiosity, etc.). In the second case, thinking begins under the influence of more or less external causes, and not purely cognitive interests. For example, a schoolchild may begin to prepare homework, solve a problem, think about it not out of a desire to learn and discover something new, but only because he is afraid of falling behind his friends, etc. But whatever the initial motivation thinking, as it is implemented, cognitive motives themselves begin to operate. It often happens that a student sits down to study lessons only under the compulsion of adults, but in the process of educational work he also develops purely cognitive interests in what he does, reads, and decides.

Thus, a person begins to think under the influence of certain needs, and in the course of his mental activity, increasingly deeper and stronger cognitive needs arise and develop.

Thinking and problem solving

Problem situation and task

Thinking is purposeful. The need for thinking arises, first of all, when, in the course of life and practice, a person faces new goal, new problem, new circumstances and operating conditions. For example, this happens when a doctor is faced with some new, still unknown disease and tries to find and use new methods of treating it. By its very essence, thinking is necessary only in those situations in which these goals arise, and the old, previous means and methods of activity are insufficient (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, and invent new ways and means of achieving goals and satisfying needs.

Thinking is the search and discovery of something new. In those cases where you can get by with the old ones, already by known methods actions, previous knowledge and skills, a problem 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 is 2x2?” To answer such questions, only the old knowledge that this child already has is quite sufficient; thinking is unnecessary here. The need for mental activity also disappears in cases where the student has mastered a new way of solving certain problems or examples, but is forced again and again to solve similar problems and examples that have already become known to him. Consequently, not every situation in life is problematic, that is, challenging thinking.

It is necessary to distinguish between a problem situation and a task. 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.” For example, the pilot begins to notice that something incomprehensible is happening to the engine, but he has not yet figured out what exactly is happening, in what part of the engine, for what reason, and even more so the pilot still does not know what actions need to be taken to avoid possible danger. It is in these kinds of problematic situations that thinking begins. As a result of its analysis, a task or problem in the corresponding sense of the word arises and is formulated.

The emergence of a task - in contrast to a problem situation - means that it has now been possible to at least preliminary and approximately separate the given (known) and the unknown (sought). This division appears in the verbal formulation of the problem. For example, in learning task its initial conditions are more or less clearly fixed (what is given, what is known) and the requirement, the question (what needs to be proved, found, determined, calculated). Thus, in the order of only a first approximation and quite preliminary, the sought (unknown), searches and finding are outlined which results in a solution to the problem. Consequently, the original initial formulation of the problem only to the very minimum extent and very approximately determines what is being sought. As the problem is solved, i.e., as more and more new and more essential conditions and requirements are identified, what is being sought is increasingly determined. Its characteristics are becoming more meaningful and clear. The final solution to the problem means that what is being sought is identified, found, and fully defined. If the unknown were completely and completely defined already in the initial formulation of its initial conditions and requirements, then there would be no need to look for it. It would immediately be known, that is, no problem would arise that requires thinking to solve it. And vice versa, if there were no initial formulation of the problem, outlining in which area the unknown should be sought, then the latter would be impossible to find. There would be no preliminary data, clues or outlines for his search. A problematic situation (in folk tales: “Go there, I don’t know where, find something, I don’t know what”) would not give rise to anything other than a painful feeling of bewilderment and confusion.

Determination of thinking as a process

In the course of solving a problem, thinking as a process emerges especially clearly. The interpretation of thinking as a process means, first of all, that the very determination of mental activity is also carried out as a process. In other words, in the course of solving a problem, a person identifies more and more new, previously unknown to him, conditions and requirements of the task, which causally determine the further course of thinking. Consequently, the determination of thinking is not given initially as something absolutely ready-made and already completed; it is precisely formed, gradually formed and developed in the course of solving a problem, that is, it appears in the form of a process. In the initial conditions, the course of the process of mental activity is not completely programmed; as the problem is solved, new conditions for its implementation continuously arise and develop. Since it is impossible to program everything completely in advance, as the thought process progresses, constant corrections and clarifications are necessary (as a response to new conditions that cannot initially be anticipated).

Finding a solution to a problem is often described as a sudden, unexpected, instant discovery, insight, etc. This fact also means a guess, heuristic, etc. This is how the result, the product of thinking, is recorded, but the task of psychology is to reveal the thought process leading to the result . In order to reveal the causality of this seemingly sudden insight, i.e., the instantaneous finding of the unknown (the sought-after), we must first of all take into account that in the course of solving the problem, at least a minimal, very insignificant and initially very approximate mental anticipation of the unknown is always carried out. Thanks to such anticipation, it is possible to build a bridge from the known to the unknown.

In order to better understand the basic mechanisms of the thought process, consider the following three mutually opposing points of view on the mental anticipation of the unknown, which are expressed in psychology. Depending on different views on the thinking process, psychologists offer different ways to shape students’ thinking while solving problems.

The first point of view is based on the fact that each previous stage (“step”) of the cognitive process gives rise to the immediately following one. This thesis is correct, but insufficient. In fact, in the course of thinking, at least a minimal anticipation of what is being 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 or downplay 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 of a still unknown decision, that is, a 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 (decision). The fallacy of this point of view can be demonstrated by the following example. The student is looking for a solution to a difficult problem, which he, naturally, does not yet know; he can find it only at the end, as a result, at the end of the thought process. The teacher, who already knows the solution, begins to help the student. An experienced teacher will never prompt the entire course of the solution at once; he will give the student gradually and as needed only small hints, so that the main part of the work is done by the student himself. This is the only way to form and develop students’ independent thinking. If you immediately suggest the main path to a solution, communicate the future result and thus “help” 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 a teacher, but this help should not replace the student’s thinking process with a pre-given, ready-made result.

So, 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 a problem.

The third point of view has become very widespread in connection with the development of the cybernetic approach to thinking. It consists of the following: in the course of the thought process, one must sort out in a row (remember, take into account, try to use) one after another all, many or some signs of the corresponding object associated with it general provisions, theorems, solution options, etc. and, as a result, select from them only what is necessary for the solution. For example, if the initial conditions of the problem indicate a parallelogram, then in the process of thinking about it you need to remember, go through all the properties of this object in a row and try to use each of its properties in turn to solve it. In the end, one of them may turn out to be suitable for this case.

In fact, as special psychological experiments have shown, thinking never works in such a blind, random, mechanical search of all or some possible solution options. In the course of thinking, it is anticipated, at least to a minimal extent, which specific feature of the object under consideration will be isolated, analyzed and generalized. Not just any, no matter what, but only a certain property of the object comes to the fore and is used for the solution. The remaining properties are simply not noticed and disappear from sight. This manifests direction, selectivity, and determinism of thinking. Consequently, even the minimal, most approximate and very preliminary anticipation of the unknown in the process of searching for it makes a blind, mechanical search of all or many properties of the object under consideration unnecessary.

That is why it is important to find out how, in the course of cognitive activity, a person mentally anticipates the unknown. This is one of central problems psychology of thinking. In the process of its development, psychological science overcomes the three erroneous points of view discussed regarding the mental superiority of the unknown. Solving this problem means revealing the basic mechanism of thinking.

The unknown (the sought-after) is not some kind of “absolute emptiness” with which it is generally impossible to operate. It is always, in one way or another, connected with something known, given. In any problem, as already noted, something is always known (initial conditions and requirements, the question of the problem). Based on the connections and relationships between the known and the unknown, it becomes possible to seek and find something new, previously hidden, unknown. For example, to determine the unknown properties of a given chemical element it is necessary to make sure that it interacts and interacts with at least some already known chemical reagents. It is in these relationships with them that he will reveal and make his real properties cognizable. Any object reveals its inherent signs, properties, qualities, etc. in its relationships with other objects, things, processes. The discovery and cognition of something new in an object (subject) would be impossible without including it in new connections with other objects (subjects). Consequently, to understand an object in its new, as yet unknown properties, one must go, first of all, through knowledge of those relationships and interconnections in which these properties are manifested.

Therefore, the most important mechanism of the thought process is as follows. In the process of thinking, an object is included in more and more new connections and, thanks to this, appears in more and more of its properties and qualities, which are fixed in new concepts; Thus, all new content is drawn out of the object; it seems to turn every time with its other side, new properties are revealed in it.

This mechanism of thinking is called analysis through synthesis, since the isolation (analysis) of new properties in an object is accomplished through the correlation (synthesis) of the object under study with other objects, that is, through its inclusion in new connections with other objects. Only as people reveal the system of connections and relationships in which the analyzed object is located, do they begin to notice, discover and analyze new, still unknown signs of this object. And vice versa, until a person begins to reveal the system of such connections himself, he will not pay any attention to a new property that is necessary for the solution, even if this property is suggested by direct indication.

A random hint often contributes to discoveries and inventions. However, the use of such a hint reveals the above-mentioned pattern of the thought process. A “happy” chance will be noticed and used only by the person who thinks hard about the problem being solved. It's all about how prepared the soil is, the system in general internal conditions, which receives one or another hint from the outside. Here, as elsewhere, external causes act only through internal conditions.

Special experiments have revealed a number of psychological, internal conditions for the use of such hints. The experiments were carried out as follows. In the first case, the experimenter offered the subject the same hint at different (early and late) stages of solving the problem; in the second case, on the contrary, at the same stage of the thought process, hints of different levels were offered (some contained more or fewer links to solving the problem). At the same time, as a hint for solving the main experimental problem, a second, additional, auxiliary, less difficult problem was given, containing the principle for solving the first one. The subject could generalize this solution principle and transfer it from one problem to another.

From experience it is clear that generalization and its result (transfer) depend, first of all, on the inclusion of both tasks in a single process of analytical-synthetic activity. The very course of generalization (and transfer) is determined by at what stages of analysis - early or late - the correlation between the task and the hint is made.

The result of the process (transfer, use of hints) depends on the work carried out by the subject himself in analyzing the task. Only when a person himself comes close to the suggested part of the decision is he able to accept help from the outside (teacher, leader). Otherwise, the solver simply will not understand the hint and therefore will not accept it, or it will be used purely formally, mechanically, without understanding the essence of the matter; Instead of developing thinking, coaching will take place. The student can only be truly helped by a hint that is naturally included and fits into the appropriate system of connections and relationships, which by this point has already been sufficiently analyzed by the student himself. Then the hint is included in his thinking as a partial answer to a question that he has already posed to himself and is thinking about intensely. If it is thus accepted by the student and used by him for the further process of solving the problem, then there is objective reliable evidence that the student’s thinking has reached more high level. And vice versa, rejection of the same hint and inability to use it means that the thought process is still at a lower level. Thus, the accepted or ignored hint becomes an objective indicator of the thinking process. By how a student accepts outside help, one can judge the progress of the mental process of thinking. The experimental method of prompting allows for psychological research into the internal specific patterns of mental activity.

Thinking while solving problems

As already noted, mental activity is necessary not only for solving already set, formulated problems (for example, school-type ones). It is also necessary for the formulation of the problem itself, for identifying and understanding new problems. Often, finding and posing a problem requires even more mental effort than its subsequent resolution. Thinking is also necessary for the assimilation of knowledge, for understanding the text during reading and in many other cases, which are by no means identical to solving problems.

Although thinking is not limited to solving problems (problems), it is best to form it in the course of solving them, when the student comes across problems and questions that are feasible for him and formulates them. IN Lately based psychological research problem situations and problem solving, methods for problem-based teaching of schoolchildren are being developed. These teaching methods are aimed at putting the student in the position of a discoverer, an explorer of some problems that are feasible for him. For example, a student solves a series of problems and, as a result, discovers a new theorem for himself (of course, not for humanity), which underlies the solution of all these problems. Psychological science comes to the conclusion that it is not necessary to eliminate all difficulties from the student’s path. Only in the course of overcoming them will he be able to form his mental abilities. Help and guidance from the teacher do not consist in eliminating these difficulties, but in preparing the student to overcome them.

Types of thinking

In psychology, the following simplest and somewhat conventional classification of types of thinking is common: 1) visual-effective, 2) visual-figurative and) abstract (theoretical) thinking.

Visual-effective thinking

In the course of historical development, people solved the problems facing them first in terms of practical activity, only then did theoretical activity emerge from it. For example, at first our distant ancestor learned to measure plots of land practically (in steps, etc.), and only then, based on the knowledge accumulated in the course of this practical activity, geometry gradually emerged and developed as a special theoretical science. Practical and theoretical activity are inextricably interconnected.

Only as practical activity develops does it stand out as a relatively independent mental activity.

Not only in the historical development of mankind, but also in the process of mental development of each child, the starting point will be not purely theoretical, but practical activity. It is within this latter that it develops first childish thinking. In preschool age (before three years inclusive) thinking is mainly visual and effective. The child analyzes and synthesizes cognizable objects as he, with his hands, practically separates, dismembers and reunites certain objects perceived at the moment. Curious children often break their toys precisely in order to find out “what’s inside.”

Visual-figurative thinking

IN simplest form Visual-figurative thinking occurs mainly in preschool children, i.e., at the age of three to seven years. Although the connection between thinking and practical actions is preserved, it is not as close, direct and immediate as before. During the analysis and synthesis of a cognizable object, a child does not necessarily and does not always have to touch the object that interests him with his hands. In many cases, systematic practical manipulation (action) with an object is not required, but in all cases it is necessary to clearly perceive and visualize this object. In other words, preschoolers think only in visual images and do not yet master concepts (in the strict sense).

The fact is that children’s visual-figurative thinking is still directly and completely subordinated to their perception, and therefore they cannot yet distract themselves, abstract with the help of concepts from some of the most striking properties of the object in question.

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