The study of mental operations. Types of mental operations

Mental operations are actions that we carry out in our thinking on material, real or imagined. Mental operations are separate "bricks" or stages of our thinking. The main types of mental operations include:

Comparison,

abstraction,

concretization,

induction,

Deduction.

Comparison

Comparison is a mental operation that consists in establishing similarities and differences between individual objects or phenomena of the real world.

When a person observes two objects, willy-nilly or not, he begins to notice how these objects are similar or how they differ. Outwardly simple, this operation includes a number of complex elements. There is no "comparison in general", it always depends on what properties of the compared objects are essential for us, what interests us. Depending on the situation, on our needs (sometimes very subtle) there are different bases for comparison.

Example. There are four people. Three of them are interested in books, the fourth is not. The former is interested in books insofar as he is interested in, say, science fiction. When he encounters a book, he pays attention to those details that can show that it belongs specifically to science fiction. On the cover you can find the name of a familiar author, if the author is unknown, then the title of the work or the characteristic design of the cover can give out that the book belongs to a particular genre. Therefore, when meeting two books, a fan of science fiction will compare them with each other in terms of authors, titles, and design. And, without even looking inside, he can give preference to one or another book.

Another person is also interested in books, but his interest is professional: he is engaged in publishing. Such a person is likely to compare books with each other on other grounds: paper quality, cover design methods, book sizes, and some other technical characteristics.

The fourth person is not at all interested in books, at least in their paper versions. If he reads books, then only from the screen of a computer or mobile device. Paper books occupy almost no place in the life of this person. And therefore, interestingly and importantly, the grounds for comparing books among themselves are temporary and unstable: today two books seem similar / different because of color, tomorrow they are compared in size, the day after tomorrow by year of publication, etc. .

The comparison operation is carried out either directly or indirectly. When we perceive two things directly, we use direct comparison. Otherwise, we use an indirect comparison. In an indirect comparison, we can use inferences based on indirect signs.

Indirect comparison generally relies on the full power of our intellect; both, for example, imagination and visual actions can be used as a "mediator" in the comparison. The child cannot find out if he has become taller by comparing himself directly with his present self and his former self (for example, a month ago). However, he can use a visual trick and mark his height on the door frame. And then by the marks he will be able to find out the desired information.

Strictly speaking, in nature there are no two identical objects at all. Any two stones differ from each other, heavenly bodies differ, there are no two absolutely identical birds or insects. It must be assumed that even two identical atoms or electrons do not exist. Our thinking makes objects the same. For this, in fact, there is a comparison operation.

Moreover, the human mind has come up with objects that are always the same, under all circumstances. This, of course, is about mathematical - exclusively invented - objects. So in mathematics, all equilateral triangles with a side length of 7 centimeters are always equal to each other.

The operation of comparison is extremely important for the work of the psyche. And in any comparison, as we have already said, there is one or another basis, one or another essential feature. It is interesting that in the comparison operation there are individual differences not only in terms of bases, but also in the comparison algorithm.

Example. There are four people (A, B, C, D) and two stones (b and b). The test subjects are tasked with comparing the stones and making a verdict: are these stones the same or different. For all subjects, the main comparison criterion is the shape, but there are also secondary ones - color, size. A and B started their reasoning like this: "Suppose b and b are the same..." C and D started their reasoning differently: "Suppose b and b are different..." Then they continued their reasoning. Subject A stated: "The shape of the stones is the same, so the hypothesis is fully confirmed." Subject B decided differently: "The shape of the stones is the same, but I have not yet compared in color and size; if it turns out that they are different in some way, then the stones will be different." Subject B argues differently: "The shape of b and b is the same, so my hypothesis was not confirmed, and this means that the stones are not different, but the same." And the last subject, G: "The shape, of course, is the same, and this somewhat contradicts my hypothesis; I will have to compare more in color and size; maybe they will confirm my hypothesis."

Unlike abstract reasoning in philosophy, formal or mathematical logic in real life, in most cases we have several bases for comparison. In this case, some grounds are usually somewhat more important than others. Therefore, all four comparison algorithms given in the example make sense. Depending on the number of bases, on their equal or different significance, there are profitable talk one way or another.

The comparison operation is carried out by our thinking so often and in most cases so quickly that we simply do not have time to reflect on the algorithms by which we compare. Algorithms are very different and specific, not only such simple logical ones as in our example. Comparison can be multi-criteria, when in our head we formulate a number of comparison criteria, and then, as it were, putting points in our minds to the compared objects. Some comparison algorithms are inherent in us by nature and have not yet been fully studied by science.

Such, for example, is auditory perception, entirely built on comparisons. Listening to another popular motive, we relatively easily and not without pleasure seek out a recurring chorus in a musical opus. We can say with certainty what other opuses this opus is similar to. But we are not able to clearly describe the algorithm for comparing two pieces of music with each other, or at least separate short sections, because we control this intellectual comparison process very weakly with our consciousness.

The comparison operation is inherent not only to people, but also to animals and birds. Females of many animals, for example, having the opportunity to compare two potential marriage partners among themselves, prefer a larger and more physically developed male. When meeting each other, geese stand on tiptoe and stretch their beak upwards, comparing their height and competing in this indicator.

The comparison operation is the base for many other mental operations. Abstracting from some properties and circumstances, focusing on others provides a primary structuring, ordering of the material.

Analysis and synthesis

Analysis is the mental division of something into parts or the mental selection of individual properties of an object. The essence of this operation is that, perceiving or imagining an object or phenomenon, we can mentally select one part from another in it, and then select the next part, etc.

Through analysis, we can find out what parts are in what we perceive. Analysis allows us to decompose the whole into parts, i.e. allows us to understand the structure of what we perceive. Not always, however, there is only one way of this decomposition of the whole into parts. If the system is very complex, then there can be a lot of these methods. Therefore, as in the case of the comparison operation, the analysis can also have reasons.

Example. Suppose we are given the task of dividing the city in which we live into several separate parts. As a basis for decomposition (analysis), we can take the already established administrative-territorial division (by districts). We can divide the city into functional parts: residential areas, industrial areas, landscape gardening areas. We can distinguish the historical part (with houses built, say, before 1917), the modern part, and the area of new buildings. It can be divided into right bank and left bank.

It is possible to analyze not only those objects that are presented to us visually. You can analyze, for example, processes. If a position was established in some organization, for example, an economist-analyst or a marketer, then the specialist who occupied it will begin his work with an analysis: he will find out what structural and functional divisions exist in the organization, what specific tasks the organization faces, who her partners, etc. Without a preliminary analysis in his work, such a specialist will poke around like a blind kitten.

When analyzing visual objects, we highlight:

Essential parts of the subject (structure),

Color, shape, material properties and other properties.

Analysis of objects, of course, can be carried out not only in a visual mode, but also from memory.

Synthesis is an operation opposite to analysis, a mental combination of parts of objects or phenomena into a single whole, a mental combination of their individual properties.

Suppose we come across a new radio-controlled toy car and we really want to understand how it works. At first we will just play and observe the behavior of the machine. Then we can disassemble it together with the remote control and conduct an analysis, that is, carefully study the structure of the toy, understand what parts it consists of. After that, we can assemble the machine (that is, carry out the synthesis) and continue studying the behavior of the machine. We can disassemble the machine again, change something in its device and assemble it, see what comes of it.

The very fact that we managed to assemble the machine again already shows that we have a good understanding of its device.

Synthesis, as well as analysis, is characterized by mental operation of the properties of an object. However, it cannot be argued that synthesis and analysis are exclusively mental (non-material) operations. It is possible to assemble and disassemble the machine, as in our example, not only in the mind, but also in a mixed form: that is, on visual material. Analysis and synthesis are not some "mystically incomprehensible" operations, they are literally the decomposition and assembly of an object. And it's often more rewarding to take apart a typewriter or something literally than mentally. By the way, the human hand is represented in the cerebral cortex by very large areas and, by manipulating this or that object, the "smart hand" can "explain" a lot.

Throughout life, a person constantly, daily and even hourly uses analysis and synthesis. Arriving, for example, in a new supermarket, the buyer in his mind divides the store area into departments, analyzes the assortment by manufacturers, highlights the strengths and weaknesses in the work of the staff, determines which goods are profitable to buy and which are not.

Both analysis and synthesis can pursue purely practical goals, and can also be theoretical. In the latter case, a person is only interested in "truth for the sake of truth", that is, he is engaged in the development of a single, scientific picture (model) of the world.

Regardless of the practical or theoretical nature of reflection, analysis and synthesis are closely related to other mental operations, such as comparison. Comparison of two objects with each other can serve as an impetus for the analysis of one of these objects or both. Having learned, for example, that not all products are equally useful, a curious person will begin to inquire why and will begin to sort products into components in his mind. Within the analysis operation itself, a comparison may be required: having met two identical gears in the design of a machine, a person may be interested in whether they are exactly the same, and if they are different, then how significant this difference is.

Analysis and synthesis are closely related. In everyday life, we usually don’t notice how in our mind we first “sort things out” and then put them together into one whole. By themselves, analysis for the sake of analysis and synthesis for the sake of synthesis practically do not occur. If we have "taken apart something brick by brick", then later we want to make something out of these "bricks". And having done something, I want to take it apart again.

Abstraction and Concretization

Abstraction is a mental distraction from some parts or properties of an object in favor of other, more significant features. You can abstract from any features or properties of the object. To abstract from something means not to attach importance to it, to ignore this circumstance.

You can ignore the age, gender and character of your colleagues. Then it will be possible to evaluate colleagues more objectively, according to business qualities.

You can ignore the fact that the Earth is round and build a football field flat instead of convex.

You can disregard the temperature of ice cream and consider melted ice cream to be ice cream as well.

Abstraction is weak and strong. In the first case, we abstract from one or two signs, circumstances. In the second case, we abstract from everything else, except for one or two signs or circumstances.

If we abstract from everything except age, gender and character, then we can make a small personality portrait: "An elderly grumpy woman" or "A brave but arrogant young man."

If we abstract from all other circumstances except that the Earth is round, then we can say that the planet Earth is one big football field.

If we abstract from everything except temperature, then we can say that all cold objects are ice cream.

The beauty of abstraction is not only that we can talk about such concepts as "asexual man" or "flat Earth", but also that we can talk about strong abstractions - features abstracted from carrier objects. We can judge such abstract things as temperature, gender, age, round shape, rectangular shape, shape, color, democracy, psychology.

What gives us the ability to abstract? For example, it is widely used in the formation and assimilation of new concepts, since the concepts reflect only essential features common to a whole class of objects. Having said "table", we abstract from other, seemingly secondary, features, such as color, dimensions, material, functionality, and present a certain image of a whole class of objects. In the word "table" we represent only an abstract characteristic: a fairly large object with a flat surface, at which one can sit and perform certain manual actions, a third or half the height of a person.

Not every person can define a table, but all people are well aware of this concept and use it competently. Some abstract concepts cannot be explained directly at all, only indirectly. So, for example, without the use of a scientific apparatus, it is impossible to explain to another person how green differs from red. It is possible only in examples, through concretization, to say that green is the color of plants, and red is the color of ripe tomatoes or ketchup.

It is even more difficult to explain the meaning of words denoting non-visual objects. How to define love? Or democracy? A feeling of deep sympathy? What is sympathy? Deep attachment to another person or object? How can you tell a deep attachment from a shallow one? People power? Over whom?

This is a very interesting feature of the human psyche: we can speak for hours in abstract words, but it takes considerable effort to define these words.

Among the types of abstraction are sometimes distinguished:

Practical (directly included in the process of activity),

sensual (external)

Higher (mediated, expressed in concepts).

Pure abstraction, abstraction for the sake of abstraction, can take you very far in reasoning. In contrast to it, there is concretization - the representation of something single, which corresponds to a particular concept or general position. In concrete representations, we do not seek to abstract from the various features or properties of objects and phenomena, but, on the contrary, we strive to imagine these objects in all the variety of properties and features, in close combination of some features with others.

If abstraction is the breaking of links between features, the transition from consideration of isolated cases to general ones, then concretization always acts as an example or as an illustration of something in common. Concretizing the general concept, we better understand it.

Examples. There was an abstract concept "a piece of furniture" - the concept "table" became less abstract (more concrete). To be specific, you can go to "desk", "my home desk", "my home desk, as it was ten years ago."

"Activity" - "Professional activity" - "Healing" - "Pulling out teeth."

"Animal" - "Predator" - "Representative of the cat family" - "Domestic cat" - "My cat Musya".

Induction and deduction

An important feature of our mental activity is that as a result of it we receive (can receive) new knowledge. The acquisition of new knowledge is directly followed by a conclusion, which is also referred to as mental operations. There are usually two main types of inference:

Inductive reasoning (induction),

Deductive reasoning (deduction).

Induction - the transition from special cases to a general position, which covers special cases.

Examples. Suppose we have made a series of observations. We saw bears in several zoos. All of them were brown. From this we concluded that all bears are brown.

We have seen many birds in our lifetime. All of them had feathers, except for those sold in the store. From this we concluded that all living birds have feathers.

I went through a lot of different numbers in my mind. It turned out that no matter how big a number is, there will always be even more. From this they concluded that there is no largest number in the world.

As in any mental operation, in induction we can make certain mistakes, the conclusion made may turn out to be insufficiently reliable or completely false. The reliability of inductive reasoning is achieved not only by increasing the number of cases on which it is based, but also by using a variety of examples in which insignificant features of objects and phenomena vary.

Inferences like "Some bears are brown" are also inductive. And it's not hard at all to make them. It is enough just to watch a few brown bears. Much more difficult with strong statements like "All bears are brown." Even after observing a thousand bears, among which all turned out to be brown, it cannot be argued that all bears are brown, because we do not know if we have seen all possible bears in the world.

After polling 1,200 respondents in the course of a sociological study, it can be found out that all respondents support the politician Vasisualy Lokhankin. It will be true. However, the inductive conclusion "All the inhabitants of our city (country) support Vasisualy Lokhankin" will remain conjectural and unproven. It will only be proven that some residents support the said politician. And you can't get away from this fact.

Although inductive reasoning is not precise in a strict, logical sense, it is of course of great use in everyday life. Having bought spoiled products several times in the same store, one can come to the inductive conclusion that all (many) products from this store are spoiled. Observing how often a person lies, one can inductively conclude that he usually tells lies in general.

A mental operation opposite to induction is deduction - a conclusion made in relation to a particular case on the basis of a general position. For example, knowing that all numbers are divisible by three, the sum of the digits of which is a multiple of three, we can say that the number 412815 is divided by three without a remainder. At the same time, knowing that all birches shed their leaves for the winter, we can be sure that any individual birch will also be without leaves in winter.

Induction through generalizations of varying degrees of accuracy and reliability helps us to enrich our knowledge about the world around us. We can say that the picture (model) of the world consists of many different inductive conclusions. In adolescence, when a person is studying, he uses the induction operation much more often. In mature years, when it is time to act, deduction is needed more often, because it is it that helps in solving specific life problems.

The doctor, having made a certain diagnosis to the patient, based on knowledge of the general patterns of the course of this disease, draws a conclusion on how to treat a particular patient. An experienced auto mechanic, knowing the typical problems of cars of a given model and observing certain symptoms, draws a conclusion about the alleged problems. The buyer, knowing that all ripe bananas are yellow, does not buy green ones.

Like induction, deduction is a rather risky inference. Knowing, for example, that the majority of engineers are men, a school graduate may change her mind about entering a technical university, although she had success in mathematics and physics at school.

In addition to induction and deduction, traduction is also distinguished in logic - a conclusion that is not accompanied by a transition from the particular to the general or vice versa. The most typical example of traduction is analogy. Having a rather vague idea (model) of the object in question, we can turn to an analogy, that is, take another object, or rather its model, correct something in this model and use it on the current object. If students, for example, do not really understand how the earth's crust works, then the teacher can give an analogy with a layer cake.

Literature

Maklakov A. G. General psychology. St. Petersburg: Peter, 2001. Consideration, study of something, based on the dismemberment (mental, and often real) of an object, phenomenon into its component parts, determination of the elements included in the whole, analysis of the properties of an object or phenomenon. The reverse procedure of A. is synthesis, with which A. is often combined in practical or cognitive activity. Synthesis consists in the fact that knowledge about the subject is obtained by combining its elements and studying their connection. One of the logical operations thinking. Tasks on the S. of objects, images, and concepts are widely used in psychological studies of the development of thinking and its disturbances. The grounds for S. that a person uses, the ease of transition from one of them to another, etc. are analyzed.

mental activity of a person is a solution to various mental problems aimed at revealing the essence of something. Thinking operation- this is one of the ways of mental activity, through which a person solves mental problems.

mental operations diverse: analysis and synthesis, comparison, abstraction, concretization, generalization, classification. Which of the logical operations a person will use will depend on the task and on the nature of the information that he subjects to mental processing.

Analysis- this is a mental decomposition of the whole into parts or a mental separation from the whole of its sides, actions, relations. Synthesis- the reverse process of thought to analysis, it is the unification of parts, properties, actions, relations into one whole. Analysis and synthesis are two interrelated logical operations. Synthesis, like analysis, can be both practical and mental. Analysis and synthesis were formed in the practical activity of man. In labor activity, people constantly interact with objects and phenomena. Practical development of them led to the formation of mental operations of analysis and synthesis.

Comparison- this is the establishment of similarities and differences between objects and phenomena. The comparison is based on analysis. Before comparing objects, it is necessary to select one or more of their features, according to which the comparison will be made. The comparison can be one-sided, or incomplete, and multi-sided, or more complete. Comparison, like analysis and synthesis, can be of different levels - superficial and deeper. In this case, a person's thought goes from external signs of similarity and difference to internal ones, from the visible to the hidden, from the phenomenon to the essence.

abstraction- this is a process of mental abstraction from some signs, aspects of the concrete in order to better know it. A person mentally highlights some feature of an object and considers it in isolation from all other features, temporarily distracted from them. An isolated study of individual features of an object, while simultaneously abstracting from all the others, helps a person to better understand the essence of things and phenomena. Thanks to abstraction, a person was able to break away from the individual, concrete and rise to the highest level of knowledge - scientific theoretical thinking.

Specification- a process that is inverse to abstraction and is inextricably linked with it. Concretization is the return of thought from the general and abstract to the concrete in order to reveal the content.

Thinking activity is always aimed at obtaining some result. A person analyzes objects, compares them, abstracts individual properties in order to reveal what is common in them, in order to reveal the patterns that govern their development, in order to master them.

Generalization, thus, there is a selection in objects and phenomena of the general, which is expressed in the form of a concept, law, rule, formula, etc.

Stages of formation of mental actions (according to P.Ya. Galperin).

According to Galperin, any new mental action, for example, imagination, understanding, thinking comes after the corresponding external activity.

This process goes through several stages, causing the transition from external activity to psychological. Effective training must take these steps into account. According to Galperin, training can be conditionally called any activity, since the one who performs it receives new information and skills, and at the same time the information he receives receives a new quality.

The theory of gradual formation of mental actions P.Ya. Galperina is well known in domestic psychology and has received wide international recognition.

The process of formation of mental actions according to P.Ya. Galperin is done in stages:

1. Identification of the orienting basis of action. At this stage, orientation in the task occurs, initially what is striking itself is highlighted.

2. The formation of an action in a material form takes place. At this stage, the student of mental actions receives a complete system of indications and a system of external signs that he needs to focus on. The action is automated, made expedient, it is possible to transfer it to similar tasks.

3. The stage of external speech. Here the action is further generalized due to its complete verbalization in oral or written speech. Thus, the action is assimilated in a form divorced from specifics, i.e. generalized. It is important not only to know the conditions, but also to understand them.

4. The stage of formation of actions in external speech to oneself. Stage of internal activity. As in the previous stage, the action is manifested in a generalized form, but its verbal assimilation occurs without the participation of external speech. After receiving a mental form, the action begins to quickly reduce, acquiring a form identical to the model, and undergoing automation.

5. Formation of actions in inner speech. The stage of internalization of action. The action here becomes an internal process, maximally automated, it becomes an act of thought, the course of which is closed, and only the final "product" of this process is known.

The transition from the first of these stages to all subsequent ones is a consistent internalization of actions. This is a transition from outside to inside.

All activity is not an end in itself, but is caused by a certain motive of this activity, of which it is a part. When the purpose of the task coincides with the motive, the action becomes an activity.

Those. activity is the process of solving problems, caused by the desire to achieve the goal, which can be achieved through this process.

Galperin appreciates the role of motivation so highly that, along with 5 main stages in the process of mastering new actions, in his latest works he recommends taking into account one more stage - the formation of appropriate motivation in students.

The psychological law of the assimilation of knowledge is that they are formed in the mind not before, but in the process of applying them to practice.

A person best of all remembers the knowledge that he used in some of his own actions, applied to the solution of some real problems. Knowledge that has not found practical application is usually gradually forgotten.

The assimilation of knowledge is not the goal of learning, but a means. Knowledge is acquired in order to learn how to do something with its help, and not to be stored in memory.

Any well-mastered action (motor, perceptual, verbal) is an action fully represented in the mind. A person who knows how to act correctly is able to mentally perform this action from beginning to end.

Theories of the development of thinking.

In the formation of the development of thinking, several stages can be conventionally distinguished. The boundaries and content of these stages may vary by different authors. This is due to the position of the author on this issue. Currently, there are several of the most well-known classifications of stages in the development of human thinking.

Visual-active thinking.

Depending on the content of the problem being solved, visual-effective, visual-figurative and verbal-logical thinking (consecutive stages of intellectual development) are distinguished. Genetically, the earliest form of thinking is visual-effective thinking, the first manifestations of which in a child can be observed at the end of the first - beginning of the second year of life, even before mastering active speech. Features of visual-effective thinking are manifested in the fact that problems are solved with the help of a real, physical transformation of the situation, testing the properties of objects. The initial stage in the development of human thinking is associated with generalizations. At the same time, the first generalizations of the child are inseparable from practical activity, which finds expression in the same actions that he performs with objects similar to each other. Primitive sensory abstraction, in which the child singles out some aspects and is distracted from others, leads to the first elementary generalization. As a result, the first, unstable groupings of objects into classes and bizarre classifications are created. An important basis for the mental activity of the child is observation. Cogitative activity is expressed, first of all, in comparison and comparison. At the same time, the differences between such concepts as a thing and the properties of a thing are assimilated. The child learns to make inferences. A visual-effective type of thinking is also found in adults, it is found in everyday life (used when rearranging furniture) and when it is impossible to fully foresee the results of any actions in advance (the work of a tester, designer).

Visual-figurative thinking.

Visual-figurative thinking is connected with the operation of images. This type of thinking is clearly manifested in preschoolers aged 4-6 years. The connection between thinking and practical actions, although they retain, is not as close, direct and immediate as before. In the course of the analysis and synthesis of a cognizable object, the child does not necessarily and by no means always have to touch the object that interests him with his hands. In many cases, no practical manipulation of the object is 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), although they widely use words (but words still play the role of denoting objects, and not as a reflection of the essential properties of objects). The visual-figurative thinking of children is still directly and completely subordinated to their perception. Adults also use visual-figurative thinking, it allows you to give the form of an image to such things and their relationships that are not visible by themselves (the image of an atomic nucleus, the internal structure of the globe).

Verbal-logical thinking.

Verbal-logical thinking is a type of thinking carried out with the help of logical operations with concepts. Verbal-logical thinking functions on the basis of linguistic means and represents the latest stage in the historical and ontogenetic development of thinking. This type of thinking is characterized by the use of concepts, logical constructions, which sometimes do not have a direct figurative expression (cost, honesty, pride). Thanks to verbal-logical thinking, a person can establish the most general patterns, foresee the development of processes in nature and society, and generalize various visual material. At the same time, even the most abstract thinking never completely breaks away from visual-sensory experience. Any abstract concept has for each person its own specific sensual support, which cannot reflect the entire depth of the concept, but allows you not to break away from the real world.

Pre-conceptual and conceptual thinking.

In its formation, thinking goes through two stages: pre-conceptual and conceptual. Pre-conceptual thinking is the initial stage in the development of thinking in a child, when his thinking has a different organization than that of adults; children's judgments are single, about this particular subject. When explaining something, everything is reduced by them to the particular, the familiar. Most judgments are judgments by similarity, since memory plays the main role in thinking during this period. The central feature of pre-conceptual thinking is egocentrism. A child under 5 years old cannot look at himself from the outside, cannot correctly understand situations that require some detachment from his own point of view and acceptance of someone else's position. Egocentrism causes such features of children's logic as insensitivity to contradictions, syncretism (the tendency to connect everything with everything), transduction (the transition from the particular to the particular, bypassing the general), and the lack of an idea of the conservation of quantity. During normal development, there is a regular replacement of pre-conceptual thinking, where concrete images serve as components, by conceptual (abstract) thinking, where concepts serve as components and formal operations are applied.

Conceptual thinking does not come all at once, but through a series of intermediate stages. Thinking develops from concrete images to perfect concepts, denoted by the word. The concept initially reflects similar, unchanged in phenomena and objects. Significant changes in the intellectual development of the child occur at school age. These shifts are expressed in the knowledge of ever deeper properties of objects, in the formation of the mental operations necessary for this. These mental operations are not yet sufficiently generalized; the thinking of children of primary school age is conceptually concrete. However, they already master some more complex forms of reasoning, realize the power of logical necessity, they develop verbal-logical thinking. In middle and senior school age, more complex cognitive tasks become available to students, mental operations are generalized, formalized, the range of their transfer and application in various new situations expands. A transition is being made from conceptual-concrete to abstract-conceptual thinking. The intellectual development of a child is characterized by a regular change of stages, where each previous stage prepares the subsequent ones.

In psychology, the following operations of thinking are distinguished: analysis, synthesis, generalization, comparison, classification (systematization), abstraction, concretization (Fig. 2). With the help of these operations of thinking, penetration is carried out deep into one or another problem facing a person, the properties of the elements that make up this problem are considered, and a solution to the problem is found.

Rice. 2. Mental operations

Analysis is a mental operation of dividing a complex object into its constituent parts. Analysis is the selection in an object of one or another of its aspects, elements, relationships, relationships, etc. Along with highlighting the essential parts of an object, analysis allows you to mentally highlight individual properties of the object, such as color, shape of the object, speed of the process, etc. Attention should also be paid to the fact that analysis is possible not only when a person perceives an object, but also when he perceives it from memory. With the help of analysis, the most significant features are revealed.

Synthesis is a mental operation that allows one to move from parts to the whole in a single analytical-synthetic process of thinking.

Synthesis can be carried out both on the basis of perception and on the basis of memories and ideas. Being inherently opposite operations, analysis and synthesis are in fact closely related.

Comparison- a mental operation that reveals the identity and difference of phenomena and their properties, allowing the classification of phenomena and their generalization.

Recognition of the similarity or difference between objects depends on what properties of the compared objects are essential for a person. The comparison operation can be performed in two ways: directly and indirectly. When a person can compare two objects or phenomena, perceiving them simultaneously, he uses direct comparison. In cases where a person makes a comparison by inference, he uses an indirect comparison.

Generalization- a mental operation that allows you to mentally combine objects and phenomena according to their common and essential features. Generalization can be carried out at two levels. The first, elementary level is the combination of similar objects according to external features (generalization). But of great cognitive value is the generalization of the second, higher level, when significant common features are distinguished in a group of objects and phenomena.

abstraction- a mental operation of reflecting individual properties of phenomena that are significant in some respect.

The essence of abstraction as a mental operation is that, perceiving an object and highlighting a certain part in it, a person considers the selected part or property, regardless of other parts or properties of this object. Thus, with the help of abstraction, a person can single out a part of an object or property from the entire flow of perceived information, i.e. be distracted or abstracted from other signs of the information he receives.

Abstraction is widely used by a person in the formation and assimilation of new concepts, since the concepts reflect only the essential features common to a whole class of objects.

Specification- a mental operation of cognition of a holistic object in the totality of its essential relationships, a theoretical reconstruction of a holistic object. Concretization is the opposite process of abstraction. In concrete representations, a person does not seek to abstract himself from various features or properties of objects and phenomena, but, on the contrary, seeks to imagine these objects in all the variety of properties and features, in close combination of some features with others.

Classification- grouping of objects according to essential features. Unlike classification, which should be based on features that are significant in some respect, systematization sometimes it allows the choice as a basis of signs of little importance (for example, in alphabetical catalogs), but operationally convenient.

The information received by a person from the surrounding world allows a person to represent not only the external, but also the internal side of an object, to represent objects in the absence of themselves, to foresee their change in time, to rush with thought into boundless distances and the microcosm. All this is possible through the process of thinking. In under thinking understand the process of cognitive activity of an individual, characterized by a generalized and indirect reflection of reality. Objects and phenomena of reality have such properties and relationships that can be known directly, with the help of sensations and perceptions (colors, sounds, shapes, placement and movement of bodies in visible space).

The first feature of thinking- its mediated nature. What a person cannot cognize directly, directly, he cognizes indirectly, indirectly: some properties through others, the unknown through the known. Thinking is always based on the data of sensory experience - representations - and on previously acquired theoretical knowledge. Indirect knowledge is also indirect knowledge.

The second feature of thinking- its generalization. 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, language. Verbal designation refers not only to a single object, but also to a whole group of similar objects. Generalization is also inherent in images (representations and even perceptions). But there it is always limited visibility. The word allows you to generalize without limit. Philosophical concepts of matter, motion, law, essence, phenomenon, quality, quantity, etc. - the broadest generalizations expressed in a word.

The results of people's cognitive activity are recorded in the form of concepts. A concept is a reflection of the essential features of an object. The concept of an object arises on the basis of many judgments and conclusions about it. The concept as a result of the generalization of people's experience is the highest product of the brain, the highest stage of cognition of the world.

Human thinking proceeds in the form of judgments and conclusions.. Judgment is a form of thinking that reflects the objects of reality in their connections and relationships. Each judgment is a separate thought about something. A consistent logical connection of several judgments, necessary in order to solve any mental problem, to understand something, to find an answer to a question, is called reasoning. Reasoning has practical meaning only when it leads to a certain conclusion, a conclusion. The conclusion will be the answer to the question, the result of the search for thought.

inference- this is a conclusion from several judgments, giving us new knowledge about the objects and phenomena of the objective world. Inferences are inductive, deductive and by analogy.

Thinking is the highest level of human cognition of reality. Sensual basis of thinking are sensations, perceptions and representations. Through the sense organs - 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 (logical) form of information processing is the activity of thinking. Solving the mental tasks that life puts before a person, he reflects, draws conclusions and thereby cognizes the essence of things and phenomena, discovers the laws of their connection, and then transforms the world on this basis.

Thinking is not only closely connected with sensations and perceptions, but it is formed on the basis of them. The transition from sensation to thought is a complex process, which consists, first of all, in the selection and isolation of an object or its attribute, in abstraction from the concrete, individual and the establishment of the essential, common to many objects.

Thinking acts mainly as a solution to problems, questions, problems that are constantly put forward before people by life. Solving problems should always give a person something new, new knowledge. The search for solutions is sometimes very difficult, so mental activity, as a rule, is an active activity that requires focused attention and patience. The real process of thought is always a process not only cognitive, but also emotional-volitional.

For human thinking, the relationship is not with sensory cognition, but with speech and language. In a stricter sense speech- the process of communication mediated by language. If language is an objective, historically established system of codes and the subject of a special science - linguistics, then speech is a psychological process of formulating and transmitting thoughts by means of language.

Modern psychology does not believe that inner speech has the same structure and the same functions as extended outer speech. By internal speech, psychology means an essential transitional stage between the idea and expanded external speech. A mechanism that allows you to recode the general meaning into a speech statement, i.e. inner speech is, first of all, not an extended speech statement, but only preparatory stage.

However, the inseparable connection between thinking and speech does not at all mean that thinking can be reduced to speech. Thinking and speaking are not the same thing. Thinking does not mean talking about yourself. Evidence of this is the possibility of expressing the same thought in different words, as well as the fact that we do not always find the right words to express our thought.

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 the language, people's thoughts are not lost, but are transmitted in the form of a system of knowledge from generation to generation. However, there are additional means of transmitting the results of thinking: light and sound signals, electrical impulses, gestures, etc. Modern science and technology widely use conventional signs as a universal and economical means of transmitting information.

Thinking is also inextricably linked with the practical activities of people. Any type of activity involves thinking, taking into account the conditions of action, planning, observation. By acting, a person solves any problems. Practical activity is the main condition for the emergence and development of thinking, as well as a criterion for the truth of thinking.

thought processes

The mental activity of a person is a solution to various mental problems aimed at revealing the essence of something. A mental operation is one of the ways of mental activity through which a person solves mental problems.

Thinking operations are varied. These are analysis and synthesis, comparison, abstraction, concretization, generalization, classification. Which of the logical operations a person will use will depend on the task and on the nature of the information that he subjects to mental processing.

Analysis and synthesis

Analysis- this is a mental decomposition of the whole into parts or a mental separation from the whole of its sides, actions, relations.

Synthesis- the reverse process of thought to analysis, it is the unification of parts, properties, actions, relations into one whole.

Analysis and synthesis are two interrelated logical operations. Synthesis, like analysis, can be both practical and mental.

Analysis and synthesis were formed in the practical activity of man. People constantly interact with objects and phenomena. Practical development of them led to the formation of mental operations of analysis and synthesis.

Comparison

Comparison- this is the establishment of similarities and differences between objects and phenomena.

The comparison is based on analysis. Before comparing objects, it is necessary to select one or more of their features, according to which the comparison will be made.

The comparison can be one-sided, or incomplete, and multi-sided, or more complete. Comparison, like analysis and synthesis, can be of different levels - superficial and deeper. In this case, a person's thought goes from external signs of similarity and difference to internal ones, from the visible to the hidden, from the phenomenon to the essence.

abstraction

abstraction- this is a process of mental abstraction from some signs, aspects of the concrete in order to better know it.

A person mentally highlights some feature of an object and considers it in isolation from all other features, temporarily distracted from them. An isolated study of individual features of an object, while simultaneously abstracting from all the others, helps a person to better understand the essence of things and phenomena. Thanks to abstraction, a person was able to break away from the individual, concrete and rise to the highest level of knowledge - scientific theoretical thinking.

Specification

Specification- a process that is the opposite of abstraction and is inextricably linked with it.

Concretization is the return of thought from the general and abstract to the concrete in order to reveal the content.

Generalization, therefore, is the selection in objects and phenomena of the general, which is expressed in the form of a concept, law, rule, formula, etc.

Types of thinking

Depending on what place the word, image and action occupy in the thought process, how they relate to each other, distinguish three types of thinking: concrete-effective, or practical, concrete-figurative and abstract. These types of thinking are also distinguished on the basis of the characteristics of tasks - practical and theoretical.

Actionable Thinking

Visual and effective- a type of thinking based on the direct perception of objects.

Specifically effective, or objectively effective, thinking is aimed at solving specific problems in the conditions of production, constructive, organizational and other practical activities of people. Practical thinking is, first of all, technical, constructive thinking. It consists in the understanding of technology and in the ability of a person to independently solve technical problems. The process of technical activity is the process of interaction between mental and practical components of work. Complex operations of abstract thinking are intertwined with the practical actions of a person, inextricably linked with them. Characteristic features concrete-effective thinking are bright strong observation, attention to detail, particulars and the ability to use them in a particular situation, operating with spatial images and schemes, the ability to quickly move from thinking to action and vice versa. It is in this kind of thinking that the unity of thought and will is manifested to the greatest extent.

Concrete-figurative thinking

Visual-figurative- a type of thinking characterized by reliance on ideas and images.

Concrete-figurative (visual-figurative), or artistic, thinking is characterized by the fact that a person embodies abstract thoughts, generalizations into concrete images.

Abstract thinking

Verbal-logical- a kind of thinking carried out with the help of logical operations with concepts.

Abstract, or verbal-logical, thinking is mainly aimed at finding common patterns in nature and human society. Abstract, theoretical thinking reflects general connections and relationships. It operates mainly with concepts, broad categories, and images, representations play an auxiliary role in it.

All three types of thinking are closely related to each other. Many people have equally developed concrete-active, concrete-figurative and theoretical thinking, but depending on the nature of the tasks that a person solves, then one, then another, then a third type of thinking comes to the fore.

Types and types of thinking

Practical-active, visual-figurative and theoretical-abstract - these are the interconnected types of thinking. In the process of the historical development of mankind, the human intellect was initially formed in the course of practical activity. So, people learned to measure land plots by experience, and then on this basis a special theoretical science gradually arose - geometry.

Genetically, the earliest kind of thinking is action-oriented thinking; actions with objects are of decisive importance in it (in its infancy it is also observed in animals).

On the basis of practical-effective, manipulative thinking arises visual-figurative thinking. It is characterized by operating with visual images in the mind.

The highest level of thinking is abstract, abstract thinking. However, here, too, thinking retains a connection with practice. As they say, there is nothing more practical than a correct theory.

The thinking of individuals is also divided into practical-effective, figurative and abstract (theoretical).

But in the process of life, one and the same person comes to the fore either one or another type of thinking. So, everyday affairs require practical-effective thinking, and a report on a scientific topic requires theoretical thinking, etc.

Structural unit of practical-effective (operational) thinking - action; artistic - image; scientific thinking concept.

Depending on the depth of generalization, empirical and theoretical thinking are distinguished.

empirical thinking(from the Greek. empeiria - experience) gives primary generalizations based on experience. These generalizations are made at a low level of abstraction. Empirical knowledge is the lowest, elementary level of knowledge. Empirical thinking should not be confused with practical thinking.

As noted by the well-known psychologist V. M. Teplov (“The Mind of a Commander”), many psychologists take the work of a scientist, a theorist, as the only model of mental activity. Meanwhile, practical activity requires no less intellectual effort.

The mental activity of the theoretician is concentrated mainly on the first part of the path of cognition - a temporary retreat, a retreat from practice. The mental activity of the practitioner is mainly concentrated on the second part of it - on the transition from abstract thinking to practice, that is, on that "hit" in practice, for the sake of which the theoretical digression is made.

A feature of practical thinking is subtle observation, the ability to focus attention on individual details of an event, the ability to use to solve a particular problem that special and singular that was not completely included in theoretical generalization, the ability to quickly move from thinking to action.

In the practical thinking of a person, the optimal ratio of his mind and will, the cognitive, regulatory and energy capabilities of the individual is essential. Practical thinking is associated with the operational setting of priority goals, the development of flexible plans, programs, great self-control in stressful conditions of activity.

Theoretical thinking reveals universal relations, explores the object of knowledge in the system of its necessary connections. Its result is the construction of conceptual models, the creation of theories, the generalization of experience, the disclosure of the patterns of development of various phenomena, the knowledge of which ensures the transformative activity of man. Theoretical thinking is inextricably linked with practice, but in its final results it has relative independence; it is based on previous knowledge and, in turn, serves as the basis for subsequent knowledge.

Algorithmic, discursive, heuristic and creative thinking are distinguished depending on the standard/non-standard nature of the tasks being solved and operational procedures.

Algorithmic thinking is focused on pre-established rules, the generally accepted sequence of actions necessary to solve typical problems.

discursive(from lat. discursus - reasoning) thinking based on a system of interconnected inferences.

heuristic thinking(from the Greek heuresko - I find) - this is productive thinking, consisting in solving non-standard tasks.

Creative thinking- thinking that leads to new discoveries, fundamentally new results.

There are also reproductive and productive thinking.

reproductive thinking- reproduction of previously obtained results. In this case, thinking merges with memory.

Productive Thinking- thinking that leads to new cognitive results.

In psychology, the following operations of thinking are distinguished: analysis, synthesis, generalization, comparison, classification (systematization), abstraction, concretization (Fig. 2). With the help of these operations of thinking, penetration is carried out deep into one or another problem facing a person, the properties of the elements that make up this problem are considered, and a solution to the problem is found.

Rice. .2. mental operations

Analysis is a mental operation of dividing a complex object into its constituent parts. Analysis is the selection in an object of one or another of its aspects, elements, relationships, relationships, etc. Along with highlighting the essential parts of an object, analysis allows you to mentally highlight individual properties of the object, such as color, shape of the object, speed of the process, etc. Attention should also be paid to the fact that analysis is possible not only when a person perceives an object, but also when he perceives it from memory. The analysis reveals the most significant features.

Synthesis is a mental operation that allows one to move from parts to the whole in a single analytical-synthetic process of thinking.

Synthesis can be carried out both on the basis of perception and on the basis of memories and ideas. Being inherently opposite operations, analysis and synthesis are in fact closely related.

Comparison- a mental operation that reveals the identity and difference of phenomena and their properties, allowing the classification of phenomena and their generalization.

abstraction- a mental operation of reflecting individual properties of phenomena that are significant in some respect.

Abstraction is widely used by a person in the formation and assimilation of new concepts, since concepts reflect only essential features common to a whole class of objects. Abstraction allows the investigator to single out from a huge flow of information what is directly related to the commission of a crime.

On the basis of generalization and abstraction, classification and concretization are carried out.

Specification- a mental operation of cognition of an integral object in the totality of its essential relationships, a theoretical reconstruction of an integral object. Concretization is the opposite process of abstraction. In concrete representations, a person does not seek to abstract himself from various features or properties of objects and phenomena, but, on the contrary, seeks to imagine these objects in all the variety of properties and features, in close combination of some features with others.

Classification- grouping objects according to essential features. In contrast to classification, which should be based on signs that are significant in some respect, systematization sometimes it allows the choice of signs of little significance (for example, in alphabetical catalogs), but operationally convenient, as the basis.