Types of thinking and their characteristics: table. General Characteristics of Thinking

Taking information from the outside world, it is fromparticipation of thinking, we can understand and transform it. In this we are helped by types of thinking and their characteristics. The table with these data is presented below.

Thinking

This is the highest process of cognition of the environmentreality, subjective perception of objective reality. Its uniqueness lies in the perception of external information and its transformation in consciousness. Thinking helps a person to get new knowledge, experience, creatively transform the ideas that have already been formed. It helps to expand the boundaries of knowledge, helping to change the existing conditions for solving the tasks.

This process is the engine of developmentrights. In psychology there is no separate process - thinking. It will necessarily be present in all other cognitive actions of man. Therefore, in order to somewhat structure this transformation of reality, in psychology types of thinking and their characteristics have been singled out. A table with these data helps to better understand the information about the activity of this process in our psyche.

Features of this process

This process has its own characteristics that distinguish it from other mental functions of a person.

1. Indirectness.This means that a person can indirectly learn an object through the properties of another. It also involves the types of thinking and their characteristics. Briefly describing this property, it can be said that cognition occurs through the properties of another object: we can transfer some acquired knowledge to such an unknown object.
2. Generality. Connection in the common several properties of the object. Ability to generalize helps a person to learn new things in the surrounding reality.

These two properties and processes of this cognitivefunctions of a person contains a general characteristic of thinking. Characteristics of types of thinking - a separate area of ​​general psychology. Since types of thinking are inherent in different age categories and are formed according to their own rules.

Types of thinking and their characteristics, table

A person perceives structured information better, therefore some information about varieties of the cognitive process of cognition of reality and their description will be presented systematically.

It is best to understand what kinds of thinking and their characteristics are, the table.

Types of thinking	Definition
Visual-efficient	It is based on the direct perception of surrounding objects during any actions with them.
Visual-shaped	It is based on images and representations. Man represents the situation and with the help of such thinking transforms it, forming unusual combinations of objects.
Verbal Logical	Logical operations with concepts are carried out.
Empirical	It is characterized by primary generalizations, conclusions based on the experience gained, that is, already available theoretical knowledge.
Practical	The transition from abstract thinking to practice. Physical transformation of reality.

Visual-efficient thinking, description

In psychology much attention is paid to studyingthinking, as the main process of knowledge of reality. After all, every person develops this process differently, works individually, sometimes the types of thinking and their characteristics do not correspond to age norms.

At preschool children, visual and effective thinking comes first. It begins to develop from infancy. Description by age is presented in the table.

Age period	Characteristics of Thinking	Examples
Infancy	In the second half of the period (from 6 months)the perception and action that form the basis of the development of this kind of thinking develops. At the end of infancy, a child can solve elementary problems based on manipulation of objects by trial and error.	An adult hides a toy in his right hand. The kid first opens the left, after the failure reaches for the right. Finding a toy, rejoices at the experience. He knows the world in a visual-effective way.
Early age	Манипулируя вещами, ребенок быстро познает важные connection between them. This age period is a vivid idea of ​​the formation and development of visual-effective thinking. The kid performs external orienting actions, than actively learns the world.	Picking up a full bucket of water, the child noticed thatit comes to the sandbox with an almost empty bucket. Then, making manipulations with the bucket, he accidentally closes the hole, and the water remains at the same level. Perplexed, the kid is experimenting until he realizes that in order to maintain the water level it is necessary to close the hole.
Preschool age	During this period, this type of thinking gradually passes into the next, and already at the end of the age stage, the child masters verbal thinking.	First, to measure the length, the preschooler takes a paper strip, applying it to everything that is interesting. Then this action is transformed into images and concepts.

Visual-figurative thinking

Types of thinking in psychology and their characteristicsoccupy an important place, as their development depends on the age-related formation of the remaining cognitive processes. With each age stage, more and more mental functions are involved in the development of the process of cognition of reality. In visual-figurative thinking, imagination and perception play practically the key role.

Characteristic	Combinations	Transformations
This kind of thinking is represented by certainoperations with images. Even if we do not see something, we can recreate it in the mind at the expense of this kind of thinking. The child begins to think so in the middle of pre-school age (4-6 years). An adult also actively uses this species.	We can get a new image through combinationsobjects in the mind: a woman, choosing clothes for an exit, in the mind represents how she would look in a certain blouse and skirt or dress and scarf. This action is visual-figurative thinking.	Also, a new image is obtained with the help of transformations: considering a flowerbed with one plant, you can imagine how it will look with a decorative stone or many different plants.

Verbal-logical thinking

It is carried out with the help of logical manipulations withconcepts. Such operations are called upon to find something in common between different objects and phenomena in society and our environment. Here the images occupy a secondary place. In children, the makings of this type of thinking comes at the end of the preschool period. But the main development of this type of thinking begins in the early school years.

Age	Characteristic
Junior school age	A child entering school already learns to operate with elementary concepts. The main base for operating them are: everyday concepts - elementary ideas about objects and phenomena based on their own experience outside the school; scientific concepts - the highest conscious and arbitrary conceptual level. At this stage, the intellectualization of mental processes.
Adolescence	During this period, thinking becomes qualitativelyanother color is reflection. Theoretical concepts are already being evaluated by a teenager. In addition, such a child can distract from visual material, reasoning logically in verbal terms. Appear hypotheses.
Adolescence	Thinking based on abstraction, concepts andlogic becomes a system, creating an internal subjective model of the world. At this age stage, verbal-logical thinking becomes the basis of the young person’s worldview.

Empirical thinking

The characteristic of the main types of thinking includes not only the three types described above. This process is also divided into empirical or theoretical and practical.

Theoretical thinking is the knowledge of the rules, various signs, the theoretical basis of the basic concepts. Here you can build hypotheses, but test them already in the plane of practice.

Practical thinking

Practical thinking impliestransformation of reality, adjusting it to fit your goals and plans. It is limited in time, there is no possibility to study many options for testing various hypotheses. Therefore, for a person it opens up new opportunities for knowing the world.

Types of thinking and their characteristics, depending on the tasks and properties of this process

Also shared types of thinking, depending on the tasks and subjects of the implementation of tasks. The process of knowing reality happens:

• intuitive;
• analytical;
• realistic;
• autistic;
• egocentric;
• productive and reproductive.

All these species are to a greater or lesser extent in every person.