Professional thinking in the creativity of a modern specialist. The role of thinking in professional activity

This is a complex of a person’s ideas about himself as a professional, it is a holistic image that includes a system of attitudes and attitudes towards himself as a professional. Professional identity includes:
a person’s awareness of the norms, rules, models of his profession as standards for realizing his qualities. Here the foundations of a professional worldview and professional credo are laid;
awareness of these qualities in other people, comparison of oneself with some abstract or concrete colleague;
taking into account the assessment of oneself as a professional by colleagues;
professional self-esteem;
positive assessment of oneself in general, identification of one’s positive qualities and prospects, which leads to increased self-confidence and satisfaction with one’s profession.
Professional identity changes in the process of professionalization. The expansion of professional self-awareness is expressed in an increase in the number of signs of professional activity reflected in the consciousness of a specialist, in overcoming stereotypes of the image of a professional. A person’s attribution of himself to a professional community plays a major role in the development of professional self-awareness. It becomes more mature if a person sees himself in a broader context. For example: civil patriotic identity - as a person of his country; planetary self-awareness as awareness of one’s involvement in the entire human community; cosmic consciousness as awareness of one’s involvement in the universe, and oneself as its individual manifestation. Professional consciousness is in a dynamic relationship with the unconscious, which can manifest itself, for example, in the impulsive actions of a professional, in internal conflicts between conscious professional values ​​and unconscious attitudes.
The next component of the operational sphere, which we will try to characterize, is the professional type (spirit) of thinking, which is defined as the predominant use of methods for solving problematic problems, methods of analyzing professional situations, and making professional decisions adopted specifically in a given professional field.
Professional thinking includes:
the process of a person’s generalized and indirect reflection of professional reality;
ways for a person to gain new knowledge about different aspects of work;
techniques for setting, formulating and solving professional problems;
stages of decision-making and implementation in professional activities;
methods of goal setting and planning in the course of work, development of new strategies for professional activity.
Let's consider certain types of thinking and their possible inclusion in professional activities:
theoretical thinking aimed at identifying abstract patterns, rules, and systematic analysis of the development of a given field of work;
practical thinking, directly included in a person’s practice, is associated with a holistic vision of the situation in professional activity, accompanied by a “sense” of the situation (“sense of a machine”, “sense of an airplane”, etc.);
reproductive thinking, reproducing certain methods and techniques of professional activity according to a model;
productive, creative thinking, during which problems are posed, new strategies are identified that ensure labor efficiency and resistance to extreme situations;
visual-effective thinking, in which the solution of professional problems occurs with the help of real actions in an observed situation;
visual-figurative thinking, in which the situation and changes in it are presented to a person as an image of the desired result;
verbal-logical thinking, where the solution of professional problems is associated with the use of concepts, logical constructions, signs;
- intuitive thinking, which is characterized by rapidity, the absence of clearly defined stages, and minimal awareness.
A peculiar combination of these types, depending on the subject, properties, conditions, result of work, can form specific types of professional thinking - operational, managerial, pedagogical, clinical, etc.

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The beginning of a person's life stage begins with an attempt to demonstrate creative thinking abilities. A person tries to express himself as a person through creativity, to show his significance and individuality. Even though it is not a vital ability and is not needed for survival.

The concept of creative thinking includes a process during which new ideas appear, conditions are created for the appearance of objects of art or everyday life that carry value for a person and others.

Studying one's creative abilities helps in understanding oneself and the world around us, developing an independent personality in a person, benefiting society and promoting progress. Personality, memory and perception of the world around us influence the ability to be creative. An important role in this process is played by the ability to think outside the box and the ability to use ideas for their intended purpose.

  • Preparation

The initial stage of formation, at which preparation for reflection occurs, information and facts are collected for further processing of the material. At this stage, analytical thinking is affected, conditions for solving problems are created, and goals are set.

  • An attempt at reflection

At the second stage, conditions for the thought process appear due to the attraction of divergent thinking. There may be disappointment, which will help you to be critical of the ideas that arise, selecting only the most unique.

  • "Hatching" an idea

The stage of suspension of the creative process, distraction by other objects. It helps to distract from the delayed process of incubating an idea, look at it from the other side, soberly assessing the disadvantages and advantages, avoiding reproductive creativity.

  • Creative insight

There is a creative insight, an intellectual shift from a dead point, revealing problems and solutions.

  • Analysis of the work done

At the last stage, the work done is assessed and the ideas received are analyzed. It occurs through analytical thinking, using basic evaluation criteria.

All stages of creative thinking are interconnected. Consistent implementation of them helps to get the best result in the course of the work done.

Creative thinking presupposes the development of conditions for the emergence of moral and cultural principles in a person. Creative thinking helps a person express himself, his thoughts and feelings. Through creativity, a person shows character, vision of the people around him, nature and the content of his inner world.

The basis for the formation of a person’s creativity should be the following criteria for creative thinking:

  • The ability to analyze, compare and synthesize, the presence of cause-and-effect relationships.
  • Critical thinking, timely identification of errors and contradictions.
  • The ability to predict further developments of events.
  • The ability to imagine an object or object in a timeless framework, the ability to see things in the future and past tense.
  • Be able to promote ideas received and develop possible options for events.
  • The ability to obtain new interesting thoughts and ideas in a short period and at the lowest cost.

Types and characteristics of creative thinking

In psychology, it is customary to divide creative thinking into two types: concrete - figurative and verbal - logical. Those with concrete imaginative thinking are considered talented because they perceive the world around them in specific images. When the brain works, this type of creative thinking uses the right side of the brain, which is responsible for the emotional side of intelligence.

The verbal-logical type tends to carry out mundane abstract concepts, with a logical or verbal direction. Accordingly, this type of thinking belongs to the left hemisphere of the brain, which is responsible for logical processes and a mathematical mindset.

But the ability to be creative does not stop with one specific personality type, but can be present in everyone. Features of creative thinking help to combine images and create abstractions.

Features of creative thinking

  • eccentricity

The desire to create, to create new ideas and objects that are unique in their kind. Things obtained during the creative process must have value.

  • Versatility

Considering an object from another side that is not typical for it, applying a fresh look to it. An attempt to find the hidden potential, taking into account the main characteristics and traits.

  • Flexible perception

The ability to change your view of the nature of a phenomenon or object. An attempt to consider the parties that can change the scope of an object and increase its uniqueness.

  • Adaptability

Transition from one point of view to another. Ability to process large amounts of information and come up with interesting ideas and situations.

The connection between imagination and creative thinking in psychology

Imagination is part of creative thinking. They are closely related and form the basis of each other. Imagination connects and unites the structures of the intellect: attention, perception, memory.

Only human consciousness creates the conditions for the appearance of reality in images. This ability is associated with the mental and semantic type of thinking, combining them into one whole. Human imagination is a mysterious and inexplicable process that has not yet been fully studied. Thanks to it, conditions are created for the emergence of masterpieces of literature, sculpture and painting.

The possibilities of imagination are limitless, it shows reality from a different perspective and is of great importance for psychology and intellectual development of a person:

  • Creative imagination plans actions and deeds, evaluates one’s behavior and the result obtained.
  • Imagination helps you “travel” through time, calling into consciousness past events and impressions, receiving new creative ideas
  • Imagination fulfills goals and objectives that are not realized in life. Some points are being made.

The human imagination processes objects and actions of different content, which contain features that have no analogues in reality. Invented objects and events are usually called fantasy, and the desired development of events is a dream.

A person's imagination can be:

  • Active helps to evoke images, with the assistance of willpower. The evoked image does not always correspond to the description of the object, but carries an individual idea of ​​it.
  • Passive. Thoughts and ideas appear spontaneously, regardless of a person’s desire.
  • Productive. The emergence of new ideas is associated with a person’s life experience.
  • Reproductive. Reproductive imagination is the transference of experienced emotions and actions into human creativity. The reproductive imagination does not contain fictional elements.

How to Activate Creative Thinking

Psychology has developed methods for activating creative thinking. They will help eliminate the established view of things, remove reproductive thinking and free up the mind for new discoveries. These methods create special conditions for the formation of creative thinking and increasing its productivity.

  • The most popular way to activate thinking in psychology is the “brainstorming” method. The definition of “brainstorming” appeared in the 40s in America. Its essence lies in the collective solution of assigned tasks, dividing those present into those who criticize and those who “suggest”.
  • Another method of activating the thought process is to change the conditions of the task being performed. We mentally change the task at hand, first changing the size, then the time and cost. In the course of the proposed method, the view of the solution changes, and new ideas appear.

Diagnosis of creative abilities

You can find out your predisposition to creativity using a system such as diagnostics. It will help you understand how creative you are, your level of creativity, and identify your predisposition to creating art objects. Diagnosis of creativity is performed by assessing specific traits of creative abilities.

To be fully and reliably carried out, the diagnosis of creativity affects all elements of creative thinking, including memory, perception, dreams and imagination.

The conducted studies on the diagnosis of creative abilities and creativity are divided into 2 parts:

  • Creativity

This personality diagnosis evaluates the cognitive multifunctional abilities of the individual associated with the development of intellectual abilities. This direction is represented by the works and tests of E. Torrance, S. Taylor, S. Mednick, J. Guilford. They are based on the study of the relationship between intellectual abilities and the emergence of new images and ideas.

  • Personal creativity

The task of this direction is to diagnose personality psychology, the conditions for the emergence of creativity, due to the individual characteristics of a person. This study aims to find criteria for the emergence of creativity. Representatives of the direction A. Maslow, D. Bogoyavlenskaya, F. Barron.

Tests to identify creativity abilities

J. Guilford test

The pioneering work of assessing creativity was the work of Joy Guilford. He defined the essence of creative thinking in the combination of developed original, new images and thoughts of a person. Other tests developed after him became interpretations of this work.

The Guilford creativity test is based on certain principles:

  • How simply and effectively creativity abilities are revealed in practice, when solving a problem. The number of solutions and answers received in a certain amount of time is taken into account.
  • Switchability or flexibility of answers, transition from one subject to another.
  • Uniqueness of answers.

E. Torrance tests

Another popular method for diagnosing abilities is tests by psychologist Alice Paul Torrance. The study of creativity by E. Thorens represents parts that characterize creativity at the verbal, visual and sound levels.

Torrance tests are performed at a specified time interval. The result obtained is assessed according to certain principles:

  • Execution speed, the number of solutions completed within a certain period of time.
  • Variety of answers.
  • Uniqueness of the proposed solutions.
  • Concretization of ideas and solutions.

E. Torrance's tests were developed in the 60s and are suitable for people of all ages and young children. Torrance tests have been constantly modified and improved, and have many similar variants.

Test E. Tunik

E. Tunik’s test is aimed at determining creativity in adolescents and adults. The test helps to identify a person’s predisposition to the following criteria:

  • Curiosity. An inquisitive person with an interesting character. He is interested in the world around him, is engaged in self-knowledge, loves to think and learn the structure of new things, the mechanisms of work, does interesting work, reads books, learns as much new information as possible.
  • Riskiness. Risk-taking is manifested in defending one’s ideas and thoughts in front of others, is not afraid of the possible negative reaction of people to creativity, and has a strong character. A risk-taker has a goal and goes towards it, despite possible obstacles, is ready for the consequences of mistakes, and is ready to take risks to achieve the final result. Considers the opinions of other people, but does not give in to provocations.
  • Imagination helps a person to come up with new events and things that never existed in reality, to see objects that have no analogues and what is hidden from the eyes of the common man. Imagination contributes to the creation of works of art and literature.
  • Preparedness for difficulties. A person with a complex character studies complex phenomena and objects. He does not look for easy ways to solve assigned problems; he does everything independently, at his own peril and risk. Studying complex things is an integral part of the life of such a person.

Lateral thinking by Edward de Bono

Edward de Bono was born in Malta in 1933. Doctor of Medicine, has a degree in psychology, physiology, and is the developer of the concept of lateral thinking.

Bono's definition of lateral thinking (lat. Lateralis, translated as “displaced”) is a redirected type of thinking in relation to ordinary thinking.

In his scheme, Edward de Bono attempted to find lateral thinking, which is separated from other types of thinking and has distinctive features from logical and horizontal thinking. The textbook “Lateral Thinking” by de Bono contains a description of the most effective way of thinking that helps develop creative productivity and create new, unique ideas. Edward de Bono believes that the tool for obtaining such abilities is lateral thinking.

Human memory occupies a certain place in de Bono’s developed scheme. This environment of consciousness is in constant development, but is limited by its volume. Edward de Bono perceives lateral thinking as creativity and a sense of humor, which is used as logical thinking.

Lateral thinking is like a person's developed habit of thinking differently. Conditions have been created for the development of this skill, which are constantly used in practice. These methods described in de Bono's book were not created by him, but borrowed from Philip Kotler. They have been known and used for a long time, Edward de Bono remade them to suit his vision, explaining how they work.


Introduction

Dynamics of development of students’ thinking from the first

to fifth year


Introduction


The professional type of thinking is the predominant use of methods for solving problematic problems adopted specifically in a given professional field, methods of analyzing a professional situation, making professional decisions, methods of maintaining objects of work, because professional tasks often have incomplete data and a lack of information, because professional situations change rapidly in conditions of instability of social relations.

Issues of student development and the formation of his readiness for future professional activity are key in the theory and practice of improving the work of a modern higher education institution. This is due to the fact that it is during the stage of primary “mastery” of the profession, which precisely occurs during the time of studying at a university, that the process of self-determination of a young person in life is carried out, his life and ideological positions are formed, individualized methods and techniques of activity, behavior and behavior are mastered. communication. At the same time, one of the leading problems is the construction of such a system of the educational process that would optimally take into account the characteristics and patterns of not only the student’s personal development, but also his professional development as a specialist.


Thinking as a cognitive process


In the process of sensation and perception, a person learns about the world around him as a result of its direct, sensory reflection. However, internal patterns, the essence of things cannot be reflected directly in our consciousness. Not a single pattern can be perceived directly by the senses. Whether we determine, looking out the window, by wet roofs, whether it has rained, or establish the laws of planetary motion - in both cases we carry out a thought process, i.e. We reflect the essential connections between phenomena indirectly, comparing facts. Cognition is based on identifying connections and relationships between things. Exploring the world, a person generalizes the results of sensory experience and reflects the general properties of things. To understand the world around us, it is not enough to just notice the connection between phenomena; it is necessary to establish that this connection is a common property of things. On this generalized basis, a person solves specific cognitive problems. Thinking provides answers to questions that cannot be resolved through direct, sensory reflection. Thanks to thinking, a person correctly navigates the world around him, using previously obtained generalizations in a new, specific environment. Thinking is an indirect and generalized reflection of the essential, natural relationships of reality. This is a generalized orientation in specific situations of reality. In thinking, the relationship between the conditions of activity and its goal is established, knowledge is transferred from one situation to another, and a given situation is transformed into an appropriate generalized scheme. Establishing universal relationships, generalizing the properties of a homogeneous group of phenomena, understanding the essence of a specific phenomenon as a variety of a certain class of phenomena - this is the essence of human thinking. Thinking, being an ideal reflection of reality, has a material form of its manifestation. The mechanism of human thinking is hidden, silent, inner speech. It is characterized by hidden, unnoticeable articulation of words and micro-movements of the speech organs. Thinking is socially conditioned, it arises only in the social conditions of human existence, it is based on knowledge, i.e. on the socio-historical experience of mankind. Traditional definitions of thinking in psychological science usually capture two of its essential features: generalization and mediation. Those. thinking is a process of generalized and mediated reflection of reality in its essential connections and relationships. Thinking is a process of cognitive activity in which the subject operates with various types of generalizations, including images, concepts and categories.

The thinking process is characterized by the following features: it is mediated; always proceeds based on existing knowledge; comes from living contemplation, but is not reduced to it; it reflects connections and relationships in verbal form; associated with practical human activities.

In psychological science, there are such logical forms of thinking as: -concepts; -judgments; - conclusions.

In psychology, the following somewhat conditional classification of types of thinking has been accepted and widespread on such various grounds as:

) genesis of development;

) the nature of the tasks being solved;

) degree of deployment;

) degree of novelty and originality;

) means of thinking;

) functions of thinking, etc.

) According to the genesis of development, thinking is distinguished: visual-effective; visual-figurative; verbal-logical; abstract-logical.

) According to the nature of the problems being solved, thinking is distinguished: theoretical; practical.

) According to the degree of development, thinking is distinguished: discursive; intuitive.

) According to the degree of novelty and originality, thinking is distinguished: reproductive, productive (creative).

) By means of thinking, thinking is distinguished: verbal; visual.

) Thinking is distinguished by functions: critical; creative.

The thinking of a particular person has individual characteristics. These features in different people are manifested, first of all, in the fact that they have different relationships between complementary types and forms of mental activity (visual-effective, visual-figurative, verbal-logical and abstract-logical). In addition, individual characteristics of thinking also include such qualities of cognitive activity as: mental productivity; independence; latitude; depth; flexibility; quickness of thought; creation; criticality; initiative; intelligence, etc. All of these qualities are individual, change with age, and can be corrected. These individual characteristics of thinking must be specifically taken into account in order to correctly assess mental abilities and knowledge.

In addition, there are three types of mental actions characteristic of the problem solving process: indicative actions; executive actions; finding the answer. Indicative actions begin with an analysis of conditions, on the basis of which the main element of the thinking process arises - a hypothesis.

Executive actions come down mainly to the choice of methods for solving a problem. Finding the answer consists of comparing the solution with the initial conditions of the problem. If, as a result of comparison, the result agrees with the initial conditions, the process stops. If not, the solution process continues again and continues until the solution is finally consistent with the conditions of the problem. Penetration into the depths of a particular problem facing a person, consideration of the properties of the elements that make up this problem, and finding a solution to the problem is carried out by a person with the help of mental operations.

In psychology, there are such thinking operations as: analysis; comparison; abstraction; synthesis; generalization; classification and categorization.

Analysis is a mental operation of dividing a complex object into its constituent parts.

Synthesis is a mental operation that allows one to move from parts to the whole in a single analytical-synthetic process of thinking. Unlike analysis, synthesis involves combining elements into a single whole. Analysis and synthesis usually appear in unity.

Comparison is an operation consisting of comparing objects and phenomena, their properties and relationships with each other and thus identifying the commonality or differences between them. Comparison is characterized as a more elementary process from which cognition, as a rule, begins. Ultimately, comparison leads to generalization.

Generalization is the unification of many objects or phenomena according to some common characteristic.

Abstraction is a mental operation based on abstracting from unimportant features of objects and phenomena and highlighting the main, main thing in them. Classification is a systematization of subordinate concepts of any field of knowledge or human activity, used to establish connections between these concepts or classes of objects. Categorization is the operation of assigning a single object, event, experience to a certain class, which can be verbal and non-verbal meanings, symbols, etc.

When characterizing a person’s thinking, they first of all mean his intellectual abilities, i.e. those abilities that ensure a person’s “inclusion” in a fairly wide range of activities and situations. In the process of thinking, a person uses various kinds of means: practical actions; images and representations; models; scheme; symbols; signs; language. Reliance on these cultural means, tools of cognition characterizes such a feature of thinking as its mediation. The most important means of mediating thinking is speech and language. Human thinking is verbal thinking, i.e. inextricably linked with speech. Its formation occurs in the process of people communicating with each other.


Professional thinking of a specialist


Professional thinking is the characteristics of a specialist’s thinking that allow him to successfully perform professional tasks at a high level of skill: quickly, accurately, and originally solve both ordinary and extraordinary problems in a certain subject area. The formation of professional thinking is an integral part of the vocational education system. During studenthood, during university studies, when a solid foundation for work activity is formed, the professionalization of memory, thinking, perception and other higher mental functions begins (or should begin). This is how special professional thinking begins to develop, which should be characterized by activity and initiative, a searching, analytical-synthetic nature, depth and breadth, logic and organization, evidence, consistency, the ability to think in “information voids”, the ability to put forward hypotheses and carefully study them, resourcefulness, flexibility, speed, practicality, clarity, stability, predictability, creativity, criticality. While training a large number of specialists, thinking about what is most important in this process, what makes graduates effective and successful, domestic scientists are increasingly coming to the conclusion that success in a specialist’s activity depends primarily on the qualitative characteristics and level of thinking processes.

It is important to form the mental activity itself, such qualities as systematicity, differentiation/integration, constant and general focus on the area of ​​specialty.

It can be argued that today the task of purposeful formation of professional thinking is not clearly understood and not formulated as one of the priority tasks of university training. Only with the accumulation of work experience does the thinking of a specialist, to one degree or another, acquire professional quality characteristics.

Thus, professional thinking is the key to the success of a specialist, in achieving which one of the main, valuable guidelines for the individual himself should be the professionalization of thinking.


Conditions for the development of professional thinking


The student’s activity is unique in its goals and objectives, content, external and internal conditions, means, difficulties, peculiarities of mental processes, manifestations of motivation, the state of the individual and the team in the implementation of management and leadership. Student activities are of great social importance, because its main purpose is to ensure the training of specialists for various industries, to realize social needs for people with higher education and appropriate upbringing.

In order to prepare a student for future professional activity, the following conditions must be met:

Naturally interactive conditions that can be realized through “active” learning methods.

By “active” teaching methods we mean those methods that implement the orientation towards greater activity of the subject in the educational process, as opposed to the so-called traditional approaches, where the student plays a much more passive role. Calling these methods active is not entirely correct and is very arbitrary, since passive teaching methods do not exist in principle. Any learning presupposes a certain degree of activity on the part of the subject, and without it learning is generally impossible.

The following main ways can be identified to increase the activity of the student (more correctly, the “student”, i.e. actively teaching himself) and the effectiveness of the entire educational process:

) strengthen the student’s educational motivation through: a) internal and b) external motives (motives-stimuli);

) create conditions for the formation of new and higher forms of motivation (for example, the desire for self-actualization of one’s personality, or the growth motive, according to A. Maslow; the desire for self-expression and self-knowledge in the learning process, according to V. A. Sukhomlinsky);

) provide the student with new and more effective means for realizing their goals for actively mastering new types of activities, knowledge and skills;

) ensure greater compliance of organizational forms and means of training with its content;

) intensify the student’s mental work through a more rational use of class time, intensifying communication between the student and the teacher and between students;

) ensure a scientifically based selection of the material to be mastered based on its logical analysis and identification of the main (invariant) content;

) more fully take into account the age capabilities and individual characteristics of students. Specific variants of active learning methods emphasize one or more of the techniques listed above to improve learning effectiveness, but no known method can use all techniques equally.

Discussion methods

These methods have been known since antiquity and were especially popular in the Middle Ages (dispute as a form of searching for truth). Elements of discussion (dispute, clash of positions, deliberate sharpening and even exaggeration of contradictions in the content material being discussed) can be used in almost any organizational form of training, including lectures. Lecture-discussions usually involve two teachers defending fundamentally different points of view on a problem, or one teacher who has the artistic gift of transformation (in this case, masks, techniques for changing voices, etc. are sometimes used). But more often it is not teachers who discuss among themselves, but teachers and students or students with each other. In the latter case, it is desirable that the participants in the discussion represent certain groups, which activates socio-psychological mechanisms for the formation of value-orientation unity, collectivistic identification, etc., which strengthen or even give rise to new motives for activity.

Of the seven methods of intensifying learning listed above, perhaps only the first and partially the second work here. However, there is quite a lot of empirical evidence of a significant increase in learning effectiveness when using group discussion. Thus, in one of the first experiments, an attempt was made to change some of the behavior patterns of housewives. After a very convincing lecture, only three percent tried to further resort to expert advice. In another group, after a discussion on the same topic, the percentage of those implementing expert advice increased to 32. It is important that discussions usually have stronger aftereffects in the form of search or cognitive activity due to the emotional impetus received during the discussion.

The subject of discussion can be not only substantive problems, but also moral and interpersonal relationships of the group members themselves. The results of such discussions (especially when specific situations of moral choice are created) modify human behavior much more strongly than the simple assimilation of certain moral norms at the level of knowledge. Thus, discussion methods act as a means of not only teaching, but also education, which is especially important, since the inventory of educational methods is even more scarce. The principle of the unity of teaching and upbringing would seem to predetermine the close relationship between the levels of moral and intellectual development. But it turned out that the parallelism or direct connection of these lines of development occurs only for the average (and lower) level of intelligence (or rather, the values ​​of the “intelligence quotient”). People with high IQ can have both high and low levels of moral maturity [ibid.].

Sensitive training (sensitivity training) The work carried out in T-groups is best described by the term “social-psychological training”. The content to be mastered here is not subject knowledge, but knowledge about oneself, other people and the laws of group dynamics. But much more important than the knowledge acquired during group work are emotional experience, interpersonal communication skills, expansion of consciousness and, most importantly, strengthening and satisfying motives for personal growth. And for the second time, new and stronger motives activate cognitive processes at all levels, including when acquiring subject knowledge. Therefore, we can say that this type of training is based on the second of the seven techniques for activating cognition listed above.

Interestingly, sensitive training also uses a technique characteristic of problem-based learning (see below). Thus, group members are given maximum independence, and the main means of stimulating group interaction is the fact of the initial absence of any structure in the group. The leader (there may be two of them) is himself an equal participant in group processes, and does not organize them as if from the outside. It is intended to be only a catalyst for the processes of interpersonal interaction. “Participants caught in a social vacuum are forced to organize their own interactions within the group... Socio-psychological learning turns out to be more a result of trial and error among group members than of mastering the scientific principles that explain interpersonal behavior as presented by the lecturer, the leader of the transactional analysis group, or the director psychodrama". Nevertheless, the role of the leader is very important - without imposing pre-prepared scenarios, he can indirectly influence the work of the group. He can draw the attention of everyone present to the importance of this or that event in the life of the group, assess the direction in which the group is moving, support the most vulnerable members until other group members learn to do so, help create a general atmosphere of caring, support, emotional openness and trust in the group.

T-groups consist of 6-15 people of different professions, ages and genders; The duration of classes is from 2 days to 3 weeks. Feedback in the group is carried out not only during ongoing interactions, but through the “hot seat” procedure, while each participant is directly assessed by another T-group participant. In addition to the meta-goals of personal growth, group work also pursues a number of more specific goals: deep self-knowledge through assessments of oneself by others; increased sensitivity to the group process, the behavior of other people due to a more subtle response to voice intonations, facial expressions, postures, smells, touches and other non-verbal stimuli; understanding the factors influencing group dynamics; the ability to effectively influence group behavior, etc.

The sensitivity itself, which is formed during work in T-groups, is heterogeneous in its direction. American psychologist G. Smith identifies the following types:

Observational sensitivity is the ability to observe a person, simultaneously record all the signs that carry information about another person, and remember them.

Self-observation is the ability to perceive one’s behavior as if from the perspective of other people.

Theoretical sensitivity is the ability to use theoretical knowledge to predict the feelings and actions of other people.

Nomothetic sensitivity - sensitivity to the “generalized other” - the ability to feel and understand a typical representative of a particular social group, profession, etc.

Opposed to nomothetic sensitivity, ideographic sensitivity is the ability to capture and understand the uniqueness of each individual person.

If theoretical and nomothetic sensitivity can be developed during lectures and seminars, then practical participation in group training is necessary to develop observational and ideographic sensitivity.

From the above, it is clear that although the described types of training are not aimed at obtaining knowledge from one or another specific scientific field, the experience gained during the classes can increase the effectiveness of any training by changing the student’s position, increasing his activity and ability to better interact with others students and teachers.

Game methods

There are different types of games used both for educational purposes and for solving real problems (scientific, industrial, organizational, etc.) - these are educational, simulation, role-playing, organizational and activity, operational, business, managerial, military, routine, innovative, etc. They do not lend themselves to strict classification, since they are often distinguished on different grounds and largely overlap each other. V. S. Dudchenko classifies traditional business and simulation games as routine, contrasting them with innovative ones according to several criteria.

The description of operational games (which he includes business and management games) proposed by Yu. N. Emelyanov as having a scenario with a strict algorithm for the “correctness” and “incorrectness” of the decision being made does not contradict this division.

Some authors find the origins of gaming methods in the magical rites of antiquity and, more explicitly, in war games of the 17th century. In its modern form, the business game was first played in Leningrad in the 30s, but was not further developed in the socio-economic conditions of the time and was reinvented in the USA in the 50s. Currently, there are hundreds of options for business and educational games.

A. A. Verbitsky defines a business game as a form of recreating the substantive and social content of a specialist’s future professional activity, modeling those systems of relationships that are characteristic of this activity as a whole. This re-creation is achieved through iconic means, models and roles played by other people. With the correct organization of the game, the student performs a quasi-professional activity, that is, an activity that is professional in form, but educational in its results and main content. We must not forget that a simulation training model always simplifies the real situation, and especially often by depriving it of dynamism and elements of development. Typically, a student deals only with “slices” of different stages of the development of a situation. But this is an inevitable price to pay for the right to make a mistake (the absence of severe consequences that could occur when making wrong decisions in real conditions), the low cost of models, the ability to reproduce situations on models that are generally impossible on real objects, etc.

The greater effectiveness of educational business games compared to more traditional forms of training (for example, a lecture) is achieved not only due to a more complete recreation of the real conditions of professional activity, but also due to a more complete personal inclusion of the student in the game situation, intensification of interpersonal communication, and the presence of vivid emotional experiences of success or failure. In contrast to discussion and training methods, here there is an opportunity to specifically equip the student with effective means for solving problems that are asked in a game form, but that reproduce the entire context of significant elements of professional activity. Hence the name “sign-contextual learning” - for university education, where various forms of complex recreation of the conditions of future professional activity are widely used. Thus, game methods rely on the third and fourth of the seven methods formulated above to increase the effectiveness of learning.

The two-dimensional nature of gaming methods, i.e. the presence of a game plan, conditional, and a training plan, forcing the game conditions to be as close as possible to the real conditions of professional activity, requires constant balancing between two extremes. The dominance of conventional moments over real ones leads to the fact that players are overwhelmed by excitement and, trying to win at all costs, they ignore the main curriculum of the business game. The dominance of real components over game ones leads to a weakening of motivation and a loss of the advantages of the game method over the traditional one.

Both in discussion methods and in training methods, great importance is attached to the elements of problematic nature in educational business games. Tasks should include certain contradictions, the resolution of which the student is led to during the game.

Problematic methods

Raising questions, formulating contradictions and discrepancies, problematizing knowledge are the same ancient techniques for enhancing learning as the learning process itself. How does the problem-based approach differ from traditional approaches? Apparently, the specific weight and place allocated to the problem situation in the structure of educational activities. If in traditional methods a certain amount of knowledge is first presented (often in a dogmatic form), and then training tasks are offered to strengthen and consolidate it, then in the second case the student is confronted with a problem from the very beginning, and the knowledge is revealed to them independently or with the help of a teacher. Not from knowledge to problem, but from problem to knowledge - this is the motto of problem-based learning. And this is not just a rearrangement of terms. The nature of knowledge generated in this way is fundamentally different from knowledge obtained in finished form. It contains in itself, in a sublated form, the very method of obtaining it, the path of movement towards the truth.

It was already noted in the previous chapter that knowledge obtained through problem-based learning does not have a negative impact on creative thinking, unlike knowledge obtained through traditional methods. Moreover, problem-based methods directly stimulate the development of creative thinking. In fact, resolving a problem situation is always a creative act, the result of which is not only the acquisition of this specific knowledge, but also a positive emotional experience of success, a feeling of satisfaction. The desire to experience these feelings again and again leads to the generation of new and development of existing cognitive motives.

Of course, to understand the problem, the student needs to rely on existing knowledge, which, in turn, could be obtained both by traditional methods and as a result of problem-based learning. In the latter case, knowledge contains within itself, as it were, the germs of new knowledge, certain vectors that set the direction for its potential development. In this sense, problem-based learning is called developmental, since in the course of it the student not only receives this specific knowledge, but strengthens his cognitive abilities and desire for cognitive activity. As L.S. Serzhan notes, a problematic situation always contains some new knowledge, in particular “knowledge about ignorance,” i.e. knowledge of what exactly he does not know. The analysis of this problematic situation should turn it into a problematic task. The transition from one problematic task to another is the essence of problem-based learning.

The main difficulty in problem-based learning is the selection of problem tasks that must satisfy the following conditions:

) should arouse interest in the learner;

) be accessible to his understanding (i.e. rely on existing knowledge);

3) lie in the “zone of proximal development,” that is, be both feasible and not too trivial;

) provide subject knowledge in accordance with curricula and programs;

) develop professional thinking.

The teacher needs to understand well that all forms of teaching and all methods cannot be reduced to problematic ones. This is impossible, firstly, because problem-based learning requires much more time and material costs, and, secondly, because it must be accompanied by generalizing and systematizing lectures. The student is not able to recreate a complete picture of modern scientific knowledge on his own. The teacher must build general guidelines and system-forming principles for him. But we should point out one form of teaching where the problem-based method should always occupy a dominant position - this is NIRS and UIRS (scientific and educational research work of students). In all other organizational forms of teaching, problem-based methods may be present to a greater or lesser extent depending on many factors, not the least of which is the degree of readiness of the teacher himself to use them in the educational process.


Dynamics of development of students' thinking from the first to the fifth year


In the first year (24 people), students were identified who have different levels of achievement motivation: low - 5 people (20.8%), average - 15 people (62.5%), high - 4 people (16.7%) . As can be seen from the ratio of the figures, the average level prevails over the low and high.

The same trend can be seen in the results of the study of this parameter among second-year students (21 people), with the distinctive feature that a high level of achievement motivation is completely absent, and the other two were distributed among themselves as follows: low - 4 people (19%), average - 17 people (81%). Preliminarily, this can be explained by the large volume of teaching load and the complexity of the disciplines studied, which fall during the given period of students’ studies at the university. And as a result - anxiety and lack of confidence in one’s strengths and abilities.

The results obtained during the study of the level of achievement motivation of third-year students (21 people) differ significantly from the results presented above: low - 7 people (33.3%), average - 9 people (42.9%), high - 5 people (23.8%). As can be seen from the presented results, the low level of achievement motivation of third-year students increases significantly, the average level decreases significantly, in contrast to the results obtained in the second year, a high level of achievement motivation appears.

No less interesting data were obtained in the process of studying the student’s cognitive position. Among the first-year students, there were no students whose position would be characterized by the search for the “path of least resistance.” And, despite the significant predominance of the reproductive cognitive position of first-year students (21 people - 87.5%), students with a creative cognitive position were identified (3 people - 12.5%).

In the second year, all students (21 people - 100%) have a reproductive cognitive position.

The results of a study of the cognitive position of third-year students revealed a predominance of the reproductive cognitive position (19 people - 90.5%) over the creative one (2 people - 9.5%).

The revealed clear predominance of a creative cognitive position over a reproductive one among students of all courses as a result of their self-esteem does not correspond to the results of another method, according to which the majority of students have a clearly expressed reproductive cognitive position. This discrepancy is explained by students' false answers to “trap questions.” professional thinking cognitive

Thus, cognitive activity has become a universal element of people’s attitudes in the era of the development of the information society and it is quite natural to strive to identify all facets and aspects of activity in order to better know and form cognitive activity as a way of a creative attitude towards the world, life, towards oneself, as a basis for successful professional activity of the future specialist.


Bibliography


1. Dorofeev, A. Professional competence as an indicator of the quality of education / A. Dorofeev //Higher education in Russia. - 2005. - No. 4.

Mechanisms for implementing priority directions for the development of the education system: official text // Professional. - 2005. - Issue 2. - P.2-6.

Petrovsky, V.A. Personality in psychology: the paradigm of subjectivity / V.A. Petrovsky. - Rostov-on-Don: “Phoenix”, 1996.


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Introduction

The psychology of professional thinking is an intensively developing area of ​​modern theoretical knowledge and practical activity. Thinking is one of the basic conditions for human existence and development. Professional thinking then serves as a means of understanding and transforming the surrounding world, a need, goal, value and meaning of a person’s life, when a professional develops a positive attitude towards work. The complexity and diversity of connections between activity and personality are determined both by the peculiarities of its mental regulation and the specifics of the operational characteristics of thinking. This makes the system of personal-activity relations quite dynamic. Creative professional thinking not only manifests itself, but also develops in activity. The interrelation and mutual influence of the structural characteristics of thinking, the dynamic nature of thinking as a process determined the subject area of ​​this textbook, dedicated to the formation of creative professional thinking, because it is impossible to manage an object without studying it.

The scientific and methodological validity of the materials in the manual is ensured by the correspondence of the research methodology to the problem posed. The results of psychological and pedagogical research presented in the textbook have scientific novelty, since a description of the maturity of professional thinking as a property of the subject of labor is presented. The author substantiates that the harmonious development of moral, ethical, cultural, social and professionally significant qualities and personality traits is a necessary condition for solving both general theoretical problems of psychology and the main applied problems of creative professional thinking. One of the results of solving these problems is the description of a general psychological model of the formation of creative professional thinking.

An appeal to the scientific heritage of S. L. Rubinstein and A. V. Brushlinsky suggests that the range of problems they dealt with was subordinated to theoretical and methodological justification and methodological support for the study of the subject’s thinking as a process. The study of the psychology of the subject, begun by S. L. Rubinstein, was expressed in completed forms in the works of A.V. Brushlinsky, who identified the following poles of the subject: cultural and activity. Integrity, unity, and integrity are important properties of the subject, serving as the basis for the systematicity of all his mental qualities, which are often very contradictory and difficult to compatible. The thinking process begins with an analysis of the problem situation. As a result of its analysis, a task (problem) in the proper sense of the word arises and is formulated. The emergence of a problem means that it was possible to at least preliminary separate the given (known) and the unknown (sought). Based on the connection and relationship between the known and the unknown, it becomes possible, according to A. V. Brushlinsky, to search and find something new, previously hidden, unknown. The manual implements the theory of A. V. Brushlinsky, in which thinking is considered as a prediction of what is sought, as an initially creative process of generating subjective and objective new knowledge.

Close attention is paid to the psychology of creative professional thinking. Its significance is determined by the role of creative thinking in the organization and implementation of professional activities. Understanding the dynamic and structural characteristics of a professional’s mental activity, identifying its psychological patterns and mechanisms is a necessary condition for the formation of a subject’s creative professional thinking.

The conceptual apparatus presented in the manual allows us to introduce into psychological circulation such concepts as “situational and supra-situational level of problem detection”, “professional problem situation”, “situational and supra-situational type of professional thinking”, “situational and supra-situational style of professional thinking”.

Chapter I. Psychological characteristics of creative professional thinking

A. V. Brushlinsky substantiated the conclusion that any thinking (at least to a minimal extent) is creative and therefore there is no reproductive thinking; as a result, a new interpretation was given of the relationship between thinking and creativity. The developed, mature thinking of a professional is manifested in the ability to set production goals, creatively solve professional problems, using knowledge, skills, and abilities acquired both in educational and professional activities. An original thinking professional is able to take risks and take responsibility for his decisions. The creative nature of thinking presupposes the vision of a problem, the formulation and resolution of a contradiction that has arisen, the ability to analyze creative ways of a possible solution to a problem, choosing the most preferable one. We consider professional thinking as the highest cognitive process of searching, detecting and resolving problems, identifying externally unspecified, hidden properties of knowable and transformable reality.

Creative professional thinking is one of the types of thinking characterized by the creation of a new product and new formations in the very cognitive activity of its creation. The resulting changes relate to motivation, goals, assessments, and meanings of the professional activity performed. Creative professional thinking is aimed at going beyond the limits of the problem being solved by a specialist; to create a result or original methods for obtaining it based on the constructive transformation of what is known. The result of such thinking is the discovery of a fundamentally new or improvement of an already known solution to a particular professional problem.

The main thing for creative thinking is originality, the ability to embrace cognizable reality in all its relations, and not just those that are enshrined in familiar concepts and ideas. A complete, comprehensive discovery of the properties of a certain area of ​​reality is ensured by knowledge of all the facts related to it, as well as the degree of erudition of the professional. This implies the enormous role of knowledge and skills in creative thinking.

A special contribution to the field of research into creative professional thinking was made on the basis of system-genetic analysis developed by V. D. Shadrikov. In the context of this theory, we described the stages of creative performance of professional activity, substantiated and established the most important characteristics of a specialist’s creative thinking (types, structure, functions, mechanisms, properties, patterns, principles).

Types of creative thinking of a professional

The professional type of thinking is, according to A.K. Markova, the predominant use of methods for solving problematic problems, methods for analyzing professional situations, and making professional decisions adopted specifically in a given professional field.

Based on the structural-level model of pedagogical thinking that we have developed as a type of professional thinking, two types of thinking can be distinguished: situational and supra-situational.

The teacher’s situational type of thinking is characterized by the improvement of his own subject-meticological actions and technologies that make up the educational process. This type is aimed at establishing situational problems in the pedagogical situation being solved. The teacher makes and implements decisions focused on the immediate future and benefit, and not on the meaning of teaching activity, its purpose and social purpose, without taking into account the influence of this particular situation on the educational process as a whole. The main criterion for choosing a solution is past experience and the stereotype of solving similar situations, and not analysis and forecasting of the results of one’s activities. In the process of implementing this type, the teacher’s personal development becomes more difficult. The situational type of solving a pedagogical problem situation is effective when the teacher’s activity is related to the organization of students’ activities, its stimulation and control.

The supra-situational type is characterized by the teacher’s awareness of the need for his own change and improvement of certain features of his personality. This type of thinking is focused on updating the moral and spiritual layer of the educational process. Problematic situations that arise during the teacher’s practical activities force him to “rise” to a level from which he could analyze himself not only in the role of a performer, but also in the role of a person who programs students’ performing activities. This state of the subject is expressed in the search for means of purposeful formation of their professionally significant and personal qualities. The ability to establish supra-situational problematic issues in the process of solving pedagogical problem situations not only contributes to the activation of the teacher’s mental activity, but also has a great influence on the personal development of the teacher, since it primarily affects his emotional sphere and his self-awareness. And this, in turn, inevitably leads to the formation of personal positions and beliefs, thereby helping the teacher improve his activities.

Involvement in a situation is the most important sign of supra-situational thinking, the manifestation of which is accompanied by an expansion and deepening of the analysis of the cognizable and transformable situation and oneself in it. In addition to being involved in the situation, supra-situational thinking is simultaneously characterized by constructive going beyond the boundaries of the situation being solved. The third sign of supra-situational thinking is the transformative focus of thinking on oneself as the main subject of cognition and resolution of a professional problem situation.

Structure of creative thinking:

1. Motivational-targeted component (reflects the specifics of goal setting and motivation of professional thinking).

2. Functional component (diagnostic, explanatory, prognostic, design, communicative, managerial).

3. Procedural component (heuristic operation of a system of specific methods of search cognitive activity in the process of a professional solving a professional task that has arisen before him).

4. Level component (characterized by the levels of detection of problems in the situation being solved).

6. Operating component (reflects generalized methods of solving professional problems developed in the practice of a specialist).

7. reflective component (reflects the ways the psychologist controls, evaluates and understands his activities).

There are some features of the structure of a specialist’s professional activity that, in our opinion, can influence his thinking.

1. The professional activity of a specialist balances between traditions, patterns, dogmas and creativity, freedom, innovation; Therefore, it is important to strictly observe the optimal measure of conjugacy between these extremes. The process of the emergence of professional thinking is associated with the presence of problems in understanding and transforming the situation that has arisen. Thanks to the establishment of problematic nature, the objective professional situation is transformed into a professional (subjective) problem situation through which the thinking and activity of a professional are connected.

2. The ability to realize ultimate goals through private goals, the ability to use them, is the skill of a professional. Production goals are formulated not in the form of a description of the actions of a specialist, but from the position of the customer and from the point of view of the requirements of professional standards.

3. In the process of resolving a specific situation, the professional himself identifies and solves the problem. He is responsible for his decisions, their implementation and himself determines the practical significance and feasibility of the developed solution.

Functions of professional thinking

Not all people can realize their own creative potential, although there are no uncreative people. Creativity is inseparable from work, which means it is inherent in every type of activity. We can distinguish the following characteristics of creative professional thinking, which determine the measure of mental performance and the price of intellectual tension, the degree of their usefulness and harm for professional activity: 1. Study of the conditions and possibilities of professional activity. 2. Adaptation to the professional environment. 3. Formation of readiness for constant self-development.

The functional side of a professional’s thinking serves to ensure the production process and is characterized by the following features:

1) diagnostic: knowledge of a specific situation, receiving feedback regarding the professional activity being performed;

2) stimulating: encouragement to demonstrate intellectual initiative through one’s own actions;

3) informing: collecting information about current problems and ways to solve them;

4) developing: understanding the means of developing leading professional qualities of an individual;

6) evaluative: communication of an assessment of the degree of effectiveness of their various actions;

7) self-improving: professional thinking creates and provides the opportunity to avoid impulsive or routine activities;

8) transformative function: generation of a new reality. The main vector of a professional’s creative thinking is transforming the situation or transforming oneself (supra-situational level).

In addition, self-control provides the professional with the correct resolution of a specific situation. Self-esteem allows him to determine whether the main contradiction, which forms the core of the production problem situation, is resolved or not resolved (and to what extent). Thus, the more important a specialist’s professional thinking is for his or her activities, the greater the harm from the fact that it functions inadequately.

The functional side of thinking is characterized by developing and making decisions regarding methods of professional influence (manifested in the search, “weighing”, and selection of the content of means of influence). And yet in this list two can be distinguished basic functions: diagnostic and transformative. Both of these functions are carried out in the context of specific situations, the system of which constitutes professional activity. The functions of a subject’s professional thinking in the context of practical activity act primarily as functions of analyzing specific production situations, setting tasks in given operating conditions, developing plans and projects for solving these problems, regulating the implementation of existing plans, and reflecting on the results obtained. By its origin, professional thinking is a system of mental actions that arise on the basis of cognition and transformation of a complex situation. Such actions, changing in form, retain their content specificity, essential properties and functions of the subject’s professional thinking.

Mechanisms of creative thinking

Psychological mechanisms are understood as a system of various conditions, means, relationships, connections and other mental phenomena that ensure the development of the qualities of creative thinking. The mechanism of creative thinking as a way of constructive self-regulation and self-development of the individual in a problem-conflict situation is, according to Ya. A. Ponomarev, I. N. Semenov, S. Yu. Stepanov, a conflict of intellectual contents and reflexively meaningful and alienated personal contents.

A person’s intellect, according to B. M. Teplov, is one and the basic mechanisms of thinking are the same, but the forms of mental activity are different, since the tasks facing the human mind in both cases are different. They were shown that the basic elements of thinking are united; they function in a unique way when solving tactical and strategic problems. This process is characterized by such features as “grasping” the whole while paying attention to details, finding an operational solution, and anticipating possible consequences and consequences. The mechanisms of creative professional thinking cannot be understood without taking into account the mechanisms of mental development.

The mechanism of mental development (according to L. S. Vygotsky) is the assimilation of socio-historical forms of activity. The main psychological mechanisms for the formation of higher mental functions include: 1) the mechanism of internalization of distributed activity; 2) a mechanism for “comprehension” of elements of distributed activity based on symbolization (primarily on the basis of real inclusion in the corresponding relationships characteristic of adults). At the same time, through the controlled formation of collectively distributed activities in student groups, it is possible to achieve a situation where the student’s personal goals become subordinate to the collective ones. For the purposeful formation of the meaning of a particular activity, it is necessary to use special organizational and gaming methods that actually model the distribution of intense emotional states based on the idea of ​​responsibility inherent in the collectivism of adults.

The idea of ​​multi-level, integrality of cognitive formations is presented in the works of V. D. Shadrikov, V. N. Druzhinin, E. A. Sergienko, V. V. Znakov, M. A. Kholodnaya, V. I. Panov and others. So, according to According to D.N. Zavalishina, the mechanism of the creative act consists in “going beyond” the initial level of mental support for activity, transforming the situation, in connecting (or specially forming) new “layers”, “plans” of the mental organization of the subject. As a result, the productive process becomes multidimensional and flexible.

Professional thinking, along with general mechanisms, has specificity, which is determined by the uniqueness of the tasks being solved and working conditions. The theoretical analysis was carried out, as well as a generalization of empirical data obtained during the study of the specifics of creative thinking at different stages of professionalization (pre-university, university and post-graduate), as well as in various types of professional activities (E. V. Kotochigova, T. G. Kiseleva, Yu V. Skvortsova, T. V. Ogorodova, S. A. Tomchuk, O. N. Rakitskaya, A. V. Leibina, E. V. Kagankevich, etc.), allows us to note that there are inhibitory mechanisms (actualization of distress experience , self-fulfilling forecast, dramatization), and highlight the following mechanisms that increase the effectiveness of professional thinking.

I. Accounting operational integration mechanisms helps to find the answer to the question “How?”. These mechanisms provide internal mental formations of cognitive actions involved in the process of processing professional information and decision making. Such mechanisms enrich the functional system of human cognitive processes and adapt it to the professional activity that a person is mastering.

1. The mechanism of “analysis through synthesis”. Searching for the unknown using the “analysis through synthesis” mechanism, according to S. L. Rubinstein, means identifying the properties of an object through establishing its relationships with other objects. In the process of solving any problem, it is divided into several parts: what is known, what needs to be found (analysis), and then the results of solving these questions are combined into a single method, which will be the answer to the problem. One of the methods for studying the mental mechanisms that determine the success of production activities can be the analysis of a professional’s developing reflection of the situation of his activity (through an analysis of the representation of knowledge about it in the mind).

2. A mechanism for searching for the unknown based on the interaction of intuitive, spontaneous and logical, rational principles. The process of satisfying the need for new knowledge always presupposes, according to Ya. A. Ponomarev, an intuitive moment, verbalization and formalization of its effect; a solution that can be called creative cannot be obtained directly by logical inference. The birth of a new one is associated with a violation of the usual system of order: with the restructuring of knowledge or with the completion of knowledge by going beyond the boundaries of the original knowledge system.

II. Knowledge functional mechanisms allows you to find the answer to the question “Why?” These mechanisms include 1. Mechanism of interpretative generalizations. Interpretation involves understanding not only what is happening, but also what it means for the individual and how it affects him. Interpretation in this meaning becomes possible in a situation of social interaction and is characterized by the development of one’s attitude towards the cognizable and transformable phenomenon.

2. Mechanism for updating aistress experience: a creatively thinking professional begins to think from a productive, successful conclusion to the situation. Focus on achieving something positive and new distinguishes an effective professional from an ineffective one.

These mechanisms ensure the formation, correction, and creation of new intellectual qualities of professional thinking.

III. Level mechanisms answer the question “What are the boundaries of the situation?”, “What are the parameters – current, promising – for understanding the situation?” 1. The mechanism of transition from the situational level of professional thinking to the supra-situational level allows a professional to more fully actualize his own creative potential. This mechanism is carried out through speech constructions + reflexive means (awareness of what lies beyond the framework of a specific situation. The implementation of a metaposition in understanding what is happening is characterized by the absence of situational, external deterministic dependence) + external assistance (training in techniques of supra-situational thinking). Taking this mechanism into account allows future specialists to successfully develop supra-situational thinking techniques as the psychological basis of creative professional thinking. The actualization of this mechanism is carried out with the help of the ability to self-transcendence, which means a person’s ability to go beyond the limits of the current situation, providing him with the opportunity for self-change and self-development. Being inside the situation, it is difficult to understand what is happening. You need to rise above the situation. To do this, it is necessary to establish commonalities between the elements of problematic competence that arise in professional activity and the elements of problematic competence that affect the personal characteristics of the subject of professional activity. The nature of the activity performed inevitably changes under the influence of the developing subject of thinking. A person, acquiring thinking characteristics adequate to professional activity, to a certain extent changes this activity itself. Thanks to the updating of this mechanism, productive activities are achieved. It is possible to establish the mechanism of functioning of the supra-situational level of professional thinking using the dynamic modeling method. This method is based on the process of recognizing and classifying situations to be solved.

In our research, we have established that the main psychological mechanism of a professional’s creative thinking is the transition from the situational level of identifying problems to the supra-situational one. Trans-situational thinking professionals, regardless of the type of work activity (managerial, teaching, medical, sports, etc.), are more successful in resolving production difficulties that arise than situationally thinking specialists. It is the actualization and implementation of the supra-situational type of professional thinking that leads to a reduction in conflicts with dysfunctional content.

The dynamic modeling methods we have developed (“Scenario Method”, “Analysis of Conflict Situations”, etc.) allow us to establish the mechanism of functioning of the supra-situational level of professional thinking. These methods, based on the process of recognition, reflection and classification of situations, contribute to productive activities. Having mastered the mechanism of transition from the situational level of professional thinking to the supra-situational level, a creatively thinking professional begins to think, taking a meta-position, from the predicted end, from the productive, successful completion of the situation. Reversibility of thinking means the ability to think, rising above the situation being solved, from the prologue to the anticipated epilogue, from the opening to the finale. Orientation towards achieving something positive and new distinguishes, as our research has shown, an effective professional from an ineffective one (M. M. Kashapov, 1989; T. G. Kiseleva, 1998; E. V. Kotochigova, 2001; T. V. Ogorodova, 2002; I. V. Serafimovich, 1999; Yu. V. Skvortsova, 2004, S. A. Tomchuk, 2007, A. V. Leibina, 2008, etc.).

2. Mechanism of cognitive integration. D. N. Zavalishina, considering the mechanisms of functioning of mature intelligence, identifies a mechanism of operational integration, the main form of implementation of which is the constant formation of new operational structures, which are fairly stable, holistic integrations of various operational elements (perceptual, logical, intuitive), addressed to different aspects of reality .

IV. Personal mechanisms answer the question « Who?" and provide processes of personal adaptation.

1. Self-regulation mechanism means a professional’s conscious influence on himself in order to realize his creative potential. Cognitive restructuring (according to J. Piaget) as a change in visual-figurative operations (pre-logical to formal-logical) “triggers” in a certain way qualitative changes in professional creative thinking, primarily the development of self-awareness, reflexivity as the ability to self-change. These changes can be attributed to the components of the regulatory component of professional creative thinking. Subjective self-regulation, being an important psychological mechanism, is considered as a complex multicomponent psychological formation of the individual, characterized by methods of self-actualization of the individual, in which the integrity and autonomy of a self-developing and promising professional is achieved (or not) (K. A. Abulkhanova Slavskaya, L. G. Dikaya, A. O. Prokhorov).

2. Psychodynamic mechanisms are characterized, according to S. Freud, by the fact that creative activity can be considered as the result of sublimation, the displacement of sexual desire to another sphere of activity: as a result of the creative act lies a sexual fantasy that is always objectified in a socially acceptable form. E. Fromm considered psychological mechanisms based on the understanding of creativity as the ability to be surprised and learn, the ability to find solutions in non-standard situations, as a focus on discovering something new and the ability to deeply understand one’s experience. The dynamic regulatory system, according to O.K. Tikhomirov, is formed according to the “Here and Now” principle and manifests itself in the regulation of meaning.

3. The mechanism of positive self-esteem– a professional’s assessment of his actions and activities in general and the introduction of constructive changes and adjustments to it based on the analysis of creative resources. Self-esteem as an individual’s assessment of himself, his capabilities, qualities and place among other people is then an important regulator of the individual’s thinking and behavior when the subject displays a positive attitude towards himself.

V. Activity mechanisms answer the question « What?" and provide professional adaptation, identification and option.

1. The mechanism of creative reflection: awareness and understanding of how creative change and improvement occurs. The use of reflection helps to expand and increase the zone of the internal plan and external activity. The relationship between the external (objective) and internal (model) plans of action forms the basis of the psychological mechanism of human creative activity. This mechanism is characterized by the subject’s rethinking and restructuring of the content of his consciousness, his activities aimed at transforming himself, his personal traits, including creative ones, and the world around him.

2. The mechanism of the relationship between conscious and unconscious components of mental activity. The creative act as included in the context of intellectual activity is considered by Ya. A. Ponomarev through the prism of the relationship between conscious and unconscious mechanisms according to the following scheme: at the initial stage of problem formulation, consciousness is active, then at the solution stage - the unconscious, and selection and verification of the correctness of the solution at the third stage consciousness is engaged.

3. Mechanisms of dissociation and association. The work of a professional cannot become creative if its mechanisms of dissociation and association are not provided. Decompose reality into elements, master them in order to then, under specific conditions, be able to reunite them in the necessary way - according to the situation and the goal!

– combinations – this is the essence of creativity. Reversibility of thinking means the ability to think from the end to the beginning, from obvious defeat to real victory. Using the associative mechanism, the search for the unknown is carried out. Associations mean the establishment of relationships between cognizable phenomena based on the presence of similar or different characteristics.

4. Mechanisms of interiorization and exteriorization. The relationship between internalization and exteriorization is considered as a manifestation of two sides of a single heuristic process. Interiorization as the formation of internal structures of the human psyche is carried out thanks to the assimilation of the structures of external social activity (P. Janet, J. Piaget, A. Vallon, etc.). Exteriorization (from the Latin exterior - external, external) is the process of generating external actions, statements, etc. based on the transformation of a number of internal structures that have developed during the interiorization of external social activity of a person. The search for the unknown is carried out using the following heuristic techniques: a) reformulation of the task requirements; b) consideration of extreme cases; c) blocking components; d) analogy; e) positive formulation of the problem being solved.

Thinking is closely related to creativity, but creative and mental processes cannot be identified. Thinking is one of the types of cognition, creativity, in turn, is possible not only in the sphere of cognition, but also, for example, in movement, singing, art, etc.

Made an important contribution to the study of creative thinking issues J. Guilford. He identified two types of thinking: convergent and divergent. Convergent(convergence) is necessary to find one single correct answer. At the same time, there may be several specific solutions, but their number is still limited. Divergent Guilford defines thinking as “a type of thinking that goes in different directions”, thanks to this thinking, original and unexpected solutions arise. Guilford considered the operation of divergence to be the basis of creativity as a general creative ability.

J. Guilford identified four main features of creativity: 1) originality - the ability to produce unusual ideas, images, associations, answers. A creative person almost always and everywhere strives to find his own solution, different from others; 2) semantic flexibility - the ability to see an object from a new angle, discover its new use, expand its functional application in practice; 3) figurative adaptive flexibility - the ability to change the perception of an object in such a way as to see its new, hidden from observation sides; 4) semantic spontaneous flexibility - the ability to produce a variety of ideas in an uncertain situation, in particular in one that does not contain guidelines for these ideas.

Subsequently, other attempts were made to define creative thinking, but they introduced little new into the understanding of it that was proposed by J. Guilford.

The creative process includes three stages: the generation of ideas, analysis and refinement of put forward ideas, and selection of the best from several ideas. In life situations, all the mentioned stages of the creative process are not always present. Therefore, situations can be divided based on which stage is most represented. There are tasks in which you need to demonstrate the ability to generate ideas (the first stage of the creative process) - the criterion for completing such tasks is the quantity and quality of the ideas put forward. There are situations that mainly require the ability to analyze and refine already put forward ideas (the second stage of creativity). In this case, a person must identify the consequences of accepting each of the ideas, find ways to enhance the “positive” effects and ways to minimize the negative ones. Finally, there are situations in which possible alternative ideas need to be compared in terms of their practical value.


Today, psychologists are convinced that creative thinking can be taught. To do this, it is necessary to develop the appropriate abilities involved in the process of creative thinking and overcome internal barriers to creativity. Typically, psychologists name four internal barriers to creativity.

1. Conformism - the desire to be like others. People are afraid to express original ideas so as not to stand out from others. Their fears are most often associated with sad childhood experiences of misunderstanding and condemnation of their ideas among adults or peers.

2. Rigidity – difficulty switching from one stereotypical point of view to another. Rigidity does not allow you to improve ready-made solutions, to “see” the unusual in the ordinary, familiar.

3. The desire to find the answer immediately. It has been noted that the best solutions come during a “creative break,” when a person gives himself the opportunity to distract himself from persistently working on a problem and relax. If a person strives to solve the problem immediately at any cost, then the risk of a premature, ill-conceived solution is very high.

4. Censorship is internal criticism of any one’s own idea.