Correlation of concepts intelligence thinking mind. Relationship between mental and emotional intelligence

Thinking and intelligence

Introduction

The world is becoming more and more complex, and in order to quickly adapt to new conditions, each of us needs to learn to use our brain more fully.

But how much do we know about the interaction of this amazing organ with the surrounding reality? Whether you are waking up from sleep, absorbing information, planning for the future, loving or suffering - all this happens in your head.

The human brain is an amazing organ, but, alas, almost half of the population of developed countries complains about the deterioration of its functioning. Don't you notice anything? Do you remember what you did last Saturday? Do you know the birthdays of all your relatives by heart? And - very importantly - are you doing anything to develop your creativity?

Our brain consists of approximately 100 billion nerve cells, between which literally hundreds of thousands of electrical impulses pass every millisecond (1/1000 s). Contrary to popular belief, there is absolutely no reason for their performance to gradually deteriorate with age.

What happens in the human brain when he solves a complex problem? Is it true that smart people achieve more in life than stupid people?

Not long ago, biologists, doctors and psychologists launched a new attack on the mysteries of the brain.

1.What is intelligence? What does IQ tell you?

Intelligence is the totality of a person’s mental abilities that ensure the success of his cognitive activity.

Thinking is the process of reflecting in human consciousness the general properties of objects and phenomena, as well as connections and relationships between them. Thinking is a process of indirect and generalized cognition of reality.

For decades, the main measure of ability has been the intelligence quotient (IQ). However, it is now known that perseverance, self-discipline and emotional stability are more important in solving complex problems.

These characteristics are purely innate, but they can be developed through education.

The human mind is undoubtedly the most amazing achievement of evolution, the product of millions of years of brain development.

Its unique properties are manifested not only in the invention of machines and the creation of literary, musical and other masterpieces.

No less striking are signs of intelligence that require no effort or preparation from us - for example, laughter in response to a joke.

“I would like to see a computer program for a sense of humor,” sneers Douglas Hofstadter, an American psychologist and author of the popular book “Gödel, Escher, Bach: The Eternal Golden Weave.” “It would be a serious test of intelligence.”

Everyone wants to be considered smart and hear the same about their children.

However, intelligence is not inherited, that is, it does not depend, say, on the IQ of parents.

Geneticists believe that chromosomes determine 30 percent of our intelligence; the rest is the influence of the environment. However, a dispute about the relationship between innate and acquired in a person is a waste of time, reminiscent of a debate about what is more important for a tree - climate or soil.

Nobody knows what factors and in what way shape human consciousness.

No one can explain what intelligence is: scientists offer various definitions and criteria. However, in practice, this unique human trait is quantified in several ways.

The subjects are asked to continue the number series, complete the figure, compare drawings, draw a logical conclusion, and the like.

Using special formulas and tables, the results of these tests are summarized into a single indicator - intelligence quotient, or IQ.

But is it possible to measure what is not defined? And, importantly, how universal is IQ? Does it allow you to compare different people? After all, for many of us, abstract logic is far from the most important thing in life.

What percentage of such a complex phenomenon as intelligence is measured by IQ?

For example, he says nothing about our learning ability. This is bad, because sometimes more depends on a person’s potential than on the level he has achieved.

Consequently, a high IQ, contrary to popular belief, does not guarantee success in school or professional activity.

Recognizing that IQ is not very informative, many large firms test their employees in special centers, where they are asked to solve a series of behavioral tasks that simulate work situations.

Typically, such a check lasts two days and takes a lot of effort. We are talking mainly about role-playing games in which the subject acts as a boss or subordinate and must agree on something, quickly resolve issues, find a common language with colleagues and even make paper models of cars with them.

The jury evaluates his abilities according to various criteria, including intelligence, leadership style, self-discipline, self-confidence (“assertiveness”).

2. The path to success, creativity

intelligence thinking cerebral divergent

Traits such as self-discipline, perseverance or ambition are not assessed by IQ, and they are often more important for success in life than intelligence “in its pure form.”

Remember your school or college friends. Everyone has examples of how an excellent student and class leader became an inconspicuous employee, and a poor student and slow-witted student, who painfully overcame years of study, turned into a successful businessman, politician, or even a scientist.

Can't any of us name a person who is not at all brilliant in his intelligence, but who is perfectly settled in life - a decent job, a happy marriage, numerous friends, obedient children, useful acquaintances? Why are such situations almost the rule?

Intelligence researcher Robert Sternberg tried to answer this question using a parable about two school friends who were very different in character and temperament.

One is considered smart by parents, teachers and friends, and for good reason. His excellent grades and excellent recommendations are the path to a successful career. The second guy's head is not nearly as bright. His grades are mediocre, but he has enough common sense and is generally “on his own”

Some friends were walking through the forest and suddenly they noticed a very hungry and angry bear nearby. The first boy quickly estimates that the beast will overtake them in a minute at most, and falls into a panic. And the second one calmly takes off his rubber boots and puts on sneakers. “What a fool you are,” the first one shouts desperately. “A man runs slower than a bear.” “I know,” the second one answers. “But the main thing for me is to run faster than you.”

The first boy is able to quickly analyze the problem, but his intellect stops there. The second one thinks not so much in depth as in breadth - he makes a creative decision, adequately reacting to an unusual situation. He demonstrates the so-called practical mind (ingenuity, cunning), that is, a combination of prudence and imagination that helps to achieve the goal.

The ability to be creative and formulate fantasy into logical structures obviously depends on sensory experience.

The interaction of individual experiences with what is commonly called intelligence is most interesting to study using the example of geniuses, that is, highly gifted individuals.

For example, the Spanish surrealist Salvador Dali (1904-1989), famous for his delusional images executed in a detailed “photographic” style, was sometimes inspired by the changing shapes of clouds.

Even the Nobel laureate, the great physicist Albert Einstein (1879-1955) admitted that he did not like formulas. For him, fantastic ideas such as traveling on a ray of light were crucial.

3. Emotions and thoughts

There are no thoughts without emotions. They are inseparable, like two sides of a coin. This allowed Jean Piaget (1896-1980), a Swiss psychologist and pioneer in the study of children's intellectual development, to speak of the "logic of emotions."

In his opinion, they serve as the engine and conductor of our thought processes, sensations and actions.

They are the ones who evaluate what is happening in their heads and select what exactly to save in memory.

Events associated with strong feelings or sensory impressions are easier to remember.

That is why we “live” mainly in emotionally charged moments of our past.

This selective memory is formed very early. Between the 6th and 20th months of life, a child develops strong emotional bonds with his parents and other people important to him. If this does not happen, the person risks remaining alone for the rest of his days. As we know, love cannot be learned from books - it must be experienced.

For a baby, it is tantamount to the confidence to suckle on the mother’s breast at any moment. Then she begins to be associated with caresses and kisses.

Over time, a person includes in its definition such concepts as admiration, pride, condescension, friendship.

4. How many minds do we have?

We have a second type of intelligence that is not assessed by IQ tests. The German writer Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1749-1832) wrote about the “education of the heart.”

Nowadays it is common to talk about emotional intelligence (EQ). It includes such human qualities as empathy (the ability to understand the state of another), self-confidence, emotional self-control, character, tact, and sensitivity.

At the same time, IQ and EQ are not proportional to each other - some have enough of everything, others lack one type of intelligence, and others lack both at once.

The main property of EQ is the ability to assess one’s own emotional state, to “look inside oneself.” This is closely related to understanding and controlling one's behavior.

Developed EQ can be called “a cool head with a warm heart”: even when very worried, a person does not allow feelings to influence the quality of his decisions.

This property is vital for psychotherapists and philosophers, who, by their nature of work, must dispassionately interpret their own and others’ experiences.

A special type of EQ is important for politicians, religious leaders and educators. To work with people, they constantly need to put themselves in their place - to capture the mood, temperament, motives and goals of others, to compare their emotions with their own.

In other words, "looking in" must be combined with "looking out" - this quality is sometimes called social intelligence.

According to American psychology professor Howard Gardner, humans have at least seven types of “mental abilities.”

Two aspects of social intelligence have already been discussed above. You can add the following “talents” to them.

Speech abilities are a universal feature that characterizes people of any culture, regardless of their level of development. Linguistic intelligence is especially important for poets, screenwriters, publishers, and speakers.

Man differs from other animals in his ability to speak and express his thoughts. By what is said and how it is said, one can judge the feelings of the speaker. Thinking is impossible without speech, but it is inextricably linked with emotions.

The logical-mathematical apparatus is also common to all of us, even those who cannot count.

Spatial orientation is another intellectual ability that is very important in any society. Without it, people would not only get lost on the high seas, but also not get home from work. This quality is especially developed among sculptors, architects, and cartographers.

Physical-kinesthetic intelligence is a special type of mind. It allows us to master a wide variety of movements. The ability to ride a bicycle or crochet remains with a person for the rest of his life.

Finally there is Musical Intelligence. There is a musician in each of us - we easily turn sounds and rhythms into melodies. Particularly gifted people can use special tools for this.

5. Thinking, fighting chaos

Have you ever experienced this: you don’t know where to start?

If yes, then it's time to think about more effective problem-solving strategies. Learn to look at the root of them.

Margarita lives with her family in the suburbs of the metropolis. On weekdays, she has to wake everyone up, feed them breakfast, take her husband Anton to work, her eldest daughter Marina to school, her youngest daughter Arina to kindergarten, and be in her office by 9.00. Can a person achieve so much? Breakfast alone takes a lot of time, especially if family members have different needs: Anton demands coffee, Marina likes scrambled eggs, and Arina wants a chocolate breakfast.

In general, this is a matter of organization: acting according to plan, Margarita keeps everything under control. However, every evening she carefully thinks through the next day. If you plan on the go in the morning, problems will simply be overwhelmed by a stormy stream, leaving no time to think.

You will have to switch to emergency mode, that is, choose not the optimal option, but the lesser evil.

What exactly does Margarita do? Firstly, everything that is possible is prepared in the evening. Secondly, something is done at the same time: while the water is boiling, scrambled eggs are fried and the milk is heated. While the coffee and eggs are cooling, the prepared breakfast is mixed and the sausage is cut. Thirdly, there is a system of priorities. First, the youngest is brought to kindergarten, so children are admitted very early, then the eldest to school, then the husband to work.

Margarita keeps her entire schedule in her head. She remembers very well what is important, what can wait, and what is not necessary at all.

In her routine, she identified constants and variables, not forgetting to leave a “reserve” for unforeseen circumstances.

Margarita simplifies her life, not only by getting rid of unnecessary everyday hassles, but also by constantly improving and spreading to those around her a winning strategy that is suitable for any, including much more stressful situations.

Without this or that “management” it is difficult to cope even with everyday affairs, not to mention family holidays or trips.

Experts believe that organizing a noisy birthday party with many guests is comparable in complexity to the work of the director of a large company.

6. Monks from Varanasi

According to this legend, in the temple of the North Indian city of Varanasi, since time immemorial, monks have been tinkering with a pyramid of 64 gold plates, stacked in descending order of size - the largest at the bottom, the smallest at the top.

They must move this structure to another place, but with the condition that only one plate can be dragged at a time. True, it is allowed to use a third point as a transshipment point. However, in any case, the plates must be stacked on top of each other in descending order of size, that is, the smaller one is on top of the larger one, and, of course, removed only from above.

An ancient prophecy says that when the monks complete this work, their temple will turn to dust and the Earth will dissolve into nothingness. But when will the world end?

This question interested the French mathematician Edouard Luc, he carried out the corresponding calculations and obtained an accurate result. If you take just a second to transfer each plate, the fateful manipulation should take approximately 580 million years from start to finish.

About 100 years ago, the legend of the golden plates of the monks of Varanasi gave rise to the still popular board game called Tower of Hanoi.

It exists in different versions, but their essence is the same. And the conclusion is also clear: a problem that seems overwhelming at first glance is eventually resolved, and this is not done immediately, but gradually, step by step.

If the number of plates is reduced to two, the problem becomes extremely simple. anyone can solve it in three moves - if, of course, they do the first one correctly.

Game situations are in many ways similar to real ones. First of all, you must always clearly separate the main from the secondary. Since every little thing often leads to a new task, in the search for ever-arriving side solutions there is a danger of deviating so much from the goal that it completely disappears from sight.

Our brain automatically develops an optimal strategy for solving a problem, taking into account backup options. Usually people use schemes that have already brought success in similar situations. Often we are not even aware of the stereotypical nature of our choices.

However, the more actively a person remembers past experiences, the better he understands what to do in a given situation, since the problems in our lives, whatever one may say, are quite similar.

If you don't think through the first step properly, you'll end up with an extra headache. Unfortunately, there is no ideal recipe for all diseases. Each of us has our own approaches to solving complex problems.

Depending on the situation, different strategies bring success.

The conclusion is obvious: the more options you have prepared in reserve, the higher the chances of getting out of a difficult situation in the optimal way.

7. Thinking outside the box. A new look at old problems

The invention of the bicycle was undoubtedly a major technical achievement. However, in early models the pedals were attached directly to the axle, and you had to turn your feet too quickly.

The solution was found in greatly increasing the front wheel, which raised the rider high above the ground. The speed of movement naturally increased, but the car became too bulky and unsafe for mass use.

The appearance of chain transmission at the end of the 19th century solved the problem. Each of us encounters such a “revolution in consciousness” every now and then in our own lives.

The established schemes do not always allow one to achieve the intended goal. Applying them, you become more and more entangled in the complexities and are ready to recognize the problem as insoluble. However, sooner or later a completely new solution comes to mind. Often the solution is right in front of our noses, but we simply don’t notice it.

The car won't start, the computer is acting up, an annoying client is preventing it from working properly. You can’t count on help, but you need to solve the problem as quickly as possible. How often in such situations do we not notice the forest for the trees: the way out is obvious, but we are so accustomed to the old door that we don’t even look in a different direction.

It was the same with bicycle masters. As luck would have it, the huge wheels were made in the same workshops where the drive chains were made. Finally, one of the workers suggested the obvious: move the chain drive from a special gear to the axle of the wheel, and - for convenience - the rear one. We see the result on our streets.

Consider, for example, whether you are inclined to deviate from service or technical instructions for the benefit of the matter. If so, then you can start the car by replacing the blown fuse with a paper clip; tame your computer by rebooting it “incorrectly” several times in a row; calm down the boring client with a gift from the company.

As they say, another flash of inspiration has visited your head. These “eureka moments” usually happen when you least expect them.

Researchers have calculated that only 4 percent of the brilliant ideas that change a company's policies originate directly in the offices of its management.

Managers are much more likely to be inspired when they are taking a shower, eating breakfast, taking a walk, getting stuck in a traffic jam, sitting on a bus, or enjoying a concert.

In Greek "Eureka!" means “Found!” (in the sense of a decision). So, according to legend, the great Greek scientist Archimedes (about 287 - 212 BC) exclaimed, jumping naked out of the bath when he discovered his famous law: a body immersed in a liquid is acted upon by a buoyant force equal to the weight of the liquid displaced by it.

Since then, for inventors and discoverers, the word “eureka” has been synonymous with brilliant creative insight.

The great physicist Isaac Newton (1642-1727) formulated the law of universal gravitation after seeing an apple fall to the ground.

The famous Nobel laureate Albert Einstein (1879-1955) said that his best ideas come to him while shaving.

French mathematician Jules Henri Poincaré (1854-1912) found an elegant solution to a complex problem while boarding a bus. “I was heading to Coutances,” he recalled, “not thinking about work at all, and when I put my foot on the step, I suddenly clearly imagined this formula.”

Most people feel inspired. You can call these moments unexpected putting your thoughts in order.

The German astronomer Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) spoke of the feeling of “wonderful clarity” that came over him when he discovered the laws of planetary motion.

Even if the flash of inspiration does not clarify all the details of the solution, you intuitively feel that it has been found.

8. Thinking outside the box. A winding path

Inspiration is connected with almost all aspects of human life. However, unlike mathematical calculations, this phenomenon is rooted in the subconscious.

Explaining to others what is crystal clear to you is often difficult. That is why there are so many psychics and prophets around who claim that secret knowledge was given to them “from above.”

Most insights, like long-ripening abscesses, are the result of repeated ethereal searches for an answer to an exciting question. On average, 65 quite obvious considerations are needed to formulate a new thought.

Usually a fresh idea develops quietly in the depths of the brain. Scientists call this the “internal incubation period”: while one part of the psyche is dealing with current issues, the other is experimenting with the accumulated material, trying to use it to the maximum.

However, for most of us, in order to shout “Eureka!”, we need to prepare a little, or rather, break away from the automatic and monotonous performance of everyday activities. Routine kills inspiration.

We too rarely think about simple things and forget that any purposeful actions - solving equations, riding a bicycle - involve not only stereotypical movements, but also the work of the brain.

At the same time, it is routine that contains the solution to most problems. It’s paradoxical, but true: the essence of a brilliant invention always becomes an ordinary process.

The discovery lies before us - we just need to “cut off everything unnecessary” from it.

A good example is radiation therapy of cancer tumors.

In the first years of its use, doctors faced a serious problem: radiation not only suppressed malignant growth, but also affected healthy tissue that received too high a dose of radiation.

The solution was found unexpected, but surprisingly simple.

The radiation source was rotated around the patient so that the rays remained constantly focused on the tumor. As a result, it is destroyed, and the surrounding tissues are irradiated much weaker and are not seriously damaged.

9. Brainstorming. Divergent thinking

One of the most effective methods of creativity is brainstorming, proposed in 1948 by Alex Osborne, who defined four rules for this process: any idea is expressed; the more ideas, the better; all ideas are discussed; Any combinations, modifications or clarifications of the ideas expressed are welcome.

How effective this method is is demonstrated by the example of the American space agency - NASA.

Designers, thinking about how to replace lightning in an astronaut's spacesuit, tried the method of maximally free associations.

A word was taken at random from the dictionary, and everyone fantasized about how to tie it with a clasp.

The image of the “forest” made someone think of thorns clinging to clothing. This is how a new type of fastener appeared, known to us as “Velcro”.

New solutions are usually born when your thoughts are not constrained by any boundaries. The optimal result is achieved not only by concentration, but also by maximum openness to impressions - using the brain and senses simultaneously.

Psychologists define this free search for associations as “divergent” (divergent) thinking.

It is the opposite of “convergent” (converging), when different objects are looking for common features.

This method is typical for IQ tests and usually requires a single answer.

10 Intelligence and thinking training

Getting up from a chair seems simple, but it is a coordinated sequence of many movements. The work of more than two dozen muscles is controlled by thousands of signals that go to and from them along the nerves, spinal cord and brain.

At the same time, other systems continuously monitor the body’s balance, providing instant correction. The latter task requires the interaction of the vestibular system (in the inner ear), the eyes, the cerebellum and the cerebral cortex - its motor area.

What seems simple and natural is actually a high skill acquired by us in early childhood. Moreover, all the necessary systems are activated automatically in a split second.

“What is this old man doing in my bedroom?” - the elderly woman shouted, demanding to call the police. She did not recognize her own husband in the sleeping man. This is a symptom of a special form of dementia (usually age-related) described by the German physician Alois Alzheimer (1864-1915). The disease is characterized by the worst type of forgetfulness: people remember what happened decades ago, but current events are completely erased from their minds in about half an hour.

Scientists have recently discovered that there is a hereditary predisposition to Alzheimer's disease.

Nerve cells are not restored. A person has approximately 100 billion of them, and everything is already in place at the time of birth. Then more and more new connections are established between them, but at the same time there is a death. But new cells, alas, are no longer formed.

However, youth is a relative concept. Many people retain amazing vigor of body and spirit into old age. This primarily applies to creative people, who often continue to work literally until their last breath.

French writer Simone de Beauvoir (1908-1950) wrote fiction until she was 85 years old.

English playwright and Nobel laureate George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) wrote until he was 93 years old.

The German philosopher Hans Georg Gadamer (1900-2002) at the age of 98 gave lectures, surprising students with his liveliness of mind.

These and many other examples show that by continuously training the brain, you can compensate for the inevitable death of nerve cells into old age - apparently, by the quality of the work of the remaining ones.

Moreover, intellectual activity seems to prolong a person's life.

A connection between highly developed intelligence and longevity was discovered among nuns. They all lead healthy lives, so they usually reach a respectable age. Their level of intelligence was assessed. It turned out that the most “gifted” of them live to an average of 88 years, while others live only to 81.

Highly educated people are four times less likely to suffer from brain atrophy than poorly educated people without special interests.

In other words, the brain, like muscles, requires regular exercise to develop and maintain strength.

By taking care of our mental health, most of us can combat age-related decline in our thinking abilities.

11. Beyond thinking

Our brain analyzes objects, that is, decomposes them into many components and stores them separately. For example, visual images and names are in “different corners” of memory. As a rule, a certain concept is immediately associated with each of them: “chair - sit”, “poet - Pushkin”... Usually such simple connections are enough for us, but some tasks require drawing other, less obvious parallels. Imagination is, in principle, a synthesis of new combinations from fragments of different concepts scattered far from memory.

As a result of using the free association method, a chair that is at the same time wooden, tall, beautiful, and so on, can become fuel (+ stove), a staircase (+ chandelier), a work of art (+ museum).

The same method has been used by psychoanalysts for more than a century: in order to find out the subconscious conflict tormenting the patient, they ask him to name any concepts that pop up in his head in connection with the proposed word. (Pushkin - poet, sideburns, duel, Dantes...)

12. Journey through the sleepy kingdom

Imagination that does not recognize any boundaries sometimes suggests solutions to the most complex scientific problems.

The famous German chemist Friedrich August Kekule von Stradonitz (1829-1896) saw in a dream monkeys dancing in a circle, and then a snake biting its tail. Like all organic scientists of that era, he tried to understand the structure of the benzene molecule. Dreams suggested the answer: this is a ring.

Dreams have inspired many writers and artists.

For example, the Scot Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) composed his most famous novels, including Treasure Island, based on images and plots that appeared to him in a dream.

We usually have no influence over what we dream. However, experts distinguish a special “interactive” type of dreams, in which you do not play the usual role of a passive spectator in a night cinema, but are both the main character and the screenwriter.

According to psychologists, such sleep can be learned with the help of a special training program. Its interactive story is more memorable, and as a result you get an additional source of quite extraordinary data for your creative potential.

13. The secret of the blind spot

We all have a blind spot in relation to certain people, activities, and events.

This means that we do not take seriously, or even do not even notice, something important and even potentially dangerous for us.

For example, when driving a car, for obvious reasons we do not see much behind and to the side of us - and from there, in principle, any surprises threaten.

A blind spot is also called a special part of the visual field.

Let's conduct an experiment.

Close your left eye and look closely at the first letter in this line with your right. Now move your finger along the line to the right. Watch it out of the corner of your eye, continuing to look at the letter. Towards the middle of the page the finger will “disappear” and then reappear.

This phenomenon has been known for a long time and is explained by the absence of light-perceiving receptors in the retina at the site where the optic nerve departs from the eyeball. There's a small gap in our field of vision.

However, what is interesting is not the presence of this blind spot itself, but the fact that we do not notice it. Usually we look around with both eyes, which are also constantly moving, changing the angle of view of the surroundings, and as a result, one compensates for what the other misses.

However, looking even with one eye, we will not notice a blind spot. This is explained by the peculiarities of information processing by our brain.

By processing signals from the retina, the brain, using the accumulated information, simply “completes” the empty part of our visual field so that it matches its surroundings.

For example, when reading lines, we do not see all the letters at once, but we are sure of their presence. Such omissions also occur in the thinking process.

A quick and simple solution is literally right in front of our noses, but we don’t notice it, and then we wonder: “How come I didn’t think of it?” or “It was spinning in my head.”

14. Food for thought

The brain accounts for only 2 percent of body weight, but consumes 20 percent of our energy—almost exclusively in the form of glucose.

To give the brain enough fuel, we need to eat as many “complex carbohydrates” (polysaccharides) as possible.

Probably the best sources are rice, bread, potatoes and whole grains, which should provide about 410 percent of our calories.

For optimal brain function, normal metabolism is necessary, and for its reactions - all vitamins known to science.

The lack of at least one leads to absent-mindedness, forgetfulness, fatigue, and depression.

For example, vitamin C is now called “intellectual” - a correlation has been established between its level in the body and IQ.

One kiwi fruit or a glass of grapefruit juice provides us with ascorbic acid for the whole day.

B vitamins are good for nerves, especially B12, which is abundant in liver and eggs.

The same sources are rich in folic acid, which is believed to support the taste for life.

Minerals are needed for a variety of reactions, including the conduction of electrical impulses by nerves.

Deficiency of calcium, potassium or sodium is especially dangerous. It will immediately lead to a sharp decrease in our performance.

Among the microelements, the most common deficiency is iron, which is necessary to supply oxygen to all tissues.

Symptoms of this deficiency include fatigue, restlessness, and confusion.

15. The physical nature of thinking

What is the physical nature of thinking? There is a lot that is unclear here, but obviously, at first the object is perceived as a generalized whole. That is, we understand that we see a tree, even if we do not distinguish whether it is pine, oak or birch.

Similarly, the image of a deciduous (or coniferous) tree is highlighted, and then attention is drawn to the leaves, flowers, and growth form.

Finding an explanation for this phenomenon is one of the main tasks of cognitive psychology. She highlights, for example, the “object-background” problem, trying to determine by what characteristics we distribute the various elements that fill the field of view, for example, strokes in a painting (naturally, a realistic one), among images that are significant to us.

A possible approach to solving this problem emerged in the late 1980s. Neuroscientists have discovered that responding to an object fires neurons in many different areas of the brain (cats).

Obviously, they jointly process the information they receive, and speaking specifically, they give 40 pulses per second for some time.

This discovery excited researchers.

Has the physical basis of consciousness, or at least the recognition of objects, been found? Maybe this means that we are aware of them when a group of neurons spontaneously arises with an impulse whose frequency is equal to 40 hertz.

16. Thinking, intelligence, speech

After a severe head injury, a Frenchman named Leborgne uttered only one word “Tan” and received the nickname Tan-Tan.

He spent the rest of his life in a madhouse. The patient's brain was studied after his death by the French surgeon Paul Broca (1824-1880). He confirmed his guess: Tan-Tan had damage to a certain area of ​​the left hemisphere - the so-called motor speech area, or Broca's center.

In 1874, a young German psychiatrist, Carl Wernicke (1848-1905), studied a group of patients with a strange symptom. They could speak coherently, but often used words that were out of context.

And, unlike Tan-Tan, they did not understand other people’s speech. Despite normal hearing, they could not “decipher” the meaning of the phrases, no matter what language they were spoken in.

As a result, it became clear: normal speech requires understanding others. Heard or read phrases are first processed by the sensory speech area (Wernicke's center), usually located in the left hemisphere. Here speech is filled with meaning.

However, to speak for ourselves, we need the Broca's motor center located elsewhere.

The appearance of articulate speech was undoubtedly a decisive step in human evolution. This affected all aspects of the life of our ancestors - tools became more complex, new social relations arose, permeated with rituals, the beginnings of mythology and religion - what we call spiritual culture.

The brain has noticeably enlarged. Apparently, this was at least partly required for processing a new type of information, the volume of which began to constantly increase, accumulating in each generation.

The formation of modern speech went hand in hand with the development of the conceptual structure of our consciousness.

The ability to name objects means the ability to abstract from them and classify the surrounding reality.

However, the connection between speech and logical thinking is very complex.

Having lost the speech centers of the brain as a result of injury, people do not necessarily become complete idiots.

Moreover, the ability to compare and systematize concepts arises even among those who have never spoken in their lives.

Thinking develops independently of speech, although under its influence.

Conclusion

Let's say we have developed our emotionality to the maximum. Does this mean happiness? Research shows that personal satisfaction does not depend on the level of certain intellectual abilities.

Adequate behavior is ensured only by the interaction of all manifestations of intelligence. And in this sense, society benefits from the mental development of all its members.

Ignoring any aspects of intelligence, say, by school curricula, is fraught with the appearance of personal “distortions” with fatal consequences for individuals and the population as a whole.

So, intelligence and thinking are two sides of the same coin.

For several years now, neuroscientists have been studying the mechanisms of thought processes. They identified parts of the brain specialized in various types of intellectual tasks - such as “formulation”, “recognition”, “listening”. According to neuroscientists, such mental structures are formed in the first years of life.

If children grow up in an environment with a lack of stimulation, their mental development lags behind the norm.

In the complete absence of external stimuli, nerve connections in the brain are not formed at all.

Although the foundations of intelligence are laid down in the genes and are formed in the first years of life, the human mind certainly develops throughout life.

When you stop thinking, your brain begins to degrade. Regular training allows you to maintain amazing clarity of mind even in old age.

Bibliography

1. Sheppah D., “Thought, Mind, Intelligence”, 2003, Reader’s Digest

Velichkovsky B.M., Kapitsa M.S., Psychological problems in the study of intelligence. M.: Nauka, 1987

Guilford J. Structural model of intelligence. M.: Progress, 1965

Gilbukh Yu.Z. Mentally gifted child. Psychology, diagnostics, pedagogy. Kyiv: Research Institute of Psychology, 1992

Gurevich K.M. Intelligence tests in psychology. 1980. No. 2.

Druzhinin V.N. Intelligence and productivity: the “intellectual range” model. Psychological Journal. 1998. T. 19. No. 2.

Karpov Yu.V., Talyzina N.R. Criterion for the intellectual development of children // Questions of psychology. 1985. No. 2.

Leites N.S. Age-related talent of schoolchildren. M.: Academy, 2000

Newcombe N. Development of a child’s personality. St. Petersburg: Peter, 2002

Savenkov A.I. Gifted children in kindergarten and school. M.: Academy, 2000

Stolyarenko L.D. Basics of psychology. Rostov-on-Don: Phoenix, 1999

Kholodnaya M.A. Psychology of intelligence. Paradoxes of research. St. Petersburg: Peter, 2002

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PSYCHOLOGY
TUTORIAL

THINKING AND INTELLIGENCE

Thinking and intelligence

Thinking and intelligence are close terms. We say “smart person”, denoting individual characteristics of intelligence. We can also say that a child's mind develops with age. Thus, the problem of the development of intelligence is highlighted.

We can call the term “thinking” as an analogue in our everyday speech the word “thinking” or (less normatively, but perhaps more accurately) “thinking”. The word “mind” expresses a property, an ability. Thinking is a process. When solving a problem, we think, and not “think about it” - this is the sphere of the psychology of thinking, not intelligence. Therefore, both terms express different aspects of the same phenomenon. An intelligent person is one who is capable of carrying out thinking processes. Intelligence is the ability to think. Thinking is a process in which intelligence is realized.

INTELLIGENCE is a certain degree of a person’s ability to solve tasks and problems of appropriate complexity.

From these positions we can talk about the level of development of intelligence. It, logically, can be low, medium and high (or initial, low, medium, fairly high and high).

Thinking and intelligence have long been considered the most important and distinctive characteristics of a person. It is not without reason that the term “homo sapiens” is used to define the type of modern man. The one who has lost his mind seems to us to be crippled in his very human essence.

Another, in our opinion, important question arises: is intelligence manifested equally in different aspects of life? According to research, no. A person can differ significantly in intelligence in some area, for example, in science (physics) and be completely helpless in life situations. This was observed during the transition from a socialist to a market economy after the collapse of the Soviet Union. In addition, she can successfully solve complex problems in an industry, such as mechanics, and be completely incapable of managing a scientific team or making basic financial decisions. Therefore, it is advisable to talk about intelligence: scientific, professional, life, family, general, managerial, political, social, etc.

The French researcher J. Piaget uses the concept of “intelligence” and not “thinking”. When he talks about the “psychology of thinking,” he means only a certain interpretation of thinking, mainly the one presented in the works of representatives of the Würzburg school, to which he was critical. Giving a definition of intelligence, Piaget considers such interpretations as “mental adaptation to new conditions” (E. Claparède, V. Stern), as “an act of sudden understanding” (K. Bühler, W. Köhler).

Zhe himself. Piaget defines intelligence as “the progressive return of mobile mental structures” and believes that “intelligence is a state of equilibrium towards which all successively located adaptations of the sensorimotor and cognitive order gravitate, as well as all assimilative and accommodative interactions of the organism with the environment.”

Zhe's theory. Piaget contains two main components: conclusions about the functions of intelligence and conclusions about the stage of development of intelligence.

In its most general form, intelligence is understood as the further development of certain fundamental biological characteristics inseparable from life. The following characteristics of intelligence are identified: organization and adaptation (adaptation). Adaptation, in turn, contains two interrelated processes called assimilation and accommodation.

Organization and adaptation are the basic functions of intelligence, or functional invariants. The author considers invariant characteristics as properties of biological functioning as a whole. The organization of intellectual activity means that in each intellectual activity of the subject it is possible to isolate something whole and something that is included in this whole as an element with their connections. The content of the term “assimilation” comes down to emphasizing the reproduction by the subject during his cognitive activity of certain characteristics of the cognizable object.

Accommodation is the process of adaptation of the subject himself, who knows, to the various demands put forward by the objective world. Not only does the individual reproduce individual and integral characteristics of the cognizable object, but the subject himself changes in the process of cognitive activity. That cognitive experience that an individual accumulates before a certain period, Same. Piaget calls it cognitive structure.

One of the features of the functioning of the human intellect is that not any content received from the external world can be learned (assimilated), but only that which at least approximately corresponds to the internal structures of the individual. In describing the functioning of the intellect, Piaget uses the term “scheme.” A schema is a cognitive structure that belongs to a class of similar actions that have a certain sequence, which represents a strong interconnected whole in which its constituent acts of behavior closely interact with each other. Zhe’s idea finds further concretization in the concept of “scheme”. Piaget on the organized nature of intelligence. To the basic concepts in Zhe's theory. Piaget belongs to “equilibrium”. It is about the balance between assimilation and accommodation. Two types of intelligence functioning form a state of balanced and unbalanced equilibrium.

The doctrine of the stages of development of intelligence, to which most studies are devoted, contains the identification of four stages of such development: a) sensorimotor intelligence (from about to 2 years); b) pre-operational thinking (from 2 to 7-8 years); c) period of specific operations (from 7-8 to -12 years); d) the period of formal operations.

The development of intelligence begins with mastery of language. One of the first manifestations of a child’s intellectual activity is to trace the future results of movement (as elementary forms of movement). The formation of elementary purposeful motor acts is the formation of genetically original forms of intelligence. The main feature of specific operations (for example, classification) is attachment to objects. Formal operations seem to be divorced from objects.

The author considers developed intelligence as a system of operations. An operation is an internal action that occurred as a result of objective actions. Unlike the latter, the operation is an abbreviated action; it does not occur with real objects, but with images, symbols, signs, organized into a certain system in which operations are balanced due to the property of reversibility (we are talking about the presence of a symmetrical and opposite operation, which, based on the results of the first, restores the original situation or starting position).

The researcher understands the development of children's thinking as a change in the stages described above. The sequence of stages expresses the internal pattern of development. The stages are “tied” to a certain age, although this is ambiguous. Learning can speed up or slow down development processes.

Same concept. Piaget is one of the most developed and influential concepts. Attractive aspects of this concept are the genetic approach to solving general psychological problems, the identification of specific stages of development, the careful development of a “clinical” research method, emphasizing the fact that intellectual activity does not simply reproduce the characteristics of some external objects, but is also characterized by a change in the subject himself who cognizes . This determines the following possibilities of learning new objects, the desire to connect intelligence with a wider class of life processes.

At the same time, one cannot help but note the limitations of this concept.

Control questions:

Reveal the essence of thinking.

What are the manifestations of human mental activity?

What thinking operations do you know? Describe them.

What forms of thinking does a person use?

How does judgment manifest itself?

What are the considerations?

What is the inference?

How does the concept manifest itself?

What is visual-effective thinking?

What is visual-figurative thinking?

What is verbal-logical thinking?

What does understanding look like?

How do you solve simple problems?

How are complex problems solved?

When does problem solving become a creative process?

Literature:

Brushlinsky A.V. Thinking and forecasting (Logical-psychological analysis), - M.: Mysl, 1979.

Brushlinsky A.V. Subject: thinking, teaching, imagination: Izbr. psychol. tr. - Moscow; Voronezh: MODEK, 1996,

Burlakov Yu.A. Mechanisms of speech and thinking. - M.: Publishing house Mosk. University, 1995.

Variy M.I. General psychology: Textbook. allowance for students. psychol. and teacher.

specialties. - Lvov: Krai, 2005.

WeckerL. M. Mental processes: In 3 volumes - T. 1. -P.: Lening Publishing House. University, 1974. Wertheimer M. Productive thinking / Transl. from English - M.: Progress, 1987. Zavalishina D.N. Psychological analysis of operational thinking: Experimental and theoretical research. - M.: CENTER, 1997.

Kalmykova S. Y. Productive thinking as the basis of learning ability. - M.: Pedagogy, 1984. Milordova N. G. Thinking in discussions and problem solving. - M.: Publishing House Assoc. builds, universities, 1997.

Poddyakov N. N. Thinking of a preschooler. - M.: Pedagogy, 1977.

Pospelov N. N., Pospelov I. N. Formation of mental operations in

high school students. - M.: Pedagogy, 1989.

Psychology of the XXI century: Textbook for universities / Ed. V. N. Druzhinina. - M.: PER SE, 2003.

Psychology: Textbook / ed. Yu.L. Trofimova. - 3rd ed. - K.: Lybid, 2001.

Tikhomirov O.K. Psychology of thinking. - M.: Publishing house Mosk. University, 1984.

Yakimanskaya I. S. Development of spatial thinking of schoolchildren. - M.: Pedagogy, 1980.

Despite the fact that many equate the concepts of intelligence and thinking, there is a difference between them. While thinking is a designation for human mental activity, intelligence is the ability for this process. The following difference: thinking is a basic innate complex of cognitive capabilities, intelligence is a more complex structure that can be developed. At the same time, thinking, as a basic component of intelligence, can develop simultaneously with it.

Intelligence

There are many definitions. It characterizes the following abilities:

• cope with new or difficult situations;
• learn from experience;
• adapt to new circumstances;
• adaptive behavior in the context of changing conditions.

In addition to the definition of the concept of intelligence, there are differences in the opinions of scientists even on whether it should be understood as one whole, or whether it is divided into several relatively different types.

For example, according to the theory of American psychologist Robert J. Sternberg, intelligence consists of 3 components:

• analytical thinking, mainly involved in solving problems that a person has encountered in the past;
• creative thinking used to find ways to solve problems;
• practical thinking related to everyday life.

His colleague, Howard Gardner, identifies 8 types of thinking and intelligence:

• linguistic;
• logical-mathematical;
• visual-spatial;
• motor;
• musical;
• interpersonal;
• intrapersonal;
• natural.

Later he identified the 9th type, the so-called. existential intelligence.

Edward Thorndike identifies only 3 main types of intelligence:

• theoretical (abstract);
• practical (specific);
• social – the ability to control others (includes emotional intelligence).

From the listing of the above-mentioned components, it becomes clear that some of them have a greater connection with the theoretical part of life (education), others with the practical (work experience, the art of coping with life). The ability to achieve high incomes is a matter of practical application of theoretical knowledge acquired through study, observation, and education. Both the first part (acquiring knowledge) and the second (the ability to apply it in practice) can fail. Some people who have good thinking and intelligence do not receive an education that matches their IQ level. Reasons can range from financial, geographical, political factors to excessive criticism of teachers.

Social intelligence is also important. It includes the ability to process, recognize, control emotions, build quality, long-term relationships, and collaborate with others. Social skills have a significant impact on obtaining jobs or lucrative orders. Success is predetermined by the following skills:

• appeal to people;
• impression;
• good work in a team and with superiors;
• creating an appropriate network of contacts and acquaintances;
• penetration into the secrets of the organizational structure;
• understanding the written and unwritten rules of behavior in the new team.

Relationship between mental and emotional intelligence

(EI) is a person’s ability to realize, identify (reflect), manage their emotions, understand the emotions of other people, and effectively influence them. These abilities, according to experts, are the most important for life.

In management practice, EI is underestimated; in companies and organizations it is still customary to look at successful performance results as the fruits of high mental qualities of employees. In fact, a person's feelings and emotions (as well as their relationship with the mind) are very important. They influence what gets our attention, how we think, and what we decide. For example, a hungry person in a shopping center sees food, a well-fed person sees shoes, books.

The relationship between mental and emotional intelligence has not yet been fully correlated. But many interesting things are already known. A person’s creative abilities and successful activities are the result of his productive thinking, the essence of which is complex. These qualities are not due only to high mental abilities. They are the result of a combination of rational thinking ability and EI proportional to the nature of the situation.

The characteristics of thinking and intelligence in psychology suggest that very smart people do not always have highly productive thinking. Their productive thinking may be lower than that of the average intelligent person.

When mental intelligence is high, creative and productive thinking is low.

People who score more than 120 on IQ tests have only a 5-15% chance of successful leadership. They do not have a good ability to inspire and motivate other people.

Thinking

Thinking is one of the cognitive processes. It is mainly about working with information, ideas, concepts. Thinking allows a person to find correlations and solve problems.

Functions of thinking:

• formation of concepts;
• recognition and search for relationships;
• problem solving;
• creating something new.

The result is new information, experience, knowledge.

Properties

With regard to thinking, several properties are distinguished:

• Convergence. The ability to stick to a specific topic, follow the line of logical context.
• Divergence. Also called artistic, creative thinking, characterized by a wide range of possibilities.
• Worldview. Determines how much knowledge and problems a person can incorporate or solve in their thinking.
• Depth. Determines the extent to which a person can go into detail about a problem (for example, through analysis).
• Accuracy (reliability). Determines how logical, practical, and correct the ideas are.
• Independence. The ability to solve problems may be more or less dependent on the help of other people.
• Flexibility. The ability to break away from thought patterns and find the most effective solution to a given problem (for example, overcoming functional fixation).
• Criticality. The ability to conduct a critical analysis of individual knowledge and the process of solving a problem.

Types

Thinking is divided into several types according to various parameters.

Concrete VS Demonstrative VS Abstract:

• Concrete - directly refers to practical subjects, a person thinks that he will do. This option is impractical, time-consuming, and tedious.
• Indicative - before starting to do something, a person imagines how it will happen. This option is more practical and faster.
• Abstract - a person does not imagine any objects, thinks abstractly. This is how, for example, mathematical equations are solved.

Analytical VS Synthetic:

• Analytical - analyzes the whole thing, divides it into smaller parts, which it analyzes again.
• Synthetic - combining knowledge and facts into one concept.

In practice, both types are often used.

Convergent VS Divergent:

• Convergent – ​​searching for one correct solution.
• Divergent – ​​search for all possible solutions.

Due to the similarity of these types, they are also often used together - first divergent thinking, then convergent thinking.

Reasoning

It is a thinking process in which conclusions are based on information.

Ways of reasoning:

• Deduction is the subtraction of conclusions for a specific case from general rules (one is determined from the set). Example: Socrates is a man → man is mortal → Socrates is mortal. Deduction never brings any new information.
• Induction - goes in the opposite direction than deduction - from one to many. It is a matter of establishing general rules based on specific cases. Example: Peter has a car → Alexander has a car → all men have cars. Inductive judgments are always applied only with a certain probability, never with 100%. All scientific theories are based on inductive reasoning.

Thinking and problem solving

Mental operations are purposeful mental manipulation of mental content aimed at solving both theoretical and practical problems.

Mental operations are divided into 2 categories:

• Logical operations are governed by precise rules that should not be violated. In the process of solving a problem, a person follows an algorithm (just like a computer). The solution is correct and accurate. However, in everyday life this is an impractical and time-consuming path.
• Heuristic operations are abbreviated thinking practices that lead to results without individual consideration of all options and alternative approaches. The results are assessed in terms of suitable/unsuitable. This option is extremely fast and efficient compared to the previous one, but it is also saddled with a high error rate.

Does the correctness of decision making depend on the degree of thinking and intelligence?

Reason is not always the key to making good decisions. The British online publication Independent reports this, citing the scientific journal Research Digest. A high IQ can lead to academic success, but good decisions are made through critical thinking, without undue emotional burden.

Probably every person has a friend or acquaintance who has an extraordinary mind, but at the same time commits many stupid things: either slams the keys in the car, or falls for Internet fraud.

According to new research cited by the author of an article in the Independent, a high IQ does not necessarily mean that a person has good critical thinking.

Disorders of thinking and intelligence

Mental disorders belong to the field of psychiatry and can be congenital or acquired:

• congenital pathology – oligophrenia;
• acquired pathology – .

In both cases, sick people are characterized by a disorder of thinking ability, often of daily physical activity, and independence.

AI Philosophy

The philosophy of artificial intelligence (AI) is a branch of philosophy that attempts to answer the following questions:

• What is the essence of intelligence? Can a machine completely replace the thinking of the human mind?
• Is the nature of a computer and the human brain the same? What methods does the human brain use to create consciousness (or at least the illusion of it)?
• Can a machine have a mind, mental states, consciousness similar to that of a human? Can a machine feel?

These three questions regarding thinking and intelligence in philosophy reflect the different interests of AI scientists. The scientific answer to these questions depends entirely on the definitions used of “intelligence,” “consciousness,” and “machine.”

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Baikal-Amur Institute of Railway Transport

branch of the federal state budgetary educational institution

higher professional education "FEGUPS" in Tynda

Department of Accounting and Audit

TEST

discipline: "Psychology"

Topic: “Thinking and Intelligence”

Completed by: 3rd year student Daria Sergeevna Konovalova

BUiA specialties

Tynda 2014

Introduction

Human intelligence, or the ability of abstract thinking, is one of the most important essential properties of a person. Man is a microcosm, in an abbreviated and generalized form, carrying within itself the infinite variety of the material world.

The essence of man as a microcosm determines the meaning of human existence, the meaning of his work and intellectual creativity. The meaning of human existence is not outside of man, but in human existence itself, in the production, creation of one’s being and one’s essence.

The development of human essence occurs in the process of transforming the natural environment, creating a “second nature” (K. Marx). Consequently, it also has its own “external guidelines” - the exploration of the world in breadth (expansion into space) and in depth.

More specifically, the meaning of human existence should be presented as an endless complication and enrichment of the creative nature of labor and the creative abilities of the human intellect. The greatness and dignity of a person lies in the endless possibilities of his work and intellect.

The immediate predecessor of human intelligence is the so-called “concrete thinking”, or thinking in “concrete”, sensory images (I.M. Sechenov, I.P. Pavlov). The nature, structure and “logic” of concrete thinking are still very poorly understood. It is generally accepted that the psyche of higher animals is based on two main types of reactions - instincts and temporary connections (associations). Instincts are innate, inherited species forms of behavior and reflections of the environment, developed as a result of many millennia of biological evolution. Associations are of a lifetime nature, formed as a result of individual adaptation to the environment, and constitute the individual lifetime experience of the animal. Associations are a reflection of external connections between various environmental phenomena perceived by animals - sounds, smells, etc. Instincts and associations, in their complex form, are also part of the human psyche, forming the humanized biological foundation of his consciousness and intellectual activity. Human instincts include the basic, generalizing instinct of life (or self-preservation), motor, sexual, related, and cognitive instincts.

Apes and, more broadly, higher animals have the ability to form a kind of knowledge. “Catching the normal connection of things.” How do these kinds of reactions or connections in the psyche (associations) of animals differ from conditioned reflexes? A conditioned classical reflex is a nervous connection between two points of the cerebral cortex, fixing (displaying) the connection of any external phenomenon (sound, smell, etc.), acting as an external stimulus indifferent to the body, with another, directly biologically significant for the body ( food, enemy, etc.). In itself, a phenomenon that is indifferent to the body and has no immediate biological significance (for example, a bell), associated with the appearance of food, becomes a signal of food, an unconditional stimulus, and therefore acquires biological significance for the body. The connection between the bell and food is of the nature of a temporary coincidence, i.e., an external connection. However, the signal connection has an objective “meaning” for the animal, because it indicates the appearance of food, an enemy, etc. Therefore, the conditioned reflex is not some simple mechanical connection of completely heterogeneous events and can serve as a genetic prerequisite for the formation of more complex, psychological connections, meaning the formation of knowledge , “capturing the normal connection of things.”

In connections of the type called I.P. Paul's education of knowledge reflects the external, not the causal, essential connections of things, but in these external connections the necessary, essential connections are expressed and “shine through,” because the biological significance of external phenomena is not accidental, essential. An animal thinks in sensory images, and not in concepts, which are the only ones capable of grasping the essential aspects of reality. However, implicitly, in a hidden and unconscious form, this knowledge reflects the essential aspects of reality. The adaptive mode of existence of an animal determines direct knowledge of phenomena, while the essential side of real phenomena remains hidden.

The essence of life lies outside the removable tendency of the living to self-preservation, carried out through adaptation, adaptation to the environment. For an adaptive way of existence, a reflection of the external aspects of reality is necessary and sufficient. Man arises as a result of the natural development of the internal contradiction of life: the absolute tendency of the living towards self-preservation “takes” the living beyond the limits of the relatively “weak” and limited method of activity - adaptation to the environment and gives rise to a more effective and powerful way of activity - the transformation of the environment, the production of one’s own own existence, characteristic of man as the highest form of matter.

thinking abstraction intelligence

1. The relationship between the concepts of “thinking” and “intelligence”

Thinking and intelligence are terms that are similar in content. We can associate the term thinking with the word deliberation. The word mind expresses the property, ability, thinking process. Thus, both terms express different aspects of the same phenomenon. A person endowed with intelligence is capable of carrying out thinking processes. Intelligence is the ability to think, and thinking is the process of realizing intelligence. Thinking and intelligence have long been considered the most important distinguishing features of a person. It is not without reason that the term Homo sapiens is used to define the type of modern man.

Thinking as cognition that goes beyond the immediate given is a powerful sign of biological adaptation. It was thanks to intelligence that man took a dominant position on Earth and received additional means for survival. However, at the same time, human intelligence has also created colossal destructive forces. From an individual point of view, there is essentially a threshold relationship between intelligence and performance success. For most types of human activity, there is a certain minimum intelligence that ensures the ability to engage in this activity.

2. Types of thinking. Forms of thinking. Operations of thinking

Types of thinking

Thinking is a special kind of theoretical and practical activity that involves a system of actions and operations of a transformative and cognitive nature included in it.

Theoretical conceptual thinking is such thinking, using which a person, in the process of solving a problem, refers to concepts, performs actions in the mind, without directly dealing with the experience gained through the senses. He discusses and searches for a solution to a problem from beginning to end in his mind, using ready-made knowledge obtained by other people, expressed in conceptual form, judgments, and inferences. Theoretical conceptual thinking is characteristic of scientific theoretical research. Theoretical figurative thinking differs from conceptual thinking in that the material that a person uses here to solve a problem is not concepts, judgments or inferences, but images. They are either directly retrieved from memory or creatively recreated by the imagination.

This kind of thinking is used by workers in literature, art, and in general people of creative work who deal with images. In the course of solving mental problems, the corresponding images are mentally transformed so that a person, as a result of manipulating them, can directly see the solution to the problem that interests him. Both types of thinking considered - theoretical conceptual and theoretical figurative - in reality, as a rule, coexist. They complement each other quite well, revealing to a person different but interconnected aspects of existence. Theoretical conceptual thinking provides, although abstract, but at the same time the most accurate, generalized reflection of reality.

Theoretical figurative thinking allows us to obtain a specific subjective perception of it, which is no less real than the objective-conceptual one. Without one or another type of thinking, our perception of reality would not be as deep and versatile, accurate and rich in various shades as it actually is. Visual-effective thinking is genetically the earliest form of thinking. Its first manifestations in a child can be observed at the end of the first - beginning of the second year of life, even before he masters active speech. Visual-figurative thinking - manifests itself in preschoolers aged 4-6 years.

The connection between thinking and practical actions (as in visual-action) is preserved, but not as direct as before. Characterized by reliance on ideas and images, the functions of figurative thinking are associated with the presentation of situations and changes in them that a person wants to obtain as a result of his activities. A very important feature of imaginative thinking is the formation of unusual, incredible combinations, objects and properties.

Verbal-logical thinking is thinking in the form of abstract concepts. Thinking now appears not only in the form of practical actions, and not only in the form of visual images, but in the form of abstract concepts. This type of thinking is carried out using logical operations. Realistic thinking is aimed at the outside world, regulated by logical laws.

Autistic thinking is associated with the realization of a person’s desires (when what is desired is presented as reality).

Egocentric thinking is the inability to accept another person's point of view.

Forms of thinking

The main elements with which thought operates. There are concepts, judgments, conclusions, also images and ideas. A concept is a thought. Which reflects the most common ones. Essential and distinctive (specific) signs of objects and phenomena of reality. For example, the concept of a person includes such essential features as labor activity, production of tools, and articulate speech. All these essential essential properties distinguish humans from animals. The content of concepts is revealed in judgments. Which are always expressed in verbal form - oral or written, out loud or silently. Judgment is a reflection of the connections between objects and phenomena of reality or between their properties and characteristics.

Depending on how judgments reflect objective reality. They are true or false. A true judgment expresses the connection between objects and their properties that exists in reality. Judgments can be general, particular and individual. In general judgments, something is affirmed (or denied) regarding all objects of a given group, a given class. Judgments are formed in two main ways: 1) directly, when they express what is perceived, 2) indirectly - through inference or reasoning. There are two main types of inferences - inductive and deductive. Induction is inference from particular cases, examples, etc. to the general position (to the general judgment). Deduction is an inference from a general position (judgment) to a particular case, fact, example, phenomenon.

Operations of thinking

The mental activity of people is carried out with the help of mental operations: comparison, analysis and synthesis, abstraction, generalization, concretization. Comparison is a comparison of objects and phenomena in order to find similarities and differences between them. Comparison, comparison leads to classification. So, in a library, books can be classified by content, genre, etc. Analysis is the mental division of an object or phenomenon into its constituent parts or the mental isolation of individual properties, features, and qualities in it. For example, in a plant we distinguish the stem, root, flowers, leaves, etc. In this case, analysis is the mental decomposition of the whole into its constituent parts.

Synthesis is the mental connection of individual parts of objects. If analysis provides knowledge of individual elements, then synthesis, based on the results of analysis, combining these elements provides knowledge of the object as a whole. So, when reading, individual letters, words, phrases are highlighted in the text and at the same time, they are continuously connected with each other: letters are combined into words, words into sentences, sentences into sections of the text. Analysis and synthesis are interconnected. Abstraction is the selection of one aspect of a property and abstraction from the rest. Thus, when examining an object, you can highlight its color without noticing its shape, or, on the contrary, highlight only its shape. For example, the concept that we express with the word fruit combines similar characteristics that are found in plums, apples, and pears. Generalization is the ability to combine similar features of objects and phenomena.

3. Thinking process

Thinking involves creating a model of a problem situation and drawing conclusions within this model. The model is not created from scratch. And from building elements, various structures of knowledge representation located in long-term memory. From these elements in the field of attention, a model is created. Relevant only to this task. Thinking in this way is a complex process, involving numerous mental structures and processes. The first theory describing the thinking process was proposed back in the 19th century within the framework of associative psychology. Associationists believed that mental life is determined by the struggle between individual elements (ideas for a place in consciousness).

The volume of consciousness is limited. It can contain a small number of elements at the same time. Elements attract certain others to themselves. That is, they are trying to introduce it into the field of consciousness. If you are there yourself. This attraction between elements (association) occurs either as a result of shared past experience or similarity. Associationists describe the thought process roughly as follows. When the subject receives a task, the field of consciousness simultaneously includes conditions, tasks and the goal that needs to be achieved. The condition of the task and the goal will contribute to the fact that such a middle element will fall into the field of consciousness, which is associated with both the condition of the task and the goal.

In modern cognitive psychology, two stages are usually distinguished in the thinking process - the stage of creating a model of a problem situation and the stage of operating with this model, understood as a search in the problem space. Although, it seems, this division is quite arbitrary. The model of a problem situation does not arise out of nowhere; structures and knowledge schemes located in long-term memory are involved in its creation. The same processes of searching and retrieving knowledge occur here as those considered by memory researchers. The difference is that the process of thinking requires the creation of a new model from known elements, while memory involves simply retrieving what was embedded in it.

4. Thinking and creativity

Thinking is closely connected with the discovery of new things, with creativity. However, creativity cannot be identified with thinking. Thinking is one of the types of cognition. Creativity is possible not only in knowledge. The clearest example of creativity is in art. The basis of art is the creation of beauty. This often requires knowledge, but it is not the essence of beauty. The creative process is related to the characteristics of the tasks. In the case of scientific creativity, the task is knowledge, in the case of art, it is creation. In this regard, the work of an engineer comes close to the work of a writer. In art, knowledge (as the collection of impressions and materials for a work) precedes creativity itself. In the case of cognition, the goal is more precisely defined, or rather determined intellectually before creativity.

In art, a work does not serve any particular purpose. At the same time, both types of creativity clearly have common features, including the central dominant role of unconscious processes. Ponomarev identified two types of experience (that is, knowledge stored in the subject’s memory) - intuitive and logical. Intuitive experience has very peculiar properties. It can be called unconscious for two reasons - firstly, it is formed against the will of the subject and outside the field of his attention. Secondly, it cannot be arbitrarily actualized by the subject and is manifested only in action. Logical experience, on the contrary, is conscious and can be applied when a corresponding task arises.

5. Individual characteristics of intelligence

The study of individual differences in intelligence began in the 19th century, when F. Galton became interested in the problem of the heritability of genius. In 1911, the first test to assess the mental development of children appeared, created by the French Binet and Simon. Since then, psychologists have developed many intelligence tests. The advent of tests opened up a tempting possibility of operationalizing the theoretical concept of intelligence. For an empirical science, such as modern psychology, the moment of defining concepts is fundamentally important.

The advent of intelligence tests made it possible to pose a number of research problems. Does high intelligence in the field of mathematics mean that a person will be highly intelligent in the field of humanities reasoning, or are these abilities independent? Questions of this kind come down to a more general question: is there a general mechanism for performing any intellectual activity or are its various types performed by separate local mechanisms?

To answer this question, a whole line of research has developed in the field of intelligence tests. Of particular interest is the theory of D. Guilford, which is called the cubic model. He believed that human capabilities are determined by three factors - operations, content and products. Among operations, he distinguished cognition. Memory, divergent and convergent thinking, among the contents - figurative, symbolic. Semantic and behavioral, among products - elements. Classes, relationships, systems, transformations, predictions.

6. Age, gender and social characteristics of intelligence

There is a high correlation between measures of intelligence in the same person at different ages. In other words, if a person in childhood, for example, at 6 years old, demonstrates high test intelligence, then with a high probability at 15, 30, and 70 years old he will show high results on intellectual tests (naturally, relative to people of his age) . These high correlations were found for tests measuring representative intelligence, which can be used no earlier than 3 years of age. In the first two years of life, as noted above, the child’s intelligence develops not in the representative, but in the sensorimotor sphere. Tests designed to assess sensorimotor abilities, however, do not predict subsequent achievement in the field of representative intelligence. At the same time, there is data in the psychological literature that suggests that an infant’s interest in reacting to new objects is a good sign of future intelligence development.

It should be emphasized that the connection between abilities at an early and later age is statistical in nature. In other words, a high level of intelligence in a child gives serious reasons to hope for a high level of intelligence in adulthood, but is not a 100% guarantee. If intelligence reaches its maximum values ​​already at a very young age, then success in intellectual professional activity comes much later. In order to have developed thinking in the field of, for example, mathematics and biology, you need not only to be an intelligent person, but also to master a number of special skills. We are not talking about knowledge, but rather about skills: for example, a professor of mathematics or physics differs from a graduate student not so much in the amount of knowledge as in the ability to pose and solve problems.

If intelligence reaches its maximum values ​​at a very young age, then success in intellectual professional activity comes much later. In order to have developed thinking in the field of, for example, mathematics and biology, you need not only to be an intelligent person, but also to master a number of special skills. We are not talking about knowledge, but about skills: for example, a professor of mathematics or physics differs from a graduate student not so much in the amount of knowledge as in the ability to pose and solve problems.

Another issue in the field of intelligence psychology that gives rise to ideological debate is gender differences. Most researchers believe that, in general, the average development of intelligence is approximately the same in men and women. At the same time, there is more variation among men: among them there are more both very smart and very stupid. There is also some difference in the severity of various aspects of intelligence between men and women. Until the age of five, these differences do not exist. From the age of five, boys begin to surpass girls in the field of spatial intelligence and manipulation, and girls begin to surpass boys in the field of verbal abilities.

Men significantly outperform women in math skills. According to the American researcher K. Benbow, among especially gifted people in mathematics, there is only one woman for every 13 men. The nature of these differences is controversial. Some researchers believe that they can be explained genetically. Others, feminist-oriented, argue that their basis is our society, which puts men and women in unequal conditions.

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