Abstract thinking: what is it and how to develop it?

Speaking, reading, writing, counting - all this a person could not do if he had not developed abstract thinking. It was it that helped to create the alphabet, to add words from letters, to come up with numbers. It is extremely important in training, but also in adulthood, nowhere without it.

Abstract thinking is considered the highest form of the thought process. Smells, sounds, tastes, images, tactile sensations - in order to understand their essence, a person must certainly think. Our brain “digests” any information and stores it in the head in the form of certain “files” or clusters. Abstraction is based on them. In simple words, one can give this definition: a person, in order to think abstractly, uses once acquired knowledge as a basis, he thinks up the rest with his own imagination.

With such a complex, but rather precise definition, clarification is indispensable. We will analyze how this works, using a concrete example. You see on the bench a certain type who, in the midst of a working day, is resting with a bottle of foam. The first thing that comes to mind is a parasite in front of us, prone to alcoholism. Features of abstract thinking help us to look at it differently.

Perhaps a person has the first day of vacation or his day off on weekdays, and he drinks only non-alcoholic beer and solely to refresh himself, because it is hot outside. All this may well be just that or somehow different.

An apparatus is called a person whose brain does not accept any thoughts that contradict his first and, as it seems to him, the only true impression of what is happening. Often this leads to the fact that people drive themselves into an emotional and vital impasse. They are not looking for a way out of it, because they are sure that they are following exactly the right path.

Abstract thinking helps us act logically. His main weapon is the word. In this, it mainly differs from what animals have. Another name for this type of thinking is conceptual, that is, a person puts his concepts into a certain logical chain, and then sets out his thoughts. And for this it is not necessary to enter into a conversation with someone - it can be a dialogue with oneself.

Sometimes it looks like the babble of a small child - "oh, dog, I'm afraid." But more often it is a more detailed text, which over the years and as we gain experience in life becomes more and more colorful and varied.

With age, a person with developed abstract thinking becomes less categorical. He admits several points of view on the same issue, knows how to recognize the validity of the arguments of opponents, admits the possibility of his own wrongness in certain issues. All this happens due to the evolution of the brain of each individual.

The first “pillars” of abstract thinking appear in a person when he is just beginning to see and understand what is happening around him. That is, the foundation is laid at the age when the child has a conscious look - after the end of the neonatal period. He begins to hear better, more clearly perceive visual images, to distinguish mother’s voice well from others, to understand a certain difference between heat and cold.

Specialists decomposed the formation of abstract thinking into three main stages.

• Straight - otherwise it can be called folk aphorism "what I see, I sing." At the initial stage, the brain perceives only information related to specific objects. The baby sees a bottle of milk, so it's time to eat, toys for him are not divided into kitties, dogs and other animals - this is just a thing that you can hold in your hands. No thoughts are possible at this stage.
• First images - this is how imaginative thinking appears. The process of forming the imagination begins. A child is able to generalize and systematize some things. But so far, his experience is not enough for figurative thinking to work in full force.
• Abstraction - only when a person reaches an age at which he can allow in his thoughts to go beyond what he saw here and now, he gets at his disposal abstract thinking. His brain activity is already based not only on what is before his eyes, but also on his own concepts and ideas about a particular phenomenon.

Everyone has one way or another abstract thinking. But it is most developed in people working with certain intangible concepts. It was abstract symbolic thinking that brought the alphabet into our lives. After all, what is a letter? It’s impossible to touch. But adding letters to words, we form our point of view.

Another example from life can be called the appearance of numbers. Figures also do not exist in the form of objects. They were invented in order to make it easier to speak. In fact, the “seven” are seven units. And only abstract thinking turned them into a concrete sign.

Another part is abstract spatial thinking. No one knows exactly what the surface of other planets looks like, but anyone can imagine this based on creating an abstraction, on fantasy, films seen earlier, paintings, and books of science fiction writers read.

Abstract thinking is multifaceted. It branches in our head in several directions. Usually, experts identify six of its properties.

• The ability to idealize. It allows you to hide flaws, "adjust" what you see to the desired.
• Isolating function. It isolates certain elements from the total mass, on which the focus is subsequently made.
• Primitive sensory ability helps to cut off unnecessary properties and highlight the necessary ones.
• Constructivization function It helps to transform things that are incomprehensible in appearance into clear forms.
• Generalization ability helps to remove some particular features and consider an object or event based on its general characteristics.
• Ability to create actual infinity turns infinite elements or phenomena into final ones.

As mentioned earlier, the main tool of abstract thinking is the word. It is speech that helps us build our thoughts logically and consistently. If you are tormented by a question, try to speak it out loud.

By the way, in cases when you talk to yourself, it can be even more effective. First of all, no one enters into an argument with you, does not interrupt, distracting from thoughts. And in this case, one does not have to select words. How well a person can formulate his thoughts determines how the thought process proceeds.

Abstract thinking also called internal speech. If it is not developed, then thinking, and ultimately finding a solution to the problem is much more difficult than if the vocabulary is large, and the ability to use it is at a high level.

There are two types of thinking - induction and deduction. By the way, contrary to popular belief that Sherlock Holmes, one of the most famous literary detectives, used only the second to solve crimes, experts believe that he almost perfectly owned both and even more often resorted to the help of the first.

Let's see how it works. Let's take a few introductory notes: Ilya, a first grader, has not been going to school since June, Marina, a tenth grader, has stopped attending classes with the onset of summer, teacher Lidia Ivanovna has been planting strawberries in the country all summer. The induction method will tell us that the school does not work in the summer. However, this is not always a true statement.

We may never see the ocean in our life, but we can clearly imagine it in all its details - noise, waves, sounds. We may never fly to the Moon, but we perfectly draw its surface with craters in our imagination. We don’t have to touch the ice in order to understand that it is cold. Each such skill refers to a particular form of abstract thinking.

It forms different objects and objects into a specific image according to the same signs. For example, cars are large and small, domestically produced and foreign cars, convertibles and trucks, of different colors and with a different number of seats in the cabin, but everyone has wheels, a steering wheel, seats for seats, they are designed for transportation, which unites them in one name - a car.

Another example from the animal world. Every child knows that a cat is a furry, mewing creature with four legs, a mustache and ears. The fact that they come in different colors and are divided by breed does not prevent us from combining them into a common category.

Appears when we need to evaluate some creature, object or phenomenon. It can be simple and complex. Birds sing - refers to the first form.The birds are singing because it has become warm - the second kind.

For example, it is difficult for a mother to see the shortcomings of her own child, he is the most beautiful and smart for her. But the teacher at school will quickly find knowledge gaps even of the most outstanding student.

It combines several judgments from which a conclusion is drawn. Most often they lead from the general to the particular. For example: winter is a cold season, December is coming soon, which means it will become cold, it’s time to get warm clothes. Or: women are a beautiful half of humanity, Irina is a woman, which means she is beautiful.

Ability to abstract thinking is laid in each of us since childhood. It is at a young age that people tend to dream and fantasize more. Any child can easily make up a story. At school, abstract thinking helps us understand subjects such as geometry, physics, or chemistry. It is it that “sees” that which cannot be seen with the eyes or with hands. Philosophers, writers, journalists - without the abstract thinking of these professions simply would not exist.

In everyday life, we also often resort to it when we make plans, try to solve some problem, help the child with homework. This list can be supplemented indefinitely. therefore the importance of the development of abstract thinking is difficult to overestimate. And its level primarily depends on our ability to communicate. Accordingly, it is necessary to develop speech.

Here are a series of exercises to help you move from words to deeds and vice versa.

• Obvious and probable. Take a piece of paper and write on it some common belief. For example, "vacation on the sea coast is the best vacation." Now come up with a rebuttal to this. For example, “on Lake Baikal is much more interesting”, “the air is cleaner in the mountains” and so on.

The more you find counterarguments, the better. The next step is to refute what proved the implausibility of the first judgment. “There are no waves on Lake Baikal,” “it's hard to breathe in the mountains.” Thus, you must prove the obviousness of the originally stated postulate.

• Capital letters. This exercise can be a good entertainment in the company, for example, while waiting for an airplane or while traveling on a train. Designate a combination of 3-4 of any letters. The task of the participants is to turn them into an abbreviation. For example, SKB - “Union of Communal Lawlessnesses”, “Combine of Combineer Brigades”, “Combination of Lullaby Tales”. So you not only make the brain work to find new phrases, but also diversify your leisure.
• We live by the concepts. There are many concepts in our life that cannot be touched. Happiness, beauty (it is different for everyone), love, anger, hatred. Choose one of them. Define it with the simplest words.

Find synonyms for this word, the more the better. Think of a symbol of this concept: a concrete drawing, a set of characters similar to hieroglyphs, a drawing or a diagram - it doesn’t matter. After dealing with this common common human phenomenon, take on more complex concepts - reference, validity, ambivalence.So you will not only learn new words, but will also become better at understanding their true meaning, respectively, and it will become much easier for you to communicate with even the most educated and “savvy” people. And the brain will give out more and more brilliant ideas.

• "We will build a new world." Take a comfortable pose, close your eyes. This exercise is like a meditation session. Remember everything that happened to you in a day. The people you talked to or just saw, the events that happened.

The task is to reproduce everything in detail. Who was wearing what, what was the expression on the face of the interlocutor, how it smelled in the room, what music sounded. Once the picture has gathered, you need to make transformations in it. Give people different emotions and characteristics: kindness, anger, fun, laziness. "Ennoble" the room in which everything happened. Repaint the walls in your imagination, change the furniture, do whatever your fantasy tells you. Do not be afraid to experiment. This “repair” is not difficult to fix, but your imagination will develop such an exercise, no doubt.

Particular attention should be paid to the development of abstract thinking in children. You need to do this from a very young age. First of all, read more to your baby, even if it seems to you that he does not understand anything. Sounds, words, intonations - all this will remain in his head and will be useful in the future. Give him creative freedom. To do this, use such exercises.

• On a piece of paper, draw part of a certain object or creature. The task of the preschooler or schoolboy is to finish the image. Do not be discouraged if your painted cat has a dog tail or wings. Here it is important for the child not to unravel your plan, but to show resourcefulness.
• Play games like Cities. It is not necessary to start right away with the names of the settlements. Adapt this lesson to the age of the child. For starters, use colors, names of animals, fruits, and so on.
• Sand painting, which has gained popularity not so long ago, is also a great way to develop abstract thinking. The child can depict any images and immediately change them. Invite your baby to try to do this at least once. But, of course, after he learns to make “Easter cakes” in the sandbox and crawls out of it due to age.
• Home Puppet Theater - entertainment accessible to everyone. In addition, now you can absolutely inexpensively buy for him all the necessary props. You can do everything yourself to do it yourself. Invent together with the child the images and costumes of the heroes, their character. Arrange performances at family events and organize parties in the courtyard.
• Puzzles, mosaic, constructor - All this will also help to develop the abstract thinking of your baby. Just do not need to think that after two lessons he will begin to collect a picture of 200 elements on his own, the development of abstract thinking is a long way. So, be patient.

In addition to all of the above, for the development of abstract thinking you can use the "grandfather" methods. We boldly include crosswords, scanwords, puzzles, board games. They will best benefit intelligence.

Therefore, let's talk more often and more interestingly on various topics, share new information, impressions about films, books, plays, trips with each other. This will be useful both for the one who tells and for the one who listens - new information will enrich his abstract experience.