The development of thinking in children psychology. Thinking: forms, properties, types, methods of development in children

Thinking- the process of mediated and generalized cognition (reflection) of the surrounding world. Its essence is in reflection: 1) general and essential properties of objects and phenomena, including those properties that are not perceived directly; 2) essential relationships and regular connections between objects and phenomena.

Basic forms of thinking

There are three main forms of thinking: concept, judgment and inference.

A concept is a form of thinking that reflects the general and, moreover, essential properties of objects and phenomena.

Each object, each phenomenon has many different properties, signs. These properties, features can be divided into two categories - essential and non-essential.

Judgments reflect the connections and relationships between objects and phenomena of the surrounding world and their properties and features. A judgment is a form of thinking that contains the assertion or denial of a position regarding objects, phenomena or their properties.

Inference is a form of thinking in which a person, comparing and analyzing various judgments, derives a new judgment from them. A typical example of inference is the proof of geometric theorems.

Properties of thinking

The main properties of human thinking are its abstractness and generalization. The abstractness of thinking lies in the fact that, thinking about any objects and phenomena, establishing connections between them, we single out only those properties, signs that are important for solving the issue before us, abstracting from all other signs, in this case we not interested: listening to the explanation of the teacher in the lesson, the student tries to understand the content of the explanation, highlight the main thoughts, connect them with each other and with their past knowledge. At the same time, he is distracted from the sound of the teacher's voice, the style of his speech.

The abstractness of thinking is closely related to its generalization. Highlighting the most important aspects, connections and relationships that are essential from one point of view or another, we thereby focus our thoughts on the general thing that characterizes entire groups of objects and phenomena. Each object, each event, phenomenon, taken as a whole, is unique, as it has many different sides and signs.

Types of thinking

In psychology, the following simple and somewhat conditional classification of types of thinking is common: 1) visual-effective, 2) visual-figurative, and 3) abstract (theoretical) thinking. There are also intuitive and analytical thinking, theoretical, empirical, autistic and mythological thinking.

Visual-active thinking.

In the course of historical development, people solved the problems that confronted them, first in terms of practical activity, only then did theoretical activity stand out from it. Practical and theoretical activities are inextricably linked.

Only as practical activity develops does it stand out as a relatively independent theoretical mental activity.

Not only in the historical development of mankind, but also in the process of mental development of each child, the starting point will be not purely theoretical, but practical activity. It is within this latter that children's thinking first develops. At preschool age (up to three years inclusive) thinking is mainly visual and effective. The child analyzes and synthesizes cognizable objects as he practically separates, dismembers and reunites, correlates, connects with each other these or those objects perceived at the moment with his hands. Inquisitive children often break their toys in order to find out "what's inside."

Visual-figurative thinking.

In its simplest form, visual-figurative thinking occurs mainly in preschoolers, i.e., at the age of four to seven years. The connection between thinking and practical actions, although they retain, is not as close, direct and immediate as before. In the course of the analysis and synthesis of a cognizable object, the child does not necessarily and by no means always have to touch the object that interests him with his hands. In many cases, systematic practical manipulation (action) with the object is not required, but in all cases it is necessary to clearly perceive and visualize this object. In other words, preschoolers think only in visual images and do not yet master concepts (in the strict sense).

Distracted thinking.

On the basis of practical and visual-sensory experience, children at school age develop, at first in the simplest forms, abstract thinking, that is, thinking in the form of abstract concepts.

Mastering concepts in the course of assimilation by schoolchildren of the basics of various sciences - mathematics, physics, history - is of great importance in the mental development of children. The formation and assimilation of mathematical, geographical, physical, biological, and many other concepts in the course of schooling is the subject of numerous studies. The development of abstract thinking in schoolchildren in the course of assimilation of concepts does not at all mean that their visual-effective and visual-figurative thinking now ceases to develop or disappears altogether. On the contrary, these primary and initial forms of all mental activity continue to change and improve as before, developing together with abstract thinking and under its influence.

Intuitive and analytical thinking.

Analytical thinking is characterized by the fact that its individual stages are clearly expressed and the thinker can tell another person about them. An analytically thinking person is fully aware of both the content of his thoughts and their constituent operations. Analytic thinking in its extreme form takes the form of careful deductive (from general to particular) inference.

Intuitive thinking is characterized by the fact that it lacks clearly defined stages. It is usually based on a folded perception of the whole problem at once. The person in this case arrives at an answer, which may be right or wrong, with little or no awareness of the process by which he got that answer. Therefore, the conclusions of intuitive thinking need to be verified by analytical means.

Intuitive and analytical thinking complement each other Through intuitive thinking, a person can often solve problems that he would not solve at all or, at best, would solve more slowly through analytical thinking.

theoretical thinking.

Theoretical thinking is thinking that does not lead directly to practical action. Theoretical thinking is opposed to practical thinking, the conclusion of which is, in the words of Aristotle, an act. Theoretical thinking is guided by a special attitude and is always associated with the creation of a specific "theoretical world" and the drawing of a fairly clear boundary between it and the real world.

empirical thinking.

There are at least three vital functions of empirical thinking.

First, empirical thinking provides a person with an awareness of similar and different. The most important task of thinking when faced with an infinite variety of sensually given properties and relations of things is to separate them, to focus on similar and different, to single out a general idea of ​​\u200b\u200bobjects.

Secondly, empirical thinking allows the subject to determine the measure of similarity and difference. Depending on practical everyday tasks, a person can define the same objects, phenomena, situations as more or less similar and different.

Thirdly, empirical thinking makes it possible to group objects according to generic relations, to classify them.

Ways to develop thinking

The development of visual - effective thinking of children.

By the age of 5-6, children learn to perform actions in their minds. The objects of manipulation are no longer real objects, but their images. Most often, children present a visual, visual image of an object. Therefore, the thinking of the child is called visual-effective.

For the development of visual-effective thinking, the following methods of working with children should be used:

1) Teaching the analysis of a visual image (an adult can draw the child's attention to individual elements of objects, ask questions about similarities and differences).

2) Learn to determine the properties of objects (children do not immediately understand that different objects may have similar properties; for example: “Name 2 objects that have three features at once: white, soft, edible”).

3) Learning to recognize an object by describing possible actions with it (for example, riddles).

4) Learning to find alternative ways of acting (for example, “What if you need to know the weather outside?”).

5) Learning to compose plot stories.

6) Learning to draw logical conclusions (for example, " Petya is older than Masha, and Masha is older than Kolya. Who is the oldest?").

Development of logical thinking of children.

To develop the logical thinking of preschool children, the following techniques are used:

1) Teaching a child to compare objects (for example, "Find 10 differences in the following pictures").

2) Teaching a child to classify objects (for example, the game "What's superfluous?").

3) Teaching the child to search for the same properties or signs of objects (for example, among toys, invite the child to find 2 identical ones).

Development of logical thinking of children of primary school age:

1) Application of exercises aimed at developing the ability to divide objects into classes (for example, “Read the words (lemon, orange, plum, apple, strawberry) and name berries and fruits”).

2) Formation of the ability to define concepts.

3) Formation of the ability to highlight the essential features of objects.

Thinking acts mainly as a solution to problems, questions, problems that are constantly put forward before people by life. Solving problems should always give a person something new, new knowledge. The search for solutions is sometimes very difficult, so mental activity, as a rule, is an active activity that requires focused attention and patience. The real process of thought is always a cognitive process.

Bibliography:

1. Brief psychological dictionary / ed. A. V. Petrovsky, M. G. Yaroshevsky. - Rostov-ND, 1998.

2. Gippenreiter Yu. B. Introduction to General Psychology: Textbook / Yu. B. Gippenreiter. - M. : Omega L, 2006.

3. Tertel A. L. Psychology. Course of lectures: Textbook / A. L. Tertel. – M. : Prospekt, 2006.

4. Diagnosis and correction of the mental development of preschoolers: Textbook / Ed. Ya. L. Kolominsky, E. A. Panko. - Mn., 1997.

5. Uruntaeva G. A. Workshop on child psychology: Textbook / G. A. Uruntaeva, Yu. A. Afonkina. - M .: Education, 1995.

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Development of thinking in preschool age

In order to understand how a small person perceives the reality around him, you need to have an idea of ​​​​how the child comprehends and systematizes the information received from the outside world.

Therefore, understanding the patterns of development of thought processes in preschool children will make communication between parents and a small child more productive and enjoyable.

Thinking of preschoolers: stages and features

Visual Action Thinking

In the earliest period of his life, at the age of one and a half - two years, the baby "thinks" with his hands - disassembles, explores, sometimes breaks, thus trying to explore in an accessible form and form his own idea of ​​what surrounds him.

Therefore, we can talk about a visual-effective way of thinking. That is, the thinking of the child is completely determined by his active actions aimed at researching and changing the objects around him.

Ways to develop visual - effective thinking

At this stage, the main task of parents is not to interfere with the desire of the little researcher to try everything with his own hands. Despite the fact that, undoubtedly, in the course of his actions, the baby can break something, break, damage, and even injure himself. Therefore, it is important to encourage his desire to learn, while not forgetting about security measures.

This type of thinking is well trained by toys, the elements of which somehow reflect the result of the child's actions - sorters, sets for applied activities, classes with different materials - loose sand, cereals, water, snow.

Try to ensure that the baby forms a clear connection during the game - “action-result of action”, this will be useful for future lessons in logic and mathematics.

Visual-figurative type of thinking

At the next stage, from the age of three or four to the first grade, a visual-figurative type of thinking is actively formed in the child. This does not mean that the previous, visually effective, is being forced out, no. It’s just that in addition to the already existing skills of mastering the surrounding objects through the active perception of their “hands”, the baby begins to think using a system of images. This type of thinking is especially clearly reflected in the child's emerging ability to draw.

When drawing any object, for example, a house, children rely on their idea of ​​​​it, on those of its characteristic features (roof, walls, window) that are imprinted in their memory. At the same time, the resulting image is not individualized - it is only an image that has developed in the mind of the baby at a given point in time.

It is very important that the child likes to visualize, embody in reality, the images that arise in his mind.

This is well facilitated by drawing, modeling, designing, and appliqué.

Verbal - logical thinking

At the age of 5-7 years, preschoolers begin to actively develop the following type of thinking - verbal-logical. The ability not only to report facts, but also to subject them to a detailed analysis in verbal form speaks of a well-developed verbal-logical thinking.

For example, if a kid of three or four years old is asked, “What is a cat?”, Then he will say: “The cat is Fluffy, and he lives with his grandmother in the yard.” A child of five or six years old will most likely answer this question like this: "A cat is an animal that catches mice and loves milk." Such an answer demonstrates the child's visual ability to analyze - one of the most important mental operations, which is a kind of "engine" for the development of thinking in preschool children.

Creative thinking

This type of thinking characterizes the ability to be creative - that is, the creation of new, non-standard solutions. The successful development of a child's creative abilities will largely depend on the desire of parents to develop creativity in him.

Unlike the previous types of thinking, the creative type is not determined by the factors of growth and formation of the child's intellectual abilities.

Such forms of mental activity as fantasies and imagination are characteristic of any child and are an essential condition for the emergence of the creative process. It is only important to create an environment in which a small person can develop his creative impulses. Absolutely all types of creativity will help with this: literary, visual, choreographic, musical.

There are no children incapable of creativity, parents of a preschooler should remember this. Even children who are lagging behind in development are able to find original creative solutions to the proposed problems, if classes with parents and teachers contribute to this.

Mental operations and their role in the development of thinking in preschoolers

Universal mental operations inherent in human thinking are analysis, synthesis, comparison, generalization and classification. It is the ability to use these operations that determines the development of thinking in preschool children.

Comparison

In order for a child to fully be able to use this category, it is necessary to teach him the skill of seeing the same in the different, and the different in the same. Starting from the age of two, teach your baby to compare and analyze objects by comparing homogeneous features, for example: shape, color, taste, texture, set of functions, etc.

It is necessary that the child understands the importance of analysis based on homogeneous features, knows how to identify and name them. Expand the horizons of the concepts being compared - let it be not only objects, but also natural phenomena, seasons, sounds, properties of materials.

Generalization

This mental operation becomes available to a preschooler at the age of 6-7 years. A child at the age of three or four years perfectly operates with the words “cup”, “spoon”, “plate”, “glass”, but if you ask him to name this entire group of objects in one word, he will not be able to do it.

However, as the vocabulary and coherent speech are filled, the use of generalizing concepts will become available to preschoolers, and they will be able to operate with them, expanding their mental abilities.

Analysis

This way of thinking makes it possible to "partition" the analyzed object, phenomenon into its constituent components, or to reveal a number of individual signs and features characteristic of it.

Ask the child to describe the plant. At the age of 3-4 years, he, most likely, will already point out and name its parts without difficulty: stem, leaves, flower, thus demonstrating his ability to analyze. The analysis can be directed not only to the "dismemberment" of the concept, but also to the selection of exceptional features peculiar only to it.

Synthesis

A mental operation inverse to analysis. If, while analyzing, the child “dismembers” the object, the concept of the phenomenon, then the synthesis, as a result of the analysis, will allow him to combine the features obtained separately.

This operation is very well illustrated by the preschooler's mastering the skills of coherent reading. From individual elements (letters and sounds), he learns to add syllables, from syllables - words, words form sentences and text.

Classification

Mastering this way of mental action will allow the child to identify the similarities or differences of certain objects, concepts and phenomena. By highlighting one, but, as a rule, significant feature, the baby can classify the group of objects under consideration.

For example, toys can be classified according to the material from which they are made - these are toys made of wood, plastic, soft toys, natural materials, etc.

Exercises to develop the skills of analysis, synthesis and classification

"What's extra?"

Put in front of the child several pictures depicting objects that he understands. You can use children's loto cards, you can make pictures yourself.

For example, the following items are shown in the pictures: an apple, a candy and a book. The child must analyze and correctly classify these items. An apple and a candy can be eaten, but a book cannot.

So, the picture with the book in this row will be superfluous.

"Pig in a poke" (we train the skills of analysis and synthesis)

One of the players (in case the child is still small and does not speak very well, let it be an adult) takes a picture from the children's loto and describes what is shown on it without showing it to another player. In this case, the object itself can not be called!

The other player must guess, based on the description, what is shown in the picture. Over time, when the child grows up (starting from 4-5 years old), you can change roles - let the child describe what is shown in the picture, and the adult player guesses. In this case, not only mental abilities are trained, but also coherent speech skills.

“Pick up a couple” (training analysis, comparison)

You need two sets of children's lotto with the same cards. One child (player) takes a card and, without showing it, explains to other players what is drawn on it.

Other players, analyzing, offer their own version of the card, which, in their opinion, depicts what the first child described. If the description and guess match, two identical cards are removed from the game, and the game continues on, with the remaining cards.

"What is it?" (analysis, comparison, generalization)

Invite the child to describe the following vocabulary series using a generalizing word.

  • glass, plate, fork, knife; /tableware/;
  • plum, apple, orange, banana; /fruit/;
  • sparrow, stork, goose, dove; /birds/;
  • cat, pig, rabbit, sheep; /animals, pets/;
  • rose, tulip, lily of the valley, poppy; /flowers/.

Come up with vocabulary rows on your own, complicate tasks over time, move from simple objects to concepts and phenomena (seasons, human feelings, natural phenomena, etc.).

The development of thinking in preschool children is a task, the solution of which directly depends on how successfully the child has mastered and can use the above mental operations.

Classes and games aimed at their training will ensure not only the intellectual development of a preschooler, but the harmonious formation of the personality of a growing child as a whole, because it is developed thinking that distinguishes a person among other living beings.

Teacher, specialist of the children's development center Druzhinina Elena

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Development of thinking in preschool children through didactic games

Development of thinking in preschool children through didactic games

The importance of the development of thinking in a child, probably, no one doubts - this is a big plus. It is thanks to thinking that one can substantiate many life phenomena, explain abstract concepts, teach a child to defend his point of view.

Through thinking, complex mathematical theorems and simple worldly judgments are built. It helps to sensibly assess the world and others, to understand the whole complex process of the flow of time called "life".

I believe that only by developing and improving the ability to think, reason and act correctly, the child will be able to turn into a sane person. It is precisely to help him in this serious and vital matter that my work experience is directed.

Correct thinking has the main techniques - comparisons, analysis and synthesis, abstraction and generalization, concretization. All these techniques need to be developed already at preschool age, since the development of thinking affects the upbringing of a preschooler, positive character traits develop, the need to develop one's good qualities, working capacity, activity planning, self-control and conviction, interest, desire to learn and know a lot.

Sufficient preparedness of mental activity, in the future, relieves psychological overload at school, preserves the health of the child.

COMPARISON - a technique by which the similarity and difference of objects are established. There is a basic comparison rule: you can only compare objects that are being compared, that is, only those that have some common features and there are differences.

ANALYSIS AND SYNTHESIS. Analysis is a technique by which a child mentally divides an object into parts.

Synthesis is a technique by which a child mentally combines the separate parts of an object dissected in the analysis into a single whole.

Analysis and synthesis are two techniques that are always inextricably linked with each other.

ABSTRACTION AND GENERALIZATION. Abstraction is a technique by which the child mentally singles out the essential properties of objects and is distracted from signs that are not essential at the moment. The result of abstraction is called abstraction.

Abstracting, the child mentally combines these objects into groups and classes according to their common and, moreover, essential features.

Abstraction and generalization are a single, inseparable process. With their help, the child receives general concepts. In the process of generalization, the child, as it were, moves away from specific objects, being distracted from the mass of their own signs.

But all this is done in order to, having known the general, to penetrate deeper into the essence of the individual.

SPECIFICATION - a technique by which the child comprehensively cognizes single objects.

Cognizing the surrounding reality, the child compares objects with each other, establishes their similarities and differences, through analysis and synthesis reveals the essence of objects, highlights their features, abstracts and generalizes the features. As a result of these operations, the child develops concepts about the objects of the environment.

All this enhances the culture of thinking. For the development of mental literacy, training is necessary.

In my work, I rely on the pedagogical activity of innovative methods and use the heritage of such teachers as Doronova T. N. "Kid and Mathematics", Fidler M. "Mathematics is already in kindergarten", Peterson L. G. "Player", Montesori M. "Methods of early development".

I want to dwell in more detail on the figurative thinking of older preschoolers. The very concept of “figurative thinking” implies operating with images, carrying out various operations (thinking) based on ideas.

Preschool children (up to 5.5 - 6 years old) have access to this type of thinking. They are not yet able to think abstractly (in symbols), distracted from reality, a visual image. Therefore, I focus my efforts on developing in children the ability to create various images in their heads, that is, to visualize.

Approximately at the age of 6-7 years, the child begins to form two new types of thinking for him - verbal-logical and abstract. I believe the success of schooling depends on the level of development of these types of thinking.

After all, if a child’s verbal-logical thinking is not sufficiently developed, then this leads to difficulties in performing any logical actions (analysis, generalizations, highlighting the main thing when drawing conclusions and operations with words). The games I use to develop this type of thinking are aimed at developing the child's ability to systematize words according to a certain attribute, the ability to distinguish generic and specific concepts, the development of inductive speech thinking, the function of generalization and the ability to abstract. It should be noted that the higher the level of generalization, the better developed the child's ability to abstract.

In the course of verbal-logical thinking, there is a transition from one judgment to another, their correlation through the mediation of the content of some judgments by the content of others, and, as a result, a conclusion is formed.

The development of verbal-logical thinking through the solution of logical problems, it is necessary to select such tasks that would require inductive ( from individual to general) deductive(from general to singular) and traductive(from the singular to the singular, from the general to the general, from the particular to the particular, when premises and conclusions are judgments of the same degree of generality), inferences.

Traductive inference (lat. traductio - movement) is an inference by analogy, it can be used as the first step in learning the ability to solve logical problems, in which, by the absence or presence of one of the two possible signs in one of the two discussed objects, a conclusion follows, respectively, the presence or absence of this , an attribute of another object. For example: "Natasha's dog is small and fluffy, Ira's is big and fluffy. What is the same about these dogs? Is it different?"

Insufficient development of abstract-logical thinking - the child has a poor command of abstract concepts that cannot be perceived with the help of the senses (for example, an equation, area, etc.) The functioning of this type of thinking occurs based on concepts. Concepts reflect the essence of objects and are expressed in words or other signs.

I would like to dwell on intuition, because there is a series of logic games for its development, which, I think, is also important. In addition to the main five senses, there is also the so-called sixth sense - INTUITION.

This word comes from the Latin word intueor - stare. The exact, encyclopedic interpretation of the meaning of the word "intuition" sounds like this: "it is the ability to comprehend the truth by direct observation of it, without substantiation with the help of evidence; the subjective ability to go beyond the limits of experience by mental grasping ("insight") or generalization in the figurative form of patterns.

But, in addition, intuition is an invisible and intangible feeling that is most developed in young children. They follow an intuitive impulse, without carefully considering their own actions, without analyzing them. They simply follow their own sense of intuition.

Thus, I believe that in order to achieve the most complete and perfect development of the child, it is necessary to focus not only on the basic ways of knowing, but also not to forget about the feeling of intuition. It is necessary to develop it, since it is clear that it contributes not only to further creative development, but even to physical development.

In order to make it easier for a child to master all the wisdom of thinking, in my work I try to be guided by the following principles:

I try to take into account the individual characteristics of the child, because children have different temperaments and types of perception of information;

I pay maximum attention to children who find it difficult to complete the required task, I try to repeat the work with them individually;

I always try to praise the child for the result achieved independently;

I encourage the child's desire to learn something new;

I try to encourage the child to independently find solutions

tasks assigned to him;

I hold conversations with parents about the achievements and failures of the child (in his absence), I try to give recommendations on how the child can best overcome difficulties;

I play with children in various didactic games.

The child often proceeds correctly in his reasoning, but due to the lack of logic in them, he hardly substantiates and expresses his thoughts. I help to overcome this weakness by using didactic games.

Didactic games are based on two principles of learning: “from simple to complex” and “independently according to abilities”. This alliance allowed me to solve in the game several problems at once related to the development of thinking in children.

Firstly, didactic games can provide food for thought.

Secondly, their tasks always create conditions for advancing the development of abilities.

Thirdly, each time rising independently to its ceiling, the child develops most successfully.

Fourthly, didactic games can be very diverse in their content, and besides, like any games, they do not tolerate coercion and create an atmosphere of free and joyful creativity.

Fifthly, playing these games with children, we imperceptibly acquire a very important skill - to restrain, not to interfere, the child to think and make decisions on his own, not to do for him what he can and should do himself.

Each series of games that I use is designed to form certain mental structures or prepare for the assimilation of a certain mathematical idea.

To develop ingenuity

They help children to show the speed of their individual thinking, develop logic. With the help of these games, children quickly switch from one activity to another.

They are also ideal for stirring up sluggish and lazy children, forcing them to think and express themselves through trial and error. Thus, logic games for the development of ingenuity are very useful for the overall development of children.

For the development of creative abilities

These games help develop imagination and oratory skills, as well as overcome psychological barriers associated with fear of communication.

For understanding

All comprehension games are very useful for children of almost any age. They develop thinking, train ingenuity and develop a reaction. Such games teach the child to find various associations in the world around him and, thus, better understand it.

A child who loves games of understanding will develop psychologically faster and be better prepared for the complexities of future adult life.

Games for the development of artistic and figurative thinking

Games are aimed at the development of imagination, figurative thinking. They contribute to the emergence of associativity.

games for intuition

Games contribute to the development of thinking, the development of imagination and fantasy, intelligence, and, of course, intuition.

Games for the development of intelligence

They are aimed at developing the main qualities of the intellect, this is the ability to compare facts, analyze and find their own, simpler solutions.

Linguistic games

Develop ingenuity and speed of thinking. Allows for imagination. The more a child has a developed vocabulary, the better he develops intellectually.

He improves memory, logical thinking, perception becomes more accurate.

I came to the conclusion that logical games help to develop thinking in various directions already in younger groups, this makes it even easier to develop it in older preschool age.

In the future of my work, I will continue to develop different types of thinking in older preschool children. I consider the main task for myself: through logic games, to form in children such an attitude to the world around them, which would be emotionally effective in nature and expressed in the form of cognitive interest, humanistic and aesthetic experiences, practical readiness to create around them.

The process of forming attitudes towards the surrounding world is a complex process. Difficulties are associated primarily with the fact that it is hidden. While the direct formation is going on, we do not know what relation we will get as a result.

I really hope that it will not be consumerist, but creative. The experience, methods, technologies that I use will help me achieve a positive result.

Educator of the second qualification category Voytyuk Maria Valerievna MKDOU No. 194

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Features of thinking of preschool children

Thinking is undoubtedly one of the most important components of the human psyche. It is difficult to imagine the implementation of any type of activity without connecting thinking. As L. S. Vygotsky emphasized, the development of thinking is central to the entire structure of consciousness and to the entire system of activity of mental functions.

At the age of three or four, the child, albeit imperfectly, tries to analyze what he sees around him; compare objects with each other and draw conclusions about their interdependencies. In everyday life and in the classroom, as a result of observing the environment, accompanied by explanations from an adult, children gradually gain an elementary idea of ​​​​the nature and life of people.

The child himself seeks to explain what he sees around. True, it is sometimes difficult to understand him, because, for example, he often takes the consequence for the cause of the fact.

Compare, analyze younger preschoolers in a visual-effective plan. But some children are already beginning to show the ability to solve problems based on representation. Children can compare objects by color and shape, highlight differences in other ways. They can generalize objects by color (it's all red), shape (it's all round), size (it's all small).

In the fourth year of life, children somewhat more often than before use generic concepts such as toys, clothes, fruits, vegetables, animals, dishes, and include in each of them a larger number of specific items.

At the age of four or five, figurative thinking begins to develop. Children are already able to use simple schematic images to solve simple problems. They can build according to the scheme, solve labyrinth problems.

Anticipation develops. Children can tell what will happen as a result of the interaction of objects based on their spatial arrangement.

Thinking as a whole and the simpler processes that make it up (analysis, synthesis, comparison, generalization, classification) cannot be considered in isolation from the general content of the child's activity, from the conditions of his life and upbringing.

Problem solving can occur in visual-effective, visual-figurative and verbal plans. In children 4-5 years old, visual-figurative thinking prevails, and the main task of an adult is the formation of various specific ideas.

But we should not forget that human thinking is also the ability to generalize, therefore it is also necessary to teach children to generalize. A child of this age is able to analyze objects simultaneously in two ways: color and shape, color and material, etc.

He can compare objects by color, shape, size, smell, taste and other properties, finding differences and similarities. By the age of 5, a child can assemble a picture from four parts without relying on a sample and from six parts using a sample. Can generalize concepts related to the following categories: fruits, vegetables, clothes, shoes, furniture, utensils, transport.

At the senior preschool age (five-six years) figurative thinking continues to develop. Children are able not only to solve the problem visually, but also to transform the object in their mind, etc. The development of thinking is accompanied by the development of mental means (schematized and complex ideas develop, ideas about the cyclical nature of changes) .

In addition, the ability to generalize is improved, which is the basis of verbal-logical thinking. Older preschoolers, when grouping objects, can take into account two features.

As shown in studies by Russian psychologists, children of older preschool age are able to reason, giving adequate causal explanations, if the analyzed relationships do not go beyond their visual experience.

At six or seven years of age, visual-figurative thinking is still the leading one, but by the end of preschool age, verbal-logical thinking begins to form. It involves the development of the ability to operate with words, to understand the logic of reasoning.

And here the help of adults will definitely be required, since the illogicality of children's reasoning when comparing, for example, the size and number of objects is known. At preschool age, the development of concepts begins. Completely verbal-logical, conceptual, or abstract, thinking is formed by adolescence.

An older preschooler can establish causal relationships, find solutions to problem situations. Can make exceptions based on all learned generalizations, build a series of 6-8 consecutive pictures.

WHAT IS EXCESSIVE?

Purpose of the game: development of the ability to generalize.

Instruction and course of the game: the child is invited to exclude an extra object (picture, concept) from the proposed series. At first, various toys can be used to play. The number varies depending on the success of the child (from 3 or more). Then you can move on to real objects in the child's field of vision (for example, furniture, dishes). Next, the child perceives the proposed row by ear.

In this game, it is important that the child justifies his choice, even if he does it on the basis of insignificant signs.

WHO LIVES WHERE?

Purpose of the game: development of the ability to generalize and classify based on essential features.

Instructions and course of the game: for the game it is necessary to prepare cards with the image of objects belonging to various categories (animals, mushrooms, dishes, etc.). The cards are shuffled and laid out in front of the child.

An adult asks: “Who lives where? Who lives in the zoo? What's in the kitchen? What's in the basket? And so on. The child needs to sort the objects into the appropriate groups.

For clarity, you can also use pictures depicting "habitats".

GUESS!

Purpose of the game: to teach the child to correlate the concepts and categories to which objects belong, the development of the generalization function.

Instructions and course of the game: an adult thinks of a certain word, and the child tries to guess it by asking the adult questions that can be answered "yes" or "no".

Then the players switch roles. For visual support, you can think of not abstract words, but one of the objects depicted on pre-prepared cards or located in the room.

FIND SOMETHING SIMILAR

Purpose of the game: to develop the ability to group objects according to the proposed feature.

Instructions and course of the game: for the game you need cards with the image of various objects, and separate groups of objects must have common (insignificant) features. For example, the "Striped" group may include a zebra, a striped scarf, a watermelon, etc. The cards are shuffled and laid out in front of the child, he is invited to take one of them. “What do you think, which of the cards on the table can be placed next to your card? What do they have in common?

In this article:

Before we talk about how the development of thinking occurs in children, let us dwell on what the process of thinking is in principle, how it proceeds and what it depends on.

Thinking is a process in which two hemispheres of the brain take part at once. The decisions that a person makes are directly dependent on how complex he is able to think. That is why it is so important to pay attention to the development of thinking in childhood.

Many parents are sure that it makes no sense to develop thinking in children in early childhood, since they make the lion's share of decisions at this age for babies. Children, on the other hand, devote most of their time to games and the development of creative abilities during modeling, drawing, and construction. Nevertheless, in the life of every child there will definitely come a moment when, already as an adult, he will have to make the right decision - one on which his future life will depend.

Moreover, in our time, testing employees for the IQ level is practiced, based on the results of which decisions are made on hiring in reputable companies.

It is logical and creative thinking that is the basis of almost every invention created by man.
Therefore, the task of every parent who wants to give a child a chance to succeed in life as much as possible is to develop his thinking from childhood.

Thinking in a child

When they are born, children do not have a mind. For this, they simply do not have enough experience and insufficiently developed memory. Around the end of the year, the crumbs can already
observe the first glimpses of thought.

The development of thinking in children is possible through purposeful participation in the process during which the child learns to speak, understand, act. We can talk about development when the content of the baby’s thought begins to expand, new forms of mental activity appear, and cognitive interests increase. The process of development of thinking is endless and is directly related to human activity. Naturally, at each stage of growing up, it has its own nuances.

The development of thinking in babies occurs in several stages:

  • actionable thinking;
  • figurative;
  • logical.

First stage- active thinking. It is characterized by the adoption by the child of the simplest decisions. The kid learns to know the world through objects. He twists, pulls, throws toys, looks for and presses buttons on them, thus getting the first experience.

Second phase- creative thinking. It allows the baby to create images of what he will do with his hands in the near future, without their direct involvement.

At the third stage, logical thinking begins to work, during which, in addition to images, the child uses abstract, abstract words. If you ask a kid with a well-developed logical thinking questions about what the universe or time is, he will easily find meaningful answers.

Stages of development of thinking in children

In early childhood, babies have one feature: they try to taste everything, take it apart, and they are guided by exceptionally efficient thinking, which in some cases persists even after they grow up. Such people, being adults, no longer break - they grow up as designers, able to assemble and disassemble almost any object with their hands.

Figurative thinking develops in children at a younger preschool age. Usually the process is influenced by drawing, games with the designer, when you need to imagine the final result in your mind. The most active figurative thinking in children becomes around the end of the period of preschool age - by the age of 6. Based on the developed
figurative thinking begins to form logical.

In kindergarten, the process of developing thinking is associated with educating children in the ability to think in images, memorize, and then try to reproduce scenes from life. When children enter school, they can also continue to engage in such exercises.

At the same time, you need to understand that most of the school programs are built with an emphasis on the development of logic and analytics, so parents will need to work on the development of figurative thinking in kids. To do this, you can invent and stage interesting stories together with your child, make various kinds of crafts together, and draw.

After 6 years, the process of active development of logical thinking starts in kids. The child is already able to analyze, generalize, draw conclusions, draw something basic from what he has seen, heard or read. At school, most often they pay attention to the development of standard logic, completely unaware that they teach children to think in patterns. Teachers try to suppress any initiative, non-standard solution, insisting that children solve problems as indicated in the textbook.

What should parents do?

The most important thing is that in the process of working on the development of the child's thinking, parents do not get bogged down in dozens of identical examples that completely kill creativity in children. It will be much more useful in such cases to play board games with the child, for example, checkers or Empire. In such games, the kid will get the opportunity to make really non-standard decisions, in this way developing logic and gradually transferring thinking to a new level.

Are there ways to help nurture creativity in a child? The most important thing to learn is that the development of creative thinking takes place most actively in communication. In the process of communicating with people, as well as when reading a book or even viewing an analytical
transmission in the mind, several opinions arise at once regarding the same situation.

As for personal opinion, it appears in a person exclusively in the process of personal communication. Creative personalities stand out among the main mass, first of all, by the understanding that there can be several correct answers to one question at once. To convey this to a child, just words will not be enough. The kid himself must draw such a conclusion after numerous trainings and exercises for the development of thinking.

The school curriculum does not provide for the development of associative, creative, flexible thinking in children. Therefore, the entire responsibility for this lies on the shoulders of the parents. In fact, it turns out not to be as difficult as it might seem at first glance. With a child, it will be enough to periodically design, work with pictures of animals and geometric shapes, put together a mosaic, or just fantasize with a baby from time to time, for example, describing all the possible functions of an object.

Features of the development of thinking at a young age

As noted above, at each age the development of thinking has its own characteristics. At a younger age, this process is mainly associated with the actions of the child, who is trying to find solutions for certain momentary problems. Very young children learn to put rings on a pyramid, build towers from cubes, open and close boxes, climb on a sofa, etc. When performing all these actions, the child is already thinking, and this process is still called visual-effective thinking.

As soon as the baby begins to learn speech, the process of developing visual-effective thinking will move to a new stage. Understanding speech and using it for communication, the child tries to think in general terms. And although the first attempts to generalize are not always successful, they are necessary for the further development process.
The kid can group completely dissimilar objects if he can catch a fleeting external resemblance in them, and this is normal.

For example, at 1 year and 2 months old, it is common for children to name several objects at once with one word that seem similar to them. It can be the name "apple" for anything that is round, or "kitty" for anything that is fluffy and soft. Most often, children at this age generalize according to those external signs that are the first to catch the eye.

After two years, children have a desire to highlight a certain feature or action of an object. They easily notice that "the porridge is hot" or that "the kitty is sleeping." By the beginning of the third year, babies are already free to single out the most stable signs from a number of signs, and also to imagine an object according to its visual, auditory description.

Features of the development of thinking in preschoolers: predominant forms

At preschool age, in the child’s speech, one can hear interesting conclusions such as: “Lena is sitting, the woman is sitting, mom is sitting, everyone is sitting.” Or the inference may be of a different kind: seeing how mother puts on a hat, the child may note: "Mom is going to the store." That is, at preschool age, the child is already able to conduct simple cause-and-effect relationships.

It is also interesting to observe how at preschool age children use two concepts for one word, among which one is generic, and the second is the designation of a single object. For example, a kid can call a car "car" and at the same time
same time "Roy" named after one of the cartoon characters. Thus, general concepts are formed in the mind of a preschooler.

If at the most tender age the child's speech is directly woven into actions, then in time it will outstrip them. That is, before doing something, the preschooler will describe what he is going to do. This suggests that the concept of action is ahead of the action itself and acts as its regulator. Thus, visual-figurative thinking gradually develops in children.

The next stage in the development of thinking in a preschooler will be some changes in the relationship between word, action and images. It is the word that will dominate in the process of working on tasks. Nevertheless, until the age of seven, the child's thinking continues to be concrete.

Exploring the thinking of preschoolers, experts offered children to solve problems in three ways: in an effective way, figuratively and verbally. In solving the first problem, the children found the solution using the levers and buttons on the table; the second - using a picture; the third was a verbal decision, which was reported orally. The research results are in the table below.

From the results in the table it can be seen that the children coped best with the tasks in a visual-effective way. The most difficult were verbal tasks. Until the age of five, children did not cope with them at all, and the older ones solved it only in some cases. Based on these data, we can conclude that visual-effective thinking is predominant and the basis for the formation of verbal and visual-figurative thinking.

How does the thinking of a preschooler change?

At preschool age, the child's thinking is primarily situational in nature. Younger preschoolers are unable to think even about what is difficult for them to perceive, while middle and older preschoolers are able to go beyond personal experience, analyzing, telling and
reasoning. Closer to school age, the child actively uses facts, assumes and generalizes.

The process of distraction at preschool age is possible both in the perception of a set of objects and in the course of explanations in verbal form. The child is still pressured by images of certain objects and personal experiences. He knows that the nail will sink in the river, but he does not yet understand that this is because it is made of iron, and iron is heavier than water. He backs up his conclusion with the fact that he once saw a nail actually sink.

How actively thinking develops in preschoolers can also be judged by the questions that they ask adults as they grow older. The very first questions are related to objects and toys. The child turns to adults for help mainly when the toy breaks down, falls behind the sofa, etc. Over time, the preschooler begins to make attempts to involve parents in games, asking leading questions about how to build a bridge, a tower, where to roll a car, and so on.

After a while, questions will appear that indicate the onset of a period of curiosity. The child will be interested to know why it rains, why it is dark at night and how fire appears on a match. The thought process of preschoolers during this period is aimed at generalizing and distinguishing between events, objects and phenomena that they happen to encounter.

With admission to the first grade, the activities of children change. Schoolchildren need to think about new phenomena and objects, certain requirements are imposed on their thought processes.
The teacher makes sure that the children learn not to lose the thread of reasoning, to be able to think, to express thoughts in words.

Despite this, the thinking of schoolchildren in the lower grades is still concrete-figurative, although elements of abstract thinking are becoming more and more obvious. Younger students are able to think about what they know thoroughly at the level of generalized concepts, for example, about plants, about school, about people.

Thinking in preschool age develops rapidly, but only if adults work with the child. With admission to school, for the development of thinking, scientifically developed methods are used to accelerate this process, applied under the guidance and control of the teacher.

Features of thinking of secondary school students

Secondary school children are considered to be students between the ages of 11 and 15. Their thinking is built primarily on the knowledge acquired in verbal form. Studying subjects that are not always interesting for themselves - history, physics, chemistry - children understand that not only facts play a role here, but also connections, as well as regular relationships between them.

High school students have more abstract thinking, but at the same time, figurative thinking is actively developing - under the influence of studying works of fiction.

By the way, a kind of research was conducted on this subject. The schoolchildren were asked to talk about how they understand Krylov's fable "The Rooster and the Pearl Grain".

Pupils of the first and second grades did not understand the essence of the fable. It seemed to them in the form of a story about how a rooster digs. Third grade students were able to compare the image of a rooster with a person, while they literally perceived the plot, summing up,
that pearls are inedible to a man who loves barleycorn. Thus, third graders draw the wrong conclusion from the fable: all a person needs is food.

In the 4th grade, schoolchildren are already able to note for themselves some features of the image of the hero and even give him a description. They are sure that the rooster is digging manure because they are confident in their knowledge, they consider the character to be proud and pompous, from which they draw the correct conclusion, expressing irony towards the rooster.

High school students are able to demonstrate a detailed perception of the image, due to which they deeply understand the moral of the fable.

In the process of studying the foundations of science, schoolchildren are introduced to the system of scientific concepts, where each concept is a reflection of one of the aspects of reality. The process of forming concepts is long and is largely related to the age of the student, to the methods by which he learns, and to his mental orientation.

How the thinking of the average preschooler progresses

The process of assimilation of concepts is divided into several levels. Developing, students learn about the essence of phenomena, objects, learn to generalize and make connections between individual concepts.

In order for a student to form as a holistic and harmonious, comprehensively developed personality, it is necessary to ensure that he learns the basic moral concepts:

  • partnerships;
  • duty and honor;
  • modesty;
  • honesty;
  • sympathy, etc.

The student is able to master them in stages. At the initial stage, the child summarizes cases from his own or the lives of friends, drawing appropriate conclusions. At the next stage, he tries to apply the accumulated experience in life, either narrowing or expanding the boundaries of the concept.

At the third level, students try to give detailed definitions of concepts, pointing out the main features and giving examples. At the last level, the child fully masters the concept, applying it in life and realizing its place among other moral concepts.

At the same time, the formation of conclusions and judgments takes place. If younger students judge everything categorically in an affirmative form, then in the third or fourth grade, children's judgments are rather conditional.

In the fifth grade, students reason using evidence, both indirect and direct, using personal experience, trying to substantiate and prove.
High school students, on the other hand, calmly use all the forms of expression of thought available to them. They doubt, admit, assume, etc. It is already easy for high school students to use deductive and inductive reasoning, raise questions and justify answers to them.

The development of inferences and concepts occurs in parallel with the ability of schoolchildren to master the art of analyzing, generalizing, synthesizing and a number of other logical operations. How successful the result will be depends largely on the work of teachers at the school at this age.

Features of the development of thinking in children with physical disabilities

We are talking about children with impaired hearing, vision, speech, etc. It is worth noting that physical defects cannot but affect the formation of a child's thinking. A toddler with poor eyesight and hearing loss is unable to experience the same amount of personal experience as a completely healthy child. That is why the lag in the development of thought processes in children with physical disabilities is inevitable, since they will not be able to copy the behavior of adults, gaining the necessary life skills.

Visual and hearing impairments will lead to difficulties in the development of speech and cognitive activity. The development of the capabilities of children with hearing impairments is carried out by specialists - deaf psychologists. They help to improve the development of thought processes in a child. Help here
it is simply necessary, because it is deafness that is the main obstacle to the knowledge of the world and the development of a person, since it deprives him of the main thing - communication.

Today, hearing-impaired children have the opportunity to study in specialized institutions, where they are provided with corrective assistance.

The situation is somewhat different with children who have intellectual disabilities, which is manifested by a low level of mental abilities and thinking in general. Such children are inactive, do not seek to master objective activity, which is the basis for the formation of thought processes.

At the age of three, such children have no idea about the world around them, they have no desire to distinguish themselves and learn something new. Toddlers are lagging behind in development in all respects, from speech to social.

By the end of preschool age, such children lack voluntary attention, memory, they are unable to memorize. The main form of their thinking is visual-effective, which nevertheless lags far behind the level of its development in children without intellectual impairment. In order to be able to study in specialized institutions where they will work on the development of their thought processes, such children must undergo special training at preschool age.

Exercises for the development of thinking in children

In conclusion, here are some options for games and exercises with which you can develop thinking in children at an early age:


Useful for the development of thinking in children will be games with a designer, both wooden and metal or plastic, as well as modeling from dough, clay or plasticine, and applications.

You can offer your child to draw, color, play role-playing games, collect puzzles and puzzles, complete pictures by dotted lines or numbers, look for differences in pictures, etc. Do not forget to read to the child, communicate with him. And do not limit his communication with peers, from which he will also draw new ideas, improving his thinking.

As you can see, developing a child's thinking is not so difficult and even interesting if you do it with pleasure and in a playful way. Just help your child see the world in all its colors.

Ministry of Education of the Republic of Belarus

EE Vitebsk State University named after P.M. Masherova

Test No. 6

in the subject Developmental psychology

on the topic Development of thinking in children


Introduction

1.2 The development of speech and thinking in preschool age

1.3 Development of speech and thinking in early school age

Chapter 2. The theory of the development of children's intelligence according to J. Piaget

2.1 Basic concepts and principles of intellectual development

2.2 Stages of intelligence development according to J. Piaget

2.3 Egocentrism of children's thinking

2.4 Piagetian phenomena

Chapter 3. Intellectual development of the child according to J. Bruner

Table

Conclusion

Literature

Introduction

The development of the child's thinking occurs gradually. At first, it is largely determined by the development of the manipulation of objects. Manipulation, which at first does not have meaningfulness, then begins to be determined by the object to which it is directed, and acquires a meaningful character.

The intellectual development of the child is carried out in the course of his objective activity and communication, in the course of mastering social experience. Visual-effective, visual-figurative and verbal-logical thinking are successive stages of intellectual development. Genetically, the earliest form of thinking is visual-effective thinking, the first manifestations of which in a child can be observed at the end of the first - beginning of the second year of life, even before mastering active speech. Primitive sensory abstraction, in which the child singles out some aspects and is distracted from others, leads to the first elementary generalization. As a result, the first unstable groupings of objects into classes and bizarre classifications are created.

In its formation, thinking goes through two stages: pre-conceptual and conceptual. Pre-conceptual thinking is the initial stage in the development of thinking in a child, when his thinking has a different organization than that of adults; children's judgments are single about this particular subject. When explaining something, everything is reduced by them to the particular, the familiar. Most judgments are judgments by similarity, or judgments by analogy, since during this period memory plays the main role in thinking. The earliest form of proof is an example. Given this peculiarity of the child's thinking, convincing him or explaining something to him, it is necessary to support his speech with illustrative examples. The central feature of pre-conceptual thinking is egocentrism. Due to egocentrism, a child under 5 cannot look at himself from the outside, cannot correctly understand situations that require some detachment from his own point of view and acceptance of someone else's position. Egocentrism determines such features of children's logic as: 1) insensitivity to contradictions, 2) syncretism (the tendency to connect everything with everything), 3) transduction (transition from the particular to the particular, bypassing the general), 4) lack of idea of ​​the conservation of quantity. During normal development, there is a regular replacement of pre-conceptual thinking, where concrete images serve as components, by conceptual (abstract) thinking, where concepts serve as components and formal operations are applied. Conceptual thinking does not come all at once, but gradually, through a series of intermediate stages. So, L.S. Vygotsky singled out five stages in the transition to the formation of concepts. The first - for a child of 2-3 years old - is manifested in the fact that when asked to put together similar, matching objects, the child puts together any, believing that those that are placed side by side are suitable - this is the syncretism of children's thinking. At the second stage, children use elements of the objective similarity of two objects, but already the third object can only be similar to one of the first pair - a chain of pairwise similarities arises. The third stage manifests itself at the age of 6-8, when children can combine a group of objects by similarity, but cannot recognize and name the signs that characterize this group. And, finally, adolescents of 9-12 years old have conceptual thinking, but it is still imperfect, since the primary concepts are formed on the basis of everyday experience and are not supported by scientific data. Perfect concepts are formed at the fifth stage, at the youthful age of 14-18 years, when the use of theoretical provisions allows one to go beyond one's own experience. So, thinking develops from concrete images to perfect concepts, denoted by the word. The concept initially reflects similar, unchanged in phenomena and objects.

Thus, visual-figurative thinking occurs in preschoolers at the age of 4-6 years. The connection between thinking and practical actions, although it remains, is not as close, direct and immediate as before. In some cases, no practical manipulation of the object is required, but in all cases it is necessary to clearly perceive and visualize the object. That is, preschoolers think only in visual images and do not yet possess concepts (in the strict sense). Significant shifts in the intellectual development of the child occur at school age, when teaching becomes its leading activity, aimed at mastering concepts in various subjects. The mental operations that form in younger schoolchildren are still connected with specific material, they are not generalized enough; the resulting concepts are concrete in nature. The thinking of children of this age is conceptually concrete. But younger schoolchildren are already mastering some of the more complex forms of reasoning, they are aware of the power of logical necessity.

Schoolchildren in middle and older age become more complex cognitive tasks. In the process of solving them, mental operations are generalized, formalized, thereby expanding the range of their transfer and application in various new situations. A transition is being made from conceptual-concrete to abstract-conceptual thinking.

The intellectual development of the child is characterized by a regular change of stages, in which each previous stage prepares the subsequent ones. With the emergence of new forms of thinking, the old forms not only do not disappear, but are preserved and developed. Thus, visual-effective thinking, characteristic of preschoolers, acquires a new content, finding, in particular, its expression in solving ever more complex structural and technical problems. Verbal-figurative thinking also rises to a higher level, manifesting itself in the assimilation of poetry, fine arts, and music by schoolchildren.


Chapter 1. Development of speech and its influence on thinking

1.1 Development of speech and thinking in early childhood

Early childhood is a sensitive period for language acquisition.

Autonomous speech of the child rather quickly (usually within six months) is transformed and disappears. Words that are unusual in sound and meaning are replaced by words of “adult” speech. But, of course, a quick transition to the level of speech development is possible only under favorable conditions - first of all, with full communication between the child and the adult. If communication with an adult is not enough, or, conversely, relatives fulfill all the wishes of the child, focusing on autonomous speech, speech development slows down. There is a delay in speech development in cases where twins grow up, intensively communicating with each other in a common children's language.

Mastering their native speech, children master both its phonetic and semantic sides. The pronunciation of words becomes more correct, the child gradually stops using distorted words and fragmentary words. This is facilitated by the fact that by the age of 3 all the basic sounds of the language are assimilated. The most important change in the child's speech is that the word acquires an objective meaning for him. The child denotes in one word objects that are different in their external properties, but similar in some essential feature or mode of action with them. Therefore, the first generalizations are connected with the appearance of the objective meanings of words.

At an early age, passive vocabulary grows - the number of words understood. By the age of two, a child understands almost all the words that an adult pronounces, naming the objects around him. By this time, he begins to understand and explain the adult (instructions) regarding joint actions. Since the child actively learns the world of things, manipulations with objects are a significant activity for him, and he can master new actions with objects only together with an adult. Instructive speech, which organizes the child's actions, is understood by him quite early. Later, at the age of 2-3, there is an understanding of the speech-story.

Active speech also develops intensively: the active vocabulary grows (moreover, the number of spoken words is always less than the number of understood ones), the first phrases appear, the first questions addressed to adults. By the age of three, the active vocabulary reaches 1500 words. Sentences initially, at about 1.5 years, consist of 2 - 3 words. This is most often the subject and his actions (“Mom is coming”), the actions and the object of the action (“Give me a roll”, “let's go for a walk”) or the action and the scene of the action (“The book is there”). By the age of three, the basic grammatical forms and basic syntactic constructions of the native language are assimilated. Almost all parts of speech, different types of sentences are found in the child’s speech, for example: “I am very glad that you came”, “Vova offended Masha. When I'm big, I'll beat Vova with a shovel."

A child's speech activity usually increases dramatically between 2 and 3 years of age. The circle of his communication is expanding - he can already communicate with the help of speech not only with loved ones, but also with other adults, with children. In such cases, the practical action of the child is mainly spoken out, that visual situation in which and about which communication occurs. Dialogues intertwined in joint activities with adults are frequent. The child answers the adult's questions and asks questions about what they do together. When he enters into a conversation with a peer, he does not delve into the content of the other child's remarks, therefore such dialogues are poor and the children do not always answer each other.

Development of thinking in children

In children, the formation of thinking goes through certain stages.

Stage 1. Visual-active thinking.

The child in practice solves primitive problems - twirls, pulls, opens, presses. Here, in practice, he reveals the cause with the effect, such a peculiar method of trial and error. Not only the child possesses such thinking, often adults also use it.

Stage 2. Visual-figurative (concrete-objective) thinking.

At this stage, the child does not have to perform actions with his hands, he is already able to figuratively (visually) imagine what will happen if he performs some action.

Stage 3. Verbal-logical (abstract-logical) thinking.

The most difficult thinking process for children. Here the child operates not with specific images, but with complex abstract concepts expressed in words. For example, in early childhood, a child associates a certain word with a specific object he has seen. For example, with the word cat, a child of primary preschool age imagines his own cat, and may be surprised that another cat is also called a cat. Children of senior preschool age can already generalize the concept of “cat”. A child with a developed verbal-logical thinking is able to operate with such abstract concepts as time and space.

With a properly developed mindset, a person is able to:

* Analyze - to divide objects or phenomena into constituent components.

* Synthesize - combine separated by analysis with the identification of significant relationships.

* Compare - comparison of objects and phenomena, while discovering their similarities and differences.

* Classify - group items according to features.

* Generalize - to unite objects according to common essential features.

* Concretize - highlight the particular from the general.

* Abstract - highlight any one side or aspect of the subject while ignoring others.

Children's thinking is a complex process, radically different from that of an adult. The first means of solving problems for a child is his practical action. So, for example, having received a toy helicopter in which the propeller and wings suddenly stop rotating, or a box closed on the latch, a child of three to five years does not think about the ways and means of solving this problem. He immediately begins to act: something pulls, twists, pulls, shakes, knocks ... Children of four or five years old begin to move from external actions with objects to actions with images of these objects, performed in the mind.

Special children tend to avoid any intellectual effort. For them, the moment of overcoming difficulties is unattractive (refusal to perform a difficult task, substitution of an intellectual task for a closer, game task.). Such a child performs the task not completely, but its simpler part.

Thinking in children must be developed. Consider a few games that allow you to develop a child's thinking.

Examples of didactic games that can be used to develop thinking.

"It happens - it doesn't happen"Name some situation (dad left for work; the train flies through the sky; the cat wants to eat; the postman brought a letter; the apple is salty; the house went for a walk; glass shoes, etc.) and throw the ball to the child. The child must catch the ball in the event that the named situation happens, and if not, then the ball must be hit.

"Name the item"An adult, throwing a ball to a child, names a color, a child, returning the ball, must name an object of this color. You can name not only color, but any quality (taste, shape) of an object.

"What are the similarities?"A set of subject pictures are folded into a deck. Each player is given one subject picture. Players take turns taking any card from the deck and placing it face up. Then they compare their card with the one on the deck. If they can find a similarity and explain it, then they take the card and put it on top of theirs. The next similarity is sought with this card.

"Compare Items"Invite the child to consider balloons (air balloons), for example, a group of balloons of the same color and ask what they have in common. Instead of balloons, you can take any other objects: cubes, balls. You can generally make a selection of toys on one topic, say, cars (tank, car, helicopter) and one toy that does not fit into the general row, for example, an animal. Let him determine which toy is superfluous, why.

"Come up with a title"A short story is read to the children, after which an understanding of the meaning of the story is clarified. If the meaning is understood, then the children are given the task to choose as many different titles for the story as possible that reflect its content.

"Why do you like it, don't like it?"Say what you like about this subject or phenomenon, and what you don't. For example: why do you like winter and why not? I like it because in winter you can go sledding, play snowballs, celebrate the New Year. I don't like winter because it's cold, you have to dress warmly, the days are short and the nights are long. Give an assessment to such concepts as rain, injection, fountain pen, alarm clock, bow.

"Alternation" Invite your child to draw and color or string beads on a string. Please note that the beads must alternate in a certain sequence. Thus, you can lay out a fence of multi-colored sticks.

"Rainbow" Collect and mix several different items (toys, rags, cups) of basic colors. It is better to start with two colors, gradually increasing the number. Have your child arrange blue to blue and red to red. Comment on what is happening, name and describe objects.

"Play with Kitten"Draw or paste a picture of a kitten on a piece of paper. Remember with your child what kittens like to play. Cut out small pictures. Let the kid choose toys for the kitten from the set of pictures, stick them on the sheet with the kitten. If you do not have any pictures that the child will remember, you can draw them together. Get a real funny picture. You can also select products for soup, bedroom furniture, etc.

"What is inside?" The facilitator names an object or place, and the players in response name something or someone that may be inside the named object or place. (house - table, wardrobe - sweater, refrigerator - kefir, pot - soup, etc.)

"Fold the picture"Show the child one picture with a schematic representation of the object (trailer, ship, snowman, mushroom), consider how many parts the object consists of, what they are in shape. Then offer to find the same among the geometric shapes lying nearby, ask the child to try to put together a picture of geometric shapes according to the pattern.

"Learn and Draw"Children are offered a picture depicting “noisy” objects (images of objects are superimposed on each other). Such a picture is easy to obtain by transferring several 3 - 6 images of individual objects onto the same piece of tracing paper. To begin with, objects are taken from one semantic group. Children must recognize and name objects. As a hint, you can start tracing the outline of the subject. After all the items are named, the children are invited to draw each of them separately.

"In the kitchen" Ask the child to help, for example, count potatoes according to the number of family members (four large ones for dad, three large ones for mom, two small ones for a bunny and a doll, etc.); distinguish potatoes from carrots and beets; sort the cereals of different types.

"Guess the object by its parts"The players are given cards with the image of various objects - furniture, vegetables, animals, vehicles, etc. The child, without showing his card to other players, and without saying what exactly is drawn, names the parts of the object. The first person to guess what it is about takes the card and gets one point.

"Find an item" The child and the adult alternately hide the toy in the room and mark its location on the plan. The driver must find a toy in the room, based on the diagram. This game can be played on the playground, which will greatly complicate the task.

"Guess the item"The game consists in the fact that an adult chooses any object in the room and describes it to the child, telling where this object is, what it is for, what material it is made of, etc. The child must guess which object the adult thought of . Then the players change places. In order to complicate the task, you can invite the child to ask questions about the hidden object, and in this case the child is better off learning to highlight the essential features of the object.

"Speak the opposite"The game consists in the fact that one player says the word, and the other - the opposite in meaning, the antonym. For example: "cold - hot", "sky - earth", "light - dark", etc.

"Supermarket"To play, you need pictures depicting objects of 4 groups: fruits, vegetables, musical instruments, school supplies (3-4 cards of each group). The plot of the game is this. They brought a lot of different goods to the department store, but they put them in a mess. The kid, who plays the role of a seller, has a difficult job to put the goods into departments. One department should contain goods that fit together so that they can be called in one word. Tell the child that there should be four sections in total. After completing this task, invite the baby to halve the number of departments, but so that in each of the two remaining departments the goods also fit each other, are somewhat similar, so that they can also be called in one word.

"Who is the best"If the child does not understand the condition, rephrase the problem. If difficulty arises again, depict the condition in the form of drawings or strips of colored paper (narrower-wider, longer-short). So, examples of tasks (read the condition slowly, repeat if necessary).

-Three girls were friends - Lucy, Oksana, Lena. Lusya is taller than Oksana, and Oksana is taller than Lena. Which girl is the tallest? Who is the lowest?

Roman, Sasha, Boris like to play tennis. Roman plays better than Sasha, and Sasha plays better than Boris. Who plays the best? And who plays average?

-Alla, Ira, Luda learned how to sew. Alla sews worse than Ira, and Ira sews worse than Luda. Who sews the best? And who is the worst?

"I am the moon and you are the star"One of the participants says, for example: "I am a thunderstorm!". The other should quickly respond with something appropriate, such as "I am rain." The next one continues the theme: "I am a big cloud!". You can quickly answer him: "I am autumn." And so on...

"Scheme of a fairy tale" Any story or fairy tale can be encrypted, translated into a schematic form. This is useful for training complex thought processes such as analysis and reduction. The story can be acted out with substitute toys. This is a process well known to the child. It will be more difficult to play the same fairy tale using geometric shapes. Cut out a dozen different shapes of different sizes from paper, and then invite the child to choose which figures will replace the heroes of the fairy tale. For example, it is quite fair if the kid for the fairy tale "Three Bears" chooses 3 circles: large, medium, small and a square equal to the size of a small circle. After the roles have been distributed, act out the fairy tale with the help of substitute figures, and then sketch it schematically.

"Speed ​​of Thinking"Invite your child to play this game: you will start the word, and he will finish it. "Guess what I want to say!" A total of 10 syllables are offered: ON, ON, FOR, MI, MU, DO, CHE, PRY, KU, ZO. If the child quickly and easily copes with the task, invite him to come up with not one word, but as many as he can.

"Who will be who?" The host shows or names objects and phenomena, and the child must answer the question of how they will change, who they will be. Who (what) will be: an egg, a chicken, an acorn, a seed, a caterpillar, an egg, flour, a wooden board, iron, bricks, fabric, leather, day, student, sick, weak, summer, etc. There may be multiple answers to one question. It is necessary to encourage the child for several answers to the question.

"Guessing Fables"An adult talks about something, including several tall tales in his story. The child must notice and explain why this does not happen.

Example: Here's what I want to tell you. Yesterday, I was walking along the road, the sun was shining, it was dark, the blue leaves were rustling under my feet. And suddenly a dog jumps out from around the corner, how it growls at me: "Ku-ka-re-ku!" - and the horns have already set. I got scared and ran away. Would you be scared?

I am walking through the woods yesterday. Cars drive around, traffic lights flash. Suddenly I see a mushroom. It grows on a branch. He hid among the green leaves. I jumped up and tore it off.

- I came to the river. I look - a fish sits on the shore, crosses its legs and chews sausage. I approached, and she jumped into the water - and swam away.

"Hurry up to touch"Invite your baby to touch “something red, soft, cold, etc.” while you count to five. You can complicate the game by increasing the number of objects: "Please touch two round objects"

“What is extra” Choose from several cards with pictures an image with an extra item.

“Describe in words”When opening a card with a picture and not showing it to other players, you need to try to describe in words what is shown in your picture, while the name of the item itself cannot be called.

“Like - dislike”You can play with cards, or you can play verbally. We choose an object or a phenomenon and tell what exactly we like and what we don’t, that is, we evaluate the object. For example, a picture of a cat: like it - soft, pleasant to the touch, playful, catches mice ...; don't like it - scratches, runs away, etc.

“Say one word”We name several objects with one word. for example, with the named words plate, cup, spoon - you need to voice the word “dishes”.

“It happens - it doesn’t happen”Variant of the game "edible - not edible". We throw the ball and tell the truth or fiction. With the correct phrase, the child catches the ball, if an error is found, the ball must be discarded. Approximate fables: an airplane floats on the sea, a square ball, salted sugar.

“We respond quickly”It's also a ball game. The adult throws the ball to the child with the name of the objects (noun), and the child must quickly name the adjective. You can agree that the baby will only name the colors of objects. For example: a cucumber is green, the sun is yellow, the ceiling is white ... Alternatively, you can complicate the game: an adult will say either nouns or adjectives in turn. If the player said the answer out of place, and it does not correspond to reality, the parent and child change places.

Dictionary games

“With explanatory dictionary”We play the game “describe in words”, only with an explanatory dictionary. We read the definition from the children's explanatory dictionary, the child guesses what it is about.

"Phrasebook"Here you need to try to explain the meaning of phrases such as: “hang your nose”, “fed up”, “easier than a steamed turnip” ...

"Changeling game". (Dictionary of antonyms)Try to tell a fairy tale to a child in a different way: replace keywords with antonyms. Sample fairy tales: “A dog without a hat” (Puss in boots), “Blue boot” (little red riding hood) ... We change not only the name of the fairy tale, but also, as far as possible, the content


It can rightly be called the crown of human knowledge. It is a mental activity with its own goals, motives, operational functions and results. It can be characterized in different ways: as the highest degree of assimilation and processing of information and the establishment of causal relationships between objects of reality, as a process of displaying the obvious properties of objects and phenomena and, consequently, the formation of ideas about the surrounding reality, and as a process of cognition of the world, based on the incessant replenishment of the baggage of concepts and ideas about it.

But, regardless of the interpretation, it can be established that the better a person’s thinking is, the more effectively he can interact with the outside world and other people, study and learn, understand phenomena and truths. Thinking is formed as a person develops from his very birth, but life circumstances do not always develop in such a way that it continues to develop. It often happens that, having reached a certain level, development slows down. However, this process, like many others, each of us is able to influence. In other words, everyone is capable
, and how this is done, we will talk in this article.

But before we get down to the main material, a few words should be said about what thinking is in general. In total, there are several of its main types, studied by specialists most often and most of all:

  • Visual-figurative thinking;
  • Verbal-logical (it is also abstract) thinking;
  • Visual-effective thinking;

Below we will provide a brief description of each of the types of thinking and indicate effective and simple ways to develop them.

Visual-figurative thinking and exercises for its development

With the help of visual-figurative thinking, reality is transformed into images, and ordinary phenomena and objects are endowed with new properties. It involves the visual solution of problems and tasks without the need to resort to practical actions. The brain is responsible for its development. Visual-figurative thinking should not be confused with imagination, because. it is based on real objects, actions and processes, and not imaginary or invented.

Visual-figurative thinking can be developed in adults and children in the same ways. Here are some good exercises:

  • Think of a few people you have interacted with today and visualize in detail their clothes, shoes, hair, looks, and so on.
  • With just two nouns, one adverb, three verbs, and adjectives, describe the words “success,” “wealth,” and “beauty.”
  • Swipe: imagine the shape of the ears of your pet or, for example, an elephant; count the number of apartments in your entrance and imagine how they are located in the house; and now turn the English letter "N" 90 degrees and determine what came out of it.
  • Describe in words the following objects and phenomena: a flying swan, sparkling lightning, the kitchen of your apartment, lightning, a pine forest, a toothbrush.
  • Replay in your mind the image of a recent meeting with friends and give mental answers to several questions: how many people were in the company, and what did each of them wear? What food and drinks were on the table? What were you talking about? What was the room like? In what position did you sit, what sensations did you experience, what taste did you feel from the food and drinks you consumed?

These exercises can be modified at your own discretion - you can do whatever you want, but the main thing here is to use visual-figurative thinking. The more you use it, the better it will develop.

You can also check out a course that will help you develop your thinking in just a few weeks. Check it out here.

Verbal-logical (abstract) thinking and exercises for its development

Verbal-logical thinking is characterized by the fact that a person who observes a certain picture as a whole, singles out only the most significant qualities from it, not paying attention to minor details that simply complement this picture. There are usually three forms of such thinking:

  • Concept - when objects are grouped according to features;
  • Judgment - when any phenomenon or connections between objects are affirmed or denied;
  • Inference - when specific conclusions are drawn on the basis of several judgments.

Everyone should develop verbal-logical thinking, but it is especially useful to form it from an early age in children, because this is an excellent training of memory and attention, as well as fantasy. Here are some exercises you can use for yourself or your child:

  • Set a timer for 3 minutes, write during this time the maximum number of words beginning with the letters "g", "sh", "h" and "z".
  • Take a few simple phrases like "what's for breakfast?", "let's go to the movies", "come over" and "there's a new exam tomorrow" and read them backwards.
  • There are several groups of words: “sad, cheerful, slow, cautious”, “dog, cat, parrot, penguin”, “Sergey, Anton, Kolya, Tsarev, Olga” and “triangle, square, board, oval”. From each group, select those words that do not fit the meaning.
  • Identify the differences between a ship and an airplane, grass and a flower, a story and a verse, an elephant and a rhinoceros, a still life and a portrait.
  • A few more groups of words: “House - walls, foundation, windows, roof, wallpaper”, “War - weapons, soldiers, bullets, attack, map”, “Youth - growth, joy, choice, love, children”, “Road - cars, pedestrians, traffic, asphalt, poles.” Choose from each group one or two words without which the concept ("home", "war", etc.) could exist as such.

These exercises, again, can be quite easily modernized and modified, simplifying or complicating at your discretion. It is thanks to this that each of them can be an excellent way to train abstract thinking, both in adults and in children. By the way, any such exercises, among other things, perfectly develop the intellect.

Visual-effective thinking and exercises for its development

Visual-effective thinking can be described as the process of solving mental problems by transforming the situation that has arisen in real life. It is rightfully considered the first way to process the information received, and it develops very actively in children under 7 years old, when they begin to combine all kinds of objects into one whole, analyze them and operate with them. And in adults, this type of thinking is expressed in identifying the practical benefits of the objects of the surrounding world, being the so-called manual intellect. The brain is responsible for the development of visual-effective thinking.

An excellent way to learn and train here is the usual game of chess, solving puzzles and sculpting all kinds of figures from plasticine, but there are also several effective exercises:

  • Take your pillow and try to determine its weight. Then weigh your clothes in the same way. After that, try to determine the area of ​​​​the room, kitchen, bathroom and other rooms in your apartment.
  • Draw a triangle, a rhombus and a trapezoid on the landscape sheets. Then take the scissors and turn all these shapes into a square, cutting once in a straight line.
  • Lay out 5 matches on the table in front of you and make 2 equal triangles out of them. After that, take 7 matches and make 2 triangles and 2 squares out of them.
  • Buy a constructor in the store and make various shapes out of it - not only those indicated in the instructions. It is recommended that there be as many details as possible - at least 40-50.

As an effective addition to these exercises, chess and more, you can use our excellent.

Logical thinking and exercises for its development

Logical thinking is the basis of a person's ability to think and reason consistently and without contradictions. It is necessary in most life situations: from ordinary dialogues and shopping to solving various problems and developing intelligence. This type of thinking contributes to the successful search for justifications for any phenomena, a meaningful assessment of the world around us and judgments. The main task in this case is to obtain true knowledge about the subject of reflection based on the analysis of its various aspects.

Among the recommendations for the development of logical thinking, one can single out the solution of logical problems (and this is also an excellent training of memory and attention in children and adults), passing tests for the IQ, logic games, self-education, reading books (especially detective stories), and training intuition .

As for specific exercises, we advise you to take note of the following:

  • From several sets of words, for example: “armchair, table, sofa, stool”, “circle, oval, ball, circle”, “fork, towel, spoon, knife”, etc. you need to choose a word that does not fit the meaning. Despite its simplicity, this is a very effective technology for the development of logical thinking, and similar sets and exercises can be found in large numbers on the Internet.
  • Collective exercise: get together with friends or the whole family and divide into two teams. Let each team invite the opposite team to solve a semantic riddle, where the content of some text is transmitted. The point is to define. Here is a small example: “The clergyman had an animal in the household. He experienced strong warm feelings for him, however, despite this, he performed a violent action on him, which led to his death. This happened for the reason that the animal did something unacceptable - it ate part of the food that was not intended for it. Thinking logically, one can recall a children's song that begins with the words: "The priest had a dog, he loved her ..."
  • Another group game: a member of one team performs an action, and a member of the other must find its cause, and then the cause of the cause, and so on until all the motives for the behavior of the first participant are clarified.

Again, these exercises (in particular the last two) are excellent ways to develop logical thinking and intelligence, suitable for people of all ages.

Creative thinking and exercises for its development

Creative thinking is a type of thinking that allows you to systematize and analyze ordinary information in an unusual way. In addition to the fact that it contributes to the extraordinary solution of typical tasks, questions and problems, it also increases the efficiency of a person's assimilation of new knowledge. Applying creative thinking, people can consider objects and phenomena from different angles, awaken in themselves the desire to create something new - something that did not exist before (this is the understanding of creativity in its classical sense), develop the ability to move from one task to another and find a lot of interesting options for doing work and ways out of life situations.

Ways to develop creative thinking are based on the idea that a person realizes only a small percentage of his potential during his life, and his task is to find opportunities to activate unused resources. The technology for developing creativity is based, first of all, on several recommendations:

  • You need to improvise and always look for new ways to solve everyday problems;
  • No need to focus on established frameworks and rules;
  • You should expand your horizons and constantly learn something new;
  • You need to travel as much as possible, discover new places and meet new people;
  • It is necessary to make learning new skills and abilities a habit;
  • You should try to do something better than others.

But, of course, there are also certain exercises for the development of creative thinking (by the way, we advise you to familiarize yourself with our courses on the development of creative thinking and thinking in general - you will find them).

Now let's talk about exercises:

  • Take several concepts, for example, “youth”, “man”, “coffee”, “kettle”, “morning” and “candle”, and select for each of them the maximum possible number of nouns that define their essence.
  • Take several pairs of different concepts, for example, "piano - car", "cloud - steam locomotive", "tree - picture", "water - well" and "airplane - capsule" and select the maximum number of similar features for them.
  • Imagine several situations and think about what might happen in each of them. Examples of situations: “aliens are walking around the city”, “it’s not water that runs from the tap in your apartment, but lemonade”, “all pets have learned to speak human language”, “it snows in your city in the middle of summer for a week”.
  • Look around the room where you are now, and stop looking at any object that interests you, for example, on a closet. Write down on a piece of paper 5 adjectives that match it, and then 5 adjectives that are completely opposite.
  • Think of your job, hobby, favorite singer or actor, best friend or significant other, and describe it (him/her) in at least 100 words.
  • Remember some saying or, and write, based on it, a short essay, verse or essay.
  • Write a list of 10 purchases you would make before the end of the world.
  • Write a daily plan for your cat or dog.
  • Imagine that when you returned home, you saw that the doors of all the apartments were open. Write 15 reasons why this might have happened.
  • Make a list of 100 of your life goals.
  • Write a letter to yourself in the future - when you are 10 years older.

Also, to activate your creativity and intelligence, you can use two excellent methods in everyday life - and. These ways to develop creativity will help you break all stereotypes, expand your comfort zone and develop an original and unlike anything else type of thinking.

In conclusion, we say that if you have a desire to organize or continue your education and develop your thinking more efficiently, then you will certainly like one of our courses, which you can familiarize yourself with.

For the rest, we wish you every success and comprehensively developed thinking!