Visual-figurative thinking: what is it and how to develop it?

When a childhood friend meets, many years later, mental manipulation with images enables a person to reproduce some necessary details of information and to recognize the traits of a school friend in the changed appearance. At this moment, visual-figurative thinking is triggered.

In psychology, this type of thinking is referred to as a symbolic act of thought, in which a problem is modeled and solved with the help of representations. This involves mental work with the handling of objects and visual images. This type of thought process helps the subject to recreate the variety of different characteristics of a particular phenomenon or object, to establish their unusual combination.

Visual-figurative thinking is inextricably linked with real actions and objects. In this it differs from imagination, in which the image is recreated from memory. This type of thought process is subordinate to perception or representation.

Let's give an example. The child is shown two completely identical balls made of dough. He visually examines them, estimates the volume. Then a cake is made from one ball. The volume has not increased, but the shape has changed. Nevertheless, now the cake needs a lot of space on the table, which means, according to the baby, there is more dough in it than in the ball. In children, this type of mental activity is subordinate to perception, so it is difficult for them to abstract from what immediately catches the eye.

Older preschoolers and children of primary school age are also characterized by a visual-figurative thought process. When a teacher, when explaining new material, reinforces the information by demonstrating an object or its image, then he uses the visual-figurative thinking of schoolchildren.

Mastering manual skills is achieved through this type of thinking. In developed forms, such thinking is characteristic of people of creative professions. Writers, poets, designers, fashion designers, painters, sculptors, musicians, actors are able to vividly and vividly represent certain objects, phenomena or events.

This exercise allows the baby create a new object based on a set of specific images. The source material can be digital and alphabetic symbols, mathematical signs, geometric shapes. For example, a child is asked to portray a cat or dog from digital characters. Often, the baby is given complete freedom of action and they look in which direction he directs his fantasy.

Finding and restoring the missing part also belongs to the combination group of exercises. The game "Chessboard" is also used. The essence of the game boils down to creating a field from various elements, while it is necessary to alternate particles.

For this type of exercise take a finished finished image and invite the child to change it, create something completely new... Usually matches or sticks are used, from which a certain figure is folded. The kid should shift several matches so that a new object is obtained. Sometimes it is suggested to remove a few sticks to change the image.

Painting is a great speed challenge. For example, all the participants in the game are given leaflets with twenty letters “M” depicted on them. Each graphic sign needs to be turned into a new object, but so that all 20 created images can be recognized by others. Then the originality and recognizability of the objects depicted are discussed.

This type of thinking is clearly manifested in preschool age. At this stage, there is an accumulation of various visual, tactile, sound displays, with the help of which it is easier for the baby to interact with the outside world. In the thought process, carried out with the help of images, imagination, spatial perception, logical construction of structural chains, and assessment of the situation are actively used. The child develops the ability to visualize an object without having it in sight.

Psychologists recommend paying great attention to the development of a visual-figurative thought act, because this process helps the child to master three-dimensional display, spatial thinking.

The active formation of such thinking begins at the age of three. Gradually, certain images are formed, information is accumulated, obtained in early childhood by feeling and examining things. Then the children's imagination develops rapidly, and the baby is able to think out or imagine a phenomenon, an object, an integral situation. It is necessary to teach the child to mentally see objects in different spatial positions, to change their location in the mind.

To diagnose the required degree of development of a visual-figurative thought process, psychologists use various techniques.

• There is a way to work with ridiculous images. The kid is offered a picture with a character who finds himself in an unusual situation, when the hero has to perform an action unusual for him. For example, instead of a chick, a frog sits in the nest, and the bird brings her a bone for food. The child explains why the image does not correspond to reality. He must determine how it happens in nature and offer his own version of the development of events. If a child has coped well with 7 out of 10 tasks, then his visual-figurative thinking is at a high level of development.
• The construction method involves painting the image. The speed and accuracy of the reaction are evaluated. The kid is given pictures with drawn familiar animals, toys, geometric shapes. He should complete the drawing in one and a half minutes. The speed of the task is important.
• The “Collect the picture” technique involves the restoration of a whole image from familiar fragments. Evaluation criteria are determined by the speed of execution. With good imaginative thinking, the child should spend several minutes assembling the picture. During this time, the baby connects imagination, memory and applies the method of elimination.
• There is also a technique based on the search for an extra image. The kid is given several pictures that are similar in some groups of signs. He must find a print that does not correspond to the main composition of the grouped images.

A three-year-old child needs collapsible toys... First, he is shown the correct disassembly and assembly of the pyramid, then the kid must repeat the steps. Over time, they add the study of the properties of the subject. The kid learns to determine the shapes, sizes of objects, to distinguish shades. It is important to interest the child, to involve him in drawing with pencils, felt-tip pens, crayons, paints. Before drawing or building a tower, the child should talk about their next steps.

Children 5-6 years old perfectly develop a figurative thought process with the help games with constructors... They master the construction of visual spatial models that reflect the connections and relationships of real things. The development of the imaginative thought process forms flexibility, mobility and the ability to operate with visual images.

For older preschoolers, the development of the thought process with the help of images stimulates the use of the following methods and techniques:

• observation of natural phenomena with the subsequent description and image of the information seen or heard;
• assembly of puzzles;
• solving puzzles, puzzles, riddles;
• sketches from memory;
• the image on a sheet of concepts that do not have visual signs: fun, joy, sound, friendship, melody, thought;
• modeling from plasticine, clay;
• visiting museums, exhibitions, excursions;
• creation of different applications.

The development of preschoolers includes the following main stages of learning:

• demonstration;
• explanation;
• joint work;
• independent actions according to the model and creativity, not limited to a certain framework.

The formation of the child's thought process with images is facilitated by exercises where it is proposed to describe a rainbow, sunset, dew drop, massage brush or any other phenomena and objects. Exercises with varying sticks or matches, turning over some symbolic signs, for example, the letter "E", are widely used to obtain another letter: "Ш".

Dice Quests very effective in terms of developing visual-figurative thinking. The exercise is mastered in stages. First, 7 elements are constructed from 27 ordinary cubes.

• At the first stage, children are asked to carefully examine them and find similarities with some objects or shapes. The more associations found, the better.
• The second stage involves the careful connection of the two elements.
• At the third stage, the baby is advised, after carefully examining the figures, to first dismember them, and then fold the parts back into exactly the same object as it was.
• The fourth stage involves assembling the figure according to the sample. First, a bed, sofa, snake, boat or other object is made of cubes. The kid examines him carefully, analyzes. Then the sample is closed, and the child must construct the same object from memory. Finally, it is compared with the sample.