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

How to live according to concepts? Not by the fact that they were widespread on the territory of our country in the dashing 90s by criminal and semi-criminal elements, but by those that began to form in the heads of people all over the planet at an earlier stage of evolution. It's about conceptual thinking.

The term "conceptual thinking" in psychology appeared not so long ago. It was introduced by a Soviet scientist Lev Semenovich Vygotsky. From 1924 to 1934, he studied how consciousness affects the way a person thinks. And I came to the following conclusion - how a person thinks depends on the following factors:

• the ability to see the true essence of the phenomenon,
• the ability to find the cause of what is happening,
• the ability to foresee the consequences,
• skill of handling information,
• the ability to systematize it,
• the ability to build a complete picture of what is happening.

Only those who have this form of thinking are able to competently understand any situation. The rest, and according to some sources there are about 80% of them, think that they are right only because they think so. They explain any mistake by outside interference.

Conceptual thinking is not an innate ability... It begins to appear in the child at the age of 6-7 years. It is then that his ability is manifested not only to receive knowledge, but also to give it his own assessment. Theoretical knowledge, if conceptual thinking is not applied, will remain only dry, often unnecessary, and therefore quickly forgotten information. It is believed that conceptual thinking was first formed in a person when a word appeared.It is it that makes it possible to imagine what is impossible to "touch". Happiness, conscience, resentment, anger are just words that everyone perceives in their own way. How this happens largely depends on what education the citizen received, what literature he studied, what situations he faced personally.

To determine how developed conceptual thinking is, you can use a much simpler way. Choose from the set of the following words that are superfluous. "Bullfinch, sparrow, bird, canary, ostrich, penguin, crow." Most of those who pass this test choose a penguin or an ostrich, arguing that they are in size and unlike other birds. Although the correct answer is “bird”. It is this word that is superfluous in this list. It only unites - all the others, others are its types.

Another question from a different area. How much will 2 three-ruble buns cost if a kilogram of flour costs 20 rubles? Surprisingly, some are starting to look for a difficult solution that actually lies on the surface. After all, no matter how much the raw material costs, two rolls of 3 rubles each will cost 6. Passed the test? Now let's try to understand whether it is worth rejoicing and getting upset about the result.

It is the ability to clearly express one's thoughts that is one of the main distinguishing features of a person with conceptual thinking. He clearly understands the essence of each spoken word.... For him, it is a tool for presenting his own knowledge and judgments. At the same time, a person who does not have conceptual thinking can have much more words in stock, but use them "for other purposes." Their thoughts get confused during speech, they find it difficult to find the right words. For them, first there was a word, while for the first, thought first appears.

But, as you know, we are all not without flaws. So are people with conceptual thinking. They are unable to react quickly and act in stressful situations.

Do not confuse conceptual thinking and figurative thinking. They differ in a number of ways. The first gives a generalized description of what is happening, which appears due to the experience received by a person in different periods of his life. The second snatches some images from memory. The picture is recreated with the help of imagination and therefore does not always have an obvious connection with reality.

There are also common points - both the one and the other type of thinking is based on their own experience, knowledge and skills. However, conceptual thinking turns off fantasy, it is based only on reliable facts, accurate data, analysis of specific numbers and phenomena... Conceptual thinking, as it were, complements the figurative, corrects it, brings it into a more constructive and logical channel.

A person with conceptual thinking is always based on the principle of interconnection. He does not consider isolated moments one by one. It is important for him to get to the bottom of the matter. Therefore, for him such concepts are inseparable:

• the reason for what happened and what it will lead to;
• the goal and the means that will help in achieving it;
• condition, proof (justification), conclusion.

The conceptual thinker uses the following set of mental tools to get all of these concepts in mind.

• System creation. Several questions and answers do not exist separately from each other, but are combined into a single whole.
• Ability to abstract. Some individual characteristics of a phenomenon, object or being, he can "reject" under certain circumstances and consider what is happening without taking into account some of its signs.
• Synthesis. Several separate signs of the same phenomenon are skillfully combined into a single whole and thus give a complete picture.
• Ability to analyze the situation... Despite the fact that a person with conceptual thinking tends to use synthesis, he is at the same time able to separate the wheat from the chaff, to isolate the signs necessary at a certain moment.
• Comparative analysis. With its help, the differences of phenomena or events are compiled. Thus, something common is formed that could lead to what is happening.
• Moving from the private to the general. Collecting several different phenomena into a general category. When using all these tools, we get the most complete picture of what is happening. With this approach to solving the problem, the chance of error is minimal.

Conceptual thinking is more characteristic of those who study the exact or natural sciences. However, one should not think that it can only be applied in certain areas of life. This mindset can come in handy both at home and at work.

Lack of conceptual thinking can lead to confusion. Lack of knowledge in a specific area does not allow a person to become a full-fledged member of society. Some people are so stubborn that they don't want to develop. Therefore, a conversation with them often comes down to the well-known: "I am always right, if I am wrong, see point one." Their emotions and conclusions come more from the heart than from the head. As a result, even while watching a football match with friends, they have misunderstandings. Deprived of conceptual thinking does not own specific terms in this area. And from the TV you constantly hear such words as winner, prize-winner, favorite and applicant. A person without conceptual thinking does not want to ponder. He wants to understand everything on an intuitive level.

His opponent is ready to go headlong into solving any issue. In fairness, it should be noted that he does it even when it is not really necessary. Therefore, communication with such people cannot be called easy. For example, before answering the question of how to get to the library, they will do a whole lot of research. By taxi - fast, but expensive, on public transport longer, but cheaper, and the analysis of which bus or trolleybus to use will also be present, on foot even longer, but free.

Here, conceptual thinking is the key to success. Whether you are doing economics, programming, law, agriculture, or manufacturing, it’s important to define concepts precisely. Differences in the terms of the task, agreement, contract will inevitably lead to collapse. That's why acting in business solely at the call of the heart is contraindicated. It is necessary to include conceptual thinking, in which there is no room for error.

The development of this industry is also impossible without the use of conceptual thinking. Any mistake in examining the original data can lead to failure. Take, for example, the economic industry and the word "market" that is often used in it. Its meaning can be interpreted in a variety of ways. The world market with its rules and the central one in a single city, existing according to its own laws, are completely different things. That's why when deciding questions on this topic, it is important to accurately determine the meaning of the term. Conceptual thinking comes in handy here more than ever.

Many experts, and very reasonably believe that the level of conceptual thinking has fallen sharply recently. And this is especially noticeable in youth circles. The current educational standards are to blame. In particular, the introduction of the USE. This method of attestation of graduates has led to the fact that they accumulate only superficial knowledge and only in those subjects that are going to take. They are not interested in causation. And this is not their fault. This way of thinking is imposed on them by the existing reality.

For the most part, teenagers have forgotten how to think. Not only is this ability not in demand by the education system, but it is also being ruined by numerous gadgets. In order to find out the answer to any question of interest, you do not need to delve into your own head. Internet to help. Children do not count in their heads, everyone has a calculator at hand, installed in the phone. They began to speak in a language incomprehensible to the older generation.

Numerous social networks and instant messengers have introduced brevity into their everyday life, which in this case is not always a relative of talent. Instead of thanks they have "spb", instead of a birthday - "DR", everyone's favorite New Year is now nothing but "NG".

As a result, some of them in ordinary life cannot connect even two words, clearly formulate their ideas. As noted earlier, the first rudiments of conceptual thinking appear at a fairly early age. It is easiest to develop such abilities in a child in a playful way. To do this, you can use exercises similar to experiments. Children should, by their own example, and not by means of data from a textbook, learn to determine the properties of objects or phenomena.

First of all give the student the right to make mistakes. Let him find the right answer by trial and error. It seems to him that if you pour 2 glasses of water into three small ones, then there will be more liquid. Good. Give him the opportunity to be convinced otherwise. Pour water with him in different containers until he realizes that its volume does not change.

Another popular activity is more like research work. Take a few different items. The first task is to find something in common in them: color, smell, size, weight, material from which they are made, and so on. Next, you should isolate the differences. After that, the most interesting and informative part begins, during which you have to place objects in different conditions. For example, put in water, put in the freezer, douse with fire, throw from a height. Have the child try to predict the consequences of events. It doesn't matter if at first your expectations of a high level of conceptual thinking of the child are not justified, with each new experiment he will get to know the world better and better and independently draw conclusions about events.

One more recommendation. Ask your child more often why he thinks this way and not otherwise. Make him think. Just do it discreetly. For example, ask how he knew it was raining. Ideally, you need to get several answers: grandmother came in a wet raincoat, the trees outside the window are wet, there are puddles all around. Look for different options with him. And of course, read a lot. A good book is not only the best gift, but also an impetus to the development of thinking, and not only conceptual.