Types, types, forms of human thinking: abstract, visual, effective, figurative, verbal-logical thinking, scientific. Basic types of thinking and their features

By thinking we understand the human ability to reason, reflecting reality through words, concepts, judgments, and ideas. Based on its form, the following types are distinguished: visual-figurative, visual-effective, abstract-logical.

The first of them is more typical for people of creative professions. Its essence consists of psychological relationships and connections with people, objects, events, circumstances, and processes.

Imaginative thinking is a cognitive process in which a mental image is formed in a person’s mind, reflecting the perceived object. environment. Imaginative thinking is realized on the basis of ideas of what a person perceived before. In this case, images are extracted from memory or created by imagination. In the course of solving mental problems, these images can undergo changes that lead to finding new, unexpected, extraordinary, creative solutions to complex problems.

How do we use imaginative thinking?

Thanks to imaginative thinking, you can learn to find a way out difficult situations, solve difficult problems. For example, you can use for this purpose next appointment visualizations:

1. Present your problem in the form of a picture-image. For example, you have problems in business. Imagine it as a withering tree.

2. Come up with and draw images that reflect the cause of what is happening and “rescuer” images that will help you find a solution. For example, an excess of sun (too many outdated, oppressive, previously made decisions that interfere with creative thinking. An excess of sun can also represent, for example, increased competition). Think about what is needed to save the plant: watering (new ideas and solutions), or sun protection, or inviting a specialist gardener, or fertilizing the soil, or something else?

3. Don’t rush yourself, rethinking does not come instantly, but soon it will certainly come in the form of insight.

Visual thinking can help us calm down by providing psychological protection from an unnerving situation or unpleasant person. We tend to take what is happening to heart, and therefore need to protect our psyche from overload. The most commonly used technique is to present the offender in an absurd or comical form. For example, you were hurt and offended by someone’s stinginess. Don't be offended, it's better to imagine a thrifty hamster with huge, stuffed cheeks. Well, he can’t live without supplies, that’s how it’s designed. Is it worth being offended? Better smile. Imagine a merciless satrap completely naked - it’s funny and absurd, and his scream will no longer have power over you.

There is an assumption that the ability to visualize the future increases the chances of its realization. The more colorful and detailed the visualization, the better. However, there is a caveat: as with all good things, moderation should be observed in this visualization. The main principle is “do no harm.”

The use of imaginative thinking makes life more interesting, and communication and self-realization more complete.

Development of imaginative thinking

How to develop imaginative thinking?

Here are some exercises that can help with this:

- Look at any selected item. Consider it for some time. With your eyes closed, visualize it in detail. Open your eyes, check how completely and accurately you presented everything and what you “overlooked.”

- Remember what the thing you put on (shoes) looks like yesterday. Describe it in detail, try not to miss a single detail.

- Imagine some animal (fish, bird, insect) and think about what benefit or harm it can bring. All work must be done mentally. You need to “see” the animal and clearly imagine everything that is associated with it. For example, a dog. See how she greets you, how happily she waves her tail, licks her hands, looks into her eyes, plays with her child, protects you in the yard from offenders... All events should happen as in a movie. Give free rein to your imagination. This exercise can be done in different ways: using unrelated associations or like a film with a sequentially developing plot with a logical continuation.

Imaginative thinking in children

Children easily imagine both objects and circumstances in their imagination; it is as natural for them as breathing. In childhood, imagination so merges with thinking that they cannot be separated. The development of a child’s thinking occurs during games, drawing, modeling, and design. All these activities force you to imagine this or that in your mind, which becomes the basis for imaginative thinking. On this basis, verbal and logical thinking, which you can’t do without in school.

Children's perception of the world through images contributes to the development of imagination, fantasy, and also becomes the basis for the development of creative potential, which is so important for achieving success in any business.

What exercises help develop creative thinking in children?

1. We read or tell fairy tales with facial expressions, gestures, and emotions.

2. We play, transforming. We play together with the children, change roles and images. We encourage children to play with transformation.

3. We draw - and remember, and compose, and invent more. Let the child remember a character from a fairy tale or cartoon character he recently read. And then let him draw a new friend or just a new character for him. Did it turn out to be a “baby sketch”? Finish it so that something new or something recognizable comes out.

4. Composing. You can start yourself - about what you see: about this little sprout that has made its way between the stones, about this tireless ant pulling a load three times its size, about this grasshopper... Write together, don’t be afraid to fantasize and encourage the child’s imagination.

5. Riddles are a real find. You can make them up along the way, you can invent them. They force us to consider objects and phenomena with different sides, think outside the box and don't give up.

6. We observe and notice: what or who does this cloud, this pebble, this snag look like?

Thinking games will greatly help your child gain new knowledge, compare, remember, reveal relationships between phenomena, explore the world and develop.

Imaginative thinking in adults

There is a simple test that allows you to understand whether your imaginative thinking is well developed. To do this, you need to choose any picture (don’t try to take complex images right away, start with simple ones), look at it for some time (about a minute), trying to take into account all the nuances - the location of lines and objects, color and shades, plot and other nuances. After you feel that you have noticed everything, close your eyes and mentally achieve a detailed reproduction. See it with your eyes closed clearly and clearly. Did it work? Great! This means that you only need to maintain your existing level of imaginative thinking. But if the pictures didn’t work out, if there were mistakes or vague shapes, practice doing this exercise.

A more complicated option is visualization of abstract pictures. You can draw one yourself from dots, broken lines, patterns, using different colors and shapes, and then remember. Pay attention to details and individual signs. Games for developing thinking are easy to find on the Internet, on sites dedicated to self-development. Developmental simulators also help with this. For example, in the game “Pyramidstroy”, imaginative thinking coupled with imagination will help you remember completely unrelated words, connecting them into an incredible story. Training and games for developing thinking are very helpful in maintaining brain activity in good shape, they should be given attention throughout their lives.

The development of imaginative thinking improves creative abilities, favors the manifestation of creativity, and the generation of new ideas. In addition, thanks to the development of imaginative thinking, memorization improves, learning new things becomes easier, intuition improves, and flexibility of thinking appears.

We wish you confidence in your abilities and successful self-development!

Imaginative thinking has a number of features that turn it into a universal tool that anyone can and should use in their life.

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Types of thinking.

In psychology, the following simplest and somewhat conventional classification of types of thinking is most accepted and widespread:

1) visually effective;

2) visual-figurative;

3) verbal-logical;

4) abstract-logical.

Visual-effective thinking- a type of thinking based on the direct perception of objects in the process of acting with them. This thinking is the most elementary view thinking that arises in practical activity and is the basis for the formation of more complex species thinking. Main characteristics visually effective thinking is determined by the ability to observe real objects and recognize the relationships between them in a real transformation of the situation. Practical cognitive objective actions are the basis of any more later forms thinking.

Visual-figurative thinking-a type of thinking characterized by reliance on ideas and images. With visual-figurative thinking the situation is transformed in terms of image or representation. The subject operates with visual images of objects through their figurative representations. At the same time, the image of an object allows one to combine a set of heterogeneous practical operations into a holistic picture. Mastery of visual and figurative representations expands the scope of practical thinking.

IN simplest form Visual-figurative thinking occurs mainly in preschoolers, i.e. aged four to seven years. Although the connection between thinking and practical actions is preserved, it is not as close, direct and immediate as before. During the analysis and synthesis of a cognizable object, a child does not necessarily and does not always have to touch the object that interests him with his hands. In many cases, systematic practical manipulation (action) with an object is not required, but in all cases it is necessary to clearly perceive and visually represent this object. In other words, preschoolers think only in visual images and do not yet master concepts (in the strict sense).

Verbal and logical thinking - a type of thinking carried out using logical operations with concepts. With verbal-logical thinking, using logical concepts, the subject can cognize significant patterns and unobservable relationships of the reality under study. The development of verbal-logical thinking rebuilds and organizes the world of figurative representations and practical actions.

Abstract-logical (abstract) thinking- a type of thinking based on identifying the essential properties and connections of an object and abstracting from other, non-essential ones.

Visual-effective, visual-figurative, verbal-logical and abstract-logical thinking are successive stages in the development of thinking in phylogenesis and ontogenesis. Currently, psychology has convincingly shown that these four types of thinking coexist in an adult and function when solving various problems. All types of thinking are closely interconnected. When solving problems, verbal reasoning is based on vivid images. At the same time, solving even the simplest, most concrete problem requires verbal generalizations. Therefore, the described types of thinking cannot be assessed as more or less valuable. Abstract-logical or verbal-logical thinking cannot be the “ideal” of thinking in general, the end point of intellectual development. Thus, further improvement of thinking is associated in psychology with the expansion and specification of the spheres of application of learned mental norms and techniques.

In addition, the identification of types of thinking can be done on various grounds. Thus, based on various sources concerning the study of thinking, we can distinguish the following types of thinking (see Fig. 7).

Rice. 7. Classification of types of thinking on various grounds

Based on the nature of the problems being solved, a distinction is made between theoretical and practical thinking.

Theoretical thinking is thinking based on theoretical reasoning and inferences.

Practical thinking- thinking based on judgments and inferences based on a decision practical problems. Theoretical thinking is the knowledge of laws and rules. The main task of practical thinking is to develop means of practical transformation of reality: setting goals, creating a plan, project, scheme. Practical thinking was studied by B.M. Teplov. They established that important feature practical thinking is that it unfolds under conditions of severe time shortage and actual risk. In practical situations, the possibilities for testing hypotheses are very limited. All this makes practical thinking in a certain respect more complex than theoretical thinking.

Based on the degree of development of thinking over time, a distinction is made between intuitive and discursive or analytical thinking.

Discursive (analytical) thinking- thinking mediated by the logic of reasoning rather than perception. Analytical thinking is developed in time, has clearly defined stages, and is represented in the consciousness of the thinking man.

Intuitive Thinking- thinking based on direct sensory perceptions and direct reflection of the effects of objects and phenomena of the objective world. Intuitive thinking is characterized by rapidity, the absence of clearly defined stages, and is minimally conscious. Three criteria are usually used to distinguish between discursive and intuitive thinking: 1) temporal (time of the process); 2) structural (divided into stages); 3) level of awareness (representation in the consciousness of the thinker himself).

According to the degree of novelty and originality, reproductive and productive thinking are distinguished according to their functional purpose.

Reproductive thinking- thinking based on images and ideas drawn from certain sources.

Productive thinking- thinking based on creative imagination.

In their activities, people encounter objects that have a holistic-systemic nature. To navigate such objects, a person must be able to identify their external and internal content, their internal essence and its external manifestations. In this regard, according to the type of cognition, theoretical and empirical thinking are distinguished.

Theoretical thinking– thinking aimed at understanding the internal content and essence of complex system objects. The main mental action associated with such cognition is analysis. Analysis of an integral system object reveals in it some simple connection (or relationship), which acts as a genetically initial basis for all its particular manifestations. This initial connection serves as a universal or essential source of the formation of an integral system object. The task of theoretical thinking is to discover this initial essential connection and then isolate it, i.e. abstraction, and, subsequently, reduction to this initial connection of all possible partial manifestations of a system object, i.e. production of generalization action.

Empirical thinking- thinking aimed at knowledge external manifestations the objects and phenomena under consideration. The main operations of empirical thinking are comparison and classification, which are associated with the actions of abstraction and generalization of identical properties, objects and phenomena. The cognitive product of these actions is general ideas(or empirical concepts) about these objects and phenomena. Empirical thinking performs very important and necessary functions in everyday life people, as well as in the sciences located on initial stages of its development.

By functional purpose distinguish between critical and creative thinking.

Critical thinking aimed at identifying shortcomings in the judgment of other people.

Creative thinking associated with the discovery of fundamentally new knowledge, with the generation of one’s own original ideas, and not with evaluating other people's thoughts. The conditions for their implementation are opposite: the generation of new creative ideas must be completely free from any criticism, external and internal prohibitions; critical selection and evaluation of these ideas, on the contrary, requires rigor towards oneself and others, and does not allow an overestimation of one’s own ideas. In practice, there are attempts to combine the advantages of each of these types. For example, in well-known methods of managing the thought process and increasing its effectiveness (“brainstorming”), creative and critical thinking as different modes conscious work is used on different stages solving the same applied problems.

One of the traditional differences in thinking types is based on an analysis of the content of the means of thinking used - visual or verbal. In this regard, visual and verbal thinking are distinguished.

Visual Thinking– thinking based on images and representations of objects.

Verbal thinking– thinking that operates with abstract sign structures. It has been established that for full-fledged mental work, some people need to see or imagine objects, while others prefer to operate with abstract sign structures. In psychology, it is believed that visual and verbal types of thinking are “antagonists”: carriers of the first are difficult to access even simple tasks, presented in symbolic form; speakers of the second have a hard time with tasks that require using visual images.

Imaginative thinking - Thinking in images is included as an essential component in all types of human activity, no matter how developed and abstract they may be.

The mental image by its nature has a dual source of determination. On the one hand, it absorbs sensory experience, and in this sense the image is individual, sensually and emotionally colored, and personally significant. On the other hand, it includes the results of a theoretical understanding of reality through the mastery of historical experience presented in a system of concepts, and in this sense appears in an impersonal form.

There is no direct way to master concepts. Their assimilation is always mediated by mental images. Both the image and the concept provide generalized knowledge about reality, expressed in words.

In the real process of thinking (knowledge acquisition), both logic and logic are simultaneously present, and these are not two independent logics, but a single logic of flow thought process. The mental image itself, with which thinking operates, is by its nature flexible, mobile, and reflects a piece of reality in the form of a spatial picture.

There are different ways to create object images from drawings and diagrams. Some students rely on visuals and look for a kind of sensory support in it. Others act easily and freely in their minds. Some students quickly create images based on clarity, retain them in memory for a long time, but get lost when it is necessary to modify the image, since under these conditions the image seems to expand and disappear. Others are good at using images.

The following pattern has been discovered: where the initially created images are less visual, bright and stable, their transformation and manipulation is more successful; in those cases when the image is objectified, burdened with various details, its manipulation is difficult.

The main function of imaginative thinking is creating images and operating with them in the process of solving problems. The implementation of this function is ensured by a special presentation mechanism aimed at modifying, transforming existing images and creating new images different from the original ones.

The creation of an image from an idea is carried out in the absence of an object of perception and is ensured by its mental modification. As a result, an image is created that is different from the visual material on which it originally appeared. Thus, the activity of representation, no matter at what level it is carried out, ensures the creation of something new in relation to the original, i.e. it is productive. Therefore, dividing images into reproductive and creative (productive) is not correct.

Imaginative thinking operates not with words, but with images. This does not mean that verbal knowledge in the form of definitions, judgments and inferences is not used here. But unlike verbal-discursive thinking, where verbal knowledge is its main content, in figurative thinking words are used only as a means of expression and interpretation of already completed transformations of images.

Concepts and images with which thinking operates constitute two sides of a single process. Being more closely related to the reflection of real reality, the image provides knowledge not about individual isolated aspects (properties) of this reality, but represents a holistic mental picture of a separate area of ​​reality.

Spatial thinking is a type of figurative thinking.

By accepting information from the world around us, it is with the participation of thinking that we can realize and transform it. Their characteristics also help us with this. A table with this data is presented below.

What is thinking

This higher process knowledge of the surrounding reality, subjective perception Its uniqueness lies in the perception of external information and its transformation in consciousness. Thinking helps a person gain new knowledge, experience, and creatively transform ideas that have already been formed. It helps to expand the boundaries of knowledge, helping to change the existing conditions for solving assigned problems.

This process is the engine of human development. In psychology there is no separately operating process - thinking. It will necessarily be present in all other cognitive actions of a person. Therefore, in order to somewhat structure such a transformation of reality, types of thinking and their characteristics were identified in psychology. A table with these data helps to better assimilate information about the activities of this process in our psyche.

Features of this process

This process has its own characteristics that distinguish it from other mental

1. Mediocrity. This means that a person can indirectly recognize an object through the properties of another. Types of thinking and their characteristics are also involved here. Briefly describing this property, we can say that cognition occurs through the properties of another object: we can transfer some acquired knowledge to a similar unknown object.
2. Generality. A combination of several properties of an object. The ability to generalize helps a person to learn new things in the surrounding reality.

These two properties and processes of this human cognitive function contain general characteristics thinking. Characteristics of types of thinking - a separate area general psychology. Since types of thinking are characteristic of different age categories and are formed according to their own rules.

Types of thinking and their characteristics, table

A person perceives structured information better, so some information about the types of cognitive process of cognition of reality and their description will be presented systematically.

The best way to help you understand what types of thinking are and their characteristics is a table.

Visual-effective thinking, description

In psychology, much attention is paid to the study of thinking as the main process of cognition of reality. After all, this process develops differently for each person, it works individually, and sometimes the types of thinking and their characteristics do not correspond to age standards.

For preschoolers, visual and effective thinking comes first. It begins its development in infancy. Descriptions by age are presented in the table.

Age period	Characteristics of thinking
Infancy	In the second half of the period (from 6 months), perception and action develop, which form the basis for the development of this type of thinking. At the end of infancy, the child can solve basic problems based on the manipulation of objects	An adult hides a toy in right hand. The baby first opens the left one, and after failure, reaches for the right one. Having found a toy, he rejoices at the experience. He learns about the world in a visually effective way.
Early age	By manipulating things, the child quickly learns important connections between them. This age period is a vivid representation of the formation and development of visual and effective thinking. Kid performs external indicative actions by which he actively explores the world.	While collecting a full bucket of water, the child noticed that he reached the sandbox with an almost empty bucket. Then, while manipulating the bucket, he accidentally closes the hole, and the water remains at the same level. Perplexed, the baby experiments until he understands that to maintain the water level it is necessary to close the hole.
Preschool age	During this period, this type of thinking gradually passes into the next, and already at the end of the age stage the child masters verbal thinking.	First, to measure the length, the preschooler takes a paper strip, applying it to everything that is interesting. This action is then transformed into images and concepts.

Visual-figurative thinking

Types of thinking in psychology and their characteristics occupy an important place, since the age-related formation of other cognitive processes depends on their development. With each age stage more and more mental functions involved in the development of the process of cognition of reality. In visual-figurative thinking, imagination and perception play almost a key role.

Characteristic	Combinations	Transformations
This type of thinking is represented certain operations with images. Even if we don’t see something, we can recreate it in our minds through this type of thinking. The child begins to think this way in the middle of preschool age (4-6 years). An adult also actively uses this type.	We can get a new image through combinations of objects in the mind: a woman, choosing clothes for going out, imagines in her mind how she will look in a certain blouse and skirt or dress and scarf. This is the action of visual-figurative thinking.	Also, a new image is obtained through transformations: when looking at a flowerbed with one plant, you can imagine how it will look with a decorative stone or many different plants.

Verbal and logical thinking

It is carried out using logical manipulations with concepts. Such operations are designed to find something in common between different objects and phenomena in society and our environment. Here images take a secondary place. In children, the beginnings of this type of thinking occur at the end of the preschool period. But the main development of this type of thinking begins at primary school age.

Age	Characteristic
Junior school age	When a child enters school, he already learns to operate with elementary concepts. The main basis for operating them are: everyday concepts - elementary ideas about objects and phenomena based on own experience outside the school walls; scientific concepts are the highest conscious and arbitrary conceptual level. At this stage, intellectualization of mental processes occurs.
Adolescence	During this period, thinking takes on a qualitatively different color - reflection. Theoretical concepts are already assessed by the teenager. In addition, such a child can be distracted from visual material, reasoning logically in verbal terms. Hypotheses appear.
Adolescence	Thinking based on abstraction, concepts and logic becomes systematic, creating an internal subjective model of the world. At this age stage, verbal and logical thinking becomes the basis of the young person’s worldview.

Empirical thinking

The characteristics of the main types of thinking include not only the three types described above. This process is also divided into empirical or theoretical and practical.

Theoretical thinking represents the knowledge of rules, various signs, and the theoretical basis of basic concepts. Here you can build hypotheses, but test them in practice.

Practical thinking

Practical thinking involves transforming reality, adjusting it to your goals and plans. It is limited in time, there is no opportunity to study many options for testing various hypotheses. Therefore, for a person it opens up new opportunities for understanding the world.

Types of thinking and their characteristics depending on the tasks being solved and the properties of this process

They also divide types of thinking depending on the tasks and the subjects of the tasks. The process of cognition of reality happens:

• intuitive;
• analytical;
• realistic;
• autistic;
• egocentric;
• productive and reproductive.

Every person has all these types to a greater or lesser extent.

Human mental activity is multifaceted. After all, each of us has to face a variety of tasks that require our own, special approach. Imaginative thinking is directly related to a person’s perception of objects real world. It occurs in close interaction with other mental processes - memory, attention, imagination.

Does every person have the ability to think figuratively?

The development of imaginative thinking is of interest to many, but there are adults who are not confident in their abilities. It is necessary to understand that in human thinking some processes are carried out visually. Sometimes a person realizes that he is operating with his past perceptions, their memories, as real objects. To evaluate this feature, you can answer the following three questions:

• What material were your favorite shoes made of when you were 15? What did they feel like?
• How many windows do your grandmother (your grandfather, second cousin) have in the village house?
• What it will look like latin letter S, if it is “mirrored” in the opposite direction?

Usually people who answer the first of these questions imagine the shoes they wore in adolescence, “touching” its surface with your mind’s eye. As for the second question, a person usually retrieves the image of this house from memory, “walks around” it, counting the windows. As for the letter S, usually in the process of mentally “mirroring” it, a person mentally rotates it and “looks” at the result. These examples show that the process of reproducing images involves the same mental processes.

Imaginative thinking in preschool children

Visual-figurative thinking is the main type of thinking in a child in preschool age. It is with its help that the baby performs most operations. By the time a child enters this period of development, he can only perform those tasks that can be done with a tool or with his hands. Such actions are aimed at achieving immediate results. As a child develops, his actions become more and more complex. Problems of another type arise in which the result of the baby’s activity will not be direct, but will be indirect. The simplest example is throwing a ball against a wall. The ball is thrown so that the child can then catch it again. The same tasks in which the result of actions is indirect include playing with a construction set, mechanical toys, etc.

Development of visual-figurative thinking in children - important task. After all, in order to solve complex problems, you cannot do without the ability to manage images. Also this type thinking teaches the child to respond to images presented by the outside world. Therefore, for a preschooler, the development of imaginative thinking is the key to successful learning in junior classes. In middle preschool age, children learn to hold images in their imagination. various items, pin templates. For example, a cucumber is associated with an oval shape, a square with the shape of a table surface.

Simple ways to develop imagination in preschoolers

The most simple methods the development of visual-figurative thinking in preschool children is:

• Observation of beautiful landscapes.
• Excursions to various art exhibitions.
• Travel in which the parent will tell you in detail about the natural monument.
• Puzzles different levels complexity.
• Making crafts from colored cardboard and appliques.
• Drawing using both the dominant and non-dominant hand.

Origami

Making paper figures is very popular among parents and teachers. This requires only a few items - cardboard, paper, scissors. As a rule, young children are not very interested complex process folding the paper until you see the result. Therefore, it’s good for an adult to start by demonstrating the “miracles” of this type of craft.

Modeling from plasticine

This is one of the simplest and most fun ways to develop creative thinking for kids. Modeling allows you to develop not only your imagination, but also fine motor skills. Even if the child can make the simplest products - “buns”, “carrots”, “balls”, the most important thing is that the activity arouses interest in him. Plasticine should be soft and pliable. Can this material be replaced? polymer clay or offer your child modeling from salt dough.

Imaginative thinking. Junior school

As the child gets older, he gradually ceases to rely on visual images in his thinking. The possibilities of thinking become more and more broad, the baby learns to give more and more broad characteristics to objects. He learns to operate with different images in memory, transform them - for example, connect objects and separate them in his imagination. Various games contribute to the development of logical and imaginative thinking:

• Board games(for example, dominoes, lotto). Special puzzles can also arouse your child’s interest.
• Reading various children's books, colorful magazines with interesting descriptions, encyclopedias.
• Creative work: drawing, macrame, creating appliqués. Modeling also helps the development of imaginative thinking in schoolchildren.
• Watching cartoons and films about the world around you.
• Family holidays, travel.
• Walks in nature.

Good exercise for the development of visual-figurative thinking of preschoolers is the game “What does it look like?” It allows the child to learn to approach problems in an original and creative way. The task is that for each picture (circle, square, triangle, spiral, or abstract drawing) you need to come up with as many associations as possible. This exercise is good to do in a group of children. This game is good for developing creative thinking in junior schoolchildren.

Why is imaginative thinking necessary for adults?

Developed imaginative thinking is necessary in many professions - for example, designers cannot do without it. The phrase “draw me something bright and memorable” should not confuse the employee; on the contrary, these words should be a catalyst for mental activity. Working on imaginative thinking helps develop analytical abilities. Exercises for developing such skills will be useful not only for workers in creative professions, but also for all those who would like to broaden their horizons.

Imaginative thinking: how to develop as an adult

Before starting the exercises, an adult needs to believe in himself, throw away the idea that he does not have a well-developed sense of humor, creativity, or imagination. Everyone has all these abilities - it’s just that, most likely, they ended up on the “outskirts” of consciousness.

Direct evidence that every person has imagination is the ability to recall visual images. Everyone remembers what their parent, girlfriend or boyfriend looks like. A person is also able to describe the features of the nearest metro station or favorite place in the city. You don’t need to spend a long time doing exercises to develop imaginative thinking in order to restore in your memory the small details of your favorite places, remember what houses and streets look like hometown. So, you can make an imaginary “travel” in time and again find yourself captivated by vivid memories. Therefore, you just need to work a little to expand the space of your imagination.

Fantasy binomial

A good way to develop imaginative thinking is an exercise called “Fantasy Binomial”. Its author is the famous storyteller Gianni Rodari. It must be said that the technique is suitable for both adults and children. The writer explains: ordinary associations do not develop imagination. For example, the phrase “horse - dog” does not give room for imagination, being just a mention of animals from the same semantic series.

Gianni Rodari's method promotes the development of artistic and imaginative thinking. The “binomial of fantasy” should ideally be determined by chance. For example, you can open a book at random (or different books) on different pages. You can combine two excerpts of phrases from advertising.

Storyteller's experiment

Gianni Rodari remembers experimenting with children in class with the randomly chosen word “wardrobe.” Taken separately, it would hardly be able to evoke any emotions - no one would laugh or cry when thinking about the closet. However, if you connect the concept of “closet” with the concept of “dog”, then everything becomes completely different. The easiest way to link these two images together is to use prepositions. For example, “dog in the closet”, “dog on the closet”. Then the imagination will suggest various images - it could be a dog running with its own booth on its back along the street. Or a dog who has a personal closet with different outfits.

Other methods

Some more ways to develop creative thinking:

• Working with droodles - doodles with many meanings that need to be described. Such pictures are reminiscent of the doodles that a person draws while talking on the phone or listening to a boring lecture. However, the droodle has one peculiarity - its creators initially put meaning into it. In the picture below you can see droodles, which contribute to the development of imaginative thinking.

• Another way is to try to reproduce in your imagination the objects you just saw. A game called “Matches” helps a lot. To carry it out, you need to throw five matches on the table, look at them, turn away, and at the other end of the table depict their location with other five matches. It may not work at first, but practice will bring results over time. Each time you need to try to spend less time on playback. When it starts to work out, the number of matches can be increased.
• You can also come up with new functions for already familiar objects. For example, in the usual lace or nylon tights you can dry onions, use them as a decorative element for decorating flower pots, and make dolls from them.
• Another good way- this is a selection of epithets and anti-epithets for a word. To complete this exercise, you need to write down any word in the center of a sheet of paper, with right side- those definitions that suit him. On the left - place words that cannot be used in any way with this object or phenomenon. As an example, consider the word “person”. A person can be free, smart, rich, thin, advanced, etc. Definitions that do not fit this word are ancient, refractory, liquid, pointed.
• You can try to replay your last meeting with friends or colleagues. In the process of remembering, you need to try to remember: how many people were in the company? What were they wearing? What dishes were on the table? What was the conversation about, what topics were discussed? What experiences accompanied this meeting?

These exercises can be transformed at your discretion. The main thing about them is that these methods involve imaginative thinking. The more often you perform the exercises, the more this mental property will develop.