Thinking, also known as 'cognition', refers to the ability to process information, hold attention, store and retrieve memories and select appropriate responses and actions. The ability to understand other people, and express oneself to others can also be categorised under thinking.Thought (also called thinking) is the mental process in which beings form psychological associations and models of the world. Thinking is manipulating information, as when we form concepts, engage in problem solving, reason and make decisions. Thought, the act of thinking, produces more thoughts.

1. THINKING
Ms. Sadaf Rehman
Riphah International University

2. Definition
 The mind is the idea while thinking
processes of the brain involved in
processing information such as when
form concepts, engage in problem
solving, to reason and make decisions.

3. Cont..
 Thinking is all the mental activities associated
with processing, understanding and
communicating information”.

4. Cont..
 Thinking is an activity concerning ideas,
symbolic in character initiated by a problem or
task which the individual is facing, involving
some trial & error but under the directing
influence of that problem & ultimately leading
to a conclusion or solution of the problem.

5. Cont..
 People are think-that’s obvious.
 Human are rational beings & our rationality
consists in our ability to think & reason.
 It is because of our capacity for better thinking
that we are superior to other animals in
learning & in making adjustment.
 During most of our waking hours, & even when
we are asleep & dreaming, we are thinking,
what are you thinking about right now.

6. Some limit in the definition of
thinking is as follows:
 Thinking is the activity of human reason as a
process of strengthening the relationship between
stimulus and response.
 Thinking is a reasonable working of various views
with the knowledge that has been stored in the mind
long before the emergence of new knowledge.
 Thinking can be interpreted to remember
something, and questioned whether there is a
relationship between what is intended.

7. Cont..
 Thinking is processing information mentally or
cognitively by rearranging the information from the
environment and the symbols are stored in the memory of
his past.
 Thinking is a symbolic representation of some event train
of ideas in a precise and careful that began with the
problem.
 Thinking is a mental process mental representations
newly formed through the transformation of information
by interaction, attributes such as the assessment of mental
abstraction, logic, imagination and problem-solving.

8. Nature of thinking
 It is essentially a cognitive activity
 It is always directed to achieve some end or
purpose.
 It is described as a problem-solving behavior.
 It is a symbolic activity.
 It is mental exploration instead of motor
exploration.
 It can shift very rapidly.
 It is internal activity.

9. Types of thinking
1. Perceptual or concrete thinking
2. Conceptual or abstract thinking
3. Creative thinking
4. Logical thinking/ reasoning
5. Problem solving
6. Convergent VS Divergent thinking

10. 1. Perceptual or Concrete Thinking
 It is based on perception
 Perception is the process of interpretation of
sensation according to one’s experience.
 It is also called concrete thinking as it is carried over
the perception of actual or concrete & events.
 It is one dimensional & Literal thinking which has
limited use of metaphor without understanding
nuances of meaning.
 Being the simplest form of thinking, small children
are mostly benefitted by this type of thinking.

11. 2. Conceptual or Abstract thinking
 It does not require the perception of actual objects or
events.
 It is also called abstract thinking as it makes the use of
concepts or abstract ideas.
 It is superior to perceptual thinking’s as it economizes
efforts in understanding & help in discovery &
invention.
 It is multidimensional thinking with ability to use
metaphors & hypotheses appropriately.
 Language plays an important part in conceptual
thinking.

12. 3. Creative thinking
 It refers to ability for original thinking, to create or
discover something new.
 It is the ability to integrate the various elements of the
situation into a harmonious whole to create something
novel.
 In other words, cognitive activity directed towards
some creative work refers to creative thinking.
 Creative thinkers are great boons to the society as they
enrich the knowledge of mankind.
 The creative thinker tries to achieve something new, to
produce something original & something unique.

13. 4. Logical Thinking/Reasoning
 It is the cognitive process of looking for reasons for
beliefs, conclusion, actions or feelings.
 It is the process of drawing conclusions based on
evidence.
 It is form of controlled thinking in which the thought
process is directed consciously towards the solutions of
a problem.
 Reasoning is the highest form of thinking to find out
causes & predict effects.
 An individual tries to solve a problem by incorporating
two or more aspects of his past experience.

14. It is classified into:
 Inductive Reasoning:
this is process of reasoning from parts to the
whole, from specific to generalizations. It is carried
out generally within the field known as informal logic
or critical thinking.
 Deductive Reasoning:
this moves from the whole to part, from
generalization to underlying concepts to examples.
Formal logic is described as “the science of
deduction”

15. Abductive Reasoning:
 It is cognitive process often involves both inductive
& deductive arguments.

16. 5. Problem solving
 It is a tool skill & solving.
 It is a tool because it can help you solve an immediate problem or
to achieve a goal.
 It is a skill because once you have learnt it you can use it
repeatedly, like the ability to ride a bicycle, add numbers or speak
a language.
 It is also a process because it involve taking a number of steps.
 You can engage in problem solving if you want to reach a goal &
experience obstacles on the way.
 At the point at which you come up against a barrier you can
engage in a problem solving process to help you achieve your
goal.

17. Cont…
 Every time you use a problem solving process, you
are increasing you problem solving skill.
 A seven-step problem solving cycles:
 Identify the problem]explore the problem
 Set goals
 Look at alternatives
 Select a possible solution
 Implement a possible solution
 Evaluation

18. 6. Convergent Vs Divergent
Thinking
 Convergent thinking is cognitive processing of
information around a common point, an attempt to
bring thoughts from different directions into a
union for common conclusion.
 Divergent thinking starts from a common point &
moves outward into a variety of perspectives. E.g:
teachers use the content as vehicle to prompt
diverse or unique thinking among students rather
than a common view.

19. Thinking process
1. Understanding the formation.
Understanding, formed through the three
stages as follows:
a) Analysis of the characteristics of similar
objects. These objects we look at the
elements – elements one by one. For
example, or set up a human sense.

20. Cont..
b. Comparison. Compare these features to be found
traits- traits which are the same, which is not the
same, which is always there and which ones do
not always exist where the essential and which are
not essential.
c. Abstraction. That is set aside, dispose, traits that
are not essential, capturing the essential
characteristics.

21. 2. Opinion Formation
 Formation of opinion is to put the relationship
between two terms or more. The opinions
expressed in the language called the sentence,
which consists of basic sentence or the title or
subject and predicate. Furthermore, the opinion can
be divided into three kinds:
a) Affirmation or positive opinion, the opinion
which declares a state of something, for example
Franzel was clever, and as well as Yyah… and so
on.

22. Cont..
b. Negative Opinion, The repeal that opinion,
which clearly explains the absence of anything else
on the nature of things: For example Mikkha is ugly
and so skinny.
c. Modalities. That opinion stating opinion- the
possibility of something on the nature of thing: for
example it might rain today, Miles might not come.
And so on.

23. 3. Conclusion withdrawal or
Establishment Decision
 The decision is the result of the act makes sense to
form a new opinion based on the opinions that
already exist. There are three kinds of conclusion,
i.e.
a) Inductive inference the decisions taken from
the opinion- Opinion toward a particular public
opinion.

24. Cont..
b. Deductive Conclusions
Deductive decision drawn from the general to the
specific, so in contrast to inductive decision.
c. Conclusion analogical – The decision is a decision
that analogical obtained by comparing or customize
with specific opinions that already exist.

25. Development of Thinking
 Piaget argued that the logical way of thinking
evolved gradually, at about the age of two years
and in about seven years. Piaget explained,
thinking children did not like thinking adults.
Children’s minds seem to be different with a larger
person. Children seem to solve the problem in an
entirely different level. Differences children have
more knowledge, but because they are different
kinds of knowledge, the present invention Piaget
began studying the development of mental
structure.

26. Developmental Stages according to
Piaget
 1. Sensory Motor Stage
lasts from birth until the age of 2 years. At this
stage, infants build an understanding of the world by
coordinating the experiences of sensors (such as
seeing and hearing) with physical motor actions, the
so-called sensory motor. At the beginning of this
stage, the newborn has a little more than a reflex
patterns.

27. 2. Pre-Operational Stage
 Lasted roughly from age 2 to 7 years. At this stage,
children begin to describe the world with words
and pictures. Symbolic thinking beyond the simple
relationship between the sensor information and
physical action. However, even preschoolers can
symbolically depicts the world, according to Piaget,
they are still not able to implement what is called
“surgery” – and internalized mental actions that
allow the children to do mentally what was
previously done physically.

28. 3.Concrete Operational Stage
 Lasted roughly from ages 7-11 years. At this stage
children can carry out operations, and logical
reasoning replaces intuitive thought as far as
thought can be applied to the specific examples or
concrete. For example, concrete operational
thinking can not imagine the steps necessary to
solve an algebra problem, which is too vague to be
considered at this stage of development.

29. 4. Formal Operational Stage
 It appears from the age of 11-15 years. At this stage the
individual beyond the real world, concrete experiences
and think in abstract and more logical. As part of a more
abstract thinking, adolescents develop a picture of an
ideal state. They can think what kind of parents the ideal
and compare their parents with this ideal standard. They
began to prepare for the possibilities for the future and
in awe of what they can do. In solving the problem, the
formal operational thinker is more systematically,
develop hypotheses about why things happen like that,
then test this hypothesis by way of deductive reasoning.

30. Way to Improve Thinking
1. Keep yourself only with current project:
 Clutter creates confusion.
 Get organized & work with a fresh canvas.
 On an average, we spend about 45 minutes a day
looking for things e.g; where are keys”
 Keep only the current project you are working on
in front of you.

31. 2. Dedicate an hour of focus time to your most
important task:
 Multi-tasking is highly over-rated & causes a loss
of up to 40% efficiency.
 Get yourself one hour of focused seclusion to work
on your important task.
 It will increase both productivity, creativity &
morale.

32. 3. Stir up your visual & creative talents with
exposure to the arts:
 Go to a gallery, pick up an art book or spend
time with mature.

33. 4. Learn how to “mind map”
 This is a best practice that allows you to visualize &
map your projects & strategies.
 It is also a life saving memory device that will help you
remember more & organize your thinking.
5. Finally, on the hour--- stop thinking
 When you have been working on something for more
than an hour, you start loosing concentration & focus.
 So, stop, get up & walk around & then go back to your
work.

34. Thank You