Thinking is the process of consciously generating and manipulating ideas in the mind. It allows humans to solve problems, learn new information, understand concepts, and process experiences. There are several theories of thinking including behaviorist, cognitive, and humanist theories. Thinking can take different forms such as perceptual, conceptual, logical, critical, creative, and innovative thinking. Problem solving follows defined steps and is a tool, skill, and process for achieving goals or solving problems.

1. Thinking

2. Thinking

3. Thinking
 Thinking in psychology is the process of consciously
generating and manipulating thoughts and ideas in the
mind.
 Thinking is an essential process for humans. It allows us
to solve problems, learn new information, understand
concepts, and process our experiences.
 Thinking involves the entire process
of learning, remembering, and organizing mentally to
understand the information better and recall it later.

4. Nature of thinking
 It is essentially a cognitive activity
 It is always directed to achieve some end or purpose
 It is describe as a problem solving behavior
 It is a symbolic activity
 it can shift very rapidly

5. Thinking
 Thinking can refer to the act of producing thoughts or the
process of producing thoughts
 Thinking is the ultimate cognitive activity, consciously
using our brain to make sense of the world around us and
decide how to respond to it
 Thought can refer to the ideas or arrangements of ideas
that result from thinking
 A thought may be an idea, an image, a sound or even an
emotional feeling

6.  Thinking allows humans to make sense
of interpret, represent
or model the world they experience,
and to make predictions
about that world
 In spite of the fact that thought
is a fundamental human activity
familiar to everyone, there is no
generally accepted agreement
as to what thought is or how it is created

7. Theories and Models of Thinking
 Behaviorist Theory
 Behaviorists view thinking as something that produces a measureable change in an
individual’s actions. Since thinking takes place as a result of reacting to external
stimuli in this model
 Pavlov’s famous experiment about dogs salivating when they would hear the dinner
bell ring is an example of behaviorist theory
 Cognitive Theory
Cognitive theorists such as Piaget and Gagne argue that thinking and learning are
internal mental actions that take place in the brain and include sensory
perception, processing of information, applying and combining information, and
memory

8.  Humanist Theory
 In the humanist model, the purpose of thinking is to fulfill an individual’s potential.
As such, the acts of thinking and learning are always personal, not institutional.
 Also known as “whole child” theory, humanists advise that the purpose of
education is to develop a self-motivated, autonomous individual who can think and
learn on his own

10. Different Types of Thinking
 Perceptual Thinking- This is the simplest type of thinking.
The basic of this type of thinking is perception.
This type of thinking is mostly seen in animals, Children .
 Conceptual thinking consists of the ability to find
connections or patterns between abstract ideas and then piece
them together to form a complete picture

11.  Logical Thinking
It aims at solving complex problems rather than simple
problem.it requires organization of all the relevant experiences and
finding new way of reacting to the situation.
 Critical thinking – Critical thinking is an higher order well
disciplined thought process.it is used in solving critical
problems. E.g. Nurse

12.  Creative thinking – This type of thinking aims at crating something
new. In this the individual himself formulates the problem and free to
invent tools for the solution. E.g. Scientist
 Innovative thinking involves generating new ideas or new ways of
approaching things to create possibilities and opportunities

13.  Convergent Thinking: Convergent thinking is the
process of coming up with the best answer to a question
using our memory, resources around us, or logic
 Many Solution
 Divergent Thinking: Divergent thinking is the exact
opposite of convergent thinking. It involves coming up
to solutions, paths forward or new ideas when there is
no single correct answer
 Single standard solution

14. Problem solving
 It is a tool, skill and process
 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, speak a
language
 It is also a process because it involves thinking a number
of steps
 Every time you use problem solving process, you are
increasing your problem solving skills

15. Steps in problem solving-
cycles
1. Identify the problem
2. Explore the problem
3. Set goals
4. Look at alternatives
5. Select a possible solution
6. Implement a possible solution
7. Evaluation