Thinking and language can be summarized in 3 sentences: Thinking, also called cognition, involves mental processes like forming concepts, using symbols and images, and different types of thinking such as directed and nondirected thought. Problem solving uses strategies like working forward or backward with subgoals, while creativity allows for novel ideas through flexibility, recombination of old ideas, and insights. Language is a system of symbols and rules that develops from babbling to single words to full sentences as children acquire vocabulary and learn the structure of phonemes, morphemes and syntax in their language.