The document discusses various aspects of thinking and problem-solving. It defines thinking as a complex mental activity that involves solving problems through trial and error. Concept formation and reasoning are described as important parts of thinking. Concepts are formed through perception, analysis, comparison and synthesis. Reasoning involves reaching conclusions by applying concepts to new problems. Problem-solving is explained as addressing difficulties to satisfy needs, and can occur through instinct, trial-and-error, insight, learning from others, and using the scientific method. Higher levels of complex problem-solving involve solving multiple interconnected problems.

2. THINKING
Thinking which a complex
mental activity is, cannot
be easily separated from
learning and memorizing.

3. DEFINITION
According to Warren: “Thinking is an
activity concerning ideas. It is symbolic
in character, initiated by a problem or
task which the individual is facing,
involving some trial and error but
under the directing influence of that
problem and ultimately leading to a
conclusion or solution of the problem.”

4. THINKING CON.
Thus, the activity of thinking originates
from some problems and involves the
response of the individual to this
problem.
The solution of the problem takes place
internally and not in the form of
external activities.

5. THINKING CON.
Thinking continues till the person becomes
tired by this effort.
There cannot be any thinking in the absence
of some problem.
Problems in human life come in a never-
ending stream and they have to be solved
by thinking.
Some problems are theoretical while others
are practical.

6. NATURE OF THINKING
Thinking, the mental solution of
problems, requires the use of the
symbols instead of the objects.
Thinking involves the solution of
problems by employing the trial
and error method.

7. NATURE OF THINKING
There is a kind of flow in the activity
of thinking, one problem leading to
the thinking of another by
reminding the person of that other
problem.
Thus many things come to the
thinker’s mind when he is thinking.

8. NATURE OF THINKING
The instruments of thinking,
images, imaginations signs,
indications and such like are
also internal.
Thinking continues to be an
internal activity unless and until
it takes the form of verbal
thinking.

9. INSTRUMENTS OF THINKING
Thinking calls for the assistance
of percepts, images, concepts,
signs and formulae, of which it
makes abundant use.
These are the essential
instruments of thinking.

10. Perception
Percepts are important factors are thinking, affording
material to it.
They also stimulate thinking.
Suppose we have seen our friend stealing something.
The perception will set us thinking in order to discover
ways and means of preventing out friend from this
bad act.

11. Image
Image, too, is a kind of symbol which
includes the faint recollection of
perceptions.
Past experiences of an individual move
around in our mind in the form of
images.
Images may be recalled through a
conscious effort but they also flash on
the mind involuntarily.

12. Concept
Concepts are the abstract forms of past
experiences.
A concept is a general idea and, as the
example makes clear, it is founded upon
perception.
The concept of humanity cannot be formed
without the perception of human beings,
because humanity is the common element
in the perception of human being.

13. Symbols
Concepts are made use of in
thinking mainly with the help of
symbols, which are representatives
of general thoughts.
The image of a dog is a symbol of
dogs in general.

14. Signs
Symbols and signs are intimately related.
Symbols change to signs.
In daily behavior symbols are used
extensively in the form of signs.
The whistle of the watchman is a sign of his
presence, and the green flag is a sign of the
departure of the train.

15. Formula
Besides the symbols and signs, the use
of formulae also results in the
economy of time and energy.
One small formula contains a world of
meaning.
Comprehensive use of formula is made
in arithmetic and science.

16. FAVORABLE CONDITIONS IN THINKING
1.Interest and attention
2.Strong Motivation
3.Alertness and flexibility
4.Time limit should not be rigid
5.Wide range of wisdom
6.Incubation

17. ELEMENTS WHICH OBSTRUCT THINKING
1.Emotion
1.Suggestion
2.Prejudice

18. CONCEPT FORMATION
Concept formation is the most
complex process.
We make use of concepts all the
time because it helps us think
efficiently.
Psychology call it a process.

19. CONCEPT FORMATION
A new born baby does not have any
concepts.
These are learnt gradually over days.
Weeks or over years.
We are all the time making use of
concepts but it is not easy to
describe its meaning.

20. THE MAIN FEATURES OF CONCEPT
• Concepts help in thinking.
• We classify objects on the basis of
concepts.
• Concepts can be simple as well as complex.
• It is a way of grouping or organizing.
• We can differentiate between objects on the
basis of concepts.
• We modify concepts according to our
experiences.

21. CHARACTERISTICS OF CONCEPTS
• Concepts are related to thinking and
they are part of thinking.
• Concepts help us to think more
efficiently.
• Concepts also give meaning to new
experiences.
• Concepts also allow us to generalize,
to differentiate and to think abstractly.

22. CHARACTERISTICS OF CONCEPTS
• Past experiences play a very important role
in concept formation.
• As concepts are symbolic representations,
they are based on the characteristics of the
objects or situations which are not always
present at the movement.
• They are associated with objects, persons,
qualities or relationships.

23. CONCEPT FORMATION
The formation of concepts starts with
the inception of the activity of thinking
in the child because; thinking is not
possible without concepts.
As the child comes into contact with new
objects, new concepts take form in his
mind and develop.

24. CONCEPT FORMATION
At the outset of this origin and development
of concepts.
The child adds the concepts of natural
things which he had perceived, to the
concepts of living creatures.
He thinks about the starts and the moon in
the same manner in which he thinks about
human beings.

25. THE ACTIVITIES TAKE PART IN THE FORMATION OF CONCEPTS
1.Perception
The formation of concepts or
conception starts with perception.
2. Analysis
Analysis of the traits of the concepts
is second step towards concept
formation

26. THE ACTIVITIES TAKE PART IN THE FORMATION OF CONCEPTS
3. Comparison
This comparison supplies us with the
knowledge of the similarity or identity
and dissimilarity or diversity of human
beings.
4. Synthesis
The next step, after analysis, is the
synthesis of similar traits for concept
formation.

27. THE ACTIVITIES TAKE PART IN THE FORMATION OF CONCEPTS
5. Naming
Naming is the final step in concept
formation and as every concept
has a name, naming of every
concept is essential; consequently,
after synthesis each concept gets a
name.

28. REASONING
Man’s life is an endless stream of problems, for
which the individual has no ready-made formula
or solution.
Being unequipped with the proper solution, he
requires thinking and reasoning before he can
solve the problem.
Reasoning is the highest form of thinking that
needs a well-organized brain.

29. REASONING
The process of reasoning
requires two conditions- first,
that the person’s mind should
have completely formed
concepts, and second, that he
should be endowed with the
power of reaching decisions.

30. REASONING
In the process of reasoning, the
individual reasons from the past
known circumstances to the
present or future unknown
conditions on the basis of past
experience.

31. EVOLUTION OF REASONING POWER
In different individuals, the extent of
reasoning ability is different.
Consequently, some individuals find it easier
to solve difficult problems than others.
The power of reasoning gradually develops in
human beings.
As they develop, their ability to reason grows
and becomes stronger.

32. STEPS OF REASONING
John Dewey described
reasoning as speculative
thinking and analyzed it,
describing the following
steps in it.

33. A felt difficulty
An individual starts hence; it is
essential reasoning only when he is
confronted by some specific problem.
Hence, it is essential that he should
experience the presence of some
particular difficulty that requires
solution.
It may be a theoretical or a practical
problem.

34. Locate and define difficulty
The second step in reasoning, after the
presence of a difficulty has been
established, is the location and defining of
it.
For this one is required to analyses the
problem or difficulty and to track it down to
a specific position, besides defining or
elaborating it.
Experience and ability of a student are called
into play in this effort.

35. Locate, evaluate and organize information
Before the individual embarks on
reasoning upon a problem, it is
only natural for him to require
all possible information
concerning it and for this he
must collect such data.

36. Evaluation of hypothesis
In solving problems an individual
proceeds by first forming some
hypothesis, and as new information
continues to pour in, his first
hypothesis is strengthened or is
contradicted, in which case it has to be
discarded in favor of a more
appropriate hypothesis.

37. Apply the solution
The next step is the application of solution or
inference to solving the problem since only then
can the validity of the inference be actually known.
In the foregoing example, concerning the juvenile
delinquent, the teacher utilizes the conclusions he
has reached in trying to cure the child by basing
his cure on them and if the results are satisfactory,
the conclusions have been borne out.

38. PROBLEM-SOLVING
Problem- solving is the framework or pattern
within creative thinking and reasoning take
place.
The state of tension created by unsatisfied
wants drives the individual to exercise his
greatest effort and to use his best
language techniques- observation,
prediction, and inference- to control the
difficulties that hinder progress toward his
goal of want satisfaction.

39. PROBLEM-SOLVING
Successful problem-solving and successful
living is identical.
Culture itself is but a record of how our
ancestors have solved various problems.
People who have learned effective problem-
solving techniques are able to solve
problems at higher levels of complexity than
more intelligent people who have not had
such training.

40. LEVELS OF PROBLEM-SOLVING
There are levels of problem-solving, ranging
from those that involve only simple wants
with the conditions for satisfaction present
and available without much effort, to those
of high-level complexity requiring the
solution of prerequisite problems
intermediate to the satisfaction of the
primary want.

41. LEVELS OF PROBLEM-SOLVING
For example, a simple problem is to
satisfy the desire for a drink of water,
which can be obtained at a nearby
drinking fountain.
A more complex problem may involve
the want to install a water system in the
middle of a desert where a mineral
deposit may have been discovered.

42. Unlearned or “instinctive” problem-solving behavior
Some lower animals appear to satisfy
their wants in blind, mechanical ways
that are determined, not by the peculiar
conditions of the environment at the
moment, but by the inherited organic
structure of the environment at the
moment, but by the inherited organic
structure of the organism itself.

43. UNLEARNED OR “INSTINCTIVE” PROBLEM-SOLVING BEHAVIOR
The animals is so constructed that it
reacts to its wants in certain fixed
ways, whether or not those ways are
appropriate for the immediate
occasion.
These fixed ways if behavior are
apparently unlearned, and vary little
from individual to individual in the
same species.

44. Trail-and- error problem-solving behavior
One of the earliest experimental
studies of problem-solving was
made by Thorndike. He placed a
hungry cat in a closed cage, and a
plate of food just outside.
The cat could escape from the cage,
and a plate of food just outside.

45. TRAIL-AND- ERROR PROBLEM-SOLVING BEHAVIOR
The cat could escape from the cage through a
door by pulling a string extending from the
latch to a position insider the cage.
The motive or drive was hunger; the goal was
the plate of food outside the door.
The solution was to pull [by clawing or
scratching] the string, and thereby release
the door.

46. Insight problem-solving behavior
Wolfgang Kohler performed problem-solving
experiments with chimpanzees, at a German
anthropoid experimental station on an
island off the west coast of Africa, which
have become almost classic.
Using hunger as a motive and food as a goal,
he devised simple problems that could be
“figured out” by the animal.

47. INSIGHT PROBLEM-SOLVING BEHAVIOR
One experiment involved
suspending food from the roof of a
cage beyond reach of the animal
and then placing a sick in the cage
beyond reach of the animal and
then placing a stick in the cage that
could be used as a tool to reach
the food.

48. Vicarious problem-solving behavior
As far as is known, no infra-human
animal can respond to absent situation
as though they are present.
Apparently, only man can re-create the
past, extend his sensory range far
beyond nature’s limitations, and
accurately predict consequences that
have yet to occur.

49. VICARIOUS PROBLEM-SOLVING BEHAVIOR
No lower animal is able to live in a
vicarious world composed of
elements that are actually remote
in both time and apace.
Man’s superiority in this respect is
due to his ability to use what de
Laguna has called “Predicated
language.”

50. THE SCIENTIFIC PARADIGM OF PROBLEM-SOLVING
Perhaps man’s greatest use of sentence
language has been the system that he has
developed for its application to problem-
solving.
It is not language alone that enables man to
control the problems of his environment,
but also the way in which he uses language.
Two men of equal ability with language may
not be equal in their ability to solve
problems.

51. THE SCIENTIFIC PARADIGM OF PROBLEM-SOLVING
One may have a better method of using his
language, and thus far excel the other.
One of the most significant respects in which
civilizations and cultures differ is in their methods
of solving the problems of environmental
adjustment.
Distinctively characteristic of the modern world is its
method of solving problems through employment
of the scientific method.