We often hear discussions like this: Why was a certain child so smart when they were little but couldn't keep up in middle school, high school, college or in society? There are many possible reasons. One important factor may be that the child's thinking skills did not improve as they got older.
So what exactly are "thinking skills"? What thinking skills does a person need to become an adult? How can thinking skills be trained? This article will explore and answer these questions.
Thinking skills refer to humans' ability to think, reason, solve problems and come up with creative ideas. They are abilities that individuals show in the process of cognition, involving various cognitive and psychological processes. Thinking skills depend on two basic elements: thinking modes and proficiency/flexibility. Thinking modes are the basic forms or strategies of thinking and represent a person's cognitive methods and thinking paths. Thinking skills develop on the basis of applying these basic modes and refer to the degree of proficiency and flexibility in their application. Thinking modes are relatively stable for individuals. From childhood, humans gradually form their own thinking modes based on innate thinking frameworks, commonly known as "giftedness". As people develop, they gradually establish their own cognitive tendencies. Therefore, in general, after adulthood it is difficult for humans to fundamentally change their thinking modes. Thinking skills, on the other hand, are gradually cultivated through constant learning and practice based on existing thinking modes. Individuals can grasp multiple thinking modes at the same time. Thinking skills are reflected in the selection and application of thinking modes. They require a clear understanding of different modes and the ability to appropriately choose modes based on specific situations. This requires strong discriminative and control abilities for various modes and their applicable scenarios. Thinking skills also depend on the accumulation of knowledge and experience as well as proficient mastery of relevant skills. These provide rich materials and means for applying thinking modes.
Thinking skills show how smart someone is and can be improved through practice. For example:
1. Logic reasoning: Skills like analyzing, guessing, grouping and explaining are used to understand problems, find rules and connections, and figure out answers.
2. Creative thinking: Coming up with new ways of seeing things, new solutions and unique ideas. It includes thinking in unusual ways, making unexpected links between ideas and using your imagination.
3. Critical thinking: Judging if information is right and can be trusted, challenging assumptions and explanations, and looking at problems from many sides and possible answers.
4. Abstract thinking: Understanding and working with abstract concepts, symbols and models. It means figuring out general rules and principles from specific things.
5. Communication: Clearly and persuasively explaining your thinking, opinions or new ideas to others. It requires organizing certain thinking skills and effectively expressing them through language.
Note: Innate thinking frameworks are the natural basic ways of thinking and understanding the world that humans developed over time through evolution. They are different from what we learn and the experiences we have, and are shared by all humans. The main parts include:
1. Grouping systems. Humans naturally tend to group different things, forming basic ways of understanding the world like biological and numerical groupings.
2. Probability and reasoning. Humans naturally have mechanisms to guess the possibility of things and make logical arguments. These provide a base for further thinking and learning.
3. Space perception. Humans naturally have abilities to perceive space, position and direction. These are a base for navigation and many skills.
4. Number concepts. Humans naturally have abilities to perceive number, size and compare. These are a base for much thinking as well as math abilities.
5. Cause and effect reasoning. Humans naturally tend to reason the cause and effect between events. This is key to explaining the world, predicting outcomes and making choices.
6. Social reasoning. Humans naturally have mechanisms to perceive the intentions and motivations of others and build trust. These are a base for relationships and social activity.
7. Language learning mechanism. Humans naturally have the ability to learn language. This gives humans the inherent abilities for language acquisition and a sense of language.
The above evolved over a long time and are shared ways of thinking and understanding that provide a basic framework for various kinds of further learning, communicating and thinking. They make human thinking styles stable and shared.
So, how strong a person's thinking skills are depends on both mastering different thinking modes and the proficiency and flexibility in applying different thinking modes. The thinking modes we often use include:
1. Inductive thinking: Deriving general laws and concepts from specific facts and examples based on observation and experience. For example, by observing multiple birds, one notices that they all have feathers, wings and beaks, and then induces that birds have these common characteristics.
2. Deductive thinking: Drawing conclusions from known premises and logical rules through reasoning. Deducing specific conclusions from general principles or rules. For example, if the premise is "all humans will die", and a person belongs to humans, then through deductive thinking one can deduce that the person will eventually die.
3. Critical thinking: This thinking achieves clear judgment by raising objections or doubts about a certain view or theory. For example, when learning a theory, one should learn to question it from various angles to avoid easy acceptance and deepen understanding. Critical thinking values independent thinking.
4. Creative thinking: Being able to break away from fixed modes of thinking and flexible adaptation. This thinking is innovative, able to make new judgments based on the situation and avoid fixed thinking modes. For example, when a plan cannot be implemented, it needs to be quickly adjusted. This requires flexible thinking to generate new solutions instead of sticking to the original plan.
5. Logical thinking: Using logical rules and reasoning to process information and problems to ensure consistent and reasonable thinking. For example, when solving a math problem, use logical thinking to apply mathematical principles, rules and formulas to deduce the correct answer. Or, when reacting quickly in a dangerous situation, intuitive thinking can help us make a quick judgment and take appropriate action.
6. Analytical thinking: This thinking understands things by breaking down the whole into parts, focusing on reason and logic. For example, to understand a car, one can analyze the body, engine, transmission, etc. to understand the relationship between them. This helps accurately understand the inherent principles of things.
7. Synthetic thinking: This thinking forms new wholes by associating and combining different elements, rich in creativity. For example, the ancient Chinese invention of nets to catch fish was a combination of lines, knots and poles. This invention required synthetic thinking to create a new tool through new combinations of elements.
8. Analogical thinking: Reasoning and judging one thing based on the similarity between two things. This can produce new insights and discoveries. For example, an analogy exists between circuits and water pipe systems, where the flow of water is like the flow of electricity, so water pipes can be used to illustrate the principle of circuits. This example uses the similarity between the two to generate new understanding.
9. Intuitive thinking: This thinking relies on personal intuition rather than rational analysis. For example, interviewers need to rely on intuitive judgment to determine if a candidate is suitable during an interview, as rational evidence is not always available. This requires the accumulation of relevant experience and intuitive judgment.
10. Reflective thinking: Reflecting and evaluating one's own thinking, beliefs and assumptions to improve the quality of thinking and decision making. For example, after completing an assignment, a student reviews their work to consider how it can be improved to enhance the next performance.
11. Divergent thinking: Extending from one point to many new associations and connections. This thinking is rich in creativity and can produce more new possibilities. For example, creative design requires divergent thinking to generate more new ideas, which helps choose better or more innovative design solutions.
12. Systematic thinking: Looking at things from the perspective of the whole and understanding the interdependence between things. This thinking is macroscopic and comprehensive, focusing on the dynamic relationship between things. For example, to understand the ecological environment, systematic thinking is needed to focus on the dynamic relationship between organisms and the environment rather than isolated individuals. This comprehensively understands the operating laws of the whole system.
So how do you exercise the above thinking modes?
1. Theoretical learning: Learn the theories and characteristics of various thinking modes and understand the differences between different modes. This can deepen the cognition and understanding of various thinking modes and lay the foundation for practical application.
2. Case analysis: Analyze typical cases or examples that use different thinking modes. Understand how different thinking modes work from specific cases to help us flexibly apply them in practice.
3. Scenario simulation: Set up a scenario and then try to use different thinking modes to solve problems or increase creativity. Such simulation practice can make us proficient in applying various thinking modes in different scenarios.
4. Conscious practice: Consciously apply different thinking modes in daily learning and work, and make a self-review and summary after use. This conscious practice can gradually develop the habit of using these modes and continuously improve them in use.
5. Find different perspectives: For the same problem or thing, try to observe and think about it from different angles or perspectives. Different perspectives can stimulate different thinking modes, which helps continuously expand the breadth and depth of thinking.
6. Pay attention to details and observation: Develop the ability to observe and notice details, discover patterns and associations from subtle places. Practice finding and using information and clues hidden beneath the surface.
7. Team discussion: In group discussions, consciously adopt different thinking modes to view problems and put forward opinions. Observe new ideas proposed by others from different thinking modes and discuss the differences and connections between opinions. This can inspire each other to learn and acquire broader ways of thinking in communication.
8. Use tools: Some thinking modes can be enhanced and expanded with the help of specific tools or techniques. For example, divergent thinking can be expressed using mind mapping, and systematic thinking can be demonstrated using system dynamics models. The application of these tools also helps train related thinking modes.
9. Reflection and introspection: Regularly reflect on your own thinking processes and decisions, review your assumptions and beliefs, and evaluate their effectiveness. Look for opportunities for self-improvement and develop more rational and clear thinking.
Can children rely on school education to improve their thinking skills? The answer is: yes and no.
In the long run, offering such courses is undoubtedly beneficial for students to develop cognitive and innovative abilities. It helps students develop a more comprehensive and flexible way of thinking, which is an important ability to adapt to the future development of society. However, unfortunately, most public schools do not currently offer specialized thinking mode courses, mainly for the following reasons:
1. Curriculum arrangements and requirements: School education usually has a set curriculum arrangement and requirements to cover various subjects and knowledge areas. Within the limited curriculum time, schools focus more on imparting subject knowledge and basic skills to meet teaching goals and exam requirements.
2. Focus of curriculum design: School education focuses more on developing students' basic knowledge and subject skills, such as mathematics, science, language, etc. These subject educations aim to provide academic literacy and prepare students for higher education or the job market.
3. Its importance is not fully recognized: The importance of thinking modes has a huge impact on human cognition and creativity, but this impact has not been widely and deeply recognized in the education field. Therefore, there is no strong demand for offering corresponding courses.
4. Teaching methods need to be improved: The development of thinking modes requires a combination of theory and practice, but the traditional test-based teaching evaluation method is not conducive to such comprehensive learning, which also restricts the setting of courses in this area.
5. Lack of teacher training: Offering new thinking mode courses requires teachers with relevant knowledge and teaching skills, but the relevant training and knowledge building of existing teachers still have a lot of room for improvement, which also becomes a limiting factor.
6. Pending curriculum resource development: Developing any new course requires investing considerable time and effort to write teaching materials, cases and other teaching resources. Thinking mode courses are no exception. This also requires a considerable amount of time and effort to promote.
Are there any courses in society that train thinking modes?
In society, there are some courses and training institutions that specialize in training thinking modes. These courses aim to enhance people's thinking skills and cognitive techniques, and develop more flexible and efficient thinking styles when facing problems, making decisions and innovating. Here are some common courses that train thinking modes:
1. Critical thinking courses: These courses aim to develop people's critical thinking skills and teach them how to evaluate the reliability of information, analyze and explain arguments, identify logical errors, and make reasonable arguments and reasoning.
2. Creative thinking courses: These courses encourage people to develop creative thinking skills, stimulate imagination, cultivate innovative thinking and problem-solving skills. The courses may include insightful activities, training in creative techniques and methods to stimulate creativity.
3. Problem solving and decision making courses: These courses are dedicated to developing people's systematic thinking skills in the face of problems and making decisions. Learners will learn problem solving methods and tools, such as systems thinking, decision analysis and decision trees.
4. Cognitive training courses: These courses aim to enhance people's cognitive abilities, including memory, concentration, learning strategies and information processing skills. These courses can help people better understand and apply acquired knowledge.
5. Psychology and neuroscience courses: These courses provide scientific theories and research on human thinking and cognitive processes. Learners will learn psychological theories about thinking modes, memory, learning and decision making, as well as neuroscientific research related to thinking activities.
6. Mind mapping and concept mapping training: These training courses teach learners to use visual tools such as mind maps and concept maps to organize thinking, show associations and enhance thinking flexibility.
These courses and training institutions are usually offered at community education centers, university continuing education departments, professional training institutions or online education platforms. People can choose suitable courses according to their interests and needs to enhance their thinking skills.
Are there some programs for teenagers to train themselves to improve their thinking skills?
1. Problem solving training: Give teenagers a problem scenario and ask them to propose solutions using different thinking modes. For example, use analytical thinking to find the root cause of the problem, analogical thinking to draw on other solutions, and divergent thinking to generate more options. This can cultivate their systematic thinking skills for solving problems.
2. Hypothesis training: Provide a simple story structure and ask teenagers to set new hypotheses from different angles to expand the story. This can stimulate their imagination and use divergent and synthetic thinking to expand their creativity.
3. Theory application: Teach teenagers theoretical knowledge of different thinking modes, and then design scenarios for them to apply theories to solve problems. This can strengthen the combination of theory and practice, and internalize the concept of thinking modes into problem-solving skills.
4. Difference finding: Provide two similar products, opinions or ideas, and ask teenagers to find out their differences and connections. Finding differences from different perspectives requires critical thinking and systems thinking, which can enhance their comprehensive judgment and understanding.
5. Role playing: Design a role that requires different thinking modes, such as engineers, lawyers, advertisers, etc., and ask teenagers to solve problems from the perspective of that role. Playing different roles can experience different thinking postures, which is also an effective way to improve their thinking breadth and adaptability.
6. Reflection and metacognitive training: Develop teenagers' metacognitive ability so that they can be aware of and monitor their own thinking processes. Reflection diaries, mind maps and self-assessment tools can be designed to help them reflect on their learning and thinking styles, and improve and adjust their thinking strategies.
7. Team communication: Form a teenage team to discuss or brainstorm on a topic. In team discussions, each person puts forward opinions from different perspectives or thinking modes, and then stimulates and improves each other. Team communication can strengthen the conversion and integration of thinking modes, which also helps teenagers apply different ways of thinking in social scenarios.
Note: Metacognition refers to cognition about one's own cognitive processes, that is, the ability to observe, understand and regulate one's own cognitive activities such as thinking, learning and memory. It is a high-level cognitive ability that enables one to think about and monitor one's own thinking processes and make adjustments and optimizations when necessary.
Metacognition includes the following abilities and knowledge:
1. Awareness and self-observation: Being aware of engaging in cognitive activities, able to observe and reflect on one's own thinking processes.
2. Goal setting and monitoring: Being able to set clear goals for learning or problem solving and monitor whether one is moving towards the goals.
3. Planning and strategy use: Having the ability to develop effective learning or problem solving strategies and being able to choose appropriate strategies based on task requirements.
4. Focusing attention and concentration: Being able to control and regulate attention, focus on learning and thinking, and resist factors that distract attention.
5. Self-assessment and feedback: Being able to accurately assess one's own learning or performance, give oneself appropriate feedback, discover one's own strengths and weaknesses, and make necessary adjustments and improvements.
6. Learning and memory strategies: Understanding and applying various learning and memory strategies, such as organizing information, associative memory, and review plans to improve learning effectiveness and memory.
The development and improvement of metacognition can be achieved by cultivating the habit of self-awareness and reflection, learning and practicing effective learning strategies, and continuously challenging and expanding one's cognitive abilities. It is important for learning, problem solving and personal development.
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