So what is Thinking?

Scholarly Inquiry
GED0112

Prepared by: Co, Cruz, Dionisio, Pedregosa

Learning targets
•Understand the nature of thinking
•Analyze the process of thinking
•Explain the relationship of learning and thinking

•Reading:
•What is called thinking? by Guy Holmes

Prepared by: Co, Cruz, Dionisio, Pedregosa

Truth or Fiction?
Only humans can use insight to solve
problems.

Think for 1 minute.

Do you think the statement is truth or fiction?
Why do you say so?
What is your reasoning for your answer?

Prepared by: Co, Cruz, Dionisio, Pedregosa

Truth or Fiction?
Only humans can use insight to solve
problems.
The answer is Fiction.
Insight refers to a deep understanding of a
person or thing.
Some animals do use insight to solve everyday
problems.

Prepared by: Co, Cruz, Dionisio, Pedregosa

Truth or Fiction?
Young children say things like “Daddy
goed away” and “Mommy sitted down”
because they do understand rules of
grammar.
Think for 1 minute.
Do you think the statement is truth or fiction?
Why do you say so?
What is your reasoning for your answer?

Prepared by: Co, Cruz, Dionisio, Pedregosa

Truth or Fiction?
Young children say things like “Daddy
goed away” and “Mommy sitted down”
because they do understand rules of
grammar.
The answer is Truth.
Young children say things like “Daddy goed
away” and “Mommy sitted down” because they
do understand rules of grammar. Since they
have not studied any grammar, they created
their own rules.
Prepared by: Co, Cruz, Dionisio, Pedregosa
What do you see?

Prepared by: Co, Cruz, Dionisio, Pedregosa

What do you see?

There are two images

here.
Can you find the old
woman and young
lady?

Prepared by: Co, Cruz, Dionisio, Pedregosa

What do you see?

Hair
Here is the young lady
looking back.
Eyelash

Nose

Chin

Prepared by: Co, Cruz, Dionisio, Pedregosa

What do you see?

Hair
Here is the old
woman side view.
Eyelash

Nose

Mouth

Chin

Prepared by: Co, Cruz, Dionisio, Pedregosa

What is thinking?
•How many times and in what ways you are using
the word ‘think’ in your day-to-day
conversations?
Think of any phrase you use with the
word ‘think’

Prepared by: Co, Cruz, Dionisio, Pedregosa

What is thinking?
•How many times and in what ways you are using
the word ‘think’ in your day-to-day
conversations?
Here are some
• Let me think examples.
• I can't think of her name
• Think about it
• I think my friend will visit me today

Prepared by: Co, Cruz, Dionisio, Pedregosa

What is Thinking?
• No matter what you do, you can’t tell your brain to
stop thinking. In fact, if you tell it to stop, it will think
even more.
• The act of thinking is neutral. It isn’t good or bad. It’s
what you think and what you do with it defines the
quality of your life.

Prepared by: Co, Cruz, Dionisio, Pedregosa

What is thinking?
•Thinking is
•Attending to information, using it or
•Representing it mentally
•Reasoning about it, and
•Making judgments and decisions about it
•E.g., Making sense of and change the world

Prepared by: Co, Cruz, Dionisio, Pedregosa

“The world as we have created it is a process
of our thinking. It cannot be changed without
changing our thinking.”
— Albert Einstein

Our world today is the product of people’s thinking in the past.

Our future will be based on what you are thinking today.
Do you agree?
Yes. Without thinking, we do not improve and develop
ourselves and the world.
Prepared by: Co, Cruz, Dionisio, Pedregosa
What is thinking?
• Thinking is a complex mental process through
which we manipulate information (either
acquired or stored).
• It is an internal process that can be inferred from
behaviour.
• Such manipulation and analysis occur by means
of abstracting, reasoning, imagining, problem
solving, judging, and decision-making.
Prepared by: Co, Cruz, Dionisio, Pedregosa
Thinking process
• Reasoning, like problem solving, is goal directed, involves inference and
can be either deductive or inductive
• In making judgment, we draw conclusions, form opinions, make
evaluations about objects or events
• In decision-making one must choose among several available alternatives
• Judgment and decision making are interrelated processes
• Creative thinking involves the production of something new and original -
it may be an idea, object or solution to a problem
• Developing creative thinking requires overcoming blocks to creative
expression and using strategies to enhance creative thinking skills and
abilities
Prepared by: Co, Cruz, Dionisio, Pedregosa
What is a thought?
• What does your mom look like?
• Imagine the face of your mom in your head.
• In alphabet what letter comes after N?
• What letter is it?
• How much is 2+2?
• Did you still count or was the answer automatic?
• What is Julia Roberts’s phone number?
• Do you know the answer to this one?
Prepared by: Co, Cruz, Dionisio, Pedregosa
What is a thought? A thought is a
product of thinking.
• What does your mom look like?
–This is called Mental image. The product is the image.
• In alphabet what letter comes after N?
–L,M,N,O You thought of the answer.
• How much is 2+2
– You did not think of this because you already thought of this
before in elementary.

–What is Julia Roberts’s phone number?

– You thought of nothing here because you do not have the
knowledge of this information.
Prepared by: Co, Cruz, Dionisio, Pedregosa
Mental Images & Concepts
• Mental images- a mental representation that has some of
the physical characteristics of an object

Let us have a short activity. Get a paper and pen.

Using only the following instructions, draw what is instructed.

Prepared by: Co, Cruz, Dionisio, Pedregosa

Get a paper and a pen and follow the instructions
below:
• Draw a medium-sized circle in the middle of your paper.
• Draw a medium-sized square below the circle but have the top of it touch the bottom of the
circle.
• Draw a small-sized heart in the middle of the square.
• Draw two smaller rectangles, one on each side of the square. They should go the wide way
not the tall way and they should touch the sides of the square. Also, the top of each rectangle
should line up with the top of the square.
• Draw a medium-sized triangle above the circle. The bottom of the triangle should touch the
top of the circle.
• Draw three small stars anywhere inside the triangle.
• Draw a small triangle in the center of the medium-sized circle.
• Draw an arc which curves up below the small triangle.
• Draw two small circles above the small triangle, one slightly to the right and one slightly to
the left.

Prepared by: Co, Cruz, Dionisio, Pedregosa

 When you were doing
This is what it should look like. the activity, were you
already thinking of what
it should look like?

Yes. Mental image

happens when we try to
make something
unknown to fit to what
we already know.

Prepared by: Co, Cruz, Dionisio, Pedregosa

Mental Images & Concepts

• Concept- a symbolic
representations of objects; a
category, a class, that
includes subtypes and/or
individual items
• Look at the pictures on the
right.
• What is it? Is it a dog? Hippo?
Cow?
Prepared by: Co, Cruz, Dionisio, Pedregosa
Mental Images & Concepts

• Why do we need to form

concepts?
• If things does not make sense
and is unknown, we try to use
concepts formed in our minds
to categorize them.
• Just like in the picture, we try
to name them as a cow, pigs,
etc.

Prepared by: Co, Cruz, Dionisio, Pedregosa

 We use
hierarchies to
Concepts - Hierarchies label
something that
• Prototypes we do not
• Good examples of a category of concept understand.
• Exemplars The previous
• Positive and Negative instances picture would
Not be in the
• Overextension
Plants category
instead in the
Animals, etc.

Prepared by: Co, Cruz, Dionisio, Pedregosa

Problem Solving
•How do you solve a problem?
•How do you proceed while repairing a broken
laptop?
•How do you plan for a summer vacation?
•How do you fix a broken relationship?
Try to solve any of these
questions. Did it made you think?

Prepared by: Co, Cruz, Dionisio, Pedregosa

Problem Solving is another means for us to think.
• Thinking happens when you do not have a direct means
of attaining a particular goal
• In problem solving there is an initial state (i.e. the
problem) and there is an end state (the goal).

• It involves, using the thoughts and actions to move from

the current state to the goal state, in other words
achieving a desired goal that is not readily attainable,
often by devising strategies to overcome obstacles

Prepared by: Co, Cruz, Dionisio, Pedregosa

Trial and Error
• An approach to problem solving in which one
solution after another is tried in no particular
order until the answer is found
• Used when we have little or no knowledge
relevant to the problem

Prepared by: Co, Cruz, Dionisio, Pedregosa

Algorithms
•Specific procedure for solving a type of problem
• Yield correct answers if the right formula is used.
Any math formula is an example of Algorithm
•Systematic random search (similar to trial and
error)
• Each possible solution is tested according to a
particular set of rules

Prepared by: Co, Cruz, Dionisio, Pedregosa

Heuristic
• Shortcuts; mental rules of thumb used to solve a problem
• Working backwards: Water lilies double the area they cover every 24hours. At the
beginning of the summer there is one water lily on a pond. It takes 60days for the pond to
become covered with lilies. On what day is the pond half covered?

• Means-end analysis (subgroups)

• Evaluate and reduce difference between the current situation and
goal
• Analogies
• Refer to a previous problem to solve a new problem

Prepared by: Co, Cruz, Dionisio, Pedregosa

Heuristic
• Shortcuts; mental rules of thumb used to solve a problem
• Working backwards: Water lilies double the area they cover every 24hours. At the
beginning of the summer there is one water lily on a pond. It takes 60days for the pond to
become covered with lilies. On what day is the pond half covered?

• Means-end analysis (subgroups)

• Evaluate and reduce difference between the current situation and
goal
• Analogies
• Refer to a previous problem to solve a new problem

Prepared by: Co, Cruz, Dionisio, Pedregosa

In conclusion
• Thinking is a complex mental process through which we manipulate
information (either acquired or stored). It is an internal process that
can be inferred from behaviour.
• Thinking involves mental representations that are either mental
images or concepts.
• Complex thought processes are problem solving, reasoning, decision-
making, judgment, and creative thinking.
• Problem solving is thinking directed towards the solution of a specific
problem

Prepared by: Co, Cruz, Dionisio, Pedregosa

Congratulations!
• Were you able to understand the lecture?
• If yes, proceed to read the article “What is called
thinking?” by Guy Holmes. Once you are done with
the article, answer the formative assessment 1.
• If not, go back to the lecture and study again. Take
note of the points you do not understand and then
you may ask these questions in our discussion boards
or online meetings.
Prepared by: Co, Cruz, Dionisio, Pedregosa
So what is Thinking?
Scholarly Inquiry
GED0112

Prepared by: Co, Cruz, Dionisio, Pedregosa