Figurative thought. How to develop imaginative thinking in adults, methods of developing imaginative thinking

By thinking we mean the human ability to reason, reflecting reality through a word, concept, judgment, representation. In terms of form, the following types are distinguished: visual-figurative, visual-effective, abstract-logical.

The first of them is more inherent in people of creative professions. Its essence is psychological relationships and connections with people, objects, events, circumstances, processes.

Imaginative thinking is a process of cognition, in which a mental image is formed in a person's consciousness, reflecting the perceived object of the environment. Imaginative thinking is realized on the basis of ideas that a person perceived before. In this case, images are extracted from memory or created by imagination. In the course of solving mental problems, these images can undergo such changes that lead to finding new, unexpected, extraordinary, creative solutions to complex problems.

How do we use imaginative thinking?

Thanks to imaginative thinking, you can learn to find a way out of difficult situations, solve difficult problems. For example, you can use the following visualization technique for this purpose:

1. Present your problem in the form of a picture-image. For example, you have a business problem. Think of it as a withering tree.

2. Create and draw images of the cause of the situation and images of “rescuers” that will help you find a solution. For example, an excess of sun (too many outdated, oppressive, previously made decisions that prevent you from thinking creatively. An excess of sun can also represent, for example, increased competition). Think about what it takes to save the plant: watering (new ideas and solutions), or sun protection, or inviting a specialist gardener, or fertilizing the soil, or something else?

3. Do not rush yourself, rethinking does not come instantly, but soon it will certainly come in the form of insight.

Thinking imaginatively can help us calm down by providing psychological protection against an unnerving situation or an unpleasant person. We tend to take what is happening to heart, and therefore need to protect the psyche from overload. Most often, the technique of presenting the offender in an absurd or comical form is used. For example, you are hurt and offended by someone's stinginess. Do not be offended, better imagine a thrifty hamster with huge, full cheeks. Well, he can't live without supplies, that's how it is. Should I be offended? You better smile. Imagine a merciless satrap completely naked - this is ridiculous and ridiculous, and his cry will no longer have power over you.

There is an assumption that the ability to visualize the future increases the chances of its implementation. The more colorful and detailed the visualization is, the better. True, there is a caveat: as with all good things, in this visualization one should observe the measure. The main principle is “do no harm”.

The use of imaginative thinking makes life more interesting, and communication and self-realization - more complete.

Development of imaginative thinking

How to develop imaginative thinking?

Here are some exercises that can help you do this:

- Look at any item you choose. Consider it for some time. With your eyes closed, visualize it in detail. Open your eyes, check how fully and accurately everything was presented and what was "overlooked".

- Remember how the thing that you put on (put on shoes) looks like. Describe it in detail, try not to miss a single detail.

- Imagine an animal (fish, bird, insect) and think about what benefit or harm it can bring. All work should be done mentally. You need to "see" the animal and clearly imagine everything that is associated with it. For example, a dog. See how she meets her, how she happily flaps her tail, licks her hands, looks into the eyes, plays with the child, protects you in the yard from offenders ... All events should take place like in a movie. Unleash your imagination. This exercise can be done in a number of ways: using unrelated associations or as a movie with a sequential storyline and logical continuation.

Figurative thinking in children

Children can easily imagine in their imagination both objects and circumstances, it is as natural for them as breathing. In childhood, imagination merges with thinking so that they cannot be separated. The development of a child's thinking occurs during games, drawing, modeling, construction. All these activities force us to imagine this or that in the mind, which becomes the basis of figurative thinking. On this basis, verbal and logical thinking will subsequently be formed, which cannot be dispensed with in the classroom.

Children's perception of the world through images contributes to the development of imagination, fantasy, and also becomes the basis for the development of creative potential, which is so important for achieving success in any business.

What exercises contribute to the development of figurative thinking in children?

1. We read or tell stories with facial expressions, gestures, emotions.

2. We play, reincarnating. We play with children, change roles and images. We encourage children's transformation games.

3. Draw - and remember, and compose, and re-invent. Have your child recall a character from a recently read fairy tale or cartoon character. And then let him draw him a new friend or just a new character. The result is "kalyaka malyaka"? Finish it so that something new or something recognizable comes out.

4. We compose. You can start yourself - about what you see: about this little sprout that has made its way between the stones, about this indefatigable ant carrying three times its weight, about this grasshopper ... Compose together, do not be afraid to fantasize and encourage the child's imagination.

5. Riddles are a real find. They can be made along the way, they can be invented. They force you to consider objects and phenomena from different angles, to think outside the box and not give up.

6. We observe and notice: what or what does this cloud, this pebble, this snag look like?

Thinking games will greatly help your child gain new knowledge, compare, remember, reveal the relationship between phenomena, learn about the world and develop.

Creative thinking in adults

There is a simple test to check if your imaginative thinking is well developed. To do this, you need to choose any picture (do not try to immediately take complex images, start with simple ones), look at it for some time (about a minute), trying to take into account all the nuances - the arrangement of lines and objects, color and shades, plot and other nuances. After you feel that you have noticed everything, close your eyes and mentally achieve a detailed reproduction. See her with your eyes closed clearly and clearly. Happened? Fine! This means that you only need to maintain the level of imaginative thinking you already have. But if the pictures did not work out, if there were tricks or vague forms, train by doing this exercise.

A sophisticated option is to render abstract images. You can draw one yourself from dots, broken lines, patterns, using different colors and shapes, and then remember. Pay attention to details and individual signs. Games for the development of thinking are easy to find on the Internet, on sites dedicated to self-development. Developing simulators also help in this. For example, in the Pyramidstroy game, figurative thinking, coupled with imagination, will help you remember completely unrelated words, combining them into an incredible story. Exercises and games for the development of thinking help a lot to maintain brain activity in good shape, they should be paid attention to throughout life.

The development of imaginative thinking improves creativity, favors the manifestation of creativity, the generation of new ideas. In addition, thanks to the development of figurative thinking, memorization improves, assimilation of new things is facilitated, intuition improves, and flexibility of thinking appears.

We wish you confidence in your abilities and successful self-development!

Imaginative thinking has a number of features that turn it into a universal tool that can and should be used by any person in his life.

Our knowledge of the surrounding reality begins with sensations and perception and goes on to thinking. The function of thinking is to expand the boundaries of knowledge by going beyond the limits of sensory perception. Thinking allows, with the help of inference, to reveal what is not given directly in perception.

The task of thinking - disclosure of relationships between objects, identification of connections and their separation from random coincidences. Thinking operates with concepts and takes on the functions of generalization and planning.

Thinking is the most generalized and mediated form of mental reflection, establishing connections and relationships between cognized objects.

It is known that a person who has grown up in complete isolation from human culture will never be able to learn the correct, from our point of view, thinking. This is exactly what the boy Victor, who grew up in the jungle and described by J. Godefroy, is. Thus, the skills and ways of thinking are developed in a person in ontogenesis under the influence of the environment - human society.

Figurative thinking is not a given from birth. Like any mental process, it needs development and adjustment. According to psychological research, the structure of imaginative thinking is the intersection of five main substructures: topological, projective, ordinal, metric, compositional. These substructures of thinking exist non-autonomously, but intersect. Therefore, a tempting idea arises to develop the imaginative thinking of children so as not to "break" its structure, but to use it as much as possible in the learning process, making the latter humanized.

With visual-figurative thinking, the transformation of the visual conditions of mental actions consists primarily in the translation of their perceptual content into the "language" of semantic features, into the language of meanings.

Figurative thinking is a form of a person's creative reflection of reality, generating a result that does not exist in reality itself or the subject at a given time. Human thinking (in its lower forms it is found in animals) can also be understood as a creative transformation of the representations and images in memory.

The difference between thinking and other psychological processes of cognition is that it is always associated with an active change in the conditions in which a person is. Thinking is always aimed at solving a problem. In the process of thinking, a purposeful and purposeful transformation of reality is carried out.

Thinking is a special kind of mental and practical activity, which presupposes a system of actions and operations of a transformative and cognitive (orientation-research) nature included in it. In psychology, theoretical, practical and a number of intermediate types of activity are distinguished and studied, containing both those and other operations. Thinking is divided into theoretical and practical. In turn, the theoretical can be conceptual and figurative, and the practical - visual-figurative and visual-effective. figurative thinking imagination figurative

Theoretical figurative thinking differs from conceptual thinking in that the material that a person uses here to solve a problem is not concepts, judgments or inferences, but ideas and images. They are either directly formed in the course of the perception of reality, or are retrieved from memory. In the course of solving a problem, these images are mentally transformed so that a person in a new situation can directly see the solution to the problem of interest. Imaginative thinking is a type of mental activity that is most often found in the work of writers, artists, and artists.

Creative thinking - thinking in images is included as an essential component in all types of human activity without exception, no matter how developed and abstract they may be.

The mental image by its nature has a dual source of determination. On the one hand, it absorbs sensory experience, and in this sense the image is individual, sensually-emotionally colored, personally significant. On the other hand, it includes the results of a theoretical understanding of reality through the mastery of historical experience presented in a system of concepts, and in this sense appears in an impersonal form.

There is no direct way of assimilating concepts. Their assimilation is always mediated by mental images. Both the image and the concept give generalized knowledge about reality, expressed in words.

In the real process of thinking (assimilation of knowledge), both "figurative" and "conceptual" logic are simultaneously present, and these are not two independent logics, but a single logic of the course of the thought process. The mental image itself, with which thinking operates, is flexible, mobile by nature, reflects a piece of reality in the form of a spatial picture.

There are various ways of creating subject images according to drawings, diagrams. Some students rely on visualization, looking for a kind of sensory support in it. Others act easily and freely in their minds. Some students quickly create images on the basis of visualization, keep them in memory for a long time, but are lost when it is necessary to modify the image, since under these conditions the image seems to expand and disappear. Others are good at using images.

The following regularity was found: where the initially created images are less visual, bright and stable, their transformation, manipulation with them is more successful; in the same cases, when the image is objectified, burdened with various details, it is difficult to manipulate it.

The main function of figurative thinking is to create images and operate them in the process of solving problems. The implementation of this function is provided by a special presentation mechanism aimed at modifying, transforming existing images and creating new images that are different from the original ones.

The creation of an image according to representation is carried out in the absence of an object of perception and is provided by its mental modification. As a result, an image is created that is different from the visual material on which it originally arose. Thus, the activity of the representation, at whatever level it is carried out, ensures the creation of a new one in relation to the initial one, that is, it is productive. Therefore, the division of images into reproductive and creative (productive) is not correct.

Figurative thinking operates not with words, but with images. This does not mean that verbal knowledge in the form of definitions, judgments and inferences is not used here. But unlike verbal-discursive thinking, where verbal knowledge is its main content, in figurative thinking words are used only as a means of expression, interpretation of already performed transformations of images.

The concepts and images with which thinking operates are two sides of a single process. Being more closely connected with the reflection of reality, the image gives knowledge not about individual isolated sides (properties) of this reality, but represents a holistic mental picture of a separate area of reality.

Thinking in images is a complex mental process of transforming sensory information. It presents the results of direct sensory perception of the real world, their conceptual processing and mental transformation. In the course of this process, images are arbitrarily actualized on the basis of a given visual material, they are modified under the influence of various conditions, they are freely transformed, new ones are created that are significantly different from the original ones.

The process of figurative thinking attracts researchers and scientists, In many cases, thinking is analyzed from the point of view of certain psychological approaches (LB Itelson, NV Maslova, NV Rozhdestvenskaya. IS Yakimanskaya). Analysis of the literature allows us to conclude that an important aspect of thinking is its connection with the emotional sphere, human feelings, which create favorable conditions for the development of imaginative thinking. An analysis of the mechanisms of the functioning of imaginative thinking shows that the ability to work with images (create them, operate them) gives the whole process of assimilation of knowledge a personally significant character. Constant reliance on the image makes the acquired knowledge emotionally rich, activates the creative aspects of the personality, the imagination. The imaginative perception of the world is characterized by mobility, dynamism, associativity. The more channels of perception are involved, the more connections and relationships are included in the content of the image, the more complete the image, the more opportunities for its use. In psychology, the varieties of figurative thinking that are formed under the influence of different systems of knowledge, methods of cognition, the conditions for the development of figurative thinking, the role of figurative thinking in the formation of concepts have been little studied.

Within the framework of this work, figurative thinking is understood as the process of work of thought with the external and internal systems of a person, the operation of mental, dynamic signs, models, images and the creation of new ones (signs, models, images), addressed to oneself and others in order to interact and gradually change the external peace, as well as human self-change.

LB, Itelson notes that the mechanisms of imaginative thinking have a three-link character:

1) a certain stimulus-stimulus (external, internal, symbolic);
2) re-integration (activation of the entire system of excitations associated with it in the past);
3) isolation, disintegration. The entire chain of associative images that arise is subject to a certain principle.

One of the main mechanisms in the work of figurative thinking is associative play (N.V. Rozhdestvenskaya). As the child gains life experience, his own system of associations is built by similarity, by contiguity, by contrast. Feelings, knowledge, culture give rise to a certain system of associations, where ideas and concepts are woven into a complex living network that constantly feeds creative thought.

Thus, figurative thinking operates not with words, but with images. This does not mean that verbal knowledge in the form of definitions, judgments and inferences is not used here. But unlike verbal-discursive thinking, where verbal knowledge is its main content, in figurative thinking words are used only as a means of expression, interpretation of already performed transformations of images 4.

Human mental activity is multifaceted. After all, each of us has to face a variety of tasks that require their own, special approach. Figurative thinking is directly related to human perception of objects in the real world. It occurs in close interaction with other mental processes - memory, attention, imagination.

Does every person have the ability to think figuratively?

Many people are interested in the development of imaginative thinking, but there are adults who are not confident in their abilities. It is necessary to understand that in human thinking, some processes are carried out visually. Sometimes a person realizes that he is operating with his past perceptions, their memories, as real objects. To assess this feature, you can answer the following three questions:

What material were your favorite boots made from when you were 15 years old? How did they feel?
How many windows does your grandmother (your grandfather, second aunt's) have in the country house?
What will the Latin letter S look like if it is "mirrored" in the opposite direction?

Typically, people who answer the first of these questions imagine the shoes they wore as adolescents, with their mind's eyes “touching” its surface. As for the second question, usually a person extracts from his memory the image of this house, "walks" around it, counting the windows. As for the letter S, usually in the process of mentally "mirroring" it, a person mentally rotates it and "looks" at the result. These examples show that the same mental processes are involved in the process of image reproduction.

Figurative thinking in preschool children

Visual-figurative thinking is the main type of thinking in a child in preschool age. It is with his help that the baby performs most of the operations. By the time a child enters this period of development, he is able to perform only those tasks that can be done with a tool or pens. Such actions are aimed at achieving an immediate result. As the child develops, his actions become more and more complex. Tasks of a different type arise, in which the result of the child's activity will not be direct, but have an indirect character. The simplest example is throwing a ball against a wall. The ball is thrown so that the child then catches it again. The same tasks, in which the result of actions is indirect, include playing with a constructor, mechanical toys, and so on.

The development of visual-figurative thinking in children is an important task. After all, in order to solve complicated problems, one cannot do without the ability to manipulate images. Also, this type of thinking teaches the child to react to the images presented by the outside world. Therefore, for a preschooler, the development of imaginative thinking is the key to successful learning in the lower grades. In the middle preschool age, children learn to keep in their imagination the images of various objects, to fix patterns. For example, a cucumber is associated with an oval shape, a square with a table surface shape.

Simple ways to develop imagination in preschoolers

The simplest methods of developing visual-figurative thinking in preschoolers are:

Observing beautiful landscapes.
Excursions to various art exhibitions.
Travels in which the parent will tell you in detail about the natural monument.
Puzzles of various difficulty levels.
Making crafts from colored cardboard, applications.
Drawing using both the leading and non-leading hands.

Origami

Making paper figures is very popular with parents and teachers. This requires only a few items - cardboard, paper, scissors. As a rule, young children are not very interested in the complex process of folding paper until they see the result. Therefore, it is good for an adult to begin by demonstrating the "miracles" of this type of crafts.

Modeling from plasticine

This is one of the easiest and most fun ways to develop imaginative thinking for toddlers. Modeling allows you to develop not only imagination, but also fine motor skills. Even if the kid will get the simplest products - "koloboks", "carrots", "balls", the most important thing is that the lesson arouses his interest. Plasticine should be soft, plastic. You can replace this material with polymer clay or offer your child salt dough modeling.

Creative thinking. Junior School

As the child grows older, he gradually ceases to rely on visual images in his thinking. The possibilities of thinking become more and more broad, the baby learns to give more and more broad characteristics to objects. He learns to operate with different images in memory, transform them - for example, connect objects and separate them in his fantasy. Various games contribute to the development of logical and imaginative thinking:

Board games (e.g. dominoes, bingo). Special puzzles can also arouse interest in the kid.
Reading various children's books, colorful magazines with interesting descriptions, encyclopedias.
Creative work: drawing, macrame, applique making. Modeling also helps the development of figurative thinking in schoolchildren.
Watching cartoons and films about the world around you.
Family holidays, travel.
Walk outdoors.

A good exercise for developing visual-figurative thinking in preschoolers is the game "What's it like?" It allows the child to learn how to solve problems in an original and creative way. The task is that for each picture (circle, square, triangle, spiral, or abstract drawing) you need to come up with as many associations as possible. This exercise is good for a group of children. This game is good for the development of figurative thinking in younger students.

Why is imaginative thinking necessary for an adult?

Developed imaginative thinking is necessary in many professions - for example, designers cannot do without it. The phrase “draw me something bright and memorable” should not baffle the employee; on the contrary, these words should be a catalyst for mental activity. Working on imaginative thinking helps to develop analytical skills. Exercises to develop these skills will be useful not only for creative workers, but also for all those who would like to broaden their horizons.

Imaginative thinking: how to develop an adult

Before starting the exercises, an adult needs to believe in himself, throw out the idea that he does not have a well-developed sense of humor, a creative streak, and imagination. Everyone has all these abilities - it is just, most likely, they ended up in the "backyard" of consciousness.

Direct proof that everyone has imagination is the ability to conjure up visual images. Everyone remembers what their parent, girlfriend or boyfriend looks like. A person is also able to describe the features of the nearest metro station or favorite place in the city. You do not need to engage in exercises for the development of imaginative thinking for a long time in order to recall the small details of your favorite places, to remember how the houses and streets of your hometown look like. So, you can make an imaginary "journey" in time and again find yourself in the captivity of vivid memories. Therefore, you just have to work a little to expand the space of your imagination.

Beanom fantasy

A good way to develop imaginative thinking is an exercise called Fantasy Bean. Its author is the famous storyteller Gianni Rodari. I must say that the technique is suitable for both an adult and a child. The writer explains: ordinary associations do not develop the imagination. For example, the phrase "horse - dog" does not give room for imagination, being just a mention of animals from the same semantic range.

Gianni Rodari's method contributes to the development of artistic and imaginative thinking. The fantasy binomial should ideally be defined by chance. For example, you can open a book (or different books) at random on different pages. You can combine two ad phrases.

Storyteller's Experiment

Gianni Rodari recalls experimenting with children with the randomly chosen word "closet" in class. Taken separately, it would hardly have been able to evoke any emotions - no one would laugh or cry when thinking about the cabinet. However, if you connect the concept of "closet" with the concept of "dog", then everything becomes completely different. The easiest way to tie the two together is to use prepositions. For example, "dog in the closet", "dog in the closet". Then the imagination will prompt various images - it could be a dog running with its own booth on its back down the street. Or a dog that has a personal closet with different outfits.

Other methods

A few more ways to develop imaginative thinking:

Working with drudles - doodles with many meanings that need to be described. Such pictures in their appearance resemble the scribbles that a person draws while talking on the phone or listening to a boring lecture. However, drudl has one peculiarity - its creators initially put meaning in it. In the picture below you can see drudles that contribute to the development of imaginative thinking.

Another way is to try to reproduce in your imagination the objects you just saw. A game called "Matches" helps a lot. To carry it out, you need to throw five matches on the table, look at them, turn away, and at the other end of the table depict their location with the other five matches. It may not work at first, but practice will bring results over time. Each time you try to spend less time playing. When it starts to work, the number of matches can be increased.
You can also come up with new functions for already familiar objects. For example, in the usual lace or nylon tights, you can dry onions, use them as a decorative element for decorating flower pots, and make dolls out of them.
Another good way is the selection of epithets and anti-epithets for the word. To complete this exercise, you need to write out any word in the center of a sheet of paper, on the right side - those definitions that suit him. On the left - place words that cannot be used with this object or phenomenon. Consider the word "person" as an example. A person can be free, smart, rich, thin, advanced, etc. Definitions that do not fit this word - old, refractory, liquid, pointed.
You can try replaying a recent meeting with friends or colleagues. In the process of remembering, you need to try to remember: how many people were in the company? What were they wearing? What dishes were on the table? What was the conversation about, what topics were discussed? What experiences accompanied this meeting?

These exercises can be transformed at your discretion. The main thing about them is that these methods involve figurative thinking. The more often you do the exercises, the more this property of the psyche will develop.

In addition to thinking in the form of statements, a person can also think in the form of images, especially visual images.

Many of us feel that part of our thinking is visual. It often seems that we reproduce past perceptions or fragments of them and then operate with them as a real perception. To appreciate this point, try to answer the following three questions:

What is the shape of the German Shepherd's ears?
What letter do you get if you rotate the capital N 90 degrees?
How many windows do your parents have in the living room?

In answering the first question, most people say that they form a visual image of the German Shepherd's head and "look" at the ears to determine their shape. In response to the second question, people report that they first form an image of a capital N, then mentally "rotate" it 90 degrees and "look" at it to determine what happened. And when answering the third question, people say they imagine a room and then “scan” that image, counting the windows (Kosslyn, 1983; Shepard & Cooper, 1982).

The above examples are based on subjective impressions, but they and other evidence indicate that the same representations and processes are involved in images as in perception (Finke, 1985). Images of objects and spatial areas contain visual details: we see the German Shepherd, the capital N, or the living room of our parents "in our mind's eye." In addition, the mental operations that we perform with these images are apparently similar to operations performed with real visual objects: we scan the image of the parents' room in much the same way as we would scan a real room, and we rotate the capital N image in the same way as we rotated it. would be a real object.

The neural basis of images

Perhaps the most compelling confirmation of the similarity of images to perception would be that both are mediated by the same brain structures. A lot of this kind of data has been collected in recent years.

Some of this data comes from studies of brain-damaged patients and shows that all visual impairments in a patient are usually accompanied by similar visual impairments (see eg Farah et al., 1988). A particularly striking example is provided by patients with a lesion of the parietal lobe of the right hemisphere, who as a result develop visual neglect of the left side of the visual field. Although not blind, these patients ignore everything on the left side of their visual field. A male patient may, for example, not shave the left side of his face. This visual disregard extends to imagery, as the Italian neurologist Bisiach has established (see eg: Bisiach & Luzzatti, 1978). Bisiac asked his patients with visual disregard to imagine a familiar square in their native Milan: what it looks like when facing the church. These patients named most of the objects on their right, but very few "on the left." When asked to imagine this scene from the opposite point of view, as if they were standing in front of the church and looking at the square, the patient ignored the objects they had previously named (these objects were now on the left side of the image). So, these patients showed the same ignorance in the images as in the perception, from which we can conclude that the brain structures damaged in them usually mediate both images and perception.

Several recent studies using brain scans have shown that, in normal subjects, the regions of the brain associated with perception are also associated with images. In one experiment, subjects performed both a mental arithmetic task (“Start at 50 and count, subtracting 3”) and a visual task (“Imagine a walk around your neighborhood, turning alternately right and left, starting from your door”). During the performance of each task by the subjects, the blood flow in different parts of the cortex was measured. The blood flow in the visual cortex was greater when the subjects were performing an image task than when they were performing a mental arithmetic task. In addition, the pattern of blood flow in the image task was similar to that commonly found in perceptual tasks (Roland & Friberg, 1985).

A recent experiment with a PET scanner (Kosslyn et al., 1993) provides a vivid comparison of the brain structures involved in perception and imagery. The subjects performed two different tasks during the brain scans - the perception task and the image task. In the perception problem, a rectangular capital letter was presented against the background of the grid, and then a cross was presented in one of the grid cells; the subject's task was to decide as quickly as possible whether the cross falls on any part of the rectangular letter (Figure 9.8). In the image problem, the background grid was again presented, but without the rectangular letter. There was a lowercase letter under the grid, and the subjects were previously instructed to create an image of an uppercase version of this lowercase letter and project it onto the grid. Then a cross was presented in one of the grid cells, and the subjects had to determine whether it hit any part of an imaginary rectangular letter (Fig. 9.8). Unsurprisingly, the perceptual task caused an increase in neural activity in areas of the visual cortex. But the same thing happened in the image problem. Indeed, the task of imaging led to an increase in activity in those structures of the brain, which, as far as is known, belong to the primary areas of the cortex, the first to receive visual information.

Therefore, images are similar to perception, starting from the earliest stages of information processing in the cortex. In addition, when neural activation was directly compared in the two tasks, activation was greater in the image task than in the perception task, and this fact suggests that the image task required more "perceptual work" than the perception task. These results leave little doubt that images and perception are mediated by the same neural mechanisms. And here we again find in the results of biological studies confirmation of the hypothesis that was originally proposed for the psychological level.

Image operations

As we noted, mental operations on images are performed in the same way as operations on real visual objects. Numerous experiments objectively confirm these subjective impressions.

One of the most well-studied operations is mental rotation. In a classic experiment, subjects were shown a capital "R" in each trial. This letter was presented both normally (R) and mirrored (R), as well as with the usual vertical orientation or rotated at various angles (Fig. 9.9). The subjects had to decide whether the letter was normal or mirrored. The more the letter was turned relative to its vertical position, the more time it took for the subjects to make a decision (Figure 9.10). These results suggest that when making a decision, the subjects mentally rotated the image of the letter until it became vertical, and then checked whether it was an ordinary letter or a mirrored one.

Rice. 9.9. Exploring mental rotation. The examples of letters presented to the subjects during the study of mental rotation are shown. After each presentation, the subjects had to decide whether the letter was normal or mirrored. The numbers indicate the angle of rotation relative to the vertical (after: Cooper & Shepard, 1973).

Rice. 9.10. Decision time when studying mental rotation. The time taken to decide whether the letter was normal or mirrored was greatest when the letter was rotated 180 °, that is, when it was presented upside down (after: Cooper & Shepard, 1973).

Another operation that is equally applicable to images and perception is scanning an object or space. In the image scanning experiment, the subjects first examined a map of a nonexistent island containing 7 special areas. The map was removed and the subjects were asked to imagine its image and focus on a certain place (for example, a tree in the southern part of the island - Fig. 9.11). The experimenter then named another location (for example, a tree at the north end of the island). The subjects had to, starting from the fixed place, scan their image of the island, find the named place and then press the "arrival" button. The greater the distance between the starting point and the named place, the more time it took for the subjects to respond. This indicates that the subjects scanned their image in much the same way they would scan a real object.

Another similarity between figurative and perceptual processing is that both are limited by grain size. For example, the grain size of a television's tube depends on how small the details on the screen can be to remain distinguishable. Although in reality there is no screen in the brain, one can imagine that images appear as if in a mental environment, the granularity of which limits the amount of detail that can be found in the image. If the grain size is fixed, then smaller images are harder to see than larger ones. This position is confirmed by many data. In one experiment, subjects first formed an image of a familiar animal, say, a cat. They were then asked to decide whether the animal they imagined had a certain property. The subjects made decisions more quickly if the property was large, such as the head, than when it was small, such as claws. In another study, subjects were asked to imagine an animal of various relative sizes — small, medium, or large. They were then asked to decide if it had a certain property. The subjects made decisions more quickly if the property was large, such as the head, than when it was small, such as claws. In another study, subjects were asked to imagine an animal of various relative sizes — small, medium, or large. They were then asked to decide if it had a certain property.

In the case of large images, the subjects made decisions faster than in the case of smaller ones. So, both in images and in perception, the larger the image, the easier it is to see the details of the object (Kosslyn, 1980).

Visual creativity

There are countless stories of scientists and artists creating their most outstanding works through visual thinking (Shepard & Cooper, 1982). While these stories are not rigorous evidence, they are one of the best indicators of visual thinking power available. Surprisingly, visual thinking is very effective in abstract areas such as mathematics and physics. Albert Einstein, for example, said that he rarely thinks in words and develops his ideas in the form of "more or less clear images that can be" arbitrarily "reproduced and combined." So, Einstein said that the idea of the theory of relativity came to him initially when he thought about what he "saw", imagining how he catches up with a light beam and equals it.

Perhaps the most remarkable example comes from chemistry. Friedrich Kekule von Stradonitz tried to determine the molecular structure of benzene (which turned out to be ring-shaped). One night he dreamed that a writhing, snake-like figure unexpectedly curled up into a closed loop, biting its own tail. The structure of this snake turned out to be the structure of benzene. The image in a dream turned out to be the solution to a major scientific problem.

Thinking in Action: Problem Solving

For many people, problem solving represents thinking itself. When solving problems, we strive for a goal, without having a ready-made means to achieve it. We have to break down the goal into subgoals, and perhaps subdivide these subgoals further into even smaller subgoals, until we get to the point where we have the means (Anderson, 1990).

5. HOW TO CREATE THOUGHT IMAGES

Look inside yourself. There is an inexhaustible source of goodness and well-being. It will never run out, no matter how much you drink from it.

Ancient wisdom

Before you can learn to manage and direct this "something" in the right direction, you need to know how your consciousness functions. This creative force is the most significant part of it, but it is elusive and intangible, so it is very difficult to get in touch with it until you gain a clear understanding of your inner consciousness.

Do you know, for example, that in reality a person does not think in thoughts, but ... in images, pictures! And because you think in images, and not in words, your brain in its basic, "mechanical" actions does not differ at all from the brain of a primitive man who lived thousands of years ago.

He also thought in pictures before language developed. When primitive man returned to his cave after hunting, he had the only way to tell his fellow tribesmen about what happened to him - to draw rough charcoal drawings or scrawl them on the stone wall of his cave.

Gradually, reproducing pictures with the same meaning over and over and associating sounds with certain objects and events, primitive man came to the point that it cost him to start drawing a famous picture, and his fellow tribesmen already understood him. Perhaps these primitive pictures were gradually reduced to symbols, symbols became letters, then words, and finally sentences. This is how the world's first language was born.

But with all our vaunted civilization, with all the many languages with a huge vocabulary designed to describe all feelings, all ideas and our whole world, a person still thinks mainly in mental images. I can easily prove it to you.

Think back to the past day and think of some unusual experience that happened to us today. As soon as you recall this memory, you will see in front of your mental torus an image of how you are doing something, being somewhere, meeting someone. But you are powerless to convey these images to me until you clothe them in the form of words - symbols with which I can understand you. In turn, listening to your words, I must translate them into images that arise in my mind in order to see and understand your experiences.

So, it is quite obvious that we think mainly in images. This is one of the most significant facts you can ever learn about your consciousness. Here is another equally important fact: if a mental picture is combined with an inner creative force, then the imaginary attracts real phenomena (which you desire or fear).

The creative force acts like a magnet

This is absolutely true, because the creative force acts like a magnet. Give her a bright, clear picture of what you want and she will start

attract the right conditions to you - bringing things, resources, opportunities and even the people you need to you to help you realize what you have imagined!

It is hard to believe? Look back! Remember how you were very much afraid of something, and this terrible event really happened. Perhaps you were not aware of this, but vivid images of a frightening event so influenced the "inner strength" that you simply forced it to attract the appropriate conditions to you and make you sensitive to those events that you were afraid of.

The point is that this inner creative force acts without reasoning. She only obeys our orders, transmitted to her in the form of mental pictures with strong feelings of desire, desire or fear enclosed in them. This is why I call this inner strength TNT. Its power can be good or bad for you, depending on whether you are thinking constructively or destructively.

Now you can understand how good and bad things happen in your life. This inner "something" seeks to serve you, and the results depend on what kind of mental images you provide it.

How well is your life arranged from this point of view? If unpleasant experiences occupy as much space as joyful and desirable ones, you need to change the situation as soon as possible. And you are able to do so immediately by fundamentally changing your mental attitude, overcoming fears and worries and replacing them with positive, confident, courageous thinking.

There is no longer any doubt (and there never was for people who well understand the work of consciousness) - "What a person's thoughts are - that is what he is."

Remember this important fact well. Let the silt thought dominate your daily life. Whenever you experience inner anxiety, when you are tormented by negative thoughts or emotions, decisively remove the dark images from your consciousness. Do you want the creative force in your mind to take over the realization of these images? Do you want fears and dark desires to begin to attract corresponding experiences and events? If not, get rid of these images immediately. Replace them with others - joyful and light. Free yourself from fear, irritation, hatred, jealousy - from everything that gets in the way of our happiness - and replace them with positive emotions and attitude to the world. Once you take this step, you will destroy the power that the dark images had over you.

Beware of mishandling TNT!

TNT is a wonderful weapon in the right hands, but it can "knock you out" if you accidentally shoot yourself.

Once you have cleared your mind of incorrect mental images and emotional reactions, you are ready with faith and hope to begin creating images that lead to positive achievement.

Faith is the source of energy for inner creative power. I'll tell you more about this later. For now, I'll just emphasize: in order for mental images to turn into reality, you need to believe in them. Doubt destroys the mental image and demagnetizes the creative force, so that as a result you get only half of what you want, or nothing, or even the opposite result.

Portray what you want as a fait accompli. Imagine that you have the desired thing, have reached the position you are striving for, do what you dreamed of. Do not try to think through the steps you think need to be taken to achieve what you want. Your conscious mind is so limited in its capabilities - limited to five physical senses - that it cannot know which path is best. But your subconscious, "something inside", is not limited by either time or space. It can act at all levels and in all directions at once. It can put all kinds of accidents at your disposal and bring you into contact with the right people, even those you don't know at all.

Everything you need to fulfill your aspirations will be provided by inner strength as you consistently, day after day, imagine what you want and do your best to support your sincere aspiration.

The technique is very simple. In due time, it will bring the desired result if you master the art of mental representation.

But I must make it clear that there are two types of consciousness. For the first, it is more typical to represent the desired in visual images, pictures - to visualize. The second type represents events in the form of emotions. If you find that it is difficult for you to create a picture of what you want in your mind's eye, do not force yourself to do so. You may be of the feeling type. All you have to do in this case is to concentrate on an imaginary focal point in the darkness of your inner consciousness and allow yourself to feel that what you desire has already been realized in your consciousness. Your inner strength will only have to materialize what you have achieved in the real world. Thus, you will get the same results as people who create mental pictures with ease.

You should be able to relax!

It goes without saying that before you focus on what you want, you must learn how to relax your body and make your conscious mind passive.

Do you know how to relax? Can you "leave" your body so that it goes completely limp? Can you lose the feeling of your own materiality while you meditate or do visualization?

Many men and women have told me that they have great difficulty trying to achieve a state of complete physical and mental peace. They experience a sensation of tension in the back of the neck, in the eyes, and in the solar plexus in one or all of these places. They say they had no idea how tense and nervous they were until they tried to calm down, body and mind. Some have told me that their conscious thinking is so filled with random scraps of all kinds of thoughts, fears and anxieties that they simply cannot clear it and prepare it to create a mental picture of what they want.

Well, nothing surprising. Many of them spend their entire lives in such a bustle, day after day. We have formed very bad thinking habits, and only a few are able to control their emotions to some extent. All sorts of little things can drive us crazy, and we carry these troubles with us all day. They stay with us even when we go to sleep and try to relax and think about something good. As a result, trying to calm down, we imagine the troubles of the past day even more vividly, pulling them to the surface of our consciousness.

How can you get rid of them? Here's an important question! The answer is even more important if you can get it. And you will get it if you have ever set yourself clear and distinct goals.

Did you know that our brain is not able to hold more than one thought at a time? It really is! You can only think about one thing at a time. The secret to concentration is the ability to focus the attention of the conscious mind on an imaginary focal point on the mental screen. Imagine that this screen is stretched out in the dark room of your inner consciousness, across the entire width of your field of vision. All others; random thoughts, worries, fears cannot penetrate this screen.

Project your own picture

Take some time to calm down and relax, and place your own picture on an imaginary screen. Don't try to hold it for too long. The moment you feel that the picture has reached your inner consciousness, creative inner strength, say to yourself: "Done" - verbally confirming your feelings or your visualization, and let everything go on as usual.

When you shoot with your camera, you don't get the negative to check if the picture came out, right? Trust the creative power that is always with you, it will do everything for you. Go about your business in happy anticipation. The picture you have imagined is in the process of materializing. But keep projecting it several times every day, and in the evening, before leaving for the Sioux, until what you portray or feel as a fait accompli becomes an event in real life.

Now let's consider the next question. What needs to be done to help our mental image come true? We cannot just sit back and wait with folded hands, expecting that the creative force itself will do all the work for us. The best way to prove to our inner strength that we are serious about our aspirations is to get to work and do everything possible to achieve the chosen goal. Sometimes you will not be able to achieve the goal towards which you think your efforts are directed, but you will achieve much better results where you did not expect it at all.

Bill McDaniel was one of the top insurance agents in New York. He believed in the highest wisdom of reason and attributed his success to the fact that he skillfully listened to the inner voice. Bill was absolutely convinced that when he imagines the sale of a policy or the conclusion of an insurance contract as a deal already, all that remains is to sign it. Nevertheless, he did not seek to pass off wishful thinking. He carefully considered each contract, worked a lot with his feet, establishing personal contacts, and diligently paved the way for each of his deals. Sometimes intuition told him that he should not push events, that he should sit still and wait before making a decisive dash and driving the prey.

One day he was waiting for the right moment to sell to a Wall Street broker a contract worth fifty thousand dollars a year. This man was a tough nut to crack. He had one peculiarity that was well known to those who had to deal with him. He was obsessed with punctuality. A person who was five minutes late for a meeting could be sure that he would not be accepted. This broker had a developed sense of his own worth and highly valued his time. He was constantly on the road, and it was not easy to arrange a meeting with him.

Bill McDaniel was very lucky that day. He called his potential client and he made an appointment for him at exactly eleven in the morning. Bill went down to the subway, leaving enough time in reserve so as not to be late for the appointed time. To get to Wall Street, he had to change planes in Times Square. Making his way through the crowd, he noticed a small elderly woman with the appearance of a foreigner, who stood to the side, clutching her old-fashioned suitcase, and almost cried with fear and confusion. No one paid the slightest attention to her. It was just a small tragedy - one of many that happens every day unnoticed in a city as large as New York. But the image of this woman was firmly stuck in Bill's mind as he descended the stairs to the train, which was already approaching the platform. He looked at his watch. It was twenty to eleven. The next train will arrive in a few minutes. He can still make it. Bill climbed the stairs again and walked over to the little old woman.

Hello, mother, - he greeted her. - What's the matter? Are you lost?

She looked at him hopefully and nodded her head.

What is your name and where do you live? Bill asked.

I don't know, ”she shook her head.

Do you have any relatives, son or daughter?

I don’t know, ”she said plaintively.

The unhappy woman was so upset and shocked that she could not think.

Mother, will you let me look into your wallet? Bill said.

He held out his hand and she handed him her purse. To the end, he came across a piece of paper with an address scrawled on it containing the woman's name and street number in Brooklyn.

Bill read the contents of the note to the little old lady and asked:

This is your daughter?

Yes Yes! the woman nodded, and her face lit up. - This is my daughter!

Did you go to see her? Bill asked.

Bill took her arm.

Come with me, mother. Don't worry, everything will be fine now. I'll put you on the right train.

Together they went down to the platform. The train to Brooklyn has just arrived at the platform. Bill spoke to the attendant in the nearest carriage.

This woman is lost. Here is her address. She is heading to her daughter in Brooklyn. Could you do her a little favor? You need to make sure that she got off at the right station, and ask the station attendant to put her in a taxi or call her daughter to come for her.

Of course, mister! - said the servant, taking the scrap with the address. - Come in, mother, we will look after you.

Bill turned to leave, but managed to hear the words of gratitude spoken in a trembling old man's voice: "God bless you!"

Luck often awaits us in the most unexpected places.

Then Bill glanced at his watch again. Seven to eleven. He is late. It's no use going to Wall Street now - the client won't want to meet him.

A lot of people in Bill's place would say, "This is what it means to act like a good Samaritan. I missed the opportunity to sell a fifty thousand dollar contract!" Even Bill admitted that at the first moment he felt a slight annoyance. He had been preparing for this meeting for several weeks, and it was difficult to understand why he suddenly showed such weakness. No doubt someone else would have taken care of this old lady in the end - someone not so limited in time. But for some unknown reason, he simply could not walk by and help this lonely woman. Maybe because at that moment he thought: "This is someone's mother. If it were my mother, wouldn't I have done everything in my power for her?"

Well, the job was done - and Bill was glad he did just that. This look, full of despair and begging for help, would haunt him for a long time if he passed by. However, not every day there are good people like this Wall Street broker.

Bill was already getting on the train to go to his office, but then the thought occurred to him that in this area - near the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Forty-second Street - there is the office of another potential client, with whom he negotiated the possibility of signing a contract for a hundred thousand dollars a year. The conversation took place six weeks ago. After this man went to Europe, but the other day Bill read in the newspapers that he had returned. Since this is nearby, why not try your luck and look to him to remind you of yourself?

The office reception was packed with people. All of them, like Bill, wanted to see this man. But Bill did not make an appointment, and he probably shouldn't have waited at the back of this huge line. He went out into the corridor and walked towards the elevators. Walking along the corridor, he noticed that the door leading from the businessman's office straight into the corridor was slightly ajar. It was hot August outside, and perhaps the air conditioner was not keeping up with the cooling.

Suddenly, obeying a sudden impulse, Will walked to the open door and looked into the office. To his amazement, the businessman was sitting completely alone, studying some papers. He raised his head and their gazes met.

Bill McDaniel! - exclaimed the one sitting at the table. - Come in! What a coincidence! I was just about to call you. I am studying your insurance offer. I had a car accident last night and decided that I must take better care of my property from now on!

But your waiting room is full of people! Bill said.

They will wait, ”the businessman replied. - This is more important.

Forty minutes later, Bill McDaniel walked out with a signed one hundred thousand dollar contract in his pocket. If not for the little old woman ... he would have made the appointment.

This incident taught me one of the most important lessons in my life, - Bill confessed to me, talking about this incident. - Let your bread go over the waters, and it will come back to you as a pie.

This story is very instructive. Imagine what you want as vividly as you can; sparing no effort, create a canvas on which the pattern of your destiny will lie; when luck turns away from you, do not lose faith in the fact that things will change for the better, and, most likely, it will happen!

Thought, having come into contact with the mysterious "something" within us, will bring you whatever you desire, with natural exceptions. A random thought that flashed in a string of others will get lost and fly away to no one knows where, like a cork from a bottle of champagne. But when one and the same thought, the image of the desired, is repeated over and over again, it attracts the object of desire to itself, just as a magnet attracts pins. The larger the magnet and the greater its power, the greater the radius of its action. The same is the case with thoughts - the brighter they are, the higher their attractive power.

Just as a large magnifying glass collects the sun's rays, directing them to one point, and burns a hole in fabric or paper, so an intense constant thought (a bright mental image) directed to one object merges with this object. But you must mentally imagine the object or image of your desires as reality. You have to consider this picture to the smallest detail, almost touch it with your hands. Then, as if by magic, the circuit will close.

Now go back and carefully reread everything from the very beginning until what you read settles firmly in your mind.

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