Abstract thinking: what it is in simple words, examples, how to develop

Clinical psychologist, ACT therapist, expert of the online school of psychological professions “Psychodemia”

“Abstract thinking differs from concrete thinking. In what way, exactly? It is a type of thinking that uses abstract concepts, categories and logical structures. It is important to develop it for both children and adults. Let’s take a closer look at what abstract thinking is.

Using concrete thinking, a person focuses on the here-and-now. For example, my car, that tree. This type of thinking is practical, literal and operates on precise data and knowledge (three cats, Djokovic lost in the final). It focuses on what can be perceived through the senses: smell, sight, hearing, taste and touch.

An abstract thinker turns to ideas, concepts, metaphors, and analogies. He masterfully manages information: systematizes, analyzes, puts forward and tests hypotheses, draws conclusions (for example, about the prospects of the automobile industry or the environmental situation).

A person with developed abstract thinking can relate seemingly unrelated phenomena, consider a situation in its entirety and from different angles. He or she is able to find non-obvious ways of solving a problem.

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Examples of abstract thinking

Abstract thinking skills are important when studying exact sciences – math, physics, astronomy. In nature, there are no objects or phenomena such as numbers, numbers, properties, principles, ideas. All of them were invented by people. But in the humanities – philosophy, linguistics, psychology – we cannot do without abstract thinking. Thanks to it, we can reason about love and beauty, meaning, freedom, happiness.

Most people in everyday life combine concrete and abstract thinking. Let’s understand with examples.

Triumph is an abstract concept. An athlete who experienced it by winning a tournament is quite concrete. After a sports broadcast, viewers can discuss both the statistics of the champion (concrete thinking) and reflect on the meaning of his victory (abstract thinking).

Proverbs and proverbs often have both direct and figurative meanings. For example, the phrase “you can’t catch a fish out of a pond without labor”. A person with concrete thinking will understand it in a straightforward way. For him, it is a message about the difficulty of catching fish. It is abstract thinking that helps us understand the allegorical meaning of proverbs. For example, about the need to make an effort to get a result.

Thinking about the future is how we create plans, set goals, and formulate desires. It is abstract thinking that helps us do this. The desired reality has not yet arrived, but a person can already visualize it and make efforts to achieve the result.

Abstraction is relative. What does that mean? For example, for a three-year-old child, the words “at the end of summer” are abstract. But for a university student they will be very concrete. Why does this happen? The depth of knowledge within a topic determines what is considered concrete (and easy to understand) and what is considered abstract (and difficult to understand).

What does this mean? It is abstract thinking that helps us analyze, classify and systematize information, find correspondences between the general and the particular, evaluate and compare objects and phenomena, and generalize various data.

Forms of abstract thinking

Let us take as an example a pen lying on the table. We can discuss its shape, color, size, material. Concrete thinking will help us with this. But we can also talk about the process of creating the pen, the various tasks that are accomplished with it, and its importance to the creative process. To do this, we will use three forms of abstract thinking: concepts, judgments, and inferences.

Concept. Let’s understand it by example. When a person speaks about homogeneous phenomena, such as “writing utensils”, he means a certain general concept, within which we can distinguish separate types: pens, pencils, markers, etc.
Judgment. This is the conclusion we draw after studying a subject. It can be simple: “We are out of ink”. Or complex: “One pen is enough for a line of one and a half to two kilometers long, depending on the force of pressure”. The hallmark of such a conclusion is the presence of an affirmation or negation. Judgments become false when they assume a relationship that does not exist in reality.
Inference. It is formed from several judgments, consists of a premise, a conclusion, and a conclusion. For example, “an average person writes four pens in a year”, and “one pen can write 50 thousand words”. Then we get the conclusion. Accordingly, “a person writes about 200 thousand words with a pen in a year”.

How does abstract thinking develop in children?

Most researchers claim that abstract-logical thinking begins to form in the younger school age. This process is completed in adolescence.

However, children of an earlier (preschool) age, despite the lack of development of thinking, can also make conclusions and generalizations in some situations. What contributes to this? Exercises to develop the conceptual apparatus. For example, an adult can explain the moral of a fairy tale and discuss with the child the concepts of good and evil based on specific examples from the book.

Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget studied the peculiarities of children’s thinking. What did he come up with? Piaget designed experiments to investigate the ability of children to form concepts, and also described the process of thinking development. Briefly, it can be described as a gradual increase in the degree of abstraction.

1. Visual-action thinking is concrete and involves manipulation of objects. Example: a child can put cubes on top of each other or arrange them by color.

2. figurative thinking involves imagination. The child put the cubes on top of each other. But he also said that this is a castle and a princess lives in it. The child can make up a role-playing game with the cubes, much of which will involve imagination.

3. abstract thinking operates with concepts. A teenager can speculate about what a cube-shaped object of art means, what idea it can embody.

Figurative thinking operates with visual representations, abstract thinking operates with concepts. It is directly related to the level of speech development. This is noted by some researchers. They found a connection between the ability to abstract and the level of “verbal intelligence”. What does this mean? The process of gradual transition from extremely concrete thinking to increasingly abstract thinking is important for intellectual development.

How does a child develop abstract thinking?

Certain games are suitable for children to develop abstract thinking.

Synonyms-antonyms. Throw the child a ball with the chosen word (“easy”). Then he must catch it and say the antonym (“heavy”).
Finish the sentence. Start saying: “In the forest was born…”, “In summer it is hot, and in winter…” and ask the child to continue the sentence.
Association game. The adult says a simple concept: “summer”. The child responds with associations: sun, swimming, strawberries, vacations, ball. The words can be any words. It is important that they are connected with each other.
Associations with pictures. Draw a blot (a spot of any shape) and ask the child to tell a story about it. What or who it looks like, what it does, what its character is.

An older child can be offered more complex concepts. For example, denoting relationships between people or emotions.

How does an adult develop abstract thinking?

Formulate. Try to explain a complex idea in simple words. This could be a written essay or a story for a friend. Chances are, in the process of explaining, you will learn something new yourself or understand the issue better. Clarity of speech and the ability to choose precise words directly affects thinking and vice versa. How is it connected? Speech is the verbal shell of thinking.
Describe your thought process. Write down and sketch your reflections, organize them into charts and diagrams. Look for new metaphors, comparisons, associations, symbols, images to express your thoughts. Draw visual representations on paper. For example, what image would you choose for the concept of “friendship”?
Watch other people’s speech. It is easier to spot logical errors.
When thinking about a problem, think about how someone else would solve it? What other ways are there? Try looking at it from the outside. Take a step back to see the big picture.
“Prove the opposite.” Choose any statement. For example: “Summer is the best time of the year.” Write down the arguments that prove the opposite. Then write a rebuttal against each one. Thus, you will have two columns with arguments for and against this judgment.

How do I use abstract thinking?

Abstract thinking enables us to understand and explain complex concepts, to see events from different angles, to take another person’s point of view, to be creative, and to think strategically. Other intellectual qualities are also associated with it.

Broadness of mind – the ability to consider an issue in relation to other phenomena. It is the ability to generalize, outlook.
Depth of mind – the ability to emphasize the main thing in the problem. It helps to foresee consequences.
Consistency of thinking – the ability to build a logical order.
Flexibility of thinking – the ability to look at the situation from another side, to find a non-standard solution to the problem.
Critical thinking – the ability to consider objectively one’s own and others’ beliefs.

You probably use abstract thinking a lot. For example, when coming up with plans for the next year, gathering ideas for a work project, sketching out a sketch of a future home renovation, or pondering the pitfalls of a new contract.

In the creative industry, thoughts are put into action every day. Artists, writers, and musicians use abstract thinking to create their work. They are able to see the world from a different angle, visualize things that don’t yet exist, and bring ideas to life. Without abstract thinking, it would be impossible to create something new: a painting, a book, or a piece of music.

In technical and engineering fields, it is important to be able to ask questions. Why does it work and work this way? How can it be different? Who would benefit from it? Can the problem be simplified?

In business and management, it is important to evaluate project perspectives, create and test hypotheses, see the big picture, and connect the abstract to the concrete, the everyday.

Abstract thinking plays an important role in education and learning. Why. It helps develop critical thinking, analytical skills, and problem-solving abilities.

Thanks to advances in technology, many tasks that once required manual labor can now be performed by robots. However, computers are not yet capable of creative and abstract thinking.

This means that people will continue to play a key role in solving complex tasks that require creativity and innovation. In the future, education will begin to focus more and more on developing abstract thinking in students. Thus, it will continue to play a key role in the development of science, technology and society as a whole.