What is clip thinking and whether it should be fought - psychologist's analysis

clinical psychologist, expert of the online school of psychological professions “Psychodemia”

“In modern Russian pedagogy, psychology, journalism and cultural studies, the term “clip thinking” is widely used today to describe a new type of perception and information processing. Let’s understand what it is.”

Daftar Isi

What is clip thinking?

Clip thinking (from the English word clip – a passage, fragment) is a feature of thinking that allows you to perceive disparate and multidirectional information. Supporters of the existence of this phenomenon note that it is characterized by high fluency and speed with low coherence of incoming images and their disynchrony.

This term cannot be called strictly scientific. In the generally accepted psychological classification of types of thinking and stages of its development there is no concept of clipping. Foreign studies also lack such a term.

Domestic researchers of this topic note that the phenomenon itself is not so new, since the metaphor of clip culture was proposed by American philosopher Alvin Toffler in his book “The Third Wave” in the 1980s. He described a new type of information society characterized by an overdeveloped communication network, narrower specialization of mass media for the needs of consumers, and simplified production of information by consumers themselves. Yet Alvin Toffler spoke of a new type of culture, not of cognitive processes.

Thus, the term, which originally came out of philosophy and cultural studies, has penetrated into psychology and pedagogy. In Russian sources, one can find more than a dozen studies on the topic of clique thinking and its impact on the learning abilities of schoolchildren and students.

Usually clip thinking is attributed to generation Z (zoomers). These are people born between 1995 and 2010. It is also thought to be typical of the younger “Alpha” generation. These are those who were born after the 2010s.

Representatives of these generations are characterized by the active use of technology, starting at a fairly early age. In this regard, their way of perceiving and processing information has some differences compared to people who do not actively use smartphones and computers.

It is stereotypically believed that the clique thinking characteristic of zoomers and alphas is an evil that needs to be fought. Is it?

How did clique thinking come about?

According to the cultural-historical approach of psychology, thinking, like other cognitive processes, is born and changes as a result of mastering “mental tools” such as symbols, signs, and images. Thus, the following factors became the prerequisites for the formation of clique thinking.

Reasons for the emergence of clique thinking

1. Development of technology and availability of media. Internet, social networks, mobile devices – all this gives the opportunity to receive information quickly and easily, in the form of clips. Visual presentation of information has become more preferred over textual information, which requires more concentration and effort to perceive.

2. Brevity and Concentration. Time is one of the most valuable resources today, so for many, getting information in a more concise and concise format has become preferred. Short video clips of a few seconds to a few minutes can quickly convey the main idea without diving into large amounts of data.

3. Visual Culture. Modern culture is increasingly visual-oriented. Movies, TV series, commercials, music videos – all of this shapes visual preferences and promotes clip-based thinking.

4. emotional appeal. Clips often contain emotionally intense scenes, “hooks” that evoke strong feelings in viewers and thus leave a memorable trace. Later we can not always remember the content of such clips, but the feelings, emotions that were experienced, remain.

5. Social media and wide distribution of content. Social networks have become a platform for sharing various content. People share clips, pictures, short texts. This also actively contributes to the formation of clip thinking.

How does clip thinking differ from abstract thinking?

Some researchers contrast clip thinking with conceptual or abstract-logical thinking. What is it characterized by? Prolonged concentration of attention on one object, perception of the same type of information, the ability to verbalize the received data, to present them in the form of a consistent text, to make abstract inferences.

Differences between clique and conceptual thinking

1. Clip thinking is characterized by abbreviated perception of information. Short video formats provide only a squeeze of it, which can lead to a superficial understanding of the topic. Conceptual thinking, on the contrary, allows you to analyze a large amount of data, summarize disparate facts, synthesize them into something general and make a holistic view of the situation at hand.

2. Clip thinking is characterized by high speed of attention switching. Marketers recommend placing the main message of what the product author wants to say in the first three seconds of a video, picture or text. It is believed that during this time the user perceives enough data for an emotional response to occur and the information to “catch” him.

Conceptual thinking does not allow making such quick conclusions about the situation. If this type of information perception was more pronounced when working with social networks, we would be overloaded with data flow, clogging the brain with unnecessary details.

3. Clip-based thinking is subordinate to the emotional component. Short video formats are often created to elicit an emotional response from viewers, which can influence their perception of information. Conceptual thinking relies primarily on logic, on a set of facts. It allows for critical thinking, not only on the basis of sensory experience. At the same time, it takes into account emotional response as one of the factors for decision-making, but not the main one.

At the same time, studies of the impact of technology on cognitive processes show ambiguous data. It is still not entirely clear whether the use of large amounts of media information is a cause, a consequence, or inversely related to problems in cognitive function, which subjects report in self-reports, but which are not confirmed by objective tests.

Pros and cons of clique thinking

Despite the ambiguity of the phenomenon of clique thinking and the need for further research into it, it has traditionally had the following disadvantages:

Superficiality of data perception when, on the contrary, a deeper and more versatile analysis of the situation is required. As a consequence, a person who is accustomed to perceiving information piecemeal may experience difficulties when it is necessary to make a long-term assessment of the situation and in strategic thinking;
the value of information is determined by key words, an abundance of vivid images, emotional “hooks” rather than by its content. This prevents critical perception of information. As a result, people with clique thinking can make logical errors, be naive and gullible. Their minds can be more easily manipulated.
data obtained through clip perception do not form a fundamental knowledge base in long-term memory. An illustration for this type of thinking is the fish Dory from the cartoon “Finding Nemo”. She reacted emotionally to stimuli received in the here and now, but forgot them after a few seconds.

What to say about the pros of clip thinking? Among them we can emphasize:

the convenience of obtaining information in a short period of time, when you need to quickly process a large amount of data presented in video, audio or text passages;
the ability to quickly switch attention from one thing to another, maneuver between multidirectional tasks and simultaneously perform several operations (listening, watching, writing, speaking, motor activity).

How can we overcome the negative effects of clique thinking?

To this end, you can work in several directions.

1. Form critical thinking skills

For example, when new information is received, it is necessary to look not for its confirmation, but, on the contrary, for its refutation. One should try to identify problems and contradictions, and put the arguments received to the test. This process is called the development of critical thinking.

Another way to work in this direction is to formulate your own thoughts in writing. How does it work? Because we write slower than we think, we are able to focus on an idea for longer periods of time while writing. In the time we formulate an idea, it has time to develop and helps the next one to germinate.

When we spend at least 10 minutes writing about something, we can get much further in our own realizations and reasoning. It is also easier to critically evaluate a text we have written ourselves than unspoken thoughts “going around in circles” in our head.

2. Consciously consume information

Set aside time to contemplate the real world around us. For example, nature.

Meditations, silence retreats with refusal from gadgets, applications on your phone, controlling the time of use – all this will help to organize the brain “reboot”, to rest from flashing images, videos, texts.

It is also worth training our thinking, alternating quick perception of information with a deeper and longer immersion in mental activity. For example, you can master chess, collect complex puzzles. This will help to train the ability to focus for a long time on low-dynamic situations and develop perseverance.

3. Work with a psychologist to develop reflection skills

This is about the ability to analyze one’s own psychological state and personal experiences.

Fast perception of information does not allow us to focus on ourselves, to check our state, to evaluate our own needs.

Due to the fact that in the process of clip thinking a person becomes particularly susceptible to the perception of brightly colored units of information (positive and negative), his emotional state is also influenced by external factors. To learn to self-regulate and manage one’s feelings regardless of the external context, it is precisely worth working with a specialist.

Since there is an ambiguous attitude to the phenomenon of clique thinking in psychological science, this category may disappear over time, and vice versa – to receive clarification and additional research.

Maria Falikman, Doctor of Psychological Sciences, a specialist in cognitive sciences, says that it may take time to truly assess the impact of the digital environment on human cognitive processes. Generations that have been using tech tools since early childhood need to grow up before we can get reliable research data.

Current cognitive changes rather refer not to thinking per se, but to the process of perception, memorization and problem solving. Here we can talk about the phenomenon of multitasking, as a result of which concentration on each specific type of activity decreases, which, in turn, negatively affects the efficiency of its performance.

In any case, it is not superfluous for modern society, regardless of generations, to improve information literacy, to understand the pros and cons of clip thinking, to work on the development of abstract-logical conceptual thinking and the ability to regulate their own emotional state.