Thought and thinking are mental forms and processes, respectively ("thought" is both.) Fact: date=January 2009 Thinking allows beings to model the world and to deal with it according to their objectives, plans, ends and desires. Words referring to similar concepts and processes include cognition, sentience, consciousness, idea, and imagination.

Thinking involves the mental manipulation of information, as when we form concepts, engage in problem solving, reason and make decisions. Fact: date=January 2009

Thinking is a higher cognitive function and the analysis of thinking processes is part of cognitive psychology.

Basic process

The basic mechanics of human brain cells reflect a process of pattern matching or rather recognition. Fact: date=January 2009 In a "moment of reflection", new situations and new experiences are judged against recalled ones and judgements are made. Fact: date=January 2009 In order to make these judgements, the intellect maintains present experience and sorts relevant past experience. It does this while keeping present and past experience distinct and separate. Fact: date=January 2009The intellect can mix, match, merge, sift, and sort concepts, perceptions, and experience. Fact: date=January 2009 This process is called reasoning. Logic is the science of reasoning. The awareness of this process of reasoning is access consciousness (see philosopher Ned Block). Thinking is not merely a process occurring in animals and humans. AI (artificial intelligence) focuses on machine thinking.

Aids to thinking

1. Use of models, symbols, diagrams and pictures.
2. Use of abstraction to simplify the effort of thinking.
3. Use of metasyntactic variables to simplify the effort of naming.
4. Use of iteration and recursion to converge on a concept.
5. Limitation of attention to aid concentration and focus on a concept. Use of peace and quiet to aid concentration.
6. Goal setting and goal revision. Simply letting the concept percolate in the subconscious, and waiting for the concept to re-surface.
7. Talking with like-minded people. Resorting to communication with others.
8. Working backward from the goal.
9. Desire for learning.

Pitfalls

1. Prejudice can lead to flawed thinking
2. Self-delusions: inability to confront relevant issues (roadblocks).

See also

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• Intrapersonal communication
• Language and thought
• Language of thought
• List of basic thinking-related topics
• Lists of thinking-related topics
• Stream of consciousness (psychology)
• Train of thought
• Unification Thought

References

• Eric Baum (2004). What is Thought, Chapter Two: The Mind is a Computer Program. MIT Press. ISBN 0-262-02548-5