Teacher: Prerna Singh

ISC PSYCHOLOGY

XI PSYCHOLOGY
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CHAPTER: THINKING
UNIT 6

Q. What is thinking? [1]

Answer.
Thinking is a higher mental process through which we manipulate and analyze the acquired or
existing information.

Q. Discuss the nature of thinking. [4]

Answer.
1. Thinking is a cognitive/mental activity
2. It is directed to achieve some purpose.
3. It is a problem-solving behaviour.
4. Thinking is a symbolic activity. We think of a mental solution through some signs,
symbols, and mental images.
5. There is mental representation instead of motor representation.
6. Thinking is a constructive process. It helps in getting new information and even
modifying it.

Q. What are the basic elements of thought? [4]

Answer.
● Concept- Mental categories for objects or events that are similar to one another in
certain respects. Artificial concepts can be clearly defined by a set of rules or
properties. Eg. A tomato is a fruit because it possesses the properties established by
botanists for this category. Natural concepts have no fixed or readily specified set of
defining features.
● Propositions- Sentences that relate one concept to another and can stand as separate
assertions.
● Images- mental representation of objects. These mind pictures symbolize the actual
objects, experiences and activities. We can usually manipulate these images.
Teacher: Prerna Singh

Q. Mention the elements of thinking. [4]

Answer.
● Images- mental representation of objects. These mind pictures symbolize the actual
objects, experiences and activities. We can usually manipulate these images.
● Concept- Mental categories for objects or events that are similar to one another in
certain respects. Artificial concepts can be clearly defined by a set of rules or
properties. Eg. A tomato is a fruit because it possesses the properties established by
botanists for this category. Natural concepts have no fixed or readily specified set of
defining features.
● Language- our ability to use an extremely rich set of symbols, plus rules for combining
them, to communicate information.

Q. Explain the interdependence of language and thought. [1]

Answer.
We can explain the interdependence of language and thought using the Linguistic-relativity
hypothesis by Whorf. It states that language shapes or determines thought. According to this
view,people who speak different languages may perceive the world in different ways because
their thinking is determined by the words available to them.

Q. Explain the following types of thinking. [1*eac

h]
Answer.
● Convergent thinking- process of finding the single best solution to a problem or
question by making use of logical reasoning.
● Divergent thinking- thought process used to generate diverse and numerous ideas on
some mental task, implying that not only one solution will be correct.
● Creative thinking- mental processes leading to a new invention, solution, or synthesis
in any area. Its product is something new or novel.
● Goal-directed thinking- reasoning and problem solving procedures aimed at meeting
specific goals.
● Aimless thinking- the thinking is without goals like day-dreaming, free associations,
fantasy or delusions.

Q. What are the different types of concepts? [1*eac

h]
Answer.
● Artificial concepts- Artificial concepts can be clearly defined by a set of rules or
properties. Eg.a tomato is a fruit because it possesses the properties established by
botanists for this category.
Teacher: Prerna Singh

● Natural concepts- Natural concepts have no fixed or readily specified set of defining
features. They are fuzzy around the edges. Eg. Is a pickle a vegetable? There are no clear
boundaries to define it.

Q. What is meant by reasoning? [1]

Answer.
According to Garrett- “Reasoning is stepwise thinking with a purpose or a goal in mind.”
Reasoning is a process of gathering and analyzing information to arrive at conclusions.
Reasoning is reaching specific conclusions from available information.

Q. Explain the different types of reasoning. [5]

Answer.
● Deductive reasoning begins with making a general assumption that you know or
believe to be true and then drawing specific conclusions based on this assumption. In
other words, it is reasoning from general to particular.
● Reasoning, that is based on specific facts and observation, is called inductive reasoning.
Inductive reasoning is drawing a general conclusion based on a particular observation.

Q. Elaborate upon some of the common errors in reasoning. [5]

Answer.
1. Hindsight error- It is the tendency to judge events as more predictable after their
occurrence than in foresight. After specific events occur, we often have the impression
that we could have predicted or actually did predict them.
2. Faulty premises- A false premise is an incorrect proposition that forms the basis of an
argument. Since the premise (proposition, or assumption) is not correct, the conclusion
drawn may be in error. Faulty reasoning occurs when the conclusion is not supported by
the data (premises).
3. Confirmation bias- The tendency to pay attention primarily to information that
confirms existing views or beliefs.
4. Fallacy of a single case- Occurs when it is assumed that there is a single, simple cause
of an outcome when in reality it may have been caused by a joint number of causes. Eg.
X caused Y, therefore X was the only cause of Y but A, B, C also contributed to Y.
5. Rationalization- Trying to fit a logical explanation to something that doesn’t make
sense. We use it when we try to explain an event or action that we don’t like or don’t
understand through a series of seemingly plausible steps.
Teacher: Prerna Singh

Q. Mention ways to improve reasoning? [4]

Answer.
1. Guarding against emotions- Extremes in emotional states can be bad news. Losing
your cool, can result in decisions you may regret later. Yet, being in a good mood also
has its advantages and disadvantages. Performance on creative tasks seems to be
enhanced by a positive mood state, but performance on analytic tasks is diminished. So
be cautious of making important decisions or trying to solve difficult problems when you
are unhappy or angry.
2. Examining premises- Personal beliefs can cause us to ignore or over-react to a point of
view on an issue about which we feel strongly. Protect from this error by asking yourself
whether you are responding to the facts or to your beliefs. Combat confirmation bias,
seek out information from all points of view, and then carefully weigh the merits of each
argument
3. Avoiding errors- understand the errors of reasoning and try your best to avoid them.
Become a critical thinker and reflect on your mistakes and gradually the errors will
reduce.

Q. Define decision-making. [1]

Answer.
It is the process of choosing among various courses of action or alternatives.

Q. What is optimum expected utility? [1]

Answer.
When making a decision, you would consider:
● The utility or value to you of the outcomes each alternative may yield
● The probability that such results would actually occur
Decision will be made based on expected utility- the product of the subjective value of an
event and its predicted probability of occurrence.

Q. What is meant by problem-solving? [1]

Answer.
Problem solving involves efforts to develop or choose among various responses in order to
attain desired goals.
Teacher: Prerna Singh

Q. What are heuristics and explain its types? [4]

Answer.
They are mental rules of thumb that permit us to make decisions and judgments in a rapid and
efficient manner.
● Availability heuristics- tendency to make judgments about the frequency or likelihood
of events in terms of how readily examples of them can be brought to mind.
● Representativeness heuristics- assumes that any object that shares characteristics with
the member of a particular category is also a member of that category.

Q. Explain the various ways of solving a problem/ Steps of problem solving. [4]/[5]

Answer.
● Trial and error learning- A method of solving problems in which possible solutions are
tried until one succeeds.
● Algorithm- A specific, step-by-step procedure for solving certain types of problems. It
guarantees a solution to a specific type of problem.
● Means-end analysis- It is a heuristic that involves dividing the problem into a series of
subgoals. Each of these is then solved, and the distance between our original state and
the goal is reduced in a step-by-step fashion.
● Analogy- Analogy is a strategy for solving problems based on applying solutions that
were previously successful with other problems similar in underlying structure.

Q. What is the use of divergent thinking in creativity? [1]

Answer.
Divergent thinking which is an open-ended thinking where the individual can think of different
answers to the questions or problems in terms of her/his experiences. This kind of thinking helps
in producing novel and original ideas thus leading to creativity.

Q. What is creativity? What is creative thinking? [1]

Answer.
Creativity involves the production of novel and original ideas or solutions to problems.
Creative thinking thus refers to originality and uniqueness of ideas or solutions that did not
previously exist.

Q. What are the different steps of creative thinking? [5]

Answer.
1. Preparation- requires one to understand the task or problem in hand, analyze the
problem, and become aware of the background facts and related information. The
Teacher: Prerna Singh

process evokes curiosity and excitement to think more and more in different directions.
The person tries to look at the task or problem from different angles and viewpoints.
2. Incubation- When the person is trying to generate alternative ideas and trying to view
the problem from an unusual perspective, there may be a feeling of getting stuck. One
may leave the problem or the task for sometime. This is the stage of incubation. Creative
ideas may not occur immediately during incubation. They may occur or strike when a
person is doing something else, for example, going to sleep, waking up, taking a bath or
just walking along.
3. Illumination- the ‘Aha’! or ‘I have found it’ experience, the moment we normally
associate with the emergence of creative ideas. There usually is a feeling of excitement,
even satisfaction, of having found a creative idea.
4. Verification/Validation- stage where the worth or appropriateness of ideas or solutions
are tested and judged. Here, convergent thinking plays its role in selecting the
appropriate idea or solution that works.

Q. Suggest ways to foster creativity./ How to promote creative thinking? [5]

Answer.
● Enrich knowledge and experience- Engage yourself more frequently in activities
which require use of imagination and original thinking rather than routine work
according to your interest and hobbies. Resist the temptation for immediate reward and
success and cope with the frustration and failure. Encourage self evaluation.
● Encourage independence- Generate as many ideas, responses, solutions or suggestions
on a given task or situation to increase your flow of thoughts. Try deliberately to look for
multiple angles of a task and situation to increase flexibility in your thinking. Develop
independent thinking in making judgments, figuring out things without any help or
resources.
● Curiosity- Become more aware and sensitive to be able to notice and respond to
feelings, sights, sounds, textures around you. Spot problems, missing information,
anomalies, gaps, deficiencies, and so on. For this, cultivate the habit of wider reading,
exposure to a variety of information, and develop the art of asking questions, pondering
over the mysteries of situations and objects.
● Promote a positive mood.
● Be self-confident and positive. Never undermine your creative potential. Experience the
joy of your creation.
● Osborn’s Brainstorming technique can be used to increase fluency and flexibility of
ideas. The basic assumption is to let the minds think freely and the tendency to put
judgment on the worth of ideas may be postponed, i.e. imagination should be given
priority over judgment till all the ideas are exhausted. This helps in increasing the
fluency of ideas and piling up alternatives.