Arjun needs to tighten a loose screw. A coin lies on his table, but he spends an hour searching for a screwdriver without thinking of using the coin. This reflects:

Answer: A. He is fixed on the usual functions of the objects, a coin for money and a screwdriver for screws, so he misses another use. Mental set refers to repeating earlier steps for a problem, and nothing earlier is described. Divergent thinking would have helped him find the coin trick, and inductive reasoning is not a block to solving problems.

A girl reasons, "People run on a railway platform only when they are late for the train. This man is running on the platform. Therefore he is late for the train." Which statement is correct?

Answer: B. The reasoning starts with a general assumption and draws a specific conclusion, which is deduction. If people also run for other reasons, such as to see off a friend, the assumption fails and so does the conclusion. Options A and D wrongly call it inductive, and it contains no A is to B as C is to D relation, so it is not an analogy.

Thinking — CUET Psychology Notes & MCQs

Q: Neha solved five maths problems using the same sequence of steps. On the sixth problem a much simpler method was available, but she kept using the old sequence and failed. Her difficulty is best described as:

Answer: C. Prior success with one method created a tendency to repeat the same mental operations, which is mental set. Functional fixedness is about seeing an object only in its usual function. Lack of motivation would mean she gave up easily, and incubation is a stage of the creative process.

📌 Snapshot

From mental images and problem solving to creativity and language: how thinking works, with traps and MCQs.
Why a solved method can trap you, and how mental set and functional fixedness block new solutions.
Deductive, inductive and analogical reasoning compared, plus convergent and divergent thinking in tables.
Whorf, Piaget, Vygotsky, Skinner and Chomsky on language and thought, and the stages of a child's first words.

📖 Detailed Notes

Written and reviewed by Subhra Gupta, Humanities faculty at UniDrill (M.A. Sociology, University of Delhi · 7 years teaching Humanities). Based on NCERT Psychology Class XI (Introduction to Psychology), Chapter 7.

Why does a child talk to herself while building a tower?

Watch a small child stacking blocks. She says "not this one", "a little smaller", "nice". She is thinking out loud, and that tiny scene holds the whole chapter: a goal (the tower), a plan, an evaluation, and language running alongside thought. In everyday speech "think" means remember, pay attention or guess ("I think he will come"). In psychology it means something narrower and far more interesting, which is what the next sections unpack.

What counts as thinking?

Thinking is the base of all cognitive activity and is unique to human beings. It is a higher mental process in which we manipulate and analyse information from the environment or from memory. When you look at a painting you do not just register colours and strokes. You go beyond what is given, relate it to what you know, and create new meaning.

Feature	What it means	Everyday example
Goal directed	Thinking is organised towards an aim	Planning how to reach a friend's house
Internal	It happens inside the mind	You cannot see what a chess player is thinking
Inferred from behaviour	We deduce it from what the person does next	His next move shows which strategy he had weighed
Uses stored knowledge	Recalls past steps for familiar tasks, infers new strategies for new ones	Cooking a known dish versus a new recipe

The forms thinking takes are abstracting, reasoning, imagining, problem solving, judging and decision making. Most of this chapter is about the last few.

Building blocks of thought: images and concepts

We think using two kinds of mental representation.

	Mental image	Concept
What it is	A mental representation of a sensory experience	A mental representation of a category: a class of objects, ideas or events with common properties
Used when	Thinking about things, places and events	Sorting and naming what we meet
Everyday example	Picturing a cat on a tree with its tail curved, or recalling a map in an exam	Calling an apple a fruit, a table furniture, a dog an animal

Why we form concepts. Think of a school bag where every book has its place, or a library where books are labelled by subject. Concepts organise knowledge so that we can reach it with less time and effort. When you meet an unfamiliar small animal that has a dog's face, wags its tail and barks at strangers, you match its features with the dog category. You then expect it to bite strangers, even though you have never seen this breed.

Culture and thinking. In a study, students were shown an underwater scene and asked what they saw. American students mostly named the biggest, brightest object, such as a large fish swimming right. Japanese students more often described the background, such as the rocky bottom and the green water. Researchers called the first pattern analytical thinking (each object on its own) and the second holistic thinking (objects in relation to their background).

Beyond the textbook. For the exam: analytical thinking is linked with the American sample and holistic thinking with the Asian sample. In reality: these are average tendencies seen in groups, not rules for each person, and individuals in every society vary widely. Why it matters: an option that says "everyone in group X thinks holistically" overstates the finding.

Problem solving: from the problem to the goal

Problem solving is goal directed thinking. Every problem has an initial state (the problem) and an end state (the goal), connected by a series of mental operations. A problem need not be a hurdle: preparing a quick snack for a friend who has just arrived is also a problem. Here are the steps, using the task of organising a Teachers' Day play.

Step	Mental operation	In the play example
1	Identify the problem	A week is left and you must organise a play
2	Represent the problem	Theme, actors, money, and so on
3	Plan the solution by setting sub goals	Survey themes and consult teachers on cost, duration and suitability
4	Evaluate all solutions	Collect information and hold a rehearsal
5	Select one solution and execute it	Compare options and stage the best play
6	Evaluate the outcome	If the play is appreciated, note the steps for the future
7	Rethink and redefine problems and solutions	Think about how to plan a better play next year

Obstacles to solving problems. Two major ones are mental set and lack of motivation. Functional fixedness is treated alongside mental set as a similar block.

Obstacle	What it is	Everyday example	Effect
Mental set	A tendency to solve problems with steps that worked before	Using the same method for every maths question until one fails	Helps when the new problem is similar, but creates mental rigidity when it is not
Functional fixedness	Being fixed on an object's usual function	Not thinking of a hardbound book as a hammer	Hides unusual uses; overcoming it is a creative act
Lack of motivation	Giving up easily at the first failure	Quitting a puzzle after one wrong try	Skill is wasted without persistence

Worked example: the water jar puzzle. Bottles A, B and C hold 21, 127 and 3 ml. Your friend must measure 100 ml. The method that works is to fill B, pour from B into A until A is full (106 ml is left in B), then fill C from B and empty C, twice. In short, B − A − 2C = 127 − 21 − 6 = 100. The same sequence solves the next four problems. Now try this: A, B and C hold 23, 49 and 3 ml and you need 20 ml. The old sequence works (49 − 23 − 6 = 20), but simply pouring from A into C leaves 23 − 3 = 20 ml in A. In the last problem, bottles of 28, 76 and 3 ml and a target of 25 ml, the old method gives 76 − 28 − 6 = 42, which is wrong, while 28 − 3 = 25 is right. Someone who fails the last one is not weak at arithmetic. The first successes built a mental set that blocked the simpler idea.

Pause and predict: a student solves ten algebra questions by the same substitution trick. The eleventh question needs a different approach, but she keeps trying the trick. Which obstacle is this?

Check your answer: mental set. Prior success produced a habit of repeating the same steps. Functional fixedness is about seeing an object only in its usual role, and lack of motivation would mean she gave up, which she did not do.

Reasoning: reaching a conclusion from information

Reasoning is gathering and analysing information to reach conclusions, so it is itself a form of problem solving. Suppose you see a man running desperately on a railway platform. You might conclude he is late for the train, he is seeing off a friend, or he left his bag on the train. Two styles of reasoning produce such conclusions.

Type	Direction	How it works	Railway example	Main risk
Deductive	General to particular	Begin with an assumption you hold true and draw a specific conclusion	People run on platforms only when late; he is running; so he is late	The conclusion is invalid if the assumption is not true. People run for other reasons too
Inductive	Particular to general	Observe specific facts and draw a general conclusion	He enters the train and returns with a bag, so he had left his bag	Jumping to a conclusion without knowing all the facts
Analogy	Relation to relation	A is to B as C is to D, with the same relation	Water is to fish as air is to human; white is to snow as black is to coal	Helps spot features of an object that would otherwise go unnoticed

Most scientific reasoning is inductive: scientists look at many instances and try to find the general rule that covers them all.

Pause and predict: "Every crow I have seen is black. So all crows must be black." Deductive or inductive? What is the risk?

Check your answer: inductive, because it moves from particular observations to a general rule. The risk is that the next crow could break the rule, and a conclusion drawn from some cases is only as strong as the facts behind it.

Judgment and decision making

Judgment means drawing conclusions, forming opinions and evaluating events or objects from the knowledge and evidence we have. Some judgments are automatic, such as braking at a red light. Others, like judging a poem or a painting, depend on past knowledge and personal preferences, so they are not independent of our beliefs and attitudes. Judgments also change with new information. Students who first judge a new teacher as very strict may later call her student friendly after interacting with her.

Decision making is choosing among alternatives by weighing the cost and benefit of each. Choosing between psychology and economics in Class XI, based on interest, prospects, books and teachers, is a decision.

	Problem solving	Decision making
Solutions known in advance?	No, you have to find them	Yes, the choices are already available and one must be selected
Main task	Search for a way from start to goal	Evaluate the options and choose
Example	Repairing a broken bicycle	A good badminton player must choose between state level practice and studying for the finals

People differ in their priorities, so their decisions differ. In real life we often decide quickly without evaluating every option fully. Judgment and decision making are interrelated processes.

Creative thinking

Creative thinking produces novel and original ideas or solutions. Novelty alone is not enough. A new model of a household appliance is not creative unless it has unique features. Bruner described creative products as producing effective surprise. They also have to be appropriate to the context. Being different for the sake of it, fantasy without purpose or a bizarre idea is not creative. Researchers agree that thinking is creative when it is reality oriented, appropriate, constructive and socially desirable.

Creativity is not only for geniuses. Everyday creativity shows up in cooking, teaching, storytelling, conversation, asking questions and solving daily problems. It differs from the special talent creativity behind outstanding achievements. A.D. Karve's smokeless chullah, which turned useless sugarcane leaves into clean fuel, is the textbook's example of the latter.

Convergent and divergent thinking. J.P. Guilford proposed two kinds of thinking.

	Convergent thinking	Divergent thinking
Question type	Only one correct answer	Many possible answers
What the mind does	Converges on the right solution	Open ended; produces different answers from experience
Example	3, 6, 9... what comes next? (12)	What are the various uses of cloth?
Role in creativity	Selects the appropriate idea that works	Generates a wide range of ideas

Divergent thinking has four abilities. Use "a paper cup" to remember them.

Ability	Meaning	Paper cup example
Fluency	Producing many ideas	Listing a large number of uses
Flexibility	Variety in thinking	Container, circle drawer, and so on, from different categories
Originality	Rare or unusual ideas, from new relationships and fresh perspectives	A use nobody else thought of
Elaboration	Going into details and working out implications	Explaining exactly how the idea would work

Fluency and flexibility are necessary conditions for originality: the more varied ideas you produce, the greater the chance that one is original. A remote association, such as linking food production with deserts and weeds, can turn out to be original.

Two views. For the exam: Guilford's term is divergent thinking, and Edward de Bono's term for the same open exploring is lateral thinking. Another reading: de Bono contrasted it with vertical thinking: vertical thinking digs the same hole deeper, lateral thinking digs a hole in another place. His six thinking hats give separate modes of thinking: white (facts), red (feelings), black (caution and logic), yellow (benefits), green (creativity) and blue (the process itself).

The creative process. Creative ideas do not simply flash. There are stages before and after.

Stage	What happens	Everyday example
Preparation	Understand and analyse the problem, gather background; divergent thinking helps look from many angles	Reading about earlier designs of a poster
Incubation	You feel stuck and leave the problem; the mind works without conscious effort	Stepping away to relax
Illumination	The "Aha!" moment of finding the idea	The solution strikes while walking or bathing
Verification	The idea is tested and judged; convergent thinking selects what works	Trying out the design

Strategies to enhance creativity. Become sensitive to feelings, sights and gaps around you. Generate many ideas and view tasks from several angles. Use Osborn's brainstorming, based on the principle of keeping the production of ideas separate from judging their worth until all ideas are exhausted.

Beyond the textbook. For the exam: brainstorming increases fluency and flexibility by postponing judgment. In reality: when researchers compared groups brainstorming together with the same number of people brainstorming alone, individuals working alone often produced more ideas, partly because only one person in a group can speak at a time. Why it matters: the principle (defer judgment) still helps, but a good practice is to generate ideas alone first and then pool them.

Thought and language

Do we need words to think? There are three views.

View	Who	Claim	Everyday example
Language determines thought	Benjamin Lee Whorf (linguistic relativity hypothesis)	What and how people can think is set by the language and categories they use	Many Hindi kinship terms versus the single English word uncle; many colour words versus two to four in some tribal languages
Thought determines language	Jean Piaget	Thought comes first; language is one vehicle of thought	A child watches and copies an action before she can speak, which is thinking without language
Different origins that merge	Lev Vygotsky	Thought and language develop separately until about age two, then merge	A baby's cry is a reflex, but a two year old can use soundless inner speech

Vygotsky also noted that thought can occur without language (visual or movement based thinking) and language without thought (pleasantries like "Good morning! How are you?"). Where they overlap we get verbal thought and rational speech.

Two views. For the exam: in its strong version Whorf's idea is linguistic determinism, but experiments show that the same quality of thought is possible in every language, although some thoughts are easier in one language than another. Another reading: many scholars accept a weaker claim, that language influences habits of attention and categorising without fixing what a person can think. That is the position evidence tends to support.

Language and how children acquire it

Language is a system of symbols organised by rules to communicate. It has three basic characteristics.

Characteristic	Meaning	Example
Symbols	Words stand for objects or events; they have no meaning by themselves	Home, school, food
Rules	Words must be combined in an accepted order	"I am going to school", not "school am going I"
Communication	Sharing thoughts, intentions and feelings, in speech or through gestures, postures and sign language	A sign language user is also using language

Human language is more complex, creative and spontaneous than the communication systems that other animals can be taught.

Approximate age	Stage	What the child does
Birth onwards	Crying	Undifferentiated at first, then differs in pitch and intensity for hunger, pain or sleepiness
Early months	Cooing	Pleasant sounds like aaa and uuu, usually to show happiness
About 6 months	Babbling	Repeated consonant and vowel sounds like da, aa, ba; some understanding of words begins
About 9 months	Echolalia	Strings like dadadadada, imitating adult voices
Around first birthday	One word stage	Words like ma or da; holophrases (single words standing for whole sentences)
18 to 20 months	Two word stage	Telegraphic speech, mostly nouns and verbs, like "got admission" in a telegram
Close to third birthday	Rule focus	Language growth centres on the rules of the language heard

Nature or nurture? Most psychologists accept that both matter.

	B.F. Skinner (learning view)	Noam Chomsky (innate view)
Core idea	Children learn language as animals learn responses	Children are born ready for language
Mechanisms	Association (the sight of a bottle with the word), imitation, reinforcement (smiles and hugs) and shaping	Universal grammar; a critical period; the same stages everywhere; like physical maturation
Evidence	Children acquire the language they hear and regional pronunciations are reinforced	Children produce sentences they have never heard, so they cannot be imitating
What it explains well	Why infants learn the language they hear and add new words	Why children learn grammar so readily without direct teaching

Language use. Knowing vocabulary and syntax is not enough. People use language with pragmatic intentions such as requesting, asking, thanking and demanding, and it must be contextually appropriate as well as grammatical. Young children often use a demand where a polite request is needed and find turn taking in conversation hard.

Bilingualism and multilingualism. Bilingualism is proficiency in two languages and multilingualism in more than two. The mother tongue is generally the language one identifies with at an emotional level, and a person may have more than one. Multilingualism is a way of life in India, and studies reveal that it facilitates cognitive, linguistic and academic competence in children.

Who said what

Name	Contribution in this chapter
Bruner	Creative thinking produces effective surprise
J.P. Guilford	Convergent and divergent thinking
Edward de Bono	Lateral thinking; six thinking hats
Osborn	Brainstorming
Benjamin Lee Whorf	Linguistic relativity hypothesis: language determines thought
Jean Piaget	Thought precedes and determines language
Lev Vygotsky	Thought and language have different origins and merge at about two years
B.F. Skinner	Language is learnt through association, imitation, reinforcement and shaping
Noam Chomsky	Innate readiness for language; universal grammar and a critical period

Exam traps

The trap	Why it's tempting	The truth
"Thinking can be directly observed."	You see a person engrossed in thought	Thinking is internal and only inferred from behaviour
"Deductive reasoning goes from specific to general."	Deduction sounds like drawing out details	Deductive goes general to particular. Inductive goes particular to general
"A valid deduction guarantees a true conclusion."	The logic looks tight	If the starting assumption is false, the conclusion is false too
"Mental set always hurts problem solving."	The chapter calls it rigidity	It can speed up solving similar problems, and it hinders only when the new problem needs a new method
"Decision making and problem solving are identical."	Both are goal directed	In decision making the options are already known and one must be chosen
"Anything unusual is creative."	Creativity means being different	Creative ideas must be original and also appropriate, constructive and reality oriented
"Convergent thinking has no place in creativity."	Creativity feels free flowing	It selects the idea that works during verification
"Piaget said language determines thought."	He is linked with child language	That is Whorf. Piaget said thought precedes language. Vygotsky said they begin separately and merge
"Holophrase means a two word sentence."	Telegraphic speech also has little words	A holophrase is one word that does the work of a sentence. Two word stage is telegraphic speech

60-second revision

Topic	Lock this in
Thinking	Goal directed, internal, inferred from behaviour
Mental representations	Images and concepts; concepts organise knowledge
Problem solving	Initial state to end state; seven mental operations
Obstacles	Mental set, functional fixedness, lack of motivation
Reasoning	Deductive (general to particular), inductive (particular to general), analogy (A:B::C:D)
Decision making	Choose among known alternatives; linked with judgment
Creativity	Novel, original, appropriate; effective surprise (Bruner)
Guilford	Convergent (one answer) and divergent (many); four abilities: fluency, flexibility, originality, elaboration
Creative process	Preparation, incubation, illumination, verification
Language and thought	Whorf: language determines. Piaget: thought first. Vygotsky: separate, then merge
Language	Symbols, rules, communication
First words	Cooing, babbling (about 6 months), one word (about 1 year), two word (18 to 20 months)
Acquisition	Skinner: learning. Chomsky: innate, universal grammar

Where this chapter connects

Previous chapter: Human Memory supplies the knowledge, concepts and past steps that thinking draws on.
Next chapter: Motivation and Emotion explains why persistence, a missing ingredient in problem solving, depends on motives.
Related chapter: Human Development places Piaget's view of thought in the larger picture of cognitive growth.
Class XII link: Variations in Psychological Attributes returns to creativity, including how it is measured and what makes a person creative.

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