Chapter 6: Set of Exercises for the Development of Thinking

Nearly every parent who brings a child in for a consultation with a psychologist says: “He’s very smart.” In the course of the interview, however, it becomes clear that the child has a hard time with mathematics (while technically knowing the multiplication table, a pupil in the second or third grade cannot solve a problem such as: “If four monkeys have three bananas each, how many bananas do they have altogether?”); he is not good at writing compositions (he makes almost no mistakes, but cannot develop a topic); he is not good at recounting something he has read (he has a good memory, but is unable to identify the main elements of a text); he finds it difficult to formulate the moral of a fable he has learned and to comprehend the figurative meaning of a proverb, and so on, and so forth. A neuropsychological examination shows that the issue is by no means intellectual disability: in many texts the child does in fact display uncommon quick-wittedness and cleverness. In other tests, however, difficulties are apparent. Upbringing and training play a highly important role both in a child’s intellectual development and in the development of his thinking abilities in particular [Halstead, 1947]. An adult introduces the child to his surrounding reality and communicates to him his first information about the phenomena of nature and society, without which the development of thought would be impossible. We should point out, however, that simple memorization of specific facts and passive assimilation of knowledge cannot yet ensure the proper development of children’s thought. In order for a child to begin thinking, he must be confronted with a problem such that in solving it he can apply previously received knowledge to new circumstances. Hence, a major factor in the intellectual