Thinking
Overview | Understanding thinking | Cognitive processes (4) | Types of thinking (4) | Design guidance (2) | Pop. stats. (2)
Types of thinking
Introduction | Attention | Visual thinking | Verbal thinking
Verbal thinking refers to the conversion of speech, words and symbols into meaningful constructs, and the use of established semantic knowledge (what things are) stored in long term memory.
Semantic memory holds words and their meanings, the relationships between words and more complex structures such as language, grammar, rules and knowledge. These elements are constructed and utilised through processes of relating, reasoning, and categorising that are thought to be carried out in working memory as a result of executive processing.
In order to understand speech and printed material, low-level auditory and visual processing must first separate the sounds and letters from the background. Higher-level processing, under the control of attention, can then operate on the word sounds and text objects to generate words that are held in working memory. These processes use separate auditory and visual stores.
Executive processes in working memory then interface with long-term memory to enable the meaning of words to be understood. Retrieved episodic memories further contextualise how, where and when these words were encountered. High-level thinking can then use memories of how to do things to generate speech or writing by the initiation of low-level muscular actions.
The icons on the fax machine are reinforced by accompanying text, whereas those on the photocopier are not
A message that uses simple language and gives information in multiple forms is preferable to one that assumes a high level of language skills
Overview | Understanding thinking | Cognitive processes (4) | Types of thinking (4) | Design guidance (2) | Pop. stats. (2)