What Is Thinking?
You think all day long. But have you ever stopped to wonder: what actually is thinking? What is happening inside your head when you figure something out? Let us slow things down and take a close look at what thinking really means.
Thinking Is Your Brain Working Something Out
Thinking is what happens when your brain takes in information and does something with it. When you look at a puzzle piece and wonder where it might fit — that is thinking. When you hear a noise outside and try to figure out what made it — that is thinking. When you choose the bigger slice of pizza — yes, even that is thinking! Thinking includes all the ways your brain works things out: figuring out answers, making choices, imagining new things, remembering, planning, and noticing patterns.
Thinking is your brain taking in information and doing something with it — like a chef taking ingredients and turning them into a meal. Information goes in, and understanding comes out.
Four Kinds of Thinking
Thinking is not just one thing. There are many different ways your brain can think. Figuring out: This is when you use information to find an answer. If you have six apples and give away two, you figure out that four are left. Deciding: This is when you pick between choices. Chocolate or vanilla? Stay inside or play outside? Your brain weighs the options and picks one. Imagining: This is when your brain pictures something that is not right in front of you. Drawing a picture of a dragon, or planning your birthday party — your brain is imagining. Remembering: This is when your brain pulls up something from the past. What did you have for lunch yesterday? Who is your best friend's dog named? Remembering is thinking too.
Match each thinking type to its example.
Terms
Definitions
Drag terms onto their definitions, or click a term then click a definition to match.
Here is a fun way to think about thinking. Imagine your brain is like a kitchen. The ingredients are information: things you see, hear, feel, and already know. The cooking is thinking: your brain mixing those ingredients together. The meal is understanding: what comes out when your brain is done. Every time you think, your brain is cooking up something new from the ingredients around you. And the more ingredients you have — the more you have learned and experienced — the more interesting meals your brain can make!
You cannot see thinking happen. But you can feel it! That little pause when you are working something out, that 'aha!' feeling when an answer clicks — that is thinking at work.
Fill in the missing word.
Which of these is an example of the 'figuring out' kind of thinking?
In the kitchen example, what are the 'ingredients' that your brain uses for thinking?
Catch a Thought
- For the next few minutes, you are going to catch your own thoughts.
- Sit quietly for 30 seconds and notice what your brain is doing. Are you figuring something out? Deciding something? Imagining? Remembering?
- Write down or draw the thought you caught. Label what kind of thinking it was: figuring out, deciding, imagining, or remembering.
- Try this two more times during the day — catching a thought and labeling it.
- At the end of the day, look at your three caught thoughts. What kinds of thinking did your brain do most today?