Editing Experience (section)

=== Thinking ===
The term "[[thinking]]" is used to refer to a wide variety of cognitive experiences. They involve [[mental representation]]s and the processing of information.<ref name="Kazdin">{{cite book |editor1-last=Kazdin |editor1-first=Alan E. |title=Encyclopedia of Psychology |date=2000 |publisher=American Psychological Association |isbn=978-1-55798-187-5 |url=https://www.apa.org/pubs/books/4600100 |chapter=Thinking: An Overview}}</ref> This way, ideas or [[proposition]]s are entertained, judged or connected. It is similar to memory and imagination in that the experience of thinking can arise internally without any stimulation of the sensory organs, in contrast to perception.<ref name="Zajonc">{{cite web |last1=Zajonc |first1=Robert B. |title=International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences: Thinking |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences-and-law/sociology-and-social-reform/sociology-general-terms-and-concepts/thinking |access-date=5 October 2021}}</ref> But thinking is still further removed from sensory contents than memory and imagination since its contents belong to a more abstract level. It is closely related to the phenomenon of speech, with some theorists claiming that all thinking is a form of inner speech expressed in language.<ref name="BorchertThinking">{{cite book |last1=Borchert |first1=Donald |title=Macmillan Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2nd Edition |date=2006 |publisher=Macmillan |url=https://philpapers.org/rec/BORMEO |chapter=Thinking}}</ref> But this claim is controversial since there seem to be thoughts that are not linguistically fully articulated.<ref name="HonderichThinking">{{cite book |last1=Honderich |first1=Ted |title=The Oxford Companion to Philosophy |date=2005 |publisher=Oxford University Press |url=https://philpapers.org/rec/HONTOC-2 |chapter=Thinking}}</ref> But the more moderate claim is often accepted that thinking is associated with dispositions to perform speech acts. On this view, making a judgment in thought may happen non-linguistically but is associated with a disposition to linguistically affirm the judged proposition.<ref name="HonderichThinking"/> Various theories of the nature of the experience of thinking have been proposed. According to [[Platonism]], it is a spiritual activity in which [[Platonic form]]s and their interrelations are discerned and inspected.<ref name="BorchertThinking"/> Conceptualists, on the other hand, hold that thinking involves entertaining [[concept]]s.<ref name="BorchertThinking"/> On this view, judgments arise if two or more concepts are connected to each other and can further lead to [[inference]]s if these judgments are connected to other judgments.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Frauenstädt |first1=Julius |title=Ein philosophisches Wörterbuch, nach Arthur Schopenhauers sämmtlichen Schriften und handschriftlichem Nachlaß bearbeitet |date=1871 |publisher=Brockhaus |location=Leipzig |url=http://schopenhauers-kosmos.de/Urteil |chapter=Urteil}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Frauenstädt |first1=Julius |title=Ein philosophisches Wörterbuch, nach Arthur Schopenhauers sämmtlichen Schriften und handschriftlichem Nachlaß bearbeitet |date=1871 |publisher=Brockhaus |location=Leipzig |url=http://schopenhauers-kosmos.de/Schließen |chapter=Schließen}}</ref>

Various types of thinking are discussed in the academic literature.<ref name="BritannicaThought">{{cite web |title=Thought - Types of thinking |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/thought/Types-of-thinking |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |access-date=9 October 2021 |language=en}}</ref> They are sometimes divided into four categories: [[concept formation]], [[problem solving]], [[judgment]] and [[decision making]], and [[reasoning]].<ref name="Kazdin"/> In concept formation, the features common to the examples of a certain type are learned. This usually corresponds to understanding the meaning of the word associated with this type.<ref name="Kazdin"/><ref name="BritannicaThought"/> In the case of problem solving, thinking has as its goal to overcome certain obstacles by discovering a solution to a problem. This happens either by following an algorithm, which guarantees success if followed correctly, or by using heuristics, which are more informal methods that tend to bring the thinker closer to a solution.<ref name="Kazdin"/><ref name="BritannicaThought"/> Judgment and decision making involve choosing the best course of action among various alternatives.<ref name="Kazdin"/> In reasoning, the thinker starts from a certain set of premises and tries to draw conclusions from them.<ref name="Kazdin"/><ref name="BritannicaThought"/> A simpler categorization divides thinking into only two categories: theoretical contemplation and practical deliberation.<ref name="BorchertThinking"/>