Printer Friendly
Dictionary, Encyclopedia and Thesaurus - The Free Dictionary
1,753,921,993 visitors served.
forum mailing list For webmasters
?
New: Language forums
Dictionary/
thesaurus
Medical
dictionary
Legal
dictionary
Financial
dictionary
Acronyms
 
Idioms
Encyclopedia
Wikipedia
encyclopedia
?

concrete thinking

   Also found in: Encyclopedia 0.04 sec.
concrete thinking
n.
Thinking characterized by a predominance of actual objects and events and the absence of concepts and generalizations.

concrete thinking,
a stage in the development of the cognitive thought processes in the child. During this phase thought becomes increasingly logical and coherent so that the child is able to classify, sort, order, and organize facts while still being incapable of generalizing or dealing in abstractions. Problem solving is accomplished in a concrete, systematic fashion based on what is perceived, keeping to the literal meaning of words, as in applying the word horse to a particular animal and not to horses in general. In Piaget's classification this stage occurs between 7 and 11 years of age, is preceded by syncretic thinking, and is followed by abstract thinking. Compare abstract thinking, syncretic thinking.

concrete thinking
Psychiatry Cognition that reflects experience, rather than abstraction, typical of those who are unable to generalize


How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content.
?Page tools
Printer friendly
Cite / link
Email
Feedback
Add definition
? Mentioned in ? References in periodicals archive
 
During the later stages of concrete thinking, children are able to engage in causal (if/then) thinking.
 
Medical browser? ? Full browser
 
 
Medical Dictionary
?

Disclaimer | Privacy policy | Feedback | Copyright © 2009 Farlex, Inc.
All content on this website, including dictionary, thesaurus, literature, geography, and other reference data is for informational purposes only. This information should not be considered complete, up to date, and is not intended to be used in place of a visit, consultation, or advice of a legal, medical, or any other professional. Terms of Use.