Logical Thinking

You have three blocks in front of you, a blue one, a red one and a yellow one. You must remove two of them. If you take away the blue block, you may not take the red one. If you take away the red block, you may not take the yellow one. Which two blocks may be removed? To answer this puzzle you will need to think logically.

Logical thinking is not a magical process or a matter of genetic endowment, but a learned mental process, says Dr. Karl Albrecht in his book Brain Building. It is the process in which one uses reasoning consistently to come to a conclusion. Problems or situations that involve logical thinking call for structure, for relationships between facts, and for chains of reasoning that “make sense.”

According to Dr. Albrecht the basis of all logical thinking is sequential thought. This process involves taking the important ideas, facts, and conclusions involved in a problem and arranging them in a chain-like progression that takes on a meaning in and of itself. To think logically is to think in steps.

Logical thinking is also an important foundational skill of math. “Learning mathematics is a highly sequential process,” says Dr. Albrecht. “If you don’t grasp a certain concept, fact, or procedure, you can never hope to grasp others that come later, which depend upon it. For example, to understand fractions you must first understand division. To understand simple equations in algebra requires that you understand fractions. Solving ‘word problems’ depends on knowing how to set up and manipulate equations, and so on.”

It has been proven that specific training in logical thinking processes can make people “smarter.” Logical thinking allows a child to reject quick and easy answers, such as “I don’t know,” or “this is too difficult,” by empowering him to delve deeper into his thinking processes and understand better the methods used to arrive at a solution.

RESOURCE:

Audiblox: Overcoming Dyslexia, Dysgraphia and other Learning Difficulties
Effective in overcoming dyslexia and other learning difficulties by addressing the underlying shortcomings that interfere with academic performance. Underlying shortcomings include logical thinking.