Inferential thinking: what it is and how to develop it

When we read a text, as well as when we look around us, our mind performs a series of activities or tasks that allow us to understand the content of these beyond the explicit information we receive from them.

This process of perception and elaboration of the information that has as a product the production of a series of conclusions is known as inferential thinking. In this article we will talk about the characteristics of this procedure, as well as the different types that exist and how to promote their development.

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What is inferential thinking?

By inferential thinking we understand the capacity or ability to interpret, combine ideas and draw a series of conclusions from certain data or perceived information. Thanks to this ability, we can determine or identify certain information that is not explicitly found in the source.

For this, the person uses their own cognitive schemes and previous experiences, as well as a series of scripts and models provided by their own culture.

That term comes from the field of psycholinguistics, which attributed it to the second level that the person reaches in a process of reading comprehension. Within which it allows the reader to draw conclusions beyond the information obtained directly from the text.

This ability consists of a very complex process in which the reader performs a cognitive elaboration of the information obtained in the text, which is combined with the mental schemes themselves to result in the representation of the meaning of a writing.

However, this sense that is given to the information does not start directly from the written words but from the reader's own cognition. This means that inferential thinking goes beyond the limit of understanding the information explicitly contained in the text, since it forces the reader to use their own scripts or cognitive schemes to be able to reach said understanding.

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The components of this psychological process

In order to carry out the entire process of inferential thought, the person needs the correct functioning of three essential elements:

1. sensory system

It allows us to perceive and process the information we receive through sight and hearing.

2. Work memory

Information processing and integration is performed while it is received

3. long term memory

Its main function is to store the mental schemes thanks to which we can carry out inferential thinking.

In conclusion, the achievement of the correct functioning of inferential thinking not only helps us to understand the information, but also helps us understand the world around us. All this without having to resort to the direct or explicit information that it provides us.

What types are there?

As we mentioned, inferential thinking allows us to create representations or cognitive images based on sensory information and using our own mental schemes. The product of this process is known as inference, and there are various types of these according to their degree of complexity.

1. global inferences

Also called “coherent inferences”, they are the product of an inferential thought process in which the information is organized into large thematic units that allow us to associate textual information with information from our memory.

This means that the reader draws up a series of general conclusions or resolutions following the whole of the text that you have just read.

An example of global inferences is found in understanding the moral of a story or when we think about the intention that the writer of the work had.

2. local inferences

Also known as cohesive inferences, these inferences help us understand and draw conclusions from a text while we are reading it. In them, interpretations are made based on specific information of a specific paragraph or phrase,

Thanks to them we can give meaning to the information read, during the same moment of reading.

3. Inferences after reading

This type of inference occurs once the person has finished reading the text and its main function is to understand the reason for certain events or facts that are related in the text.

For example, refer to the interpretation of some causal consequences that may appear in the narrative. That is, the person can understand the reason for the specific events that occur in the text.

How can we develop it?

Because inferential thinking is a skill, it develops throughout the life of the person and as such, is susceptible to training and development through a series of techniques or strategies.

This ability can already be observed in children as young as three years old.. Therefore, from this age we can promote the development of inferential thinking and thus promote both the reading comprehension of the child and the understanding of what happens around him around.

To do this, we can use some tools or strategies specially developed to develop this ability. However, as it is a gradual progress, We must take into account the level of development of the child and adapt these techniques to his capabilities.

Some of the tools that favor inferential thinking are:

1. Choice of appropriate texts

Choosing texts whose level of difficulty is adequate for the child's abilities is essential as the first step in developing inferential thinking.

The texts should be a small challenge for the reader. That is, they can lead to a certain level of inference but without being too complicated, since otherwise it can generate feelings of frustration or boredom.

2. Ask questions about the text

Develop questions about the text that require a certain degree of inference, that is, Do not ask about things that are explicitly stated, as well as ask the student to make their own observations and draw conclusions about the story.

3. make predictions

Another option is to ask the child to try to predict what will happen next while he is reading. Ask them to develop their own theories and hypotheses and explain the basis on which these conclusions are based.

4. modeling learning

Finally, in younger children or with fewer abilities, the educator themselves can serve as a model when carrying out differential thinking. To do this, he must describe the mental process he is carrying out, thus providing the child with an example of a pattern that he can imitate.