Studies regarding thinking search for answers to the following questions: How do we think about concrete and abstract things? How are these thoughts represented mentally? How do we solve problems, and how do we make decisions? Research that involves creating mental maps has demonstrated that to some extent, we think about concrete things through mental imagery. Other research also shows that although creating a mental image uses some of the same brain structures as seeing an image, the experience is not exactly the same. We may also think of concrete things in a more descriptive, ambiguous way. In terms of abstract thoughts, we tend to think in terms of metaphors. This explains why so much of our languages use symbolism and why we so often express ourselves in poetic forms. For example, the English language often describes life as a journey (getting a "head start," having "direction," being "at a crossroads") and time as space ("long," "close," "fast approaching").
Humans think through problems using their past experiences and can use analogies to help them solve novel problems. When a new problem arises, we try to recall similar problems we have encountered to come up with a solution. However, our past experiences can also limit the way we approach problems. Some obstacles to problem solving are confirmation bias (tendency to look for and notice information that confirms beliefs), functional fixedness (tendency to think about objects in the way they are traditionally used), imposed constraints (tendency to assume that there are extra constraints in a task), and set effects (tendency to get stuck in a way of doing a problem due to previous experiences).
We also use past experiences and beliefs to make decisions. When making a decision, sorting through every available option would be ineffective and impossible in some cases. Instead, we use various heuristics (strategies that are used to speed up the decision-making process) to streamline the process. However, these heuristics often suffer from biases which can lead us to make poor decisions or to discriminate against groups of people. The three major thought heuristics areloss aversion (tendency to give greater weight to the prospect of losses than to that of gains), representativeness (tendency to perceive a detailed account of a scenario as an indicator that it is likely to occur), and availability (tendency to predict the frequency and probability of an event based on how easily an example of its occurrence can be called to mind).
The clip above (time stamp 1:05) is from the 2006 Academy Award Best Motion Picture winner, Crash (2004). The movie examines what happens when these heuristics are met with fear or bad past experiences. The movie takes place in Los Angeles and follows multiple characters who all demonstrate varying degrees of racism. Rather than simply portraying these characters as one-dimensional, hateful characters, it digs deep into the experiences that having contributed to their racist tendencies. If you have any interest in the social psychology, emotion, or the psychology of thinking, particularly in the context of race, this is a must see film. The film's trailer is included below.