A very common, though debatable, view is that our thinking can be both verbal and nonverbal. Ferdinand de Saussure argued that language is a system of arbitrary, but at the same time socially conditioned signs that are realized in external or internal speech. According to some concepts, it is inner speech that is identified with thinking.
Many outstanding linguists have dealt with the question of the relationship between thinking and speech, but this question remains open today.
L. S. Vygotsky in his labor "Thinking and speech" argues, that the problem relations thinking to speech boils down to the issue about respect thought to word. According to Vygotsky's concept, the word belongs to the class of objects and is a generalization - a verbal act of thought, and the relationship between thinking and speech is a variable. In the phylogeny of thought there is a pre - verbal phase, and in the phylogeny of speech there is a pre-intellectual phase. Up to a certain point, the two lines follow different paths. When a person reaches about two years of age, they coincide and thinking becomes speech, and speech-intellectual. Vygotsky distinguishes five plans of movement from thought to word: "motive-thought-internal plan of speech-the semantic side of external speech-the phasic side of external speech."
Thought arises not by itself, but depending on the motivating sphere of consciousness (needs, affects, emotions, etc.). The units of thought and speech do not coincide. It is not always possible to find words to Express their thoughts, because it is built on its own laws. Thought embraces the whole thing, and words its individual parameters; it does not coincide with the word or its meaning, but the path from thought to word is through meaning. At the same time, internal speech tends to be predicative (reduction), and its peculiarity is the predominance of the meaning of the word over its meaning. Based on this, Vygotsky concludes that the hypothesis of the Genesis of internal speech from external speech is correct.
P. Ya. Halperin developed the theory of systematic (gradual) development of mental actions.
He scientifically substantiates the process of gradual transformation of external, practical actions with material objects into internal mental actions and concepts. The scientist identifies the following stages.
1. Formation of an indicative basis of action. A person who has to form a new mental action learns what it consists of, what requirements are imposed on it, i.e. tries to Orient himself.
2. Performing actions in an external expanded form with real material objects. It is implemented almost in full on real objects and carefully practiced.
3. Perform an action in terms of speaking loudly.
Here, the action worked out at the previous stage is spoken aloud from the beginning to the end, but practically is not performed.
4. Performing actions in terms of speech "to yourself". The action is pronounced with the help of so-called silent speech (the human vocal cords work, but the surrounding people do not hear it).
5. Performing an action in terms of inner speech. This final stage of the formation of mental action, in which it becomes completely internal, is associated with internal speech, is performed quickly and automatically: it seems that the person instantly, without hesitation gives the answer to the question.
J. piaget distinguishes four stages of formation of intellectual operations in humans: sensorimotor period (from 0 to 2 years), preoperative thinking (from 2 to 7 years), the stage of specific operations (from 7 to 11 years), the stage of formal or propositional operations (from 11-12 to 14-15 years) . Sensorimotor stage just precedes the period of intensive mastery of speech. At this stage, during which the coordination of perception and movement is achieved, the child interacts with objects, their perceptual and motor signals, but not with signs, symbols and schemes that characterize the object. The beginning of the formation of the symbolic function, which allows to distinguish between the denoted and the denoting, occurs at the preoperative stage of thinking (just at this time and develops speech).
Thus, in the process of ontogenetic development a person goes through a number of stages: visual-effective, visual-figurative and conceptual thinking.
Visually-effective thinking is characterized by the fact that it is carried out in the real manipulation of objects and serves primarily practical tasks. Certain elements of visual-effective thinking are found in higher animals.