Associative Thought

This is the name that I give to the type of processing which occurs in the right hemisphere, using by Mercy and Perceiver thought.

It has the following features:

• It works with objects. It organizes items into groups and categories. It looks at the relationship between items.
• It jumps randomly. It leaps from here to there through a sequence. It is continually being reminded of unrelated elements.
• It is multi-tasking. It often performs more than one task at a time, jumping from one sequence to another.
• It is primarily concerned with space. It views existence as a series of pictures and mental snapshots. Even when working with elements that are separated by time, it still views this sequence as a single picture.
• It sees discrepancy. It is very good at seeing the item that is out of place. It is not so good at building order or structure.
• It focuses upon the steady state. It ignores temporary change and looks for the average. It remembers what does not change.

You can find a much longer discussion about mental symmetry in general and the relationship between analytic and associative thought here.