Abstract: The experimental results indicated that the thinking process of solving verbal arithmetical problems by first grade children is of more concrete imagery thinking at the beginning, and that the verbal thinking takes place only at the later stage. During the course of learning in the first school year, the children use less and less concrete imagery for the understanding of verbal problems, and the abstract or verbal analysis develops gradually. If the teacher grasps the main contradictions involved in the development of children's thinking, and arranges the teaching and exercises accordingly, the children's ability of abstract thinking may develop more rapidly. In general the 7 years old children are capable of abstract thinking in certain fields. In the teaching of verbal problems in the first grade, the teacher should not only consider the characteristics of children's thinking, but also put emphasis on the conditions facilitating the development of children's abstract thinking.

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