text: Carl Jung's Identification of Psychological Types
  Carl Jung » Psychological Types
  The often misunderstood terms extrovert and introvert derive from this work. In Jung's original usage, the extrovert orientation finds meaning outside the self, in the surrounding world, whereas the introvert is introspective and finds it within. Jung also identified four primary modes of experiencing the world: thought, feeling, sensation, and intuition. (He referred to these as the four functions.) Broadly speaking, we tend to work from our most developed function, while we need to widen our personality by developing the others. Related to this, Jung noted that the unconscious often tends to reveal itself most easily through a person's least developed function. The encounter with the unconscious and development of the inferior function(s) thus tend to progress together.
  Imagine a person (the subject) observing an object or event. For example, a house that they are considering buying. The introvert relates more to the subject – what would this house, as a home, do for their life experience? The extravert relates more to the object – the house. What could be done with this particular building? The focus being on the building itself.
  Sensation is the perception of facts. In our example, suppose the house is well built, it has a large garden, it is two miles from the shops, and the buyer has a nervous tic when he/she mentions money.
  Intuition is the perception of the unseen. For example, the seller is hiding something, I'd be content here for the next twenty years.
  Thinking is analytical, deductive cognition. For example, compared to the house I viewed yesterday, this is overpriced, bigger, nearer to work, overall it would cost so much per month more on my mortgage, but I'd spend two hours less travelling each week.
  Feeling is synthetic, all-inclusive cognition. For example "I'll have to sleep on it before I know whether this house could be home. Even then I may not know!" Feeling takes time. The feeling function is not the same as emotion, which Jungian psychology refers to as affect (emphasising its physiological component) but the feeling function and affect (emotion) clearly do influence each other.
  In any person, the degree of introversion/extraversion of one function can be quite different to that of another function. For example extraverted intuition— imagining endless means of political change; with relatively introverted thinking— "How would I fit into such a society?"
  Introverted intuitives tend to be weak at extraverted sensation (and vice versa)— they have very good insight into themselves, their unseen motives and likely long term goals, but can't find their adjustable spanner nine times out ten. Intuition is often inspired, and other times completely wrong. It has to be checked with one of the rational functions, thinking or feeling. Introverted thinking types tend to be weak at extraverted feeling.
  Note. As for training children, while it is a good thing to appreciate the psychological type of a child, or indeed of anyone (it is also very rarely practised), it is most productive to understand the psychological typology of children – then leave them alone. 'Leading' anyone into their inferior function can be dangerous. Though it has its uses for mature analysands with the assistance of an experienced therapist, it is not part of the educational or parental role. If a child has suppressed feeling, for example, it may be a survival strategy.