Оn the way to the modeling of thinking

Approaches to the modeling of thinking are characterized. The main attention is paid to the possibility of modeling cognitive evolution, that is evolution of animal cognitive abilities. The result of this evolution is human thinking, which is used in scientific cognition. A preliminary program of future studies of cognitive evolution is proposed and the initial models corresponding to this program are characterized. The study of cognitive evolution involves the use of models of autonomous agents that characterize the cognitive properties of biological organisms.