pretty common definitions for functions(which were said by jung somewhere and was said in our personality psychology class) are that:
sensation tells that a thing is(trough sensory perception ofc)
thinking tells what the thing is(logical analysis)
feeling tells what the thing is worth and whether it is acceptable or not(subjective reflection of its worth)
intuitions tells where the thing came from and where it is going to(perception of possibilities via unconscious)
How about:
sensation: observation
that a thing is (trough sensory perception of)
thinking: judgment of
what the thing is (logical analysis)
intuition: observation
THAT the thing means something (perception of possibilities via unconscious)
feeling: judgment of
WHAT the thing means (subjective reflection of its worth)
What the functions use (NOT what they ARE)
S physical sensation
T impersonal aspects of objects
N ideas
F emotions
In terms of DOMAINS:
(information gathering)
S the tangible world
N concepts, ideas and possibilities
(rational assessments, decision-making)
T the properties of objects and how they work
F living souls and their emotions --properties of subjects
Pair with:
e objective orientation
i subjective orientation
So:
Se: Sees the tangible world from an external orientation (emergent experience).
Si: Sees the tangible world from an internal orientation (storehouse of facts/experience)
Ne: Sees the world through concepts from an external orientation (meanings/possibilities inherent in the object)
Ni: Sees the world through concepts from an internal orientation (storehouse of patterns and meanings)
Te: objective standard of properties of objects (orders according to outer world efficiency)
Ti: subjective standard of properties of objects (orders according to inner world efficiency)
Fe: objective standard of properties of subjects (orders according to outer world's human needs)
Fi: subjective standard of properties of subjects (orders according to inner world's human needs)
The four functions look at a field of grass:
S seeing the grass and its color for what it is
(
e: just takes it for what it is in the moment;
i: stores this and compares from it)
T recognizing it as a green object (categorizing; this is what Allen L. Hammer said at a recent presentation).
(
e: we should plant more grass, because green is known to be relaxing;
i: ponder on some aspect of it, like the color, species, etc)
N Recognizing green's significance (e. g. it's alive)
(
e: perhaps this area is well irrigated or fertilized;
i: draw a symbolic meaning)
F seeing the color as pretty
(
e: this would look nice for inviting people over;
i: this makes me happy. I should enjoy and share with others)
All types will go through that same four step process (And both attitudes will be at least implicit).
I would say that inasmuch as every instance of processing we do will include all four, but will focus on only one or two (in one attitude or the other), the unfocused ones could be the basic “unconscious†or “undifferentiated†version of the functions.