It entails the examination of those structures or elements of thought implicit in all reasoning: purpose, problem, or question-at-issue; assumptions; concepts; empirical grounding; reasoning leading to conclusions; implications and consequences; objections from alternative viewpoints; and frame of reference. Critical thinking — in being responsive to variable subject matter, issues, and purposes — is incorporated in a family of interwoven modes of thinking, among them: scientific thinking, mathematical thinking, historical thinking, anthropological thinking, economic thinking, moral thinking, and philosophical thinking.
Critical thinking can be seen as having two components: 1 a set of information and belief generating and processing skills, and 2 the habit, based on intellectual commitment, of using those skills to guide behavior. It is thus to be contrasted with: 1 the mere acquisition and retention of information alone, because it involves a particular way in which information is sought and treated; 2 the mere possession of a set of skills, because it involves the continual use of them; and 3 the mere use of those skills "as an exercise" without acceptance of their results.
Critical thinking varies according to the motivation underlying it. As such it is typically intellectually flawed, however pragmatically successful it might be.
When grounded in fairmindedness and intellectual integrity, it is typically of a higher order intellectually, though subject to the charge of "idealism" by those habituated to its selfish use. Critical thinking of any kind is never universal in any individual; everyone is subject to episodes of undisciplined or irrational thought.
Its quality is therefore typically a matter of degree and dependent on, among other things, the quality and depth of experience in a given domain of thinking or with respect to a particular class of questions. No one is a critical thinker through-and-through, but only to such-and-such a degree, with such-and-such insights and blind spots, subject to such-and-such tendencies towards self-delusion. For this reason, the development of critical thinking skills and dispositions is a life-long endeavor.
Another Brief Conceptualization of Critical Thinking. Critical thinking is self-guided, self-disciplined thinking which attempts to reason at the highest level of quality in a fair-minded way. People who think critically consistently attempt to live rationally, reasonably, empathically. What is the relationship of critical thinking to problem solving, decision-making, higher-order thinking, creative thinking, and other recognized types of thinking?
If critical thinking is conceived broadly to cover any careful thinking about any topic for any purpose, then problem solving and decision making will be kinds of critical thinking, if they are done carefully. If critical thinking is conceived more narrowly as consisting solely of appraisal of intellectual products, then it will be disjoint with problem solving and decision making, which are constructive.
For details, see the Supplement on History. As to creative thinking, it overlaps with critical thinking Bailin , Thinking about the explanation of some phenomenon or event, as in Ferryboat , requires creative imagination in constructing plausible explanatory hypotheses. Likewise, thinking about a policy question, as in Candidate , requires creativity in coming up with options. Conversely, creativity in any field needs to be balanced by critical appraisal of the draft painting or novel or mathematical theory.
Critical Thinking First published Sat Jul 21, History 2. Examples and Non-Examples 2. The Definition of Critical Thinking 4. Its Value 5. The Process of Thinking Critically 6. Components of the Process 7. Contributory Dispositions and Abilities 8. Critical Thinking Dispositions 8. Critical Thinking Abilities Required Knowledge Educational methods Controversies He defined it as active, persistent and careful consideration of any belief or supposed form of knowledge in the light of the grounds that support it, and the further conclusions to which it tends.
Dewey 6; 9 and identified a habit of such consideration with a scientific attitude of mind. For details on this history, see the Supplement on History.
Examples and Non-Examples Before considering the definition of critical thinking, it will be helpful to have in mind some examples of critical thinking, as well as some examples of kinds of thinking that would apparently not count as critical thinking. The Definition of Critical Thinking What is critical thinking?
Rawls articulated the shared concept of justice as a characteristic set of principles for assigning basic rights and duties and for determining… the proper distribution of the benefits and burdens of social cooperation. Rawls 5 Bailin et al. The person engaging in the thinking is trying to fulfill standards of adequacy and accuracy appropriate to the thinking.
The thinking fulfills the relevant standards to some threshold level. The Process of Thinking Critically Despite the diversity of our 11 examples, one can recognize a common pattern. Dewey analyzed it as consisting of five phases: suggestions , in which the mind leaps forward to a possible solution; an intellectualization of the difficulty or perplexity into a problem to be solved, a question for which the answer must be sought; the use of one suggestion after another as a leading idea, or hypothesis , to initiate and guide observation and other operations in collection of factual material; the mental elaboration of the idea or supposition as an idea or supposition reasoning , in the sense on which reasoning is a part, not the whole, of inference ; and testing the hypothesis by overt or imaginative action.
Dewey —; italics in original The process of reflective thinking consisting of these phases would be preceded by a perplexed, troubled or confused situation and followed by a cleared-up, unified, resolved situation Dewey Components of the Process If one considers the critical thinking process illustrated by the 11 examples, one can identify distinct kinds of mental acts and mental states that form part of it. Or one notes the results of an experiment or systematic observation valuables missing in Disorder , no suction without air pressure in Suction pump Feeling : One feels puzzled or uncertain about something how to get to an appointment on time in Transit , why the diamonds vary in frequency in Diamond.
One wants to resolve this perplexity. One feels satisfaction once one has worked out an answer to take the subway express in Transit , diamonds closer when needed as a warning in Diamond. Wondering : One formulates a question to be addressed why bubbles form outside a tumbler taken from hot water in Bubbles , how suction pumps work in Suction pump , what caused the rash in Rash. Imagining : One thinks of possible answers bus or subway or elevated in Transit , flagpole or ornament or wireless communication aid or direction indicator in Ferryboat , allergic reaction or heat rash in Rash.
Inferring : One works out what would be the case if a possible answer were assumed valuables missing if there has been a burglary in Disorder , earlier start to the rash if it is an allergic reaction to a sulfa drug in Rash. Or one draws a conclusion once sufficient relevant evidence is gathered take the subway in Transit , burglary in Disorder , discontinue blood pressure medication and new cream in Rash. Consulting : One finds a source of information, gets the information from the source, and makes a judgment on whether to accept it.
None of our 11 examples include searching for sources of information. In this respect they are unrepresentative, since most people nowadays have almost instant access to information relevant to answering any question, including many of those illustrated by the examples. However, Candidate includes the activities of extracting information from sources and evaluating its credibility.
Identifying and analyzing arguments : One notices an argument and works out its structure and content as a preliminary to evaluating its strength. This activity is central to Candidate. It is an important part of a critical thinking process in which one surveys arguments for various positions on an issue.
Judging : One makes a judgment on the basis of accumulated evidence and reasoning, such as the judgment in Ferryboat that the purpose of the pole is to provide direction to the pilot.
Deciding : One makes a decision on what to do or on what policy to adopt, as in the decision in Transit to take the subway. Contributory Dispositions and Abilities By definition, a person who does something voluntarily is both willing and able to do that thing at that time.
Attentiveness : One will not think critically if one fails to recognize an issue that needs to be thought through. For example, the pedestrian in Weather would not have looked up if he had not noticed that the air was suddenly cooler. Habit of inquiry : Inquiry is effortful, and one needs an internal push to engage in it. For example, the student in Bubbles could easily have stopped at idle wondering about the cause of the bubbles rather than reasoning to a hypothesis, then designing and executing an experiment to test it.
Thus willingness to think critically needs mental energy and initiative. What can supply that energy? Love of inquiry, or perhaps just a habit of inquiry. Hamby has argued that willingness to inquire is the central critical thinking virtue, one that encompasses all the others.
It is recognized as a critical thinking disposition by Dewey 29; 35 , Glaser 5 , Ennis 12; 8 , Facione a: 25 , Bailin et al. For example, if the woman in Rash lacked confidence in her ability to figure things out for herself, she might just have assumed that the rash on her chest was the allergic reaction to her medication against which the pharmacist had warned her. Courage : Fear of thinking for oneself can stop one from doing it.
Open-mindedness : A dogmatic attitude will impede thinking critically. Thus willingness to think critically requires open-mindedness, in the sense of a willingness to examine questions to which one already accepts an answer but which further evidence or reasoning might cause one to answer differently Dewey ; Facione a; Ennis ; Bailin et al.
Willingness to suspend judgment : Premature closure on an initial solution will block critical thinking. Thus willingness to think critically requires a willingness to suspend judgment while alternatives are explored Facione a; Ennis ; Halpern Trust in reason : Since distrust in the processes of reasoned inquiry will dissuade one from engaging in it, trust in them is an initiating critical thinking disposition Facione a, 25; Bailin et al. From her point of view, critical thinking requires trust not only in reason but also in intuition, imagination, and emotion.
Seeking the truth is thus an initiating critical thinking disposition Bailin et al. Critical Thinking Abilities Some theorists postulate skills, i. Required Knowledge In addition to dispositions and abilities, critical thinking needs knowledge: of critical thinking concepts, of critical thinking principles, and of the subject-matter of the thinking.
Educational methods Experimental educational interventions, with control groups, have shown that education can improve critical thinking skills and dispositions, as measured by standardized tests. Controversies Scholars have denied the generalizability of critical thinking abilities across subject domains, have alleged bias in critical thinking theory and pedagogy, and have investigated the relationship of critical thinking to other kinds of thinking.
Thayer-Bacon contrasts the embodied and socially embedded learning of her elementary school students in a Montessori school, who used their imagination, intuition and emotions as well as their reason, with conceptions of critical thinking as thinking that is used to critique arguments, offer justifications, and make judgments about what are the good reasons, or the right answers. Alston 34 Some critics portray such biases as unfair to women. Foster closeness to the subject-matter and feeling connected to others in order to inform a humane democracy Martin In developing critical thinking in school subjects, treat as important neither skills nor dispositions but opening worlds of meaning Alston Bibliography Abrami, Philip C.
Bernard, Eugene Borokhovski, David I. Waddington, C. Anderson, Lorin W. Krathwohl, Peter W. Airiasian, Kathleen A.
Cruikshank, Richard E. Mayer, Paul R. Pintrich, James Raths, and Merlin C. Coombs, and Leroi B. Schwartz, William M. Kurtines, and Steven L. Bloom, Benjamin Samuel, Max D. Engelhart, Edward J. Furst, Walter H.
Hill, and David R. Krathwohl, , Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. College Board, , Academic Preparation for College. Dominguez, Caroline coord. Dumke, Glenn S. Ennis, Robert H. Macmillan ed. Informal Logic , 6 1 : 3—9. Sternberg eds. Freeman, pp. Facione, Peter A. Halpern is a former president of the American Psychology Association, and her book Thought and Knowledge brings a great deal of empirical evidence to bear in validation of this four-part framework.
As a result, the critical thinking framework we have found the most useful consists of four major elements:. To lay the foundation for later discussions about how TBL cultivates these four elements of critical thinking, let's unpack each of them briefly.
According to Halpern , a critical thinking attitude is a habitual willingness or commitment to engage in purposeful deliberation about claims or ideas rather than simply accepting them at face value. It is the foundation of critical thinking behavior and consists of the willingness to a engage in and persist at a complex task, b use plans and suppress impulsive activity, c remain flexible or open minded, d abandon nonproductive strategies, and e remain aware of social realities such as the need to seek consensus or compromise so that thoughts can become actions.
Once these pieces are in place-once students are motivated to think critically-then they are ready to acquire specific thinking skills. Most authors agree that critical thinking is an umbrella concept comprising many specific skills, but ideas about which skills belong under the umbrella vary from author to author.
Paul and Elder described the critical thinker as one who raises vital questions and problems, formulates them clearly and precisely, gathers and assesses relevant information, then uses abstract ideas to interpret that information and draw well-reasoned conclusions.
The critical thinker then tests those conclusions against relevant criteria, thinks open-mindedly within alternative systems of thought, recognizes assumptions as well as implications and consequences, and communicates effectively with others. In contrast, Halpern used somewhat more technical language. In her view, critical thinking includes deductive inference, argument analysis, hypothesis testing, understanding probability, decision making, problem solving, and creative thinking.
Clearly, there is a great deal of overlap between these taxonomies, but to the classroom teacher, teasing out differences at this level can feel like nit-picking. The point here is to identify precisely the intellectual skills we want our students to acquire in our classrooms and to use our content as the landscape where these skills will be learned and used.
The good news is that we do not need to neglect our content and start teaching classes exclusively about how to think critically. In fact, not only can we teach critical thinking skills in the contexts of our disciplines, but it works best when we do. Critical thinking requires a clear, often uncomfortable, assessment of your personal strengths, weaknesses and preferences and their possible impact on decisions you may make.
Critical thinking requires the development and use of foresight as far as this is possible. Implementing the decisions made arising from critical thinking must take into account an assessment of possible outcomes and ways of avoiding potentially negative outcomes, or at least lessening their impact.
It might be thought that we are overextending our demands on critical thinking in expecting that it can help to construct focused meaning rather than examining the information given and the knowledge we have acquired to see if we can, if necessary, construct a meaning that will be acceptable and useful.
After all, almost no information we have available to us, either externally or internally, carries any guarantee of its life or appropriateness. Search SkillsYouNeed:. We'll never share your email address and you can unsubscribe at any time. Critical Thinking is: A way of thinking about particular things at a particular time; it is not the accumulation of facts and knowledge or something that you can learn once and then use in that form forever, such as the nine times table you learn and use in school.
Then ask yourself the following questions: Who said it? What did they say? Where did they say it? When did they say it? Was it before, during or after an important event?
Is timing important? Why did they say it? How did they say it?
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