2/13/2012
What is critical thinking?
Critical thinking and ALS issues
Why be concerned with critical
thinking?
 Critical thinking directly influences the problem-solving
process and the quality of decisions
 Decision making involves choosing from a number of
alternatives
 Evaluating and testing alternatives
 Judging alternatives with qualitative and quantitative
criteria
 Reasoned, purposive, and reflective thinking used to
make decisions, solve problems, and master concepts.
(Rudd, 2002)
Critical thinkers….
 Are honest with themselves
 Uncritical thinking creates self-deception
 CT’ers know their limits/ resist feigning knowledge
 Resist manipulation
 Defend against manipulation by admitting they are
vulnerable and by staying alert
 Utilizing values to apply criteria
Critical thinkers….
Critical thinkers….
 Overcome confusion
 Base their judgment on evidence
 CT’ers use more careful thinking
 Ask questions to test ideas
 Take the time to produce many ideas
 Many people only consider a single answer
 Spring-boarding: think of an idea and add on to it right
away
 Be open to ideas at all times
 Acknowledge complexity
 CT’ers avoid emotional reactions/snap judgments
 Look for connections between subjects
 Are intellectually independent
 CT’ers learn from others’ experiences
 Still make their own judgments
 Are reasonable
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2/13/2012
The critical mind
Critical thinking skills
 “We believe it, but it may not be true.”
 Analysis – examining ideas, identifying arguments,
analyzing assumptions
 “We believe it, but we may be wrong.”
 “We want to believe it, but we may be prejudiced by our
desire.”
 “It serves our vested interests to believe it, but our vested
interest has nothing to do with the truth.”
 Evaluation – assessing claims, assessing arguments,
assigning value
 Inference – finding alternatives, drawing conclusions,
making recommendations
 Explanation – stating results, justifying procedures,
presenting arguments
 Self-regulation – self examination, self correction
Analysis: what is the basis?
Evaluation: what is it “worth”?
Examining ideas
Assessing claims
Analyzing arguments
Assessing arguments
Analyzing assumptions
Assigning value
•What is the point?
•What is the issue or position?
•What are the assumptions?
•What evidence or information
supports the position?
•What is the line of thinking?
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Clear
Accurate
Precise
Relevant
Depth
Breadth
Logic
Inference: what are the conclusions?
Explanation: what does it mean?
Finding alternatives
Stating results
Drawing conclusions
Justifying procedures
Making recommendations
Presenting arguments
•Recognizing that problems have
a range of solutions and that
decisions fall along a range from
better to worse.
•Project a range of potential
consequences for alternatives.
•State your position
•Defend your position
•Support points with
information and
evidence
•Support points with
valid assumptions
•Re-state your position
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2/13/2012
Self-Regulation: what do I believe?
Habits that hinder thinking
 Self examination: Stopping to ask yourself important
questions about your beliefs
 Mine-is-better habit
 Self correction: Changing your beliefs if it is warranted
 Face saving (rationalizing)
•Why do I believe what I
believe?
•Are there “holes” in my
belief?
•Do I need to reassess my
belief based on new
information?
 Resistance to change
 Stereotyping
 Self-deception: faulty ways of seeing reality
 Hasty conclusion
 Gullibility or skepticism
Habits that hinder thinking
 Assumptions:
Critical thinking and ALS issues
 What you take for granted you will not examine critically.
 The assumption that others familiar with the issue will share
your enthusiasm for your ideas.
 That small imperfections in your idea will not affect people’s
acceptance of it.
 That if your idea is clear to you, it will be clear to others.
 That the people who stand to benefit most from your idea
will accept it automatically without any persuasion on your
part.
Critical thinking and issues
Critical thinking and issues
 The Issue
 Facts
 What’s the point? What is the central issue under discussion?
 Set of reasons that explain why.
 Is this a significant issue?
 Argument
 Is it meaningful? If so, to whom? And why?
 Claims or assertions about the way things are or the way
they ought to be.
 Can we learn something from it?
 Why should you (or stakeholders) care?
 Assess the “truth” of the claims. Begin this by determining
whether they are factually based.
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2/13/2012
Critical thinking and issues
Critical thinking and issues
 Facts
 Proof
 Fact: Something that is known to be true, something that has
been verified.
 Evidence: Provides support for the claims.
 Tentative truth: Something that may be true, but that needs
verification.
 Opinion: Something that may be believed to be true, but
that is questionable or debatable.
Critical thinking and issues
Critical thinking and issues
 Proof
 Expert/authority
 Evidence: Provides support for the claims.
 Personal experience
 Examples
 Intuition: “Don’t know for a fact.”
 Authority: Cites someone or an organization with
knowledge.
 Expertise: Special knowledge of a subject.
 Research (survey, study, focus groups): Issues with
research studies that have to be analyzed by the reader.
 Statistics: “Three out of four…”
 Bias?
 Sources of information
 Assumptions
 Unspoken thoughts brought to an argument
Critical thinking and issues
Connotation exercise
 Language
 In each of the following sentences, the italicized word
has a fairly neutral connotation. For each word in italics,
list two synonyms (words with similar denotations): one
with a negative connotation and the other with a positive
connotation.
 Euphemism: Positive-sounding words used to soften a harsh
or negative meaning.
 Instead of missing a class, you are “unable to attend.”
 Dysphemism: Use of harsh or negative-sounding words.
 “Ditching class.”
 Denotation: Its explicit meaning or definition. “Dictionary
definition”
 Connotation: The meanings associated with or suggested by
it.
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2/13/2012
Connotation exercise
Connotation exercise
 I recognized the familiar smell of my roommate's cooking.
 I recognized the familiar smell of my roommate's cooking.
 Rice and beans is an inexpensive meal.
 My parents are committed conservationists.
 The teacher was mildly intimidated by Melissa’s assertive
behavior.
 Stench, aroma
 Rice and beans is an inexpensive meal.
 Cheap, thrifty
 My parents are committed conservationists.
 Tree huggers, environmentalists
 The teacher was mildly intimidated by Melissa’s assertive
behavior.
 Bossy, confident
Overall critical thinking about issues
Overall critical thinking about issues
 What’s the issue at hand? What is the point of the
discussion?
 Is the use of statistics or other numerical evidence
credible?
 Is it significant?
 How credible is the speaker (or stakeholder)?
 Is there a factual basis to the claims being made?
 What assumptions are underlying any claims being
made?
 What kind of evidence is being provided in support of the
claims?
 Is the language that is being used loaded or slanted in
any way? (“Mindless cliché,” “long-standing tradition”)
Overall critical thinking about issues
 Are there any fallacies in the argument?
 Is anything important being left out of the presentation?
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