Critical Thinking

Paul, Binker, Jensen, and Kreklau (1990) have developed a list basic skills:

Affective Strategies -The affective domain (Krathwohl, Bloom, Masia, 1973) includes the manner in which we deal with things emotionally, such as feelings, values, appreciation, enthusiasms, motivations, and attitudes.

1. thinking independently - being able to think on your own without constantly looking for answers somewhere else or asking other people what you should think or feel about something
2. developing insight into egocentricity or sociocentricity - these are just fancy words that mean learning that you are not the center of the universe and your society is not the center of the universe either; being able to understand that there are many other opinions and cultures out there, and there is no "one right way" of doing anything
   
3. exercising fairmindedness - being able to be fair and not take sides when making decisions
4. exploring thoughts underlying feelings and feelings underlying thoughts - being able to explore the thoughts which cause you to have certain feelings, and the feelings that are connected to certain thoughts; basically, being in touch with your own emotions and able to see how they connect with your thoughts
5. developing intellectual humility and suspending judgment - being able to understand that others know more than you in certain situations, and being able to wait until you hear all the facts before you make a decision
6. developing intellectual courage - being able to be confident in your knowledge when you do know something
7. developing intellectual good faith or integrity - being reliable and trustworthy without trying to change the facts to fit your own ideas
8. developing intellectual perseverance - being willing to work hard and keep going until you find the answer
9. developing confidence in reason- being confident in your logic and able to think rationally about things
   

Cognitive Strategies - Macro-Abilities - The cognitive domain (Bloom, 1956) involves knowledge and the development of intellectual skills. This includes the recall or recognition of specific facts, procedural patterns, and concepts that serve in the development of intellectual abilities and skills. These are the larger areas of critical thinking skills; more specialized skills are in the last section below.

1. refining generalizations and avoiding oversimplifications - being able to keep working on your solution and narrow down the information until you reach the best answer - while at the same time avoiding making things too simple by leaving out information
   
2. comparing analogous situations: transferring insights to new contexts - being able to compare two situations to each other and use the insights or understandings that you learned in one situation in the new situation; basically, being able to use what you learned in one situation when you meet new situations that need the same skills
   
3. developing one's perspective: creating or exploring beliefs, arguments, or theories - being able to see how your beliefs and ideas fit into the whole picture without judging the other ideas; understanding how to present and defend your arguments and beliefs fairly
   
4. clarifying issues, conclusions, or beliefs- being able to simplify information to make things more clear and understandable
   
5. clarifying and analyzing the meanings of words or phrases- being able to understand words and phrases by making them simpler and looking at all the parts
   
6. developing criteria for evaluation: clarifying values and standards - being able to have a way to evaluate or judge standards and value systems to see which is the best for you
   
7. evaluating the credibility of sources of information - being able to see which information comes from an honest and trustworthy source and which information could be wrong or misleading
   
8. questioning deeply: raising and pursuing root or significant questions - being able to find the most basic and fundamental questions in a situation; getting to the heart of the matter and thinking deep thoughts
   
9. analyzing or evaluating #1: arguments, interpretations, beliefs, or theories - being able to look at opinions, arguments, ideas, and beliefs logically; making rational judgments and opinions of your own about what others believe
   
10. generating or assessing solutions - being able to fit all the information together into a solution and being able to judge a solution to see if all the information fits
    
11. analyzing or evaluating #2: actions or policies - being able to look at actions or rules logically; making rational judgments and opinions of your own about how others act or about rules and policies
    
12. reading critically: clarifying or critiquing texts - being able to think analytically about what you read and find information about the work; paraphrasing, summarizing, and analyzing what you read
    
13. listening critically: the art of silent dialogue - being able to listen to another and learn from what you hear; thinking logically about what you hear and actively trying to understand it
    
14. making interdisciplinary connections - being able to see how many different areas of life connect and link to each other
    
15. practicing Socratic discussion: clarifying and questioning beliefs, theories, or perspectives - being able to ask questions in order to fully understand
    
16. reasoning dialogically: comparing perspectives, interpretations, or theories - being able to see similarities and differences in ideas and perspectives
    
17. reasoning dialectically: evaluating perspectives, interpretations, or theories - being able to judge logically between ideas and perspectives and choose the best one for your situation
    

Cognitive Strategies - Micro-Skills - specific, detailed skills

1. comparing and contrasting ideals with actual practice - being able to see similarities and differences between what the perfect solution would be and what is actually possible; understanding the difference between what can be and what must be

2. thinking precisely about thinking: using critical vocabulary - being able to think about your thinking process; understanding how you think and using words that describe the thinking process
   

3. noting significant similarities and differences - being able to compare and contrast two things; understanding how they are alike and different
   

4. examining or evaluating assumptions - being able to look at assumptions and judge whether they are correct; understanding the difference between a fact and a hypothesis
   

5. distinguishing relevant from irrelevant facts - being able to tell what facts support an idea and what facts do not connect to that idea
   

6. making plausible inferences, predictions, or interpretations - being able to take facts and make them into a logical pattern
   

7. evaluating evidence and alleged facts - being able to decide whether information is true or not
   

8. recognizing contradictions - being able to see when something does not fit the facts
   

9. exploring implications and consequences - being able to see how what effect something has; seeing what is going to occur as a result of something else
   

Paul, Binker, Jensen, and Kreklau (1990) have developed a list of 35 dimensions of critical thought: "A. Affective Strategies 1. Thinking independently - don't just believe what everyone else does. 2. Developing insight into egocentricity (thinking and behaving as if you are the center of the universe) or sociocentricity (thinking and behaving as a member of a society) 3. Exercising fairmindedness - keep an open mind always. 4. Exploring thoughts underlying feelings and feelings underlying thoughts - don't let your feelings take over! 5. Developing intellectual humility and suspending judgment - don't jump to conclusions and assume that you are right. 6. Developing intellectual courage - don't be afraid to make mistakes. 7. Developing intellectual good faith or integrity - don't assume that information is wrong, and don't try to spread wrong information. 8. Developing intellectual perseverance - keep at it! 9. Developing confidence in reason - critical thinking does solve problems.

B. Cognitive Strategies--Macro-Abilities 10. Defining generalizations and avoiding oversimplifications - avoid broad definitions or "lumping everything together" - recognize that there are many shades of gray and try to sort them out. 11. Comparing analogous situations: transferring insights to new contexts - how is this new situation like something familiar? How are these things like those things? Learn to see similarities. 12. Developing one's perspective: creating or exploring beliefs, arguments, or theories - be able to understand and explain your own beliefs so that you can compare them to others. 13. Clarifying issues, conclusions, or beliefs - find the most complete definition or conclusion that you can. 14. Clarifying and analyzing the meanings of words or phrases - make certain that you fully understand all words and phrases. 15. Developing criteria for evaluation: clarifying values and standards - how are you going to evaluate this information? How will you decide which is the best solution? 16. Evaluating the credibility of sources of information - learn how to tell if this information comes from a relliable source (encyclopedia, experts, textbooks) or from a less reliable one (Wiki is generated by anyone, so the information might not be as reliable) 17. Questioning deeply: raising and pursuing root or significant questions - always ask questions! It's the root of critical thinking. 18. Analyzing or evaluating arguments, interpretations, beliefs, or theories - be able to explain and evaluate every part of the data. 19. Generating or assessing solutions - be able to take all that data and see what answers come from it, then decide if it is reliable or not. 20. Analyzing or evaluating actions or policies - be able to see pros and cons - decide if it is the best way to go. 21. Reading critically: clarifying or critiquing texts - understand what you read - look up what you don't understand and question what you read until you understand. 22. Listening critically: the art of silent dialogue - treat a conversation or lecture the same as a text - be sure you understand, and question the speaker until you do (don't interrupt, though). 23. Making interdisciplinary connections - how are these data from one subject connected to those in another one? How is this area like that one? 24. Practicing Socratic discussion: clarifying and questioning beliefs, theories, or perspectives - Socrates taught by asking his students questions - learn to ask, ask, ask! 25. Reasoning dialogically: comparing perspectives, interpretations, or theories - learn to compare many different ideas - how are they similar? How are they different? 26. Reasoning dialectically: evaluating perspectives, interpretations, or theories - do these sound correct or incorrect? Does this make sense when that is added into the equation?

C. Cognitive Strategies--Micro-Skills 27. Comparing and contrasting ideals with actual practice - how is the perfect situation going to work in the real world? 28. Thinking precisely about thinking: using critical vocabulary - are you using logic or emotion? How are you making that decision? Learn about your own thinking habits. 29. Noting significant similarities and differences - become aware of how everything is connected. How are these alike and different? 30. Examining or evaluating assumptions - is that statement one of the "everyone says" or "everyone knows" variety, or is it based on fact? 31. Distinguishing relevant from irrelevant facts - is this really important to the situation, or is it off on a tangent? 32. Making plausible inferences, predictions, or interpretations - based on the information, what logical answers can you find? 33. Evaluating evidence and alleged facts - learn how to determine if something is more likely to be true - again, experts (who write textbooks) are more likely to use facts than "the man on the street." 34. Recognizing contradictions - again, similarities vs. differences - learn to spot things which stand out as pointing in a different direction than the other facts. 35. Exploring implications and consequences - keep going! Ask questions like, "What happens now?" and "What if that occurs?" What does your solution mean for society? This information is from Paul, R., Binker., A., Jensen, K., & Kreklau, H. (1990). Critical thinking handbook: A guide for remodeling lesson plans in language arts, social studies and science. Rohnert Park, CA: Foundation for Critical Thinking.

Well first, lets look at what critical thinking is. A critical thinker acquires

information, assimilates it, reflects on it, and evaluates it - taking everything into consideration to come up with a well justified answer to the question. In another sense we can say it is the process of simplicity of thought. Simplicity of thought is not simple thinking but actually a higher way of thinking. It's the ability to look at - what we might say is - chaos or disorder, and through the process of elimination make sense out of it leading to growth. Critical thinking will affect your thought process, therefore it will affect your writing skills.

As a reader think of it this way. No one sees reality in its most perfect and

purest form. We interpret what we see, hear, and read, and call that reality when it could be the furthest thing from the truth. Perceptions can be correct and on target, or incorrect and misleading. Its just a perception. Critical thinkers take all into consideration to include assessment of beliefs and identification of prejudice, bias, propaganda etc. Thus, once again we have a thought process that leads to intellectual integrity, and fair-mindedness. Thus, it will affect your thought process of acquired knowledge through reading.