Requirements for Effective Critical Thinking

Requirements for Effective Critical Thinking

Six Cognitive Skills
Interpretation
Analysis
Evaluation
Inference
Explanation
Self-regulation
Affective Dispositions “a critical spirit”
Several

Interpretation
Comprehend & express meaning or significance of wide variety of experiences, situations, data, events, judgments, conventions, beliefs, rules, procedures, or criteria.
Analysis
Identify the intended & actual inferential relationships among statements, questions, concepts, descriptions, or other forms of representation intended to express belief, judgment, experiences, reasons, information, or opinion
Evaluation
Assess the credibility of statements or other representations which are accounts or descriptions of a person’s perception, experience, situation, judgment, belief, or opinion; and to assess the logical strength of the actual or intended inferential relationships among statements, descriptions, questions, or other forms of representation
Inference
Identify and secure elements needed to draw reasonable conclusions; to form conjectures and hypotheses; to consider relevant information & to educe the consequences flowing from data, statements, principles, evidence, judgments, beliefs, opinions, concepts, descriptions, questions, or other forms of representation
Explanation
State the results of one’s reasoning; justify that reasoning in terms of evidential, conceptual, methodological, criteriological, and contextual considerations upon which one’s results were based; and to present one’s reasoning in the form of cogent arguments.
Self-regulation
Self consciously to monitor one’s cognitive activities, the elements used in those activities, and the results educed, particularly by applying skills in analysis and evaluation to one’s own inferential judgments with a view toward questions, confirming, validation, or correcting either one’s reasoning or results.
Affective Dispositions
Something else is needed
More to Critical Thinking than just cognitive skills
Human beings more than just thinking machines
“the Critical Spirit” (affective dispositions)
A probing inquisitiveness
A keenness of mind
A zealous dedication to reason
A hunger or eagerness for reliable information

Critical Thinking is . . .
How you approach
Problems
Questions
Issues
The best way we know to get to the truth.
Experts conclude: Critical Thinking is pervasive, purposeful human phenomenon
Ideal critical thinker characterized also by how he or she approaches life and living in general
Approaches to life characterizing good Critical Thinking:
Inquisitiveness about wide range of issues
Concern to become and stay well-informed
Alertness to opportunities to use Critical Thinking
Self confidence in one’s abilities to reason
Open-mindedness about divergent world views
Flexibility in considering alternatives & opinions
Understanding the opinions of other people
Fair-mindedness in appraising reasoning
Honesty in facing one’s own biases, prejudices, stereotypes, egocentric, and socio-centric tendencies
Prudence in suspending, making, altering judgments
Willingness to reconsider and revise views
Clarity in stating question or concern
Orderliness in working with complexity
Diligence in seeking relevant information
Reasonableness in selecting & applying criteria
Care in focusing attention on the concern at hand
Persistence through difficulties
Precision to the degree permitted by subject & circumstances