critical thinking is the ability to think clearly and rationally about what to do or what to believe

8/19/2019 Critical Thinking is the Ability to Think Clearly and Rationally About What to Do or What to Believe

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Critical thinking is the ability to think clearly and rationally about what to do or whatto believe. It includes t he ability to engage i n reective and independent thinking. Someonewith critical thinking skills is able to do the following :

• understand the logical connections b etween ideas

• identify, construct and evaluate arguments

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detect inconsistencies an d co mmon mistakes i n reasoning

• solve p roblems sys tematically

• identify the relevance and importance of ideas

• reect on the justication of one's o wn beliefs a nd values

Critical thinking is n ot a matter of accumulating information. A person with a good memoryand who knows a lot of facts i s n ot necessarily g ood at critical thinking. A critical thinker isable to deduce consequences f rom what he knows, and he knows how to make use o finformation to solve problems, and to seek relevant sources o f information to inform himself.

Critical thinking should not be confused with being argumentative or being critical of otherpeople. Although critical thinking skills c an be used in exposing fallacies a nd bad reasoning,critical thinking can also play a n important role in cooperative reasoning and constructivetasks. Critical thinking can help us a cquire knowledge, improve our theories, and strengthen


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arguments. We can use critical thinking to enhance work p rocesses a nd improve socialinstitutions.

Some people believe that critical thinking hinders creativity because it requires following therules o f logic a nd rationality, but creativity m ight require breaking rules. This i s a

misconception. Critical thinking is q uite compatible with thinking "out-of-the-box",challenging consensus and pursuing less popular approaches. If anything, critical thinking isan essential part of creativity b ecause we need critical thinking to evaluate and improve ourcreative ideas.

§1. The importance of critical thinkingCritical thinking is a domain-general thinking skill . The ability t o think c learly a ndrationally is i mportant whatever we choose to do. If you work in education, research,nance, management or the legal profession, then critical thinking is o bviously important.But critical thinking skills a re not restricted to a particular subject area. Being able to thinkwell and solve problems s ystematically i s a n asset for any career.

Critical thinking is ve ry important in the n ew knowledge e conomy. The g lobalknowledge economy is d riven by information and technology. One has t o be able to dealwith changes quickly a nd effectively. The new economy p laces i ncreasing demands onexible intellectual skills, and the ability to analyse information and integrate diverse sourcesof knowledge in solving problems. Good critical thinking promotes s uch thinking skills, andis ve ry important in the fast-changing workplace.

Critical thinking enhances l anguage a nd presentation skills . Thinking clearly a ndsystematically ca n improve the way we express o ur ideas. In learning how to analyse thelogical structure of texts, cr itical thinking also improves comprehension abilities.

Critical thinking promotes creativity . To come up with a creative solution to a probleminvolves n ot just having new ideas. It must also be the case that the new ideas b einggenerated are useful and relevant to the task at hand. Critical thinking plays a crucial role inevaluating new ideas, selecting the best ones a nd modifying them if necessary

Critical thinking is crucial for self-reection . In order to live a meaningful life and tostructure our lives a ccordingly, we need to justify a nd reect on our values a nd decisions.Critical thinking provides the tools for t his process of self-evaluation.


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Good critical thinking is the foundation of science and democracy . Science requiresthe critical use of reason in experimentation and theory co nrmation. The proper functioningof a liberal democracy requires c itizens w ho can think c ritically a bout social issues t o informtheir judgments a bout proper governance and to overcome biases a nd prejudice.

Critical thinking is a metacognitive skill . What this means is that it is a higher-levelcognitive skill that involves t hinking about thinking. We have to be aware of the goodprinciples of reasoning, and be reective about our own reasoning. In addition, we oftenneed to make a c onscious e ffort to improve ourselves, avoid b iases, and maintainobjectivity. This is notoriously hard to do. We are all able to think but to think well oftenrequires a long period of training. The mastery o f critical thinking is s imilar to the mastery o fmany o ther skills. There are three important components: theory, practice, and attitude.

TheoryIf we want to think c orrectly, we need to follow the correct rules o f reasoning. Knowledge oftheory includes k nowledge of these rules. These are the basic p rinciples o f critical thinking,such as t he laws o f logic, and the methods o f scientic reasoning, etc.

Also, it would be useful to know something about what not to do if we want to reasoncorrectly. This m eans we should have s ome basic kn owledge of the mistakes t hat peoplemake. First, this r equires s ome knowledge of typical fallacies. Second, psychologists h ave

discovered p ersistent biases a nd limitations in h uman reasoning. An a wareness o f theseempirical ndings will alert us to potential problems.

Practice

However, merely kn owing the principles t hat distinguish good and b ad reasoning is n otenough. We m ight study in the classroom about how to s wim, and learn a bout the basictheory, such as the fact that one should not breathe under water. But unless we can applysuch theoretical knowledge through constant practice, we might not actually be able to

swim.

Similarly, to be good at critical thinking skills it is necessary to internalize the theoreticalprinciples s o that we can actually a pply t hem in daily l ife. There are at least two ways One isto do lots of good-quality e xercises. Exercises i nclude not just exercises i n classrooms a ndtutorials. They a lso include exercises i n the form of discussion and debates w ith otherpeople in our daily l ife. The other method is t o think m ore deeply a bout the principles t hat


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we h ave a cquired. In the human mind, memory an d understanding are a cquired throughmaking connections b etween ideas.

Attitudes

Good critical thinking skills require not just knowledge and practice. Persistent practice canbring about improvements o nly if one h as t he r ight kind of motivation a nd a ttitude. Thefollowing attitudes a re not uncommon, but they a re obstacles t o critical thinking:

• I prefer being given the correct answers r ather than guring them out myself.

• I don't like to think a lot about my decisions as I rely only on gut feelings.

•

I don't usually review the mistakes I have made.

• I don't like to be criticized.

To improve our thinking we have to recognize that the importance of reecting on thereasons f or belief and action. We should also be willing to engage in debate, break o ldhabits, and deal with linguistic c omplexities a nd abstract concepts.

The California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory is a psychological test that is used tomeasure whether people are disposed to think c ritically. It measures s even different thinking

habits l isted below, and it is u seful to ask ourselves t o what extent they d escribe the way w ethink:

1. Truth-seeking - Do you try to understand how things r eally a re? Are y ou interested innding out the truth?

2. Open-mindedness - How receptive a re you to new ideas, even though intuitively theydo not agree with you? Do you give t hem a fair hearing?

3. Analyticity - Do yo u try to understand the reasons behind things? Do you a ctimpulsively o r do you evaluate the pros a nd c ons o f your decisions?

4. Systematicity - Are yo u syst ematic in yo ur thinking? D o yo u b reak d own a complexproblem into parts?


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5. Condence in Reasoning - Do you always def er to other people? How condent areyou in your own judgment? Do you have r easons f or your condence? Do you have away to evaluate your own thinking?

6. Inquisitiveness

7. Maturity of Judgment - Do yo u jump to co nclusions? D o yo u try to se e t hings fromdifferent perspectives? Do you take other people's e xperiences into account?

8. There are many d ifferent denitions o f critical thinking. Here we list some o f the w ell-known ones. It can be seen that they all emphasize the importance of clarity a ndrationality. Here we will look a t some well-known denitions i n chronological order.

9. Many p eople t raced the importance of critical thinking in e ducation to Dewey. ButDewey did not make very extensive use of the term "critical thinking". Instead, in hisbook How We Think , he argued for the importance of what he called "reectivethinking":

10. ... [when] the ground or basis for a belief is d eliberately so ughtand its a dequacy to support the belief examined. This p rocess iscalled reective thought; it alone is truly educative in value ...

11. Active, persistent and careful consideration of any belief orsupposed form of knowledge in light of the grounds t hat support it,and the further conclusions t o which it tends, constitutes r eectivethought.

12.There is h owever one passage where Dewey explicitly u ses t he term "criticalthinking":

13. The essence of critical thinking is suspe nded judgment; and theessence of this s uspense is i nquiry to determine the nature of theproblem before proceeding to attempts a t its s olution. This, more thanany o ther thing, transforms m ere inference into tested inference,suggested conclusions i nto proof.Dewey (1910) How We Think , p74.

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15.The Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal (1980) is a well-known psychologicaltest of critical thinking ability. The authors of this test dene critical thinking as :

16. ... a co mposite o f attitudes, knowledge a nd ski lls. Thiscomposite includes: (1) attitudes of inquiry that involve an ability torecognize the existence of problems a nd an acceptance of the


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general need for evidence in support of what is a sserted to be true;(2) knowledge of the nature of valid inferences, abstractions, andgeneralizations in which the weight or accuracy of different kinds ofevidence are logically determined; and (3) skills in employing andapplying the above attitudes a nd knowledge.

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18.A very well-known and inuential denition of critical thinking is from Robert Ennis(1987):

19. Critical thinking is reasonable reective thinking that is focusedon deciding what to believe or do.Ennis ( 1987) A taxonomy o f criticalthinking dispositions and abilities. In Baron and Sternberg

(Eds.) Teaching thinking skills: Theory and practice . NY: W.H.Freeman, pp. 9-26.

20.

21.This d enition co mes from a st atement written in 1 987 b y Michael Scriven a ndRichard P aul, National Council for Excellence in Critical Thinking , an organizationpromoting critical thinking in the US.

22. Critical thinking is the intellectually disciplined process ofactively and skillfully c onceptualizing, applying, analyzing,

synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, orgenerated by, observation, experience, reection, reasoning, orcommunication, as a guide to belief and action. In its e xemplary form,it is based on universal intellectual values that transcend subjectmatter divisions: clarity, accuracy, precision, consistency, relevance,sound evidence, good reasons, depth, breadth, and fairness. It entailsthe examination of those structures o r elements o f thought implicit inall reasoning: purpose, problem, or question-at-issue, assumptions,concepts, empirical grounding; reasoning leading to conclusions,implications a nd consequences, objections f rom alternativeviewpoints, and frame of reference.

23.

https://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/defining-critical-thinking/766https://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/defining-critical-thinking/766


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24.The following excerpt comes f rom Peter A. Facione (1990) "Critical Thinking: AStatement of Expert Consensus f or Purposes o f Educational Assessm ent andInstruction", a report for the American Philosophical Association.

25. "We understand critical thinking to be purposeful, self-regulatory

judgment which results in interinference, as w ell as e xplanation of the evidential, conceptual,methodological, criteriological, or contextual considerations uponwhich that judgment is b ased. CT is e ssential as a tool of inquiry. Assuch, CT is a liberating force in education and a powerful resource inone's p ersonal and civic l ife. While not synonymous w ith goodthinking, CT is a pervasive and self-rectifying human phenomenon.The ideal critical thinker is habitually inquisitive, well-informed, trustfulof reason, open-minded, exible, fairminded in evaluation, honest infacing personal biases, prudent in making judgments, willing toreconsider, clear about issues, orderly in complex m atters, diligent inseeking relevant information, reasonable in the selection of criteria,focused in inquiry, and persistent in seeking results w hich are asprecise as t he subject and the circumstances o f inquiry p ermit. Thus,educating good critical thinkers means working toward this ideal. It

combines d eveloping CT skills w ith nurturing those dispositions w hichconsistently yield useful insights and which are the basis o f a rationaland democratic so ciety."


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No one always acts purely objectively and rationally. We connive for selfish interests. Wegossip, boast, exaggerate, and equivocate. It is "only human" to wish to validate our prior

nowledge, to vindicate our prior decisions, or to sustain our earlier beliefs. In the process ofsatisfying our ego, however, we can often deny ourselves intellectual growth andopportunity. We may not always want to apply critical thin ing s ills, but we should have those

s ills available to be employed when needed.

!ritical thin ing includes a complex combination of s ills. mong the maincharacteristics are the following#

Rationality We are thin ing critically when we

• rely on reason rather than emotion,

• require evidence, ignore no nown evidence, and follow evidence where it leads, and

• are concerned more with finding the best explanation than being right analy$ingapparent confusion and as ing questions.

Self-awarenessWe are thin ing critically when we

• weigh the influences of motives and bias, and

• recogni$e our own assumptions, prejudices, biases, or point of view.

Honesty We are thin ing critically when we recogni$e emotional impulses, selfish motives, nefariouspurposes, or other modes of self%deception.

Open-mindednessWe are thin ing critically when we

• evaluate all reasonable inferences

• consider a variety of possible viewpoints or perspectives,

•

remain open to alternative interpretations• accept a new explanation, model, or paradigm because it explains the evidence better, is

simpler, or has fewer inconsistencies or covers more data

• accept new priorities in response to a reevaluation of the evidence or reassessment ofour real interests, and


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• do not reject unpopular views out of hand.

DisciplineWe are thin ing critically when we

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are precise, meticulous, comprehensive, and exhaustive• resist manipulation and irrational appeals, and

• avoid snap judgments.

Judgment We are thin ing critically when we

• recogni$e the relevance and&or merit of alternative assumptions and perspectives

•

recogni$e the extent and weight of evidence

In sum,

• !ritical thin ers are by nature skeptical . 'hey approach texts with the same s epticismand suspicion as they approach spo en remar s.

• !ritical thin ers are active , not passive. 'hey as questions and analy$e. 'heyconsciously apply tactics and strategies to uncover meaning or assure theirunderstanding.

• !ritical thin ers do not ta e an egotistical view of the world. 'hey are open to new ideasand perspectives. 'hey are willing to challenge their beliefs and investigate competingevidence.

!ritical thin ing enables us to recogni$e a wide range of subjective analyses of otherwiseobjective data, and to evaluate how well each analysis might meet our needs. (acts may befacts, but how we interpret them may vary.)y contrast, passive, non%critical thin ers ta e a simplistic view of the world.

• 'hey see things in blac and white, as either%or, rather than recogni$ing a variety ofpossible understanding.

• 'hey see questions as yes or no with no subtleties.

• 'hey fail to see lin ages and complexities.

• 'hey fail to recogni$e related elements.

Non%critical thin ers ta e an egotistical view of the world


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• 'hey ta e their facts as the only relevant ones.

• 'hey ta e their own perspective as the only sensible one.

• 'hey ta e their goal as the only valid one.

Critical Thinking DenedCritical thinking means making reasoned judgments t hat are logical and well thought out. It is away o f thinking in w hich you d on't simply a ccept all arguments a nd c onclusions yo u a re exposed tobut rather have an attitude involving questioning such arguments a nd conclusions. It requireswanting to see what evidence is i nvolved to support a particular argument or conclusion. People whouse critical thinking are the ones w ho say t hings such as, 'How do you know that? Is t his c onclusionbased on evidence or gut feelings?' and 'Are there alternative possibilities w hen given new pieces o finformation?'

Additionally, critical thinking can be divided into the following three core skills:

1. Curiosity is t he desire to learn more information and seek e vidence as w ell as being open tonew ideas.

2. Skepticism involves h aving a healthy questioning attitude about new information that youare exposed to and not blindly b elieving everything everyone tells yo u.

3. Finally, humility is t he ability to admit that your opinions a nd ideas a re w rong when facedwith new convincing evidence that states o therwise.


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Critical Thinking Skills

Scheffer and Rubenfeld discuss critical thinking habits and critical thinking skills. Foreach of the critical thinking skills shown below, they gi e a nu!ber of acti ity

state!ents.

1. Analyzing• Se"arating or breaking a whole into "arts to

disco er their nature, functional andrelationshi"s.

• #$ studied it "iece by "iece#

• #$ sorted things out#

2. Applying Standards• %udging according to established "ersonal,

"rofessional, or social rules or criteria.

• #$ &udged it according to...#

3. Discriminating• Recogni'ing differences and si!ilarities

a!ong things or situations anddistinguishing carefully as to category orrank.

• #$ rank ordered the arious...#

• #$ grou"ed things together#

4. Information Seeking• Searching for e idence, facts, or knowledge

by identifying rele ant sources andgathering ob&ecti e, sub&ecti e, historical,and current data fro! those sources

• #$ knew $ needed to looku"(study...#


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• #$ ke"t searching for data.#

5. Logical Reasoning• )rawing inferences or conclusions that are

su""orted in or &ustified by e idence

• #$ deduced fro! the infor!ation that...#

• #*y rationale for the conclusion was...#

. !redicting• +n isioning a "lan and its conse uences

• #$ en isioned the outco!e would be...#

• #$ was "re"ared for...#

". #ransforming $no%ledge• -hanging or con erting the condition,

nature, for!, or function of conce"ts a!ongconte ts

• #$ i!"ro ed on the basics by...#

•

#$ wondered if that would fit the situation of ...#

ritical thin ing is the disciplined, intellectual process of applying s ilful reasoning as a guide to belief or action *+aul,nnis - Norris . In nursing, critical thin ing for clinical decision%ma ing is the ability to thin in a systematic and logical

manner with openness to question and reflect on the reasoning process used to ensure safe nursing practice andquality care */easlip . !ritical thin ing when developed in the practitioner includes adherence to intellectualstandards, proficiency in using reasoning, a commitment to develop and maintain intellectual traits of the mind andhabits of thought and the competent use of thin ing s ills and abilities for sound clinical judgments and safe decision%ma ing.

Intellectual Standards for Reasoning


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+ractitioners in nursing who are critical thin ers value and adhere to intellectual standards. !ritical thin ers strive tobe clear, accurate, precise, logical complete, significant and fair when they listen, spea , read and write. !riticalthin ers thin deeply and broadly. 'heir thin ing is adequate for their intended purpose *+aul, 0criven, Norris -

nnis . ll thin ing can be examined in light of these standards and as we reflect on the quality of our thin ing webegin to recogni$e when we are being unclear, imprecise, vague or inaccurate. s nurses, we want to eliminateirrelevant, inconsistent and illogical thoughts as we reason about client care. Nurses use language to clearlycommunicate in%depth information that is significant to nursing care. Nurses are not focused on the trivial or

irrelevant.Nurses who are critical thin ers hold all their views and reasoning to these standards as well as, the claims of otherssuch that the quality of nurse1s thin ing improves over time thus eliminating confusion and ambiguity in thepresentation and understanding of thoughts and ideas.

Elements of Reasoned Thinking2easoning in nursing involves eight elements of thought. !ritical thin ing involves trying to figure out something3 aproblem, an issue, the views of another person, a theory or an idea. 'o figure things out we need to enter into thethin ing of the other person and then to comprehend as best we can the structure of their thin ing. 'his also appliesto our own thin ing as well. When I read an author I1m trying to figure out what the author is saying3 what problem orissue the author is addressing, what point of view or frame of reference he is coming from, what the goal or purposeis of this piece of writing, what evidence, data or facts are being used and what theories, concepts, principles or ideasare involved. I want to understand the interpretations and claims the author is ma ing and the assumptions thatunderlie his thin ing. I need to be able to follow the author1s lines of formulated thought and the inferences which leadto a particular conclusion. I need to understand the implications and consequences of the author1s thin ing. s I cometo understand the author in%depth I will also begin to recogni$e the strength and wea ness of his reasoning. I will beable to offer my perspective on the subject at hand with a clear understanding of how the author would respond to myideas on the subject.

The Elements of Thought ll thin ing, if it is purposeful, includes the following elements of thought *+aul, 4556 .

4. 'he problem, question, concern or issue being discussed or thought about by the thin er. What the thin er isattempting to figure out.

7. 'he purpose or goal of the thin ing. Why we are attempting to figure something out and to what end. Whatdo we hope to accomplish.

8. 'he frame of reference, points of view or even world view that we hold about the issue or problem.

9. 'he assumptions that we hold to be true about the issue upon which we base our claims or beliefs.

:. 'he central concepts, ideas, principles and theories that we use in reasoning about the problem.

;. 'he evidence, data or information provided to support the claims we ma e about the issue or problem.


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inherent in practice, as well as the obvious. >uestion posing presupposes intellectual humility and a willingness toadmit to one1s areas of ignorance as well as, intellectual curiosity and perseverance and willingness to see answers.!ritical thin ers in nursing are truth see ers and demonstrate open%mindedness and tolerance for others1 views withconstant sensitivity to the possibility of their own bias.Nurse1s who are critical thin ers value intellectually challenging situations and are self%confident in their well reasonedthoughts. 'o reason effectively, nurses have developed s ills and abilities essential for sound reasoning.

Critical Thinking Skills and Abilities!ritical thin ers in nursing are s ilful in applying intellectual s ills for sound reasoning. 'hese s ills have been definedas information gathering, focusing, remembering, organi$ing, analy$ing, generating, integrating and evaluating*2egistered Nurse1s ssociation of )ritish !olumbia, 4556 . 'he focus of classroom and clinical activities is todevelop the nurse1s understanding of scholarly, academic wor through the effective use of intellectual abilities ands ills. s you encounter increasingly more complex practice situations you will be required to thin through andreason about nursing in greater depth and draw on deeper, more sophisticated comprehension of what it means to bea nurse in clinical practice. Nursing is never a superficial, meaningless activity. ll acts in nursing are deeplysignificant and require of the nurse a mind fully engaged in the practice of nursing. 'his is the challenge of nursing3critical, reflective practice based on the sound reasoning of intelligent minds committed to safe, effective client care.

'o accomplish this goal, students will be required to reason about nursing by reading, writing, listening and spea ingcritically. )y doing so you will be thin ing critically about nursing and ensuring that you gain in%depth nowledge aboutnursing as a practice profession.

Critical Thinking...a Holistic Approach!ritical ?istening# mode of monitoring how we are listening so as to maximi$e our accurate understanding of whatanother person is saying. )y understanding the logic of human communication % that everything spo en expressespoint of view, uses some ideas and not others, has implications, etc., critical thin ers can listen so as to enterempathetically and analytically into the perspective of others.!ritical 'hin ing# 4 @isciplined, self%directed thin ing which implies the perfection of thin ing appropriate to aparticular mode or domain of thin ing. 7 'hin ing that displays master of intellectual s ills and abilities. 8 'he art ofthin ing about your thin ing while you are thin ing in order to ma e your thin ing better# more clear, more accurate, or more defensible.!ritical Writing# 'o express oneself in languages required that one arrange ideas in some relationships to each other.When accuracy and truth are at issue, then we must understand what our thesis is, how we can support it, how wecan elaborate it to ma e it intelligible to others, what objections can be raised to it from other points of view, what thelimitations are to our point of view, and so forth. @isciplined writing requires disciplined thin ing3 disciplined thin ing isachieved through disciplined writing.

!ritical 2eading# !ritical reading is an active, intellectually engaged process in which the reader participates in aninner dialogue with the writer. Aost people read uncritically and so miss some part of what is expressed whiledistorting other parts. critical reader reali$es the way in which reading, by its very nature, means entering into apoint of view other than our own, the point of view of the writer. critical reader actively loo s for assumptions, eyconcepts and ideas, reasons and justifications, supporting examples, parallel experiences, implications andconsequences, and any other structural features of the written text to interpret and assess it accurately and fairly.* +aul, 4556, pp ::9 - :9: !ritical 0pea ing# !ritical spea ing is an active process of expressing verbally a point of view, ideas and thoughtssuch that others attain an in%depth understanding of the spea er1s personal perspective on an issue. Aonitoring howwe express ourselves verbally will ensure that we maximi$e accurate understanding of what we mean through activedialogue and openness to feedbac on our views. */easlip, 4558 .


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critical thinking is the ability to think clearly and rationally about what to do or what to believe

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