Critical Thinking Definition

Critical thinking includes the component skills of analyzing arguments, making inferences using inductive or deductive reasoning, judging or evaluating, and making decisions or solving problems when evaluating academic content. Background knowledge is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for enabling critical thought within a given subject. Critical thinking involves both cognitive skills and dispositions. These dispositions, which can be seen as attitudes or habits of mind, include open- and fair-mindedness, inquisitiveness, flexibility, a propensity to seek reason, a desire to be well-informed, and a respect for and willingness to entertain diverse viewpoints. There are both general- and domain-specific aspects of

What did you already know about Critical Thinking: Making Inferences and Analyzing the Author’s Message? Respond to each concept. What did you already know about making inferences? What did you already know about analyzing the author’s message?

Critical thinking is a vital task that must be done in our everyday lives. In “Becoming a Critic Of Your Thinking” found at criticalthinking.org, Dr. Linda Elder and Dr. Richard Paul explain critical thinking as “the disciplined art of ensuring that you use the best thinking you are capable of in any set of circumstances”. Even tough there are many different types of methods to achieve a better quality of critical thinking, Dr. Elder and Dr. Paul discuss four specific ones in the article. All strategies, however, force you to put yourself in an uncomfortable and difficult position to develop a better quality of thinking.

Critical thinking is very important because every day of our lives we’re faced with life’s circumstances that requires a response from us having to make decisions whether it’s in a professional capacity or in a domestic capacity we often find ourselves struggling with having to make decisions whether great or small because whether we know it or not there are people that depend on us and the decisions we make matter.

Having the ability to reason through problems, see alternative viewpoints, and change the initial beliefs are characteristics of a fair-minded critical thinker and are necessary to the changing society that we live in today (Elder & Paul, 2012). Changing our views of the world and situations that arise is better accomplished through asking questions and continually evaluating our lack of knowledge thus becoming a more disciplined thinker (Paul & Elder, 2017). Growing as a critical thinker will give us a stronger foundation to face problems and make knowledgeable decisions in all things (Paul & Elder,

Critical thinking has been defined as the ability to be a disciplined thinker by using clear, rational, open-minded, and informed by evidence. Critical thinking is a skill that takes years of practice to master. In this essay I will reflect on my personal stage of critical thinking and what strengths and weaknesses I currently have. This personal reflection will include what challenges I will face to advance my critical thinking skills and what requirements a critical thinker must have. I will also go into detail what a fair-minded thinker is and how this class can help to prepare me for the real world and the challenges a fair-minded thinker can face.

Critical thinking is an action everyone has the ability to do consciously or unconsciously. To think critically, one must think back and reflect on the actions or information received (Merriam & Bierema, 2014). With critical thinking, one is able to determine the truth in knowledge, beliefs assumptions and actions (Merriam & Bierema, 2014). Every person has different ideas and past events that influence thinking and cognitive abilities. These factors also influence critical thinking. One main factor that affects a person’s ability to critically think is intelligence. Intelligence cannot be easily defined since there are differences in each individual. Other factors affecting critical thinking include beliefs, past experiences leading to assumptions, and prior education. This paper will help define intelligence and how it affects critical thinking.

The deliberation characteristic of strong critical thinking associates critical thinking with the reflective aspect of human reasoning. Those who would seek to improve our individual and collective capacity to engage problems using strong critical thinking skills are, therefore, recommending that we bring greater reflection and deliberation to decision making.

little words mean. I always assumed that I had good critical thinking skills, just because I’m

Questioning and challenging my assumptions and attitudes about critical thinking is a new process for me, but I do appreciate that to develop and enhance my assumptions and other mindsets it is an important undertaking. Looking at what we hold to be true is an endeavor well trenched into us as we evolved. “The real value of critical thinking is that it’s been at the root of all human progress” (Rabinowitz, 2015).

Cognitive skills must be considered at the core of critical thinking. These skills should include interpretation, analysis, evaluation, inference, and explanation. These cognitive skills can be simplified as mental abilities that one possesses. “The logical roots of critical thinking in the reading are as ancient as its etymology. It is traceable as far back as to the teaching practice and vision of Socrates 2,500 years ago” (Kirby, et al. 1999 p. 12). He discovered by a method of probing questioning that people could not rationally justify their confident claims to knowledge. Confused meanings, inadequate evidence, or self-contradictory beliefs often lurked beneath smooth but largely empty public speaking of his time.

Critical thinking is the disciplined, intellectual process of applying skillful reasoning as a guide to belief or action. People who think critically consistently attempt to live rationally, reasonably, empathically. They are keenly aware of the inherently flawed nature of human thinking when left unchecked. They strive to diminish the power of their egocentric and sociocentric tendencies. (criticalthinking.org, 2014)

1. What is critical thinking? When would you use critical thinking skills? In what ways has your learning style developed in the 3rd year program? Do you consider yourself to be a critical thinker? Please justify your response.

Critical thinking is a self-disciplined thinking which attempts to reason in a fair-minded way at the highest level of quality. It involves skills such as analysis, clarification, evaluation, explanation, inference, judgement, objectivity, problem-solving and reasoning. Those who possess such critical thinking skills consistently attempt to live reasonably, rationally and empathically. They can efficiently solve a problem or make a decision by differentiating a useful set of information from a non-useful data. In other words, critical thinkers strive to be fair-minded by judging any situation in an unbiased and unprejudiced way. They constantly keep on improving their thinking and reasoning capabilities by skillfully analyzing, assessing and reconstructing it. Also, they aspire to develop the traits of a disciplined mind, i.e. developing the intellectual virtues of intellectual integrity, humility, sense of justice, perseverance, confidence in reason, courage, empathy and autonomy (Paul & Elder, 2012, p. 6). However, often strong emotions can interfere with the ability to think critically or remain fair-minded since emotions are strongly intertwined with our thoughts. Hence, in order to exercise our mind to be fair-minded, it is essential to foster valuable intellectual traits and inherent in strong-sense critical thinking.

What is critical thinking to you? To some it may mean making wiser choices, taking time to critically analyze a situation, or to just put greater thought in your everyday life. According to Dr. Linda Elder and Dr. Richard Pauls’ article, “Becoming a Critic Of Your Thinking”, critical thinking is defined as the disciplined art of ensuring that you use the best thinking you are capable of in any set of circumstances. To us, critical thinking is a very important aspect of life and something we can all improve on. It allows us to think outside the box and put ourselves in others shoes and really look at things differently. We made sure to think about our own thinking habits while discussing these articles and to notice if we were ever being close-minded.