Critical Thinking chap 4-7

7 Errors of Perception

"mine is better" thinking, selective perception, Gullibility and skepticism, Preconception, Pretending to know, Either/ or thinking, False tolerance

Err of Percep: Preconception

tend to follow our affections. Leans toward comfort of majority view. We put feelings of comfort and personal preference above the evidence

Err of Exp: Arguing in a Circle

to avoid arguing in a circle make sure your explanations provide an explanation and not just a restatement of your point

What is Individuality

-Individuality is the quality or qualities that set one person apart from others -the popular view is that individuality occurs at conception -Anything we think, say or do express our individuality -The contrasting view is individuality must be earned -People are not born with individuality but with the potential to develop it

Understanding Attitudes

-Our attitudes are strongly influenced by our culture -Our moral code, religious beliefs, political perspective and social customs -Cultures differ in the behaviors they approve and disapprove and in the strength of their convictions about those behaviors - Students in Asian countries have a more respectful attitude toward parents and teachers that American students thus attitude is responsible for the high level of academic achievement among Asian students - pop culture has a powerful influence on our attitude

Strategies for developing individuality

-Strive for humility -Be wary of first impressions -Be honest with yourself -Fight confusion -Produce many ideas -Acknowledge complexity -Look for connections among subjects -Consider other view points

Strategies for resisting manipulation

1) Be prepared, expect to encounter it 2) Ask questions 3) Be imaginative: create realistic scenarios 4) Check sources

4 Empowering Attitudes

1) There's Always Room for Improvement 2) Criticism including self-criticism has value 3) Effort is the key to success 4) Other people are as important as I am

Dale Carnegie- principles of positive relationships and successful living

1)don't criticize, condemn or complain 2)Become genuinely interested in other people 3)Make the other person feel important-and do it sincerely 4)If you are wrong, admit quickly and emphatically 5)Try honestly to see things from the other person's point of view 6)Let the other person save face

Guidelines for successful relationship

1. Acknowledge other people 2. be generous with compliments, stingy with criticism and/or advice 3. Keep moods to self 4. Expect more of yourself and less of others 5. Make allowance of differences of opinion: try present your views clearly, not change people minds 6. Be sensitive to other's feelings 7. Balance talking with listening 8. Think before speaking: don't blurt out it can cause problems 9. Purge negative emotions: talk yourself out of them 10. Refrain from gossiping 11. Apologize when you are wrong 12. Forgive when you are wronged 13. be a peacemaker 14. Meet your responsibilities to others: be aware of your obligations to others and best those obligations 15. Look for opportunities

Deep seated human needs, desires, inseurities and fears.

1iii. Self-indulgence 2iii. Impulsiveness 3iii. Instant gratification

4 Errors of Expression

Contradiction, Arguing in a circle, False Analogy, Irrational appeal,

Thinking Critically about Ethical Judgment

Criteria for ethical judgment i. Obligations; human relationships create various kinds of obligations, all of which place requirements or restrictions on people's behavior. ii. Moral ideals; are standards of excellence in behavior iii. Consequences; all actions produce consequences, some positive or negative

7 Errors of Judgment

Double standard, Irelevent criterion, overgeneralization or stereotyping, hasty conclusions, unwarranted assumptions, Failure to make Distinction, Oversimplification,

4 Errors of Reaction (we risk fooling ourselves)

Explain away ideas, Shift the burden of proof, Attack the person, Set up a "straw man"

Err of Exp: Irrational Appeal- 5 common types

Irrational appeal to tradition- Irrational appeal to moderation- Irrational appeal to authority- Irrational appeal to loyalty- Irrational appeal to fear-

persuasive speaking

More difficult spoken than printed communication More easily misunderstood b/c it is often less formal Printed words can be studied again and again,spoken once uttered are gone Viewers may be distracted b/c they see and hear the speaker

Think critically about?

Newspapers, magazines, music, movies, Tv programming, print advertising, commercials, ethical judgements, careers, relationships

Err of react: Shift Burden of Proof

Prove me wrong" shifts the burden of proof where he should be prepared to defend his case

Err of Exp: Irrational Appeal

appeal means a reference to something respected that is employed to persuade others. Irrational appeal substitutes emotion for critical thinking.

Err of Judgment: Hasty Conclusions

are conclusions drawn without enough evidence "my pen is missing, Anderson must have stolen it"

Err of Exp: False Analogy

assert a similarity where none exists (voters are like little children- they need to be told what to think for their own good)

Thinking Critically about Careers

assess your interest, I.D. broad career areas that seem suited to your aptitudes and skills, and then investigate those areas and decide which you should consider.

Err of Judgment: Unwarranted assumptions

assumptions are ideas we take for granted, assumptions are implied rather than expressed "I read it on the internet so It must be true..." not everything on internet is true

Err of React: Attack the person

attacking the person with something that had nothing to do with the original argument so the attacker can save face rather than admitting to mistake

Techniques for Advertising

bandwagon, glittering generality empty comparison meaning less slogan testimonial transfer stacking the deck misleading statement

Err of Percep: Gullibility and Skepticism

believe everything or doubt everything- both ways save us from thinking. Better to question= greeting all ideas with curiosity and wonder

Manipulations: Suppressing dissent

creates the impression there is no opposing view

Err of Judgment: Irrelevant Criterion

criticizing an idea because it fails to do what is wasn't intended to do. Example: exec proposes a raise for people who come up with innovations but managers argue that it does promote fairness in the workplace for women. Managers are arguing an irrelevant criterion

Err of Judgment: Failure to make distinction

distinctions are subtle differences among things (distinction between the person and the idea)

Err of Percep: Pretending to know

does not actually have the knowledge but saying he does and the lie becomes reality to him.

4 Kinds of Errors

errors of perception, judgment, expression and reaction

Errors of perception

errors often begin in faulty ways of seeing the world, preventing us from being open minded even before we begin applying our critical thinking skills

Err of react: Explaining away ideas

explaining away challenges to their ideas, they don't change reality; they just postpone dealing with it. We must face unpleasant ideas directly and honestly (Weed is good, those guys are just being uptight because they never smoked before, I can tell you wee is good because I have been smoking for years)

Err of Judgement: Oversimplification

goes beyond just simplifying and distorts reality. "highschool teachers have made it, they are off work at 3pm and they only work 9 months"

Thinking Critically about Commercials

i. In advertising language, the aim is to "sell the sizzle, not the steak." ii. Advertising exists only to create needs for products. The trick is to make people feel discontented. 1ii. Gain the audience's attention 2ii. Arouse their audience's attention 3ii. Stimulate a desire for the product 4ii. Make sales pitch

group understanding (boardroom, classroom)

identify the various views that have been publicly expressed and, equally important, the reasons offered in support of those views

Manipulations: Emotional language has great value

it has the power to elevate our vision, reinforce important principles and inspire responsible action

Recognizing manipulation

it uses dishonest means of influencing -Among the most common means are: biased reporting, dishonest appeals to emotion, stacking the deck, suppressing dissent and repetition

Err of Percep: False Tolerance

means to affirm all ideas are equal and refuse to judge others people's opinions. instead to be tolerant we must 1) take time to understand people's opinions before criticizing them 2) base our criticisms on evidence rather than personal preference 3) speak and act courteously and with sensitivity to others feelings

Manipulations: Repetition

most effective technique of manipulation, the more familiar the idea, the more people tend to believe it

Manipulations: Biased Reporting

o Biased Headline o Biased Lead o Biased Reporting of polls o Biased Handling of quotations

Err of Percp: "Mine is better" thinking

occurs in things that are important to us such as race, religion, ethnic group, social class, political party or philosophy of life. It is natural and harmless. (Oh she s Irish? She's cool because I'm Irish too.)

Err of Judgment: Overgeneralization or Stereotyping

overgeneralizations are unfair judgments about a class of people or things, stereotypes are over generalizations that harden into convictions shared by many people. These hinder us to important differences among individual people, places and things. "all the students at community college are lazy"

Err of React: straw man

pretending the other have made statements they did not make and then denouncing them for making the statement

Multitask WITH CARE

students that multitask scored worse on the skills of remembering, shifting between tasks, and maintaining focus.

Err of Percep: Either/ or Thinking

taking extreme positions on issues when other positions are possible (either evolution exists or creation...critically thinking both could exist)

Most Significant relationships

teaching/learning, business, family and personal relationships. relationship is a significant association between or among people.

Persuasion

the art of getting people to give a fair hearing to ideas that differ from their own. -Workplace persuasion begins when you compose your resume and continues to the job interview -In the workplace persuasion continues as you interact w/ customers and co-workers -Respect your audience-give others the benefit of the doubt/ trust that others are well intentioned as you are

Err of Exp: Contradiction

to avoid contradiction, state which point of view you believe in the most and be consistent in your presentation

Err of Judgment: Double Standard

using one standard of judgment for our ideas and an entirely different, more demanding standard for ideas that conflict with ours. They nitpick their opponent's arguments

Acknowledging influences

we must admit people have shaped us. as children we learned by imitating our parents, relatives, later: teachers and peers -reflected by childhood lessons -pop culture and entertainment like tv have influenced us -Acknowledging that you have been and continue to be influenced by other people will motivate you to be more critical of your own ideas and more willing to reject them when they prove unworthy.

Err of Percep: Selective Perception

when we focus on thinks that support our current ideas and rejecting anything that challenges them. Only see evidence that supports his prejudice (all Asians are bad drivers, oh see, she is a bad driver)

Strategy for persuasive writing

● Step 1: State what you think why ● Step 2: Consider how those who disagree might react to your view ● Step 3: Arrange your ideas and write a draft of your presentation ● Step 4: Check your draft for style ● Step 5: Check your draft for grammar, usage, punctuation, and spelling