Critical Thinking and Logic

Uncritical Persons

-Intellectually unskilled thinkers -Socially conditioned beliefs -Personal beliefs often grounded in prejudice -Motivated by irrationality, personal vanity, intellectual arrogance -Prone to emotional counter-attacks when thinking is questioned -See themselves and "good" and opponents as "evil"

The elements of reasoning are also known as

-Parts of thinking -Fundamental structures of thought

Three kinds of implications that may be involved in any situation

-Possible -Probable -Necessary

Fair-Minded Critical Persons

-Strong sense critical thinkers -Reject manipulation and controlling others -Combine critical thinking skills with desire to serve public good -Want all points of view expressed -Want manipulative persuasion exposed

Suggested tactic for improving thinking

-Use wasted time -Deal with your ego -Keep an intellectual journal

Skilled Manipulators

-Weak-sense critical thinkers -Skilled in manipulation -Pursue self-interest -Employ manipulation, domination, demagoguery -Try to keep other points of view from being heard

Case example

A detailed account of a person or even; a striking or dramatic anecdote. Limited reliability because it is untypical or represents the exception to the norm. Can

Stereotype

A fixed or oversimplified conception of a person, group, or idea.

Intuition

A hunch, gut feelings, or premonition

Rival cause

A plausible alternative explanation for why a certain outcome happened

Question of judgment

A question with competing and debatable answers. Have more than one answer, with some answers better than others.

Question of preference

A question with many possible subjective answers

Question of fact

A question with one answer

Survey/questionnaire

A research method or instrument for measuring people's attitudes or beliefs

Research study

A systematic set of observations collected through scientific methods

Socratic questioning

A systematic, disciplined approach to asking questions aimed at assessing truth

Testimonial

An account of someone else's personal experience

Fallacy

An error in reasoning. It is present in an argument when the premises (or reasons) given for the conclusion don't properly support the conclusion, or insufficient to warrant the conclusion. The presence of a fallacy invalidates the argument.

Critical thinking involves _______ one's own thinking.

Analyzing, evaluating, and improving

Second-order thinking

Another term for critical thinking. It is first-order thinking (or ordinary thinking) that is consciously realized (i.e., analyzed, assessed, and improved)

Begging the question

Asserting a conclusion that is assumed in the reasoning. Reason given to support the conclusion restates the conclusion.

Either-or

Assuming only two alternatives when, in reality, there are more than two.

Empirical

Based on or derived from practical experiment and direct observation.

If a sample is too small or not random enough, the critical thinker must:

Be skeptical of the outcome

Accuracy

Being near to the true value or meaning of something

Precision

Being precise or exact, reasoning that is specific, exact and sufficiently detailed

Clarity

Being unambiguous and easily understood

Factual claims

Beliefs about the way the world is, was, or will be whose credibility depends on the quality of evidence offered to support them

Activated knowledge

Bringing significant ideas and knowledge into the mind and are able to apply them to new situations.

Theories are examples of______.

Concepts

Critical thinking values _____ of thought over ______of thought.

Depth/Speed

Qualitative evidence

Describes or recounts an observation or phenomenon. It communicates understanding and meaning, why and how something happened. Examples of evidence: Research studies, personal observations

Ad hominem

Dismissing an argument by attacking the person who offers it rather than by refuting its reasoning

Straw man

Distorting or exaggerating an opponent's argument so that it might be more easily attacked

Analogy

Drawing a comparison between 2 things in order to show a meaningful resemblance between them. It implies that if 2 things are alike in one respect, they will be alike in other respects.

Faulty analogy

Drawing an invalid comparison between things for the purpose of either supporting or refuting some position. An analogy in which there are important relevant dissimilarities between 2 things being compared

Intellectual cowardice

Fear of ideas or viewpoints that do not conform to one's own

Which of the minds basic functions evaluates the extend to which life's events are either positive or negative?

Feeling

Fallacies

Flaws or errors in reasoning which, when found in the premise of an argument, invalidate its conclusion

In thinking through a problem, the critical thinker does not_____.

Gather information that supports his/her presuppositions. The critical thinker gathers relevant information.

Concepts

General categories or ideas by which we interpret or classify information used in our thinking

Single difference method

In analyzing causation, looking for a causal factor that is present in one situation but absent in another similar situation

Concomitant variation

In analyzing causation, looking for a pattern of variation between a possible cause and a possible effect

Common factor method

In analyzing causation, looking for a single shared factor

Process of elimination

In analyzing causation, successively ruling out non-causal factors until one correct causal factor remains

Intellectual action

In strategic thinking, engaging and challenging your own thinking.

Identification

In strategic thinking, recognizing when your thinking is irrational or flawed.

Element of critical thinking

Inferences

In reasoning, we make _____ based on _____.

Inferences/assumptions

Evidence

Information that is provided to support the dependability of a factual claim

What is the opposite of intellectual conformity?

Intellectual autonomy

Appeal to authority

Justifying a position by citing an expert or authority who supports it

Implication

Logically follows reasoning

Activated ignorance

Mentally taking in and actively using false information

Intellectual humility

Openness to the possibility that one's beliefs are mistaken and a willingness to reevaluate them in the face of new evidence or persuasive counterarguments

Quantitative evidence

Quantifies an observation or phenomenon, expresses it as a number or empirical measure. Examples of evidence: Statistical report

What is not a bad habit of thought?

Reasoning from assumptions that are not one's own

Which report of risk reduction conveys a more significant treatment effect?

Relative

Risk reduction can be expressed in _____ and _____ terms

Relative / absolute

Distinctions between the elements of reasoning are _____ not _____.

Relative/absolute

What is a characteristic of first-order thinking?

Relies on intuition rather than reasoned thought

Another term for critical thinking is____.

Second-order thinking

Inert information

Taking into the mind information, that through memorized, we don't understand.

Sophistry

The ability to win an argument regardless of flaws in its reasoning

Intellectual empathy

The act of routinely inhabiting the perspectives of others in order to genuinely understand them. The ability to reconstruct others' viewpoints.

Intellectual perseverance

The act of working one's way through intellectual complexities despite frustrations inherent in doing so

Sociocentrism

The assumption that one's own social group is inherently superior to all others

Median

The average represented by the middle value in a series of values

Fair-mindedness

The commitment to consider all relevant opinions equally without regard to one's own sentiments or selfish interests, brings unbiased perspective to all relevant viewpoints.

Neglect of a common cause

The failure to recognize that 2 events may be related through the effects of a common third factor

Statistical distribution

The frequency with which each value in a series of values occurs

Statistical range

The gap between the smallest and largest values in a series of values

Purpose

The goal or objective of reasoning

Inference

The logical process of drawing conclusions

Reasoning

The mind drawing conclusions on the basis of reasons

Point of view

The particular perspective from which something is observed or thought through

Research sampling

The process of selecting events or people to study

This correctly reflects the relationship between the standards of thinking, the elements of thinking, and intellectual traits

The standards must be applied to the elements as the critical thinker learns to develop intellectual traits

Correct statement

The standards of critical thinking must be applied to the elements as the critical thinker learns to develop intellectual traits

Egocentrism

The tendency to view everything in relationship to oneself and to regard ones own opinions, values, or interests as most important

Absolute number

The total or aggregate of something, expressed as a number without relationship to other numbers. Without knowing the it, it is impossible to interpret the significance of a percentage.

What best defines critical thinking?

Thinking about thinking in order to make thinking better

Weak-sense critical thinking

Thinking that does not consider counter viewpoints, that lacks fair-mindedness and that uses critical thinking skills simply to defend current beliefs

Strong-sense critical thinking

Thinking that uses critical thinking skills to evaluate all beliefs, especially one's own, and that pursues what is intellectually fair and just

Intellectual Integrity

To admit flaws in one's own thinking.

Appeal to Authority

To justify support for a position by citing an esteemed or well known figure who supports it

Slippery slope

To suggest that a step or action, once taken, will lead inevitably to similar steps or actions with presumably undesirable consequences

In some cases, the conclusions we draw are based on assumptions that operate at a(n)_____ level.

Unconscious

Assumptions

Unstated or hidden beliefs that support our explicit reasoning. Something we take for granted as true.

Personal experience

What we experience; what we ourselves do or go through. Can lead to hasty generalizations based on only one or a couple of experiences.

Personal observation

What we see first hand

For statistical data to be valid, the sample must be _____ and sufficiently _____.

random / large