2. THINKING
Thinking is natural
essential for every day life
Critical thinking is valuable and encouraged
Part of the BSU curriculum
But why? What is it? How do we do it?
3. CRITICAL THINKING
Defined: thinking about thinking
Critical thinking involves being conscientious about the how
and why we think the way we do
How we process information?
Why we draw the conclusions we do?
Why we are quick to accept some information as truth without
further analysis and treat other information as skeptical?
When are we susceptible to making errors in judgment?
What are the specific tools to think critically?
4. CRITICAL THINKING TOOLS
Metathinking
A series of cognitive skills that can be
taught and learned to develop analytical
thinking
Specific strategies for inquiry and problem
solving
5. CRITICAL THINKING
Metathoughts
Thoughts about thoughts
Serve as antidotes:
antidotes
An antidote is a remedy used to prevent our
counteract an adverse event
Analogous to medicine
We need cognitive antidotes to help counter our natural
way of thinking which can be biased, rigid, simplistic, etc.
6. THE EVALUATIVE BIAS OF
LANGUAGE
Language allows us to describe various phenomenon
Events, situations, people
We attempt to describe rather than evaluate/judge
Descriptions are objective
free of judgment; everyone agrees with perception/label
Evaluations are subjective
based on judgment; individual differences in
perception/label
7. THE EVALUATIVE BIAS OF
LANGUAGE
“To describe is to prescribe”
What do you think this means?
8. THE EVALUATIVE BIAS OF
LANGUAGE
“To describe is to prescribe”
We have a natural tendency to describe things
subjectively when attempting to do so objectively
We unconsciously label things
By using words that simultaneously describe and evaluate
(we are not neutral)
Therefore, we prescribe, through our word choice, what we
like and dislike
9. THE EVALUATIVE BIAS OF
LANGUAGE
The distinction between objective and subjective is not
always clear
We describe things objectively
We use the same terms to describe people subjectively
Room temperature: hot and cold
Person: hot and cold
Do these terms mean the same thing in each instance?
Which is objective and which is subjective?
10. THE EVALUATIVE BIAS OF
LANGUAGE
Reciprocal influence of attitudes and language
Our beliefs, values, perceptions influence our language
and vice versa
How we refer to someone/thing shapes how we perceive
and treat them
Examples: “All men cheat” or “All black women have attitudes”
11. THE EVALUATIVE BIAS OF
LANGUAGE
Bidirectional relationships also influence the choice in
words that we use
Politically correct terms are an example
We have made changes in how we label others or others have
changed the way they label themselves.
For example, ethnic groups
People of African descent have evolved from “Blacks, Negroes,
Colored, N______) and now prefer the less derogatory term African
Americans
Can you think of other examples of politically correct terms?
12. DICHOTOMOUS VARIABLES
Defined: two mutually exclusive or contradictory
categories
We tend to describe things that are continuous as
dichotomous
Black vs. white
Old vs. young
Pregnant vs. not pregnant (can’t be both…or in between)
13. CONTINUOUS VARIABLES
Continuous variables: the various points between
two polar opposites
Shades of gray
We often confuse dichotomous with continuous variables
Not everything is black and white
Tend to do so when describing people or behavior
Continuous variables tend to be more accurate and
meaningful descriptions or explanations
14. The Barnum Effect
Barnum Statements- statements directed towards an individual or
group that is true for just about all human beings.
Be sure to review the list of Barnum statements example provided in the
textbook
Barnum Effect- is when individuals accept Barnum statements as
true
Do all Black people really like fried Chicken (and red Kool Aid)?
Is this the only culture that likes (okay, loves) fried chicken? I think not.
Yet, we all nod our heads in agreement when we hear generalizations like
these.
Can you think of other examples?
15. Schema
Defined: a cognitive structure that organizes our knowledge,
beliefs, and past experiences, thereby providing a framework
for understanding new events and future experiences.
I like to think of schema as the “lens” through which we see
the world.
Seeing the world through rose colored glasses.
If your glasses are rose tinted, you will see the world as rosy (and
likely full of optimism). If your glasses are cracked and dirty, your
outlook on life will likely be skewed
What are other examples of schema that someone could have?
16. Schema
When we encounter new information or experiences, we can do
one of two things:
Accommodate or assimilate the information.
Accommodation- modifying our schema to fit the data
Changing our lenses to make sense of the new info/experience
May cause one to rethink their values or beliefs
Assimilation- modifying the data to fit the schema
Trying to make the new info/experience match what our existing
lenses wants us to see
May cause one to distort the truth just to hold on tight to their original
values for dear life
17. Assimilation Bias
Assimilation Bias- the tendency to engage in
assimilation rather than accommodation
To reject rather than accept information
18. Heuristics
Heuristic- A mental shortcut or rule of thumb strategy for problem
solving.
Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally
I before E except after C
In general, heuristics can be great as they allow us to process
information quickly
Who has time to fully process everything
However, shortcuts sometimes cause errors in processing that could
have been avoided if we had fully processed the information
At times, using heuristics might cause us to make underestimations
or overestimations
19. Representativeness Bias
Representativeness Heuristic- a method used to
estimate the probability of two entities are related
Representativeness Bias- when representativeness
heuristic cause a systematic error in information
processing.
Think back to the DC Sniper. Tell the truth, what was the
racial profile that most people assumed fit the sniper?
Based on our “representation” of a sniper, we made a MAJOR
error in judgment about who the perpetrators were.
20. Availability Bias
Availability heuristic- process by which individuals determine frequency,
incidences, or the likelihood of an event based one how accessible it is from
memory.
Availability Bias- when Availability heuristic cause a systematic error in
information processing.
When we can easily conjure up an image in our minds about an event, we are
more likely to overestimate it. We are likely to underestimate events that are
hard to imagine.
How many airplane crashes are there per year?
How many bicycle accidents are there per year?
Which was harder to guestimate?
21. Availability Bias
Tell the truth, when you heard about Whitney Houston’s death, did
you assume it was a drug overdose?
Isn’t it much easier to conjure up images of celebrities and drug
overdoses rather than accidents or natural causes?
22. Fundamental Attribution Error
Fundamental Attribution Error- individual’s tendency to
associate behaviors with internal factors and give external
factors less consideration or completely ignore them.
Cognitive Bias- errors produced by our limited thinking
capacity
e.g. caused by fatigue, distraction, low IQ
Motivational Bias- errors produced by efforts to satisfy our
own selfish needs
23. Self Fulfilling Prophecy
Defined: When people’s attitudes, beliefs, or assumptions
about another person actually produce the expected
behaviors.
Can happen intentionally or unintentionally
Knowledge of a person’s low expectations of may subconsciously
cause someone to perform below their capabilities
Affirmations are positive examples of SFP’s: you can speak
positivity into your existence
24. Self Fulfilling Prophecy
An important note about SFPs (which most students often
overlook)
There are actually four parts to this phenomenon:
h Awareness of an expectation (either someone elses or your own)
n Subconscious internalization of this expectation
t This subconsciously impacts the person’s behavior (either
deflating or boosting their confidence or motivation)
s The predicted behavior is manifested or demonstrated
It is not enough to simply be aware of an expectation…the
prophecy (the prediction) has to actually come true.
Can you think of personal examples of a self-fulfilling prophecy?
25. Correlation & Causation
Correlation- there is a relationship among the variables,
positive or negative
does not recognize cause and effect
Correlation ≠ causation!
Just because there is correlation or relationship between
crime and urban neighborhoods, living in “the hood” does
not “cause” someone to commit crime.
26. Correlation & Causation
Causation: There is a direct influence between variables;
one explains the presence of the other
Bidirectional Causation-
Event A causes Event B and Event B causes Event A
Multiple Causation-
More than one cause
Event A, B and C caused/contributed to Event D
27. Naturalistic Fallacy
Defined: An individual’s tendency to determine whether
something is good or bad based on frequency
There are Four Types (grouped into 2 pairs)
Common = Good
Uncommon = Bad
Common = Bad
Uncommon = Good
Most people tend to use one pair or the other to guide their
thinking and behaviors.
28. Naturalistic Fallacy
Common = Good and Uncommon = Bad
Those with this type of thinking would believe the following:
If something is really popular (common), “that’s hot”
If something is unpopular (rare/uncommon), it’s “not the business”
Common = Bad and Uncommon = Good
Those with this type of thinking would believe the following:
If something is really popular (common), “I’m doing just the opposite”
If something is unpopular (rare/uncommon), “That’s for me”
Which thinking style describes you?
29. Belief Perserverance Effect
Occurs when an individual’s beliefs are being
challenged.
The individual tends to protect his/her belief.
As a result, the individual will hold on to his/her belief
despite facts that dismiss the belief
