Download Critical Thinking - Critical Thinking in Health Care - Lecture Slides and more Slides Psychology in PDF only on Docsity! Critical Thinking Docsity.com Docsity.com Characteristics III Critical thinkers: • Care about others’ point of view and treat it with respect. They: Discover and listen to others' views and reasons Avoid intimidating or confusing others, taking into account others' feelings and level of understanding Are concerned about others' welfare Are concerned about educating others on the issues Docsity.com Steps in Critical Thinking: Formulating your argument • Focus on a question – Identify and formulate the question – Develop criteria for judging possible answers – Develop a plan for collecting data • Develop an argument – Generate premises and conclusions (the “whereas” and “therefore”) – Develop reasoning steps/support for conclusions (the “why”) Docsity.com Steps in Critical Thinking: Deconstructing your Argument • Analyze arguments 1. Identify conclusions 2. Identify unstated reasons (assumptions) 3. Identify stated reasons 4. Identify and handle irrelevance 5. See the structure of an argument 6. Summarize Docsity.com Steps in Critical Thinking: Knowing the Basis for Decisions • Example: guilt or innocence of an accused criminal defendant Is the evidence physical or circumstantial? How good is the evidence? Were there eyewitnesses? How reliable are they? Direct observations are strong evidence because: 1. Minimal inference involved 2. Short time interval between observation and report 3. Report by the observer, rather than someone else (that is, the report is not hearsay, and can be verified) 4. Corroboration or possibility of corroboration 5. Good access to actual physical evidence 6. Competent employment of technology, if technology is useful 7. Satisfaction by observer (and reporter, if a different person) of credibility criteria Docsity.com Inference • Induction: moving from specific to general (arguments based on observation or experience) • Deduction: moving from general to specific (arguments based on laws, rules, or widely- accepted principles) Gravity example Docsity.com Types of Explanatory Conclusions 1. Causal claims (“Treatment X causes improvement in strength and mobility”) 2. Claims about the beliefs and attitudes of other people (“The American people want security more than prosperity”) 3. Interpretation of others’ intended meanings (“She is always late, so she must not really want to do this”) 4. Historical claims that certain things happened (“He woke up in a bathtub of ice, missing a kidney”) Docsity.com Ask Testable Questions • Do infants dream? • Does caffeine make people anxious? • Are some people born evil? • Does smoking lead to lung cancer? • Are dreams an indication of our unconscious desires and conflicts? • Is physical therapy beneficial? Docsity.com Causal Arguments • Truck, bicycle, and car example • What causes the accident? • The “one significant difference” idea (inductive) • Two important rules: – Cause must precede the effect in time – Correlation does not prove causation. Docsity.com Example: Economics of Obesity • In the study, one of the first to examine the economic effects of obesity on mature men and women, the researchers examined a wide range of demographic, physical and mental health characteristics to see whether these factors explained the economic differences between obese and non- obese women. • Average adjusted individual net worth (women) – Normal to overweight --- $225,973 – Mildly obese --- $247,140 – Moderately to severely obese --- $90,303 • “Obesity is economically burdensome for women. This may be due to cultural norms of attractiveness, which stigmatize obese women in a variety of ways," the researchers conclude. • What do you think of this conclusion? Docsity.com