critical thinking in psychology

critical thinking in psychology

Critical Thinking in Psychology

1. Introduction to Critical Thinking

Be aware that to have success in life, courses, or jobs, critical thinking is an asset and an invaluable resource. Any decisions, big or small, are critical decisions and their result can have an impact on life. So it is very necessary to have critical thinking to analyze that decision, whether it is good or bad. Our life is full of unexpected things and we can take various benefits from it, but it also has a risk. In certain moments, one will meet a problem and at the same time has to make a decision. A decision that later one would consider all the possibilities and the best way out from all the alternatives. In an academic field, critical thinking was developed and the foremost is from the science field, because all the development of natural science and other sciences come from a variety of problem-solving methods of thinking. Critical thinking is a type of thinking that is specific and purposeful. It is an idea, an experience, a conclusion, or a belief. This type of thinking is generally used in the science field to solve a problem. Critical thinking is sometimes often referred to as logical thinking. But the fact is, logical thinking is a part of critical thinking, because logic is only to think about a connection, a base, and a result in a sequence. It is different from ordinary thinking. Often, people who face a problem and make a decision only consider one way to solve their problem without considering what will happen if they choose the other way.

2. Importance of Critical Thinking in Psychology

Critical thinking is also important in evaluating sources of information. Many people accept information from an incorrect source as truth. This can be a very dangerous practice. On many occasions, psychologists receive information about a disorder or therapies used for a disorder from a patient, a patient’s family, other health professionals, or through their observations. Oftentimes, this information can be useful, but in some cases, the information may be incorrect or the psychologist may need to verify the information. For example, a cognitive psychologist working with a head injury victim may try to recall information on treatments for memory problems obtained in conversation with the patient’s neurologist. Trying to improve his understanding of a certain therapy, the psychologist might turn to a medical book or another psychologist with an interest in that type of therapy. In such cases, it is essential that the information he looks up is correct and that he can identify what the best treatment may be. In this case, the ability to identify and correct the problem is the difference between a good and a poor critical thinker.

Critical thinking is important in psychology because it allows for proper problem solving. This skill is essential in the field, as often times there are multiple solutions to a problem, there is a need to identify various aspects of the problem, and there are needs to be creative solutions and a clear desired solution. Using critical thinking, one can evaluate reasons and construct an argument. This is important because often times in the field there is a need to persuade someone that the problem exists. This could be in the case of a diagnosis for a mental illness, a treatment for a cognitive disorder, or changing behavior to a more healthy state. Being able to understand and create an argument in these cases would make those involved more likely to act on your proposed solution.

3. Developing Critical Thinking Skills

Importance of Critical Thinking Hopefully, teachers have been doing a good job of convincing students of the importance of critical thinking for a number of years. We stress to students that when you are trying to find out which kitchen appliances to purchase, what course of action to take in fitness training or which team to select in fantasy football, that you should be doing more than scratching the surface and going with your whims or the information that first comes to you. When an important decision needs to be made, the right choice is rarely the easiest course of action and it takes careful thought to make the right decision. We provide students with the analogy that their brain is like a ‘muscle’ and that the same as we stress different muscle groups during a workout, we should be stressing different avenues of thought when decision making, with the intention of improving our ‘brain’. We ask students $64,000 questions, such as why do you more often make the right choice of action when faced with a tricky situation or decision-making task in your late twenties compared with being a teenager? We also tell students that it is important to be able to identify when we are using thinking that is bad, but appears to be good, in which case we will be able to make a more informed decision at a later time. With the same idea in mind (to be better at thinking) and the same definition of critical thinking that we mentioned earlier, we can provide students with some useful tools to enhance their thinking.

What is Critical Thinking Actually, there are many definitions of critical thinking. It would be remiss of me to not point out that Skinner’s definition of critical thinking is not the same as that of say Dewey, Nickolas or Halpern. But as there are more similarities than differences between the definitions, and I am yet to find a definition that I think is bad, I choose to ignore this point and give one definition (the one that I think is the best) which I will state is the definition. Critical thinking is thinking about your thinking while you’re thinking in order to make your thinking better: more clear, accurate, precise, relevant, consistent and fair. And it is a general competency that seems to be applicable to a wide variety of settings across age groups. It would appear that this is a skill that one needs to be better at, to strive to improve. With that definition in mind, we can discuss some of the importance of critical thinking.

Introduction We often ask critical thinking stumpers such as, “If a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it, does it make a sound?” Our job is to help our students take these critical thinking skills and apply them to their academic work. The first step is to provide a comprehensive understanding of the concept of critical thinking. A careful examination of the concept of critical thinking and its importance will be discussed.

4. Applying Critical Thinking in Psychological Research

Step 6: And only then, the last step will be resolving all the arguments and decisions to compare them with the original issue predefined.

Step 5: Infer Implications and Consequences. This involves looking at the “what if?” argument of the situation and claims from the argument to see if the program or arguer has reached answers and decisions that are most efficient and valuable for the issue. This can assist the arguer in altering their claims and situation to find a better method or create a new issue and question.

Step 4: Compare to Standards and Judgment. This is the crux of critical thinking for this case, and the program will constantly be focusing on this and the coming step to evaluate these arguments in regards to the defined issue. This should lead to a long chain of reasoning and argument attempting to prove that the assumptions and conclusions on the issue are the best possible.

Step 3: Clarify Assumptions and Conclusion. Searching for the assumptions and conclusion of the argument to define how the argument is being agreed upon and what it is trying to achieve. These will be constraints and methods.

Step 2: Identify and Evaluate Arguments. The next steps are not always carried out in a separate form, but at each level of research, they should be used to resolve complex arguments and decisions. This case involves examining the search algorithm’s efficiency.

Without a focused situation and associated claim, often the reasoning is just one thing after another with no interconnection of the parts of the reasoning or the ends. This will not lead to resolved complex arguments and decisions.

Let’s consider an artificial intelligence program that tries to find the shortest route between two points. This program can think critically about this search algorithm only if the program is viewed as having a designed solution to a problem, instead of it being taken as the only efficient way to find all information on route planning. This is the issue the program claims. We would ask, is this the only definition of the search algorithm? What are the advantages and disadvantages of this, and do the modes of use justify the best method?

Step 1: Ask Questions: Before applying critical thinking, we first have to have a situation to consider and an associated claim. For research to be guided by critical thinking, there must be a clear case at issue. This is the thing on which we are focusing our attention. To define it clearly, to question its accuracy, precision, relevance, depth, breadth, significance, and logic is the most basic requirement of critical thinking.

Steps in Research: Critical thinking principles can be applied to any context or case, but only by reflecting upon the nature of that application. Critical thinking in research is the ability and willingness to assess claims and make objective judgments based on well-supported reasoning. It is not simply the critical testing of rival theories using empirical evidence. This latter activity is important, but it is of little use unless it is guided by critical thinking about what to look for and how to evaluate a claim.

When students learn to think critically in their psychology classes, they not only learn about psychological research, but also about the choice between alternative treatments of the same phenomenon. The critical thinker will compare, and perhaps test, these alternative versions of the phenomenon to determine which is better.

5. Conclusion and Future Directions

And what other point is lost on no one is the need for empirically based teaching tools and activities. This in itself can be a future direction in relation to psychology education. A critical thinking skill resource was published in New Zealand under the learning media catalog. This collection of reproducible worksheets is a fantastic resource for parents and teachers. Each activity is designed to improve a range of thinking skills. Many of the worksheets can be adapted into classroom activities. This resource is beneficial toward meeting educational goals with students in many grade levels. A 2006 study compared the effects of an enhanced psychology course with a traditional course on content understanding and critical thinking performance. The enhanced course was designed by integrating student research papers with discussions and writing assignments aimed to improve critical thinking. High critical thinking performance was evaluated with the Watson Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal. While overall understanding for both groups was equal, the enhanced class students demonstrated a greater ability to apply and analyze course material. This kind of research is what will propel us toward finding the best teaching tool for teaching critical thinking to psychology.

What began with a discussion of the definition of critical thinking and ended with an examination of its future in relation to psychology, several concepts became clear. The first being the near synonymous relationship between critical thinking and scientific thinking. All contributors agreed on the depth of critical thought and the need for it proved to be paramount in scientific pursuits. A second was the uniform enthusiasm critical thinking garnered. In essence, the contributors were writing for themselves as current or future educators itching to bring quality to the classroom. At the very least, effort thus far has improved the classroom for five of us with the guiding reflection on our own teaching.