WGU - CRITICAL THINKING & LOGIC STUDY
GUIDE 2023 COMPLETE TERM 3
IMPEDIMENTS/BAD HABITS TO SOUND THINKING:
- Making generalizations unsupported by evidence
- Letting stereotypes shape our thinking
- Viewing the world from one fixed vantage point
- Forming false beliefs
- Dismissing or attacking viewpoints that conflict with our own
- Thinking deceptively about our own experiences
EGOCENTRISM:
the tendency to view everything in relationship to oneself.
SOCIOCENTRISM:
the assumption that one's own social group is inherently superior to all others.
CRITICAL THINKING IS CHARACTERISTICALLY:
self-directed; self-disciplined; self-monitored;
self-corrective; requires practicing good intellectual habits; "thinking about thinking".
FIRST-ORDER THINKING (ORDINARY THINKING):
spontaneous and non-reflective; contains insight, prejudice, good and bad reasoning
indiscriminately combined
SECOND-ORDER THINKING (CRITICAL THINKING):
first-order thinking that is consciously realized (i.e., analyzed, assessed, and
reconstructed).
FAIR-MINDEDNESS:
to consider all relevant opinions equally without regard to one's own sentiments or
selfish interests; to bring an unbiased and unprejudiced perspective to all viewpoints
relevant to a situation. Involves adherence to Intellectual Standards along with requiring
the critical thinker to simultaneously embody certain key Intellectual Traits.
INTELLECTUAL UNFAIRNESS (opposite of fair-mindedness):
to always see yourself as right and just; nearly always involves an element of self-
deception.
TRAITS/VIRTUES of a CRITICAL THINKER:
*terms used by Paul & Elder
(all relate fundamentally to fair-mindedness)
-INTELLECTUAL AUTONOMY=thinking for oneself while adhering to standards of
rationality.
-INTELLECTUAL COURAGE=to develop the courage to challenge popular beliefs;
confronting ideas, views, beliefs with fairness, even when painful; examine beliefs that
one has negative feelings toward and has been dismissive of.
-INTELLECTUAL EMPATHY=to routinely inhabit the perspectives of others in order to
genuinely understand them.
-INTELLECTUAL HUMILITY=commitment to discovering the extent of one's own
ignorance. Recognition that one does not/cannot know everything. To be conscious of
one's biases and prejudices.
-INTELLECTUAL INTEGRITY=striving to be true to one's own disciplined thinking and
, holding oneself to the same standards that one expects others to meet.
-INTELLECTUAL PERSEVERANCE= the act of working one's way through intellectual
complexities despite frustrations inherent in doing so.
-CONFIDENCE IN REASON=encourages people to come to their own conclusions
through the use of their own rational faculties; to use good reasoning as the
fundamental criterion by which to judge whether to accept or reject any belief or
position.
STRONG-SENSE CRITICAL THINKERS:
to behave in ways that do not exploit or otherwise harm others; work to empathize with
the viewpoints of others; consistent pursuit of fair and just; willing to listen to arguments
they do not necessarily hold; change their views when faced with better reasoning.
Rather than using their thinking to manipulate others and to hide from the truth (in a
weak-sense way), they use thinking in an ethical, reasonable manner.
WEAK-SENSE CRITICAL THINKERS:
fail to consider, in good faith, viewpoints that contradict its own viewpoint; lacks fair-
mindedness.
Sophistry
The art of winning arguments regardless of whether there are problems in the thinking
being used, regardless of whether relevant viewpoints are being ignored.
Sophistic thinkers
Use lower-level skills of rhetoric, or argumentation, by which they make unreasonable
thinking look reasonable and reasonable thinking look unreasonable
Reasoning; key question to ask
Whenever someone is reasoning, it makes sense to ask, "Upon what facts or
information are you basing your reasoning?"
Element: ASSUMPTIONS/PRESUPPOSED
Reasoning begins with our assumptions. These encompass everything we take for
granted as true in order to figure out something else. Being able to identify assumptions
(others' and our own) is essential to critical thinking.
Element: CONCEPTS
Reasoning takes form in concepts. Most of us take our concepts for granted. Critical
thinking requires us to be aware of the concepts we hold and consider how they drive
our reasoning.
Element: IMPLICATIONS/CONSEQUENCES
Element: INFERENCES
Element: INFORMATION
Element: POINT of VIEW
Element: PURPOSE
Element: QUESTIONS
Intellectual Standard: Accuracy
Questions focusing on making thinking more accurate include:
- Is that really true?
- How could we check to see if that is accurate?
- How could we find out if that is true?
Intellectual Standard: Precision
GUIDE 2023 COMPLETE TERM 3
IMPEDIMENTS/BAD HABITS TO SOUND THINKING:
- Making generalizations unsupported by evidence
- Letting stereotypes shape our thinking
- Viewing the world from one fixed vantage point
- Forming false beliefs
- Dismissing or attacking viewpoints that conflict with our own
- Thinking deceptively about our own experiences
EGOCENTRISM:
the tendency to view everything in relationship to oneself.
SOCIOCENTRISM:
the assumption that one's own social group is inherently superior to all others.
CRITICAL THINKING IS CHARACTERISTICALLY:
self-directed; self-disciplined; self-monitored;
self-corrective; requires practicing good intellectual habits; "thinking about thinking".
FIRST-ORDER THINKING (ORDINARY THINKING):
spontaneous and non-reflective; contains insight, prejudice, good and bad reasoning
indiscriminately combined
SECOND-ORDER THINKING (CRITICAL THINKING):
first-order thinking that is consciously realized (i.e., analyzed, assessed, and
reconstructed).
FAIR-MINDEDNESS:
to consider all relevant opinions equally without regard to one's own sentiments or
selfish interests; to bring an unbiased and unprejudiced perspective to all viewpoints
relevant to a situation. Involves adherence to Intellectual Standards along with requiring
the critical thinker to simultaneously embody certain key Intellectual Traits.
INTELLECTUAL UNFAIRNESS (opposite of fair-mindedness):
to always see yourself as right and just; nearly always involves an element of self-
deception.
TRAITS/VIRTUES of a CRITICAL THINKER:
*terms used by Paul & Elder
(all relate fundamentally to fair-mindedness)
-INTELLECTUAL AUTONOMY=thinking for oneself while adhering to standards of
rationality.
-INTELLECTUAL COURAGE=to develop the courage to challenge popular beliefs;
confronting ideas, views, beliefs with fairness, even when painful; examine beliefs that
one has negative feelings toward and has been dismissive of.
-INTELLECTUAL EMPATHY=to routinely inhabit the perspectives of others in order to
genuinely understand them.
-INTELLECTUAL HUMILITY=commitment to discovering the extent of one's own
ignorance. Recognition that one does not/cannot know everything. To be conscious of
one's biases and prejudices.
-INTELLECTUAL INTEGRITY=striving to be true to one's own disciplined thinking and
, holding oneself to the same standards that one expects others to meet.
-INTELLECTUAL PERSEVERANCE= the act of working one's way through intellectual
complexities despite frustrations inherent in doing so.
-CONFIDENCE IN REASON=encourages people to come to their own conclusions
through the use of their own rational faculties; to use good reasoning as the
fundamental criterion by which to judge whether to accept or reject any belief or
position.
STRONG-SENSE CRITICAL THINKERS:
to behave in ways that do not exploit or otherwise harm others; work to empathize with
the viewpoints of others; consistent pursuit of fair and just; willing to listen to arguments
they do not necessarily hold; change their views when faced with better reasoning.
Rather than using their thinking to manipulate others and to hide from the truth (in a
weak-sense way), they use thinking in an ethical, reasonable manner.
WEAK-SENSE CRITICAL THINKERS:
fail to consider, in good faith, viewpoints that contradict its own viewpoint; lacks fair-
mindedness.
Sophistry
The art of winning arguments regardless of whether there are problems in the thinking
being used, regardless of whether relevant viewpoints are being ignored.
Sophistic thinkers
Use lower-level skills of rhetoric, or argumentation, by which they make unreasonable
thinking look reasonable and reasonable thinking look unreasonable
Reasoning; key question to ask
Whenever someone is reasoning, it makes sense to ask, "Upon what facts or
information are you basing your reasoning?"
Element: ASSUMPTIONS/PRESUPPOSED
Reasoning begins with our assumptions. These encompass everything we take for
granted as true in order to figure out something else. Being able to identify assumptions
(others' and our own) is essential to critical thinking.
Element: CONCEPTS
Reasoning takes form in concepts. Most of us take our concepts for granted. Critical
thinking requires us to be aware of the concepts we hold and consider how they drive
our reasoning.
Element: IMPLICATIONS/CONSEQUENCES
Element: INFERENCES
Element: INFORMATION
Element: POINT of VIEW
Element: PURPOSE
Element: QUESTIONS
Intellectual Standard: Accuracy
Questions focusing on making thinking more accurate include:
- Is that really true?
- How could we check to see if that is accurate?
- How could we find out if that is true?
Intellectual Standard: Precision
