WGU - C168 Critical Thinking and Logic Exam/381 Questions
and Answers
What are the three dimensions of critical thinking? - ANSWER--1. Analyzing one's thinking
2. Evaluating one's thinking
3. Improving one's thinking
What are the four characteristics of critical thinking? - ANSWER--1. self-directed
2. self-disciplined
3. self-monitored
4. self-corrective
_____ is the tendency to view everything in relation to oneself. - ANSWER--egocentrism
_____ is the assumption that one's own social group is inherently superior to all others. - ANSWER--
sociocentrism
What are three things a well-cultivated critical thinker does while reasoning? - ANSWER--1. Raises vital
questions
2. Gathers and assesses relevant information
3. Reaches well-reasoned conclusions and solutions
4. Thinks open-mindedly
5. Communicates effectively with others
Americans have always done it that way, and as the greatest country in the world, it's always worked for
us in the past.
How can we trust the engineering work on this building? The structural engineers weren't educated in
the U.S.
These statements are a result of what kind of thinking? - ANSWER--First-order thinking
The assumptions we've relied upon may be flawed. Let's review them again. I'd like to talk this over with
some colleagues. They may have some insights we are missing.
, WGU - C168 Critical Thinking and Logic Exam/381 Questions
and Answers
These statements are a result of what kind of thinking? - ANSWER--Second-order thinking
What are some examples of weak critical thinkers? - ANSWER--1. They ignore the flaws in their own
thinking
2. They seek to win an argument through intellectual trickery or deceit
3. They make no true effort to consider alternative viewpoints
4. They are willing to hide or distort evidence
What are some examples of strong critical thinkers? - ANSWER--1. The consistently pursue what is
intellectually fair and just
2. They strive to be ethical
3. They will entertain arguments with which they do not agree
Intellectual Humility - ANSWER--Characterization
Commitment to discovering the extent of one's own ignorance on any issue
Recognition that one does not—and cannot—know everything
Consciousness of one's biases and prejudices
Aware of the limitations of one's viewpoint
Recognition that one should claim only what one actually knows
Awareness that egocentrism is often self-deceiving (i.e., convinces the mind that it knows more than it
does)
Its Opposite
Intellectual arrogance
Overestimation of how much one knows
No insight into self-deception or into the limitations of one's viewpoint
Relationship to Fair-Mindedness
, WGU - C168 Critical Thinking and Logic Exam/381 Questions
and Answers
Fair-mindedness requires us to first recognize the ignorance and flaws in our own thinking and to
comport ourselves accordingly. It requires self-awareness and a willingness to examine the limitations of
one's own point of view.
Being a fair-minded thinker means habitually applying the standards of reasoning to one's own thinking
in an effort to improve it.
Intellectual Courage - ANSWER--Characterization
Confronting ideas, viewpoints, or beliefs with fairness, even when doing so is painful
Examining fairly beliefs which one has strong negative feelings and toward which one has previously
been dismissive
Challenging popular belief
Leads us to recognize that ideas which society deems dangerous or absurd may hold some truth or
justification
Fortifies us to confront false or distorted ideas embraced by social groups to which we belong
Its Opposite
Intellectual cowardice
Fear of ideas that do not conform to one's own
Deters serious consideration of ideas, beliefs, or viewpoints perceived as dangerous
Threatened by ideas when they conflict with our self-identity (e.g., conservative or liberal, believer or
nonbeliever, etc.)
Relationship to Fair-Mindedness
Critical thinkers don't link their self-identities to their beliefs. They define themselves according to how
they arrive at their beliefs (i.e., the intellectual process)
Refusing to connect one's identity with one's beliefs fosters greater intellectual courage and fair-
mindedness
Intellectual Empathy - ANSWER--Characterization
Inhabiting the perspectives of others in order to genuinely understand them
, WGU - C168 Critical Thinking and Logic Exam/381 Questions
and Answers
Requirements
Ability to reconstruct other people's viewpoints and reasoning
Ability to reason from premises, assumptions, and ideas not one's own
Motivation to concede when one was wrong in the past despite a strong conviction of being right at the
time
Ability to imagine being similarly mistaken in a current situation
Its Opposite
Intellectual self-centeredness
Thinking centered on self
Renders us unable to understand others' thoughts, feelings, and emotions
Won't permit us to consider problems or issues from a vantage point other than our own
Relationship to Fair-Mindedness
Fair-mindedness requires a sincere attempt to inhabit the perspectives of other people in order to
fathom their thinking
One can't be fair to the reasoning of others if one has not genuinely tried to understand it
Intellectual Integrity - ANSWER--Characterization
Holding oneself to the same rigorous intellectual standards that one expects others to meet
Practicing daily what we preach to others
Admitting flaws and inconsistencies in our own thinking
Identifying weaknesses in our own thinking
Basic measure: extent to which one's beliefs and actions are consistent (i.e., one doesn't say one thing
and do another)
it's oppopsite
Intellectual dishonesty
Marked by contradictions and inconsistencies of which the perpetrator is unconscious
and Answers
What are the three dimensions of critical thinking? - ANSWER--1. Analyzing one's thinking
2. Evaluating one's thinking
3. Improving one's thinking
What are the four characteristics of critical thinking? - ANSWER--1. self-directed
2. self-disciplined
3. self-monitored
4. self-corrective
_____ is the tendency to view everything in relation to oneself. - ANSWER--egocentrism
_____ is the assumption that one's own social group is inherently superior to all others. - ANSWER--
sociocentrism
What are three things a well-cultivated critical thinker does while reasoning? - ANSWER--1. Raises vital
questions
2. Gathers and assesses relevant information
3. Reaches well-reasoned conclusions and solutions
4. Thinks open-mindedly
5. Communicates effectively with others
Americans have always done it that way, and as the greatest country in the world, it's always worked for
us in the past.
How can we trust the engineering work on this building? The structural engineers weren't educated in
the U.S.
These statements are a result of what kind of thinking? - ANSWER--First-order thinking
The assumptions we've relied upon may be flawed. Let's review them again. I'd like to talk this over with
some colleagues. They may have some insights we are missing.
, WGU - C168 Critical Thinking and Logic Exam/381 Questions
and Answers
These statements are a result of what kind of thinking? - ANSWER--Second-order thinking
What are some examples of weak critical thinkers? - ANSWER--1. They ignore the flaws in their own
thinking
2. They seek to win an argument through intellectual trickery or deceit
3. They make no true effort to consider alternative viewpoints
4. They are willing to hide or distort evidence
What are some examples of strong critical thinkers? - ANSWER--1. The consistently pursue what is
intellectually fair and just
2. They strive to be ethical
3. They will entertain arguments with which they do not agree
Intellectual Humility - ANSWER--Characterization
Commitment to discovering the extent of one's own ignorance on any issue
Recognition that one does not—and cannot—know everything
Consciousness of one's biases and prejudices
Aware of the limitations of one's viewpoint
Recognition that one should claim only what one actually knows
Awareness that egocentrism is often self-deceiving (i.e., convinces the mind that it knows more than it
does)
Its Opposite
Intellectual arrogance
Overestimation of how much one knows
No insight into self-deception or into the limitations of one's viewpoint
Relationship to Fair-Mindedness
, WGU - C168 Critical Thinking and Logic Exam/381 Questions
and Answers
Fair-mindedness requires us to first recognize the ignorance and flaws in our own thinking and to
comport ourselves accordingly. It requires self-awareness and a willingness to examine the limitations of
one's own point of view.
Being a fair-minded thinker means habitually applying the standards of reasoning to one's own thinking
in an effort to improve it.
Intellectual Courage - ANSWER--Characterization
Confronting ideas, viewpoints, or beliefs with fairness, even when doing so is painful
Examining fairly beliefs which one has strong negative feelings and toward which one has previously
been dismissive
Challenging popular belief
Leads us to recognize that ideas which society deems dangerous or absurd may hold some truth or
justification
Fortifies us to confront false or distorted ideas embraced by social groups to which we belong
Its Opposite
Intellectual cowardice
Fear of ideas that do not conform to one's own
Deters serious consideration of ideas, beliefs, or viewpoints perceived as dangerous
Threatened by ideas when they conflict with our self-identity (e.g., conservative or liberal, believer or
nonbeliever, etc.)
Relationship to Fair-Mindedness
Critical thinkers don't link their self-identities to their beliefs. They define themselves according to how
they arrive at their beliefs (i.e., the intellectual process)
Refusing to connect one's identity with one's beliefs fosters greater intellectual courage and fair-
mindedness
Intellectual Empathy - ANSWER--Characterization
Inhabiting the perspectives of others in order to genuinely understand them
, WGU - C168 Critical Thinking and Logic Exam/381 Questions
and Answers
Requirements
Ability to reconstruct other people's viewpoints and reasoning
Ability to reason from premises, assumptions, and ideas not one's own
Motivation to concede when one was wrong in the past despite a strong conviction of being right at the
time
Ability to imagine being similarly mistaken in a current situation
Its Opposite
Intellectual self-centeredness
Thinking centered on self
Renders us unable to understand others' thoughts, feelings, and emotions
Won't permit us to consider problems or issues from a vantage point other than our own
Relationship to Fair-Mindedness
Fair-mindedness requires a sincere attempt to inhabit the perspectives of other people in order to
fathom their thinking
One can't be fair to the reasoning of others if one has not genuinely tried to understand it
Intellectual Integrity - ANSWER--Characterization
Holding oneself to the same rigorous intellectual standards that one expects others to meet
Practicing daily what we preach to others
Admitting flaws and inconsistencies in our own thinking
Identifying weaknesses in our own thinking
Basic measure: extent to which one's beliefs and actions are consistent (i.e., one doesn't say one thing
and do another)
it's oppopsite
Intellectual dishonesty
Marked by contradictions and inconsistencies of which the perpetrator is unconscious
