Higher-Level Thinking Chapter 8: Moving Beyond Basic Knowledge to Critical & Creative Thinking

Higher-level Thinking Higher-order thinking: a more advanced level of thought Reflect on knowledge and take it to a higher level: Evaluating its validity Integrating it with something else you’ve learned Creating new ideas.

It’s about HOW you think– not WHAT you think. Focus LESS on memorizing and MORE on thinking about issues, concepts, and principles. Higher level thinking is a skill that you can retain on a long term basis; factual information you acquire fades with time.

Seven Forms of Higher-Level Thinking Analysis Synthesis Application Multidimensional Thinking Balanced Thinking Critical Thinking Creative Thinking

Analysis (Analytical Thinking) Break down information to identify its essential parts and underlying elements.

Synthesis (Integrative Thinking) Building up ideas by connecting them to form a larger whole or more comprehensive system. Piecing together pieces of a puzzle.

Application (Applied Thinking) Putting thinking into practice to solve problems and resolve issues. When you learn deeply, you transform information to knowledge. When you take that knowledge and put it into practice, you are engaging in application. Transfer knowledge to real-life situations. Demonstrate wisdom.

Multidimensional Thinking Viewing issues from a variety of vantage points to gain a more complete/comprehensive perspective. Think from 4 key perspectives: Person Place Time Culture

Balanced Thinking Carefully considering arguments for and against a particular position or viewpoint. Balanced thinking includes: Adduction: identify reasons for a position Refutation: finding reasons that contradict a position

Avoid dualistic thinking (binary thinking) Dialectic/Dialogic thinking: productive form of intellectual dialogue

Integrative thinking: hold opposing or conflicting ideas in your head and use that tension to create a new, superior idea. Consider whether the evidence is: Definitive Suggestive Inconclusive

Critical Thinking (Evaluation) Judging/evaluating the quality of arguments, conclusions, and thought processes. Standards for evaluating ideas/arguments: Validity (Truthfulness) Morality (Ethics) Beauty (Aesthetics) Practicality (Usefulness) Priority (Order of Importance or Effectiveness)

Inferential Reasoning: start with a premise and use it to infer a conclusion. Logical reasoning: Empirical evidence:

Logical Fallacies Non sequitur: drawing a conclusion that doesn’t follow from or connect with the premise (the initial statement or observation). Selective Perception: seeing only examples or instances that support one’s position while overlooking or ignoring those that contradict it. Dogmatism: stubbornly clinging to a personal point of view unsupported by evidence while remaining close-minded to other viewpoints better supported by evidence.

Double Standard: having 2 sets of judgment standards. Wishful Thinking: thinking something is true not because of logic or evidence, but because the person wants it to be true. Hasty Generalization: reaching a conclusion prematurely on the basis of a limited number of instances or experiences.

Jumping to a conclusion: making a leap of logic to a conclusion that is based on a single reason/factor while ignoring others possible reasons/contributing factors. False Cause & Effect (Correlational Error): concluding that if two things occur at about the same time or in close sequence, one must cause the other. False Analogy: concluding that because two things are alike in one respect, they must be alike in another respect.

Glittering Generality: making a positive, general statement that is not supported by specific details/evidence. Straw Man: distorting an opponent’s argument/position and then attacking it. Ad Hominem: attacking the person instead of his or her argument.

Red Herring: bringing up an irrelevant issue to distract attention from the real issue being debated. Smoke Screen: intentionally disguising the truth by providing confusing or misleading explanations. Slippery Slope: using fear tactics to argue that not accepting a position will lead to a “domino effect”

Rhetorical Deception: using deceptive language to conclude that something is true without actually providing reasons/evidence. Circular Reasoning (Begging the Question): drawing a conclusion by rewording/restating one’s position without any supporting reasons/evidence. Appealing to Authority or Prestige: believing that if an authority figure or celebrity says it is true, it must be true.

Appealing to Tradition or Familiarity: concluding that if something has been considered true for a long time, or it has always been done a certain way, it must be true, or it my must be the best way to do it. Appealing to Popularity or the Majority (Bandwagon): believing that if an idea is popular or held by a majority of people, it must be true. Appealing to Emotion: believing in something based on the emotional intensity of our reaction to the argument instead of the quality of the reasoning/evidence.

Creative Thinking Generating ideas that are unique, original, or distinctively different. Thinking outside the box. Brainstorming

Improving Academic Performance Connect ideas from class to related ideas. Pay attention to thought process in addition to content while completing readings or listening to lecture. Reflect on your own thinking. Box 8.4 Self Questioning Strategies

Increasing Creativity Be flexible. Be experimental. Be a mental risk-taker. Get mobile. Get it down. Incubation: sudden birth of creative ideas.

Get diverse. Take breaks. Reorganize the problem. Be persistent.