A Brief Overview of Critical Thinking
A Brief Overview of Critical Thinking
I. Introduction

Sternberg (1986) defined critical thinking as the mental processes, strategies, and representations people use to solve problems, make decisions, and learn new concepts. This basic definition is a good synthesis of those concocted by other authors (Facione, 2000 and 2015; Kuhn, 1999; Snyder and Snyder, 2008; van Gelder, 2005). A definition in and of itself, however, is of little use without a consensus about how optimal critical thinking is best achieved. Each author laid out “steps” to this end, and while the steps varied slightly among them, the definitions were consistent enough to allow me to form a synthesized set of steps we can use to become better critical thinkers.

Throughout my research I went through several articles on the topic of critical thinking, and was quickly overwhelmed both by the unfamiliar metacognitive jargon, and the abstract nature of the verbiage. To this end, for the purpose of this overview, I will lean strongly on Facione (2015), who I believe describes the most “modern” approach to critical thinking I found, and also the most tractable for my purposes.

II. Core critical thinking skills

Facione (2015) defines six core critical thinking skills: interpretation, analysis, evaluation, inference, explanation, and self-regulation. His definitions of each skill are excellent, so I quote them directly below:

- Interpretation: “to comprehend and express the meaning or significance of a wide variety of experiences, situations, data, events, judgments, conventions, beliefs, rules, procedures, or criteria."

- Analysis: “to identify the intended and actual inferential relationships among statements, questions, concepts, descriptions, or other forms of representation intended to express belief, judgment, experiences, reasons, information, or opinions.”

- Evaluation: “to assess the credibility of statements or other representations which are accounts or descriptions of a person’s perception, experience, situation, judgment, belief, or opinion; and to assess the logical strength of the actual or intended inferential relationships among statements, descriptions, questions or other forms of representation.”

- Inference: “to identify and secure elements needed to draw reasonable conclusions; to form conjectures and hypotheses; to consider relevant information and to deduce the consequences flowing from data, statements, principles, evidence, judgments, beliefs, opinions, concepts, descriptions, questions, or other forms of representation.”

- Explanation: "being able to present in a cogent and coherent way the results of one’s reasoning."

- Self-regulation: “self-consciously to monitor one’s cognitive activities, the elements used in those activities, and the results educed, particularly by applying skills in analysis, and evaluation to one’s own inferential judgments with a view toward questioning, confirming, validating, or correcting either one’s reasoning or one’s results.”

As I mentioned, these critical thinking skills were universal among the articles and chapters I read, but Facione (2015) describes them better than any of the other works, and in a way that anyone can apply them to their endeavors at work and in life. As I reviewed the above definitions, it was clear to me that I struggle in all of the areas, some more than others. Foremost, however, I struggle with what Lipman (1987) describes as self-corrective thinking. Every scientific thought has formal criteria against which it can be evaluated. As human beings, our thoughts are inherently prone to biases that can make the self-corrective process extremely difficult. In fact, as van Gelder (2005) ascertains, it’s these biases themselves that make critical thinking so hard! In Section 3 I discuss the characteristics of a good critical thinker, and in Section 4 discuss how the experts surmise one can apply critical thinking skills in real life. Section 5 contains concluding remarks.

III. Characteristics of a good critical thinker

Each author listed a number of characteristics of an individual adept at critical thinking. First and foremost, the overwhelming consensus was that a person must want to be a critical thinker. Facione (2015) eloquently describes someone with this desire as having a “critical spirit” or, in his words, “a probing inquisitiveness, a keenness of mind, a zealous dedication to reason, and a hunger or eagerness for reliable information.” Any attempt at learning about or practicing critical thinking will fail if one lacks this critical spirit. It seems intuitive that every human being would meet Facione’s (2015) definition, correct? Why would anyone not want to actively pursue the most accurate and reliable information possible? I argue the following:

1) We live in a modern, fast-paced society that yearns for instant gratification, or quick answers to problems. The cognitive biases described by van Helder (2005) often have a stranglehold on our thought processes (mine included!) because we “jump to conclusions” or feel rushed to find an answer to a problem. This inevitably yields careless mistakes that actually make it take longer to solve the problem than had critical thinking skills been applied at the outset.

2) Critical thinking requires practice, and a lot of it. Ericson and Charness (1994) estimated that to become a truly expert critical thinker would take ten years of practice for four hours a day! No one has that kind of time to devote to formal critical thinking practice, that is unless one learns to consciously practice it in every day situations such that it eventually becomes sub-conscious, or second-nature. That has to be the only way one becomes a strong critical thinker, by applying the concepts introduced here to everyday life, first on a conscious level, and then it eventually becomes part of one’s normal thought processes.

Other characteristics of a critical thinker (taken from Facione, 2015, though all of these characteristics are universal):

- They are clear in stating questions or concerns;
- They are ordered in working with complexity;
- They are diligent in seeking relevant information;
- They are reasonable in selecting and applying criteria;
- They take great care in focusing attention on the concern at hand;
- They show persistence when difficulties are encountered, and
- They are precise to the degree permitted by the subject and the circumstances.

As with the aforementioned core critical thinking skills, these characteristics of an individual adept at thinking critically are excellent goals for any of us striving to map out our own plans to improve our own critical thought processes within meteorology and its sub-disciplines, or throughout life in general.

IV. Critical thinking applied to real life

This is where the rubber meets the road, applying critical thinking skills to real life situations, or in our case within meteorology, scientific thought processes and projects (though I must admittedly improve in other areas of my life as well!). Facione (2015) developed an extensive list of critical thinking applications to real life that I cite below:

- Inquisitiveness with regard to a wide range of issues (critical spirit!);
- Concern to become and remain well-informed (critical spirit!);
- Alertness to opportunities to use critical thinking;
- Trust in the processes of reasoned inquiry;
- Self-confidence in one’s own abilities to reason;
- Open-mindedness regarding divergent world views (fighting our internal biases!);
- Flexibility in considering alternatives and opinions (fighting our internal biases!);
- Understanding of the opinions of other people (fighting our internal biases!);
- Fair-mindedness in appraising reasoning;
- Honesty in facing one’s own biases, prejudices, stereotypes, or egocentric tendencies (fighting our internal biases!);
- Prudence in suspending, making, or altering judgments, and
- Willingness to reconsider and revise views where honest reflections suggests that change is warranted.

Snyder and Snyder (2008) emphasize that critical thinking is not an intuitive skill; it is learned through first understanding what it is and what it entails, and then through years of formal and informal practice. Many individuals already have the critical spirit, but do not know how to appropriately apply it in all situations, or have the necessary confidence to do so.

Without self confidence in our own abilities to think critically, we are setting ourselves up to fail. Which is why it’s so important to slow down our thought processes, become consciously aware of any biases we have towards one conclusion/assertion or another, remind ourselves to thoroughly research any assertions we make, and finally make said assertion(s) with as much backing as possible.

V. Conclusion

Critical thinking is well defined as the mental processes, strategies, and representations people use to solve problems, make decisions, and learn new concepts. To become a successful critical thinker, one must either possess or develop a “critical spirit”, an inquisitive mind that pays attention to detail, and a yearning for reliable and accurate information. My background research generally yielded consensus definitions of the core critical thinking skills (Section 2), the characteristics of an individual identifiable as a good critical thinker (Section 3), and finally means to apply critical thinking skills to real life situations (Section 4).

The consensus among the authors made it easier to conduct research into unfamiliar territory for me and attempt to synthesize it in this work. My hope is, therefore, that anyone interested in formulating a plan to apply these concepts to their own thought processes and eventually scientific endeavors will find it easier to do so than it would have been given stark differences within the peer-reviewed literature. The plan will have to be executable in a real-world work environment, preferably in steps so we can walk through them whenever we make an important scientific assertion or hypothesis, work on a project, etc. Ideally it eventually becomes sub-conscious, or second nature to the extent that my everything we do in all aspects of life is done with critical thought.

References

Ericson, K. A. and N. Charness, 1994: Expert performance: Its structure and acquisition. American Psychologist, 49, 725-747.
Facione, P. A., 2000: The Disposition Toward Critical Thinking: Its Character, Measurement, and Relationship to Critical Thinking Skill. Informal Logic, 20, 61-84.
Facione, P. A., 2015: Critical Thinking: What It Is and Why It Counts. Measured Reasons LLC, 30 pp.
Kuhn, D., 1999: A Developmental Model of Critical Thinking. Educational Researcher, 28, 16-25.
Lipman, M., 1987: Critical Thinking: What can it be? Analytic Teaching and Philosophical Praxis, 8, 8 pp.
Snyder, L. G. and M. J. Snyder, 2008: Teaching Critical Thinking and Problem Solving Skills. The Delta Pi Epsilon Journal, Vol. L, 90-99.
Sternberg, R. J., 1986: Critical Thinking: Its Nature, Measurement, and Improvement. National. Inst. Educ., 37 pp.
T. van Gelder, 2005: Teaching Critical Thinking: Some Lessons from Cognitive Science. College Teaching, 53, 41-46. 5