Hockenbury Discovering Psychology 5th txtbk

The Scientific Method17CRITICAL THINKINGWhat Is Critical Thinking?As you’ll see throughout this text, many issues in contemporarypsychology are far from being settled. And although researchfindings may have been arrived at in a very objective manner,the interpretation of what findings mean and how they shouldbe applied can be a matter of considerable debate. In short,there is a subjective side to any science. But this is especially importantin psychology, because psychological research often involvestopics and issues that apply directly to people’s everydayconcerns and behavior.As you look at the evidence that psychology has to offer onmany topics, we want to encourage you to engage in criticalthinking. In general, critical thinking refers to actively questioningstatements rather than blindly accepting them. More precisely,critical thinking is the active process of:• Minimizing the influence of preconceptions and biases whileevaluating evidence.• Determining the conclusions that can reasonably be drawnfrom the evidence.• Considering alternative explanations for research findings orother phenomena.What are the key attitudes and mental skills that characterizecritical thinking?1. The critical thinker is flexible yet maintains an attitudeof healthy skepticism.Critical thinkers are open to new infor mation, ideas, and claims.They genuinely consider alternative explanations and possibilities.However, this open-mindedness is tempered by a healthysense of skepticism (Hyman, 2007). The critical thinker consistentlyasks, “What evidence supports this claim?”2. The critical thinker scrutinizes the evidence beforedrawing conclusions.Critical thinkers strive to weigh all the available evidence beforearriving at conclusions. And, in evaluating evidence, criticalthinkers distinguish between empirical evi dence versus opinionsbased on feelings or personal experience.3. The critical thinker can assume other perspectives.Critical thinkers are not imprisoned by their own points of view.Nor are they limited in their capacity to imagine life experiencesand perspectives that are fundamentally different from theirown. Rather, the critical thinker strives to understand and evaluateissues from many different angles.4. The critical thinker is aware of biases and assumptions.In evaluating evidence and ideas, critical thinkers strive to identifythe biases and assumptions that are inherent in any argument(Riggio & Halpern, 2006). Critical thinkers also try to identify andminimize the influence of their own biases.5. The critical thinker engages in reflective thinking.Critical thinkers avoid knee-jerk responses. Instead, criticalthinkers are reflective. Most complex issues are unlikely to have asimple resolution. Therefore, critical thinkers resist the temptationto sidestep complexity by boiling an issue down to an either/or,yes/no kind of proposition. Instead, the critical thinker expectsand accepts complexity (Halpern, 2007).As you can see, critical thinking is not a single skill, but rathera set of attitudes and thinking skills. As is true with any set ofskills, you can get better at these skills with practice. That’s onereason we’ve included Critical Thinking boxes in many chaptersof this text.You’ll discover that these Critical Thinking boxes do not followa rigid formula but are very diverse. Some will challenge yourpreconceptions about certain topics. Others will invite you totake sides in the debates of some of the most important contri -butors to modern psychology.We hope you enjoy this feature!CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS Why might other people want to discourage you fromthinking critically? In what situations is it probably most difficult or challengingfor you to exercise critical thinking skills? Why? What can you do or say to encourage others to use criticalthinking in evaluating questionable claims or assertions?A hypothesis is often stated as a specific prediction that can be empirically tested, suchas “psychological stress increases the likelihood of physical illness.”The variables contained in any given hypothesis are simply the factors that canvary, or change. These changes must be capable of being observed, measured, andverified. The psychologist must provide an operational definition of each variable to