Becoming a Critical Thinker

Vincent Ryan Ruggiero is an internationally known writer, lecturer, and consultant whose areas of special interest and expertise are critical and creative thinking, ethics, educational reform, and social criticism. A pioneer in the movement to make thinking skills instruction an important emphasis at every level of education, he holds the rank of professor emeritus, State University of New York at Delhi, and resides in Dunedin, Florida. Professor Ruggiero's 22 books include Beyond Feelings: A Guide to Critical Thinking, Thinking Critically about Ethical Issues, The Art of Thinking, Teaching Thinking across the Curriculum, A Guide to Thinking Sociologically, Warning: Nonsense Is Destroying America, Making Your Mind Matter, The Practice of Loving Kindness, and Corrupted Culture.

• Acknowledgments. To the Instructor.1. Fundamentals of Thinking.What Is Intelligence? Good Thinking! The Story of Albert Einstein. What Is Thinking? Key Principles of Thinking. Truth is discovered, not created. Good Thinking! The Story of Nellie Bly. Ideas are interrelated. A statement can't be both true and false at the same time and in the same way. Everyone makes mistakes, even experts. Ideas can be examined without being embraced. Feeling is no substitute for thinking. Key Habits and Skills of Thinking. The habit of curiosity. Skill in distinguishing facts from opinions. Good Thinking! The Story of Paul Vitz. The habit of checking facts and testing opinions. The Need for a Systematic Approach. Exercises. Quiz. 2. The W.I.S.E. Approach to Thinking.Introducing the W.I.S.E. Approach. Good Thinking! The Story of Frank and Lillian Gilbreth. Step 1: Wonder. Step 2: Investigate. Step 3: Speculate. Good Thinking! The Story of Elizabeth Loftus. Step 4: Evaluate . Examples of Problem Solving . The uncooperative page markers. The librarian's lament. Examples of Issue Resolution. Is venting anger healthy? What causes Yellow Fever? An Important Relationship. A Caution about Bias.Bias toward what confirms your personal view. Bias toward familiar ideas. Bias toward your likes and against your dislikes. Exercises. Quiz.3. Deciding What to Investigate.Fundamentals of Investigating. Conducting Library Research. Good Thinking! The Richard Feynman Story. Conducting Internet Research. Use a search engine. Develop a resource list. Good Thinking! The Story of Larry Page and Sergey Brin. Ask questions about the websites you visit. Conducting an Interview. Avoiding Plagiarism. Three steps to avoid plagiarism. How to correctly quote and paraphrase. Exercises. Quiz. 4. Strengthening Your Individuality.What is Individuality? Individuality and the W.I.S.E. Approach. Acknowledging Influences. Good Thinking! The Story of Viktor Frankl. Understanding Attitudes. Four Empowering Attitudes. Attitude 1: There's always room for improvement. Attitude 2: Criticism, including self-criticism, has value. Attitude 3: Effort is the key to success. Attitude 4: Other people are as important as I am. Recognizing Manipulation. Biased reporting. Dishonest appeals to emotion. Stacking the deck. Suppressing dissent. Repetition. Resisting Manipulation. Step 1: Be prepared. Step 2: Ask questions. Step 3: Be imaginative. Step 4: Check sources. Strategies for Developing Individuality. Strive for humility. Be wary of first impressions. Be honest with yourself. Good Thinking! The Story of Stephanie Kwolek. Fight confusion. Produce many ideas. Acknowledge complexity. Look for connections among subjects. Consider other viewpoints. Good Thinking! The Story of Stanton Samenow. Dare to change your mind. Base your judgments on evidence. Exercises. Quiz.5. Recognizing Errors in Thinking.Four Kinds of Errors. Errors of Perception. “Mine is better” thinking. Selective perception. Gullibility and skepticism. Good Thinking! The Story of Sylvia Earle. Preconceptions. Pretending to know. Either/or thinking. False tolerance. Errors of Judgment. Double standard. Irrelevant criterion. Overgeneralizing or stereotyping. Good Thinking! The Story of Martin Seligman. Hasty conclusion. Unwarranted assumption. Failure to make a distinction. Oversimplification. Errors of Expression. Contradicting oneself . Arguing in a circle. False analogy. Irrational appeal. Errors of Reaction. Explaining away. Shifting the burden of proof. Attacking the person. Straw man. Errors can Multiply. Exercises. Quiz.6. Persuading Others. What is Persuasion? Opportunities in the classroom. Opportunities in the workplace. Good Thinking! The Story Of Dorothea Dix. Opportunities in the community. Opportunities in relationships. How is Persuasion Achieved? Respect your audience. Understand your audience's viewpoint(s).Begin on a point of agreement. Acknowledge unpleasant facts and make appropriate concessions. Good T