What is Critical Thinking?
In society, it is considered that critical thinking is a process that is normal for any person, or even a natural way of thinking. But in reality everything is much more complicated: people often shy away from critical thinking, treat phenomena prejudicedly or, conversely, too indulgently. However, to cultivate the right mindset in oneself means to improve the quality of life, and if you accustom yourself not to live with illusions, you can achieve success in all areas of activity.
Psychology of critical thinking
Critical thinking is a special way of thinking about any subject or phenomenon in which there is an active use of structures and intellectual standards. Developed critical thinking gives a lot of advantages of human life. So, for example, if this type of thinking is developed, the individual has the following traits:
He is able to draw valid conclusions and verify their correctness according to the criteria;
He is able to collect information that
He is able to reason and justify his position;
He can clearly and clearly formulate a question, a problem or a requirement;
He is able to use and interpret abstract ideas;
He is able to effectively interact with people in the search for new solutions;
He knows how to judge without prejudice, using alternative systems of thinking when necessary.
Thus, the methods of critical thinking are reduced to the ability of a person to think in a directed, disciplined, not biased manner, with elements of self-assessment and correction of one’s own conclusions. Such thinking is based on strict standards, but they are the ones that can solve problems.
Development of critical thinking
As a rule, the formation of critical thinking occurs even at school age. Teachers use various techniques for this, including development through reading and writing.
In the course of this, students are offered to master the technique of effective reading, which consists in the ability to actively perceive the text, to comprehend the information received and
The method is based on a three-stage model:
Challenge – appeal to your experience, skills, knowledge, wording of questions and goals; the semantic stage – the realization of goals. search for answers to your questions and achieve your goals through recourse to the text; reflection – an analysis of the work done, the achievement of goals.
This technique is very popular and effective for people of any age. It is aimed at ensuring that people use their personal experience in understanding problems and tasks.
There are other methods of critical thinking that are also offered by experienced teachers to develop the abilities of their students:
A group of people is given one task, and all of them must come up with the maximum number of its solutions. Not all ideas will be useful, but very original variants will be allocated. It is important to record all the options and then analyze them. After mastering the group technique, it can be carried out in pairs.
A group of people is given a key word for comprehension. Each person calls phrases, thoughts and associations with this concept. It is important that everyone say everything, and everyone could explain the course of his thought.
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