What’s Behind Critical Thinking Failure?
We asked TD readers to consider and rank four potential causes
of failures in critical thinking about nutrition (by consumers or
patients). Table 1 on page 37 contains the four potential causes,
along with the percentage of respondents who ranked that cause
as the most important.
Only a few of you agreed with our view that the biggest barrier
to critical thinking is human nature itself. We won’t push back on
that too hard, but from a behavioral science viewpoint, the broad
literature on cognitive biases (eg, overconfidence, confirmation
bias) seems to merit inclusion of critical thinking in RD educa-
tion (and in all general education).
The media certainly perpetuate critical thinking failures. And
indeed, new research suggests that false news spreads faster
and farther than true news in social media.^3 Research is under-
way looking at how to improve critical thinking about information
from the media.^4 However, critical thinking failures were perva-
sive long before social media or mass media existed.
Without an appreciation of how the human mind works, it’s
unlikely that nutrition professionals will succeed in spreading
nutrition knowledge. They also may underestimate just how
difficult it is to engage others to think critically about nutrition.
On the other hand, adopting a behavioral science perspective
will allow nutrition communicators to help others navigate the
media landscape. Behavioral science can help communicators
show people what to look out for, what to expect, and how to make
better-informed dietary choices.Preventing and Correcting Critical Thinking Failure
In two separate survey questions, RDs were asked to rank the
importance of communication tactics to “prevent and correct”
critical thinking failure by consumers or patients. The tactics
in each question reflect the three dimensions of critical think-
ing: Diligent Clarification, Logical Reasoning, and Humble Self-
Reflection. Tables 2a and 2b show a similar pattern in the tactics
dietitians ranked as most important.
Within each question, the tactic that aligns with Diligent
Clarification was most frequently ranked as the most important.
Logical Reasoning tactics are a distant second, and Humble Self-
Reflection tactics are a largely ignored third. While there’s no perfect
answer, and intelligent people could disagree about priorities, we will
try to make the case that the other two dimensions deserve at least
as much attention as Diligent Clarification.Encouraging Humble
Self-Reflection
One of the most robust findings in the lit-
erature on psychological biases is a common
phenomenon called “overconfidence.”
People get gut feelings or intuitions that
something is true and fail to recognize that
this confidence isn’t based on an accurate
inference from available evidence. The sci-
entific method is explicit about the uncer-
tainty that we should have. However, few
individuals, even scientists, consistently
succeed in acknowledging all of the uncer-
tainty in daily life or in nutrition science.
Another form of cognitive bias is the
knowledge illusion. This is the tendency
for people to overestimate how well they
understand the details of a process. In a
famous study illustrating this phenomenon,
research subjects who claimed to know how
a bicycle worked were unable to explain how
a bicycle’s parts (chain, crank, gears, etc)
combined to move the rider along. The ten-
dency is likely worse in nutrition, because
everyone is familiar with food, and people
have become accustomed to hearing terms
such as “metabolism,” “antioxidant,” and
“anti-inflammatory” without ever learning
an accurate explanation of what’s involved.
Yet people confidently use these terms to
explain their avoidance (or embrace) of
specific diets or food technologies.TABLE 2 A
Percentage of Respondents Ranking Each Tactic as the
Most Important Way to Prevent and Correct Critical
Thinking Failures68%
Help people get the full picture on nutrition topics and
issues by clarifying misconceptions and raising awareness
of scientific evidence.22%
Help people understand the difference between high- and
low-quality scientific evidence.10%
Help people realize that there is scientific uncertainty about
some aspects of nutrition research.TABLE 2B
Percentage of Respondents Ranking Each Tactic as the
Most Important Way to Prevent and Correct Critical
Thinking Failures67%
Help people prioritize accuracy of information by reminding
them to read skeptically because not all information is
accurate and not all sources are reliable.21%
Help people understand tradeoffs between large/high-
impact nutrition risks and small/low-impact nutrition risks.12%
Help people recognize that they have gaps in their personal
knowledge of nutrition, and that they are likely not aware of
all of these gaps.38 today’s dietitian august 2019