Chapter 7 Thinking and Intelligence 233In general, people who rely on prereflective
thinking tend to assume that a correct answer always
exists and that it can be obtained directly through
the senses (“I know what I’ve seen”) or from
authorities (“They said so on the news”; “That’s
what I was brought up to believe”). If authorities
do not yet have the truth, prereflective thinkers
tend to reach conclusions on the basis of what “feels
right” at the moment. They do not distinguish
between knowledge and belief or between belief
and evidence, and they see no reason to justify a
belief. One respondent at this stage, when asked
about evolution, said, “Well, some people believe
that we evolved from apes and that’s the way they
want to believe. But I would never believe that way
and nobody could talk me out of the way I believe
because I believe the way that it’s told in the Bible.”described dialectical reasoning as movement “up
and back between contradictory lines of reason-
ing, using each to critically cross-examine the
other”:
DIALECTAL REASONING
Arguments:
Pro ConPro Con
Pro ConPro ConMost reasonable conclusion
based on evidence and logicDialectical reasoning is what juries are sup-
posed to do to arrive at a verdict: consider argu-
ments for and against the defendant’s guilt, point
and counterpoint. It is also what voters are supposed
to do when thinking about whether the government
should raise or lower taxes or about the best way to
improve public education. However, many adults
have trouble thinking dialectically; they take one
position, and that’s that. When do people develop
the ability to think critically—to question assump-
tions, evaluate and integrate evidence, consider
alternative interpretations, and reach conclusions
that can be defended as the most reasonable?
To find out, Patricia King and Karen
Kitchener (1994, 2002, 2004) provided a large,
diverse sample of adolescents and adults with
statements describing opposing viewpoints on var-
ious topics. Each person then had to answer sev-
eral questions, such as “What do you think about
these statements?” “On what do you base your
position?” and “Why do you suppose disagree-
ment exists about this issue?” From the responses
of thousands of participants, King and Kitchener
identified seven cognitive stages on the road to
what they call reflective judgment and we have
called critical thinking. At each one, people make
different assumptions about how things are known
and use different ways of justifying their beliefs.
Get Involved! Practice Your Dialectical Reasoning
Choose a controversial topic, such as whether abortion should remain legal or the death penalty should
be revoked. First, list all the arguments you can to support your own position. Then list all the arguments
you can on the other side of the issue. You do not have to agree with these arguments; just list them. Do
you feel a mental block or emotional discomfort while doing this? Can you imagine how opponents of your
position would answer your arguments? Having strong opinions is fine; you should have an informed opin-
ion on matters of public interest. But does that opinion get in the way of even imagining a contrary point of
view or of altering your view if the evidence warrants a change?Most talk-radio shows do not exactly encourage reflective
judgment!Jennifer K. Berman