Teaching Critical Thinking in Psychology: A Handbook of Best Practices

Critical thinking, also known as scientific thinking, involves a willingness to consider

evidence and alternative sources of information before drawing conclusions (Wade &

Tavris, 2005). This form of thinking presents both a challenge and an opportunity for

psychology instructors. The challenge arises with the realization that critical thinking is

not a natural ability for every student. Halonen and colleagues (2003) referred to this

initial developmental level as “untrained” (p. 198). However, the challenge of an untrained

thinker becomes an opportunity, given that as faculty we can teach the ability to think

critically with explicit, systematic instruction related to the process of gathering and

evaluating information (Halonen et al., 2003).

Teaching the introductory psychology course provides a venue in which we can take

advantage of that opportunity. In many cases, students in this course are in their first year

of college and, as such, we have the opportunity to introduce fundamental thinking skills

early in their academic career. Students who are still exploring potential majors may benefit

from the accompanying emphasis on the science of psychology. In addition, the inclusion

of introductory psychology as a general education requirement at many schools also means

that students have the opportunity to delve into critical thinking across disciplines.

This chapter focuses on one possible strategy for explicit, systematic instruction related

to critical thinking. It centers on the progressive application of nine critical thinking

guidelines to assist students in evaluating information about personally salient issues. We

have applied the strategy to integrate in-class lecture or discussion with out-of-class

assignments related to both content-based and critical thinking objectives. Our strategy is

consistent with the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM), which suggests that students

are motivated to examine arguments more carefully when issues are important to them

(Cook, Moore, & Steel, 2004). Furthermore, Cook et al. believe students are guided by an

intrinsic need to be correct, which may result in a level of defensiveness regarding

preexisting beliefs when they encounter traditional attempts to persuade. We hope to

capitalize on this need for a subjective feeling of correctness without invoking defensiveness

Chapter 10

Critical Thinking on Contemporary Issues

Susan L. O’Donnell, Alisha L. Francis,

and Sherrie L. Mahurin

Teaching Critical Thinking in Psychology: A Handbook of Best Practices Edited by D. S. Dunn, J. S. Halonen, and R. A. Smith