Teaching Critical Thinking in Psychology: A Handbook of Best Practices

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Integrating Critical Thinking

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Complexity: When does an explanation grow too complex? When does it involve so

much qualification or “patching up” that it ceases to be effective?

● Unit of analysis: What is the basic element in any given system of thought? How

much reduction is necessary to arrive at the fundamental atom of cognition?

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Hypothesis testing: How do we learn to rely on disconfirmatory rather than

confirmatory evidence?

● Physiological substrates: How do we know when physiological data provide proof of

a concept or theory about cognitive function?

The list is not exhaustive, but it provides ample opportunities for critical thinking

exploration, application, and “teachable moments” throughout the course. Generating

this kind of list can inspire instructors to develop lectures, devise counterparts to the

activities described in the previous section, develop guidelines for longer papers (reviews,

proposals, research projects), and write examination questions. As students practice and

master the ability to recognize these problems in their course study materials, they may

spontaneously implement them in class. For example, students sometimes use a guideline

to question one of the instructor’s own ideas or criticize the teacher’s presentation! Rather

than rely completely on such spontaneous occurrences of critical thinking, we recommend

that instructors implement these guidelines regularly. Each day, for example, instructors

can challenge the class to name a flaw in the readings or in a presentation and explain why

there is a flaw and how it might be overcome.

Our list of critical thinking guidelines may be idiosyncratic, but clearly relates to cogni-

tive psychology course content and resources. Teachers in other content areas can generate

similar lists of critical thinking threads to weave into the tapestry of their course. The

second case study presents different and more detailed opportunities to infuse critical

thinking into another course.

History of Psychology

Courses in history and systems of psychology offer numerous opportunities for

teaching and learning critical thinking. Contemporary textbooks (e.g., Goodwin,

2004; Schulz & Schulz, 2004; Wertheimer, 2000) illustrate that history in general

requires constant vigilance concerning its data, historians’ agendas and viewpoints,

and its methods.

Each of the “problems of history” provides instructors with opportunities to elaborate

the list of problems. By way of example, there are many problems with historical data.

Such data may:

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have been collected prior to posing the research questions

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not have been carefully collected

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not have been collected at all

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be scattered, incomplete, or distorted

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not be replicable

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not allow assessment of reliability and validity.