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
© 2008 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. ISBN: 978-1-405-17402-2