Teaching Critical Thinking in Psychology: A Handbook of Best Practices

Critical thinking is not “content neutral.” A number of well-known cognitive and

emotional biases influence the ability to evaluate claims (Kahneman, Slovic, & Tversky,

1982). As a result, students’ practice of critical thinking is not simply a function of how

well they have learned general critical thinking skills. We find that students who can

demonstrate solid critical thinking skills predictably fail to use those thinking skills in

evaluating certain kinds of beliefs. Some beliefs are “immovable objects”: beliefs that we

think are the direct result of our personal experiences. Others seem subject to “irresistible

forces”: biases about our moral values and moral reasoning. In this chapter we will discuss

how these beliefs affect the teaching of psychology and give suggestions for coping with

issues raised by these beliefs in the classroom.

Immovable Objects

The Persuasive Power of Personal Experience

Consider the following two classroom situations, both familiar to many teachers of

psychology:

● A student in the developmental psychology class objects to the textbook’s discussion

of the effects of corporal punishment in childrearing, using a personal anecdote as

support for her argument.

● In an introductory psychology discussion about sleep and dreams, a student asks the

instructor how psychologists would explain her precognitive dreams.

Chapter 18

Teaching Critical Thinking About

Difficult Topics

Paul C. Smith and Kris Vasquez

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