Accordion: Thinking Skills

Variables: Object, event, idea, feeling or any other type of category you are trying to measure
Is everything that can be measured during a research
It can take different values and can be considered from a quantitative or a qualitative point of view
Quantitative Variables: have numerical value: Counts, percent or numbers. Value results from counting or measuring
something, they can be measured.
Examples: Weight, Height, size, speed, time
Qualitative: Values result from observation not from measuring or counting
Example: color, texture, hair, religion
Independent Variable(Cause): Stands alone and isn’t changed by the other variables you are trying to measure
Dependent Variable(Effect): Variable being tested or measured in a scientific experiment
As the experimenter changes the independent variable the change in the dependent is observed and recorded
Hypothesis: Explanation of a set of observations, guess or prediction of what will happen
“We are shaped by our thoughts, we become what we think” Buda
Intelligence
The capacity to acquire and apply knowledge American heritage dictionary 4 th edition 2000
The ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills Compact oxford dictionary 2006
Capacity of learning, reasoning and understanding. Wordsmyth dictionary
Ability to solve problems in a cultural setting (Howard Gardner)
The ability of an organism to solve problems (W.V. Bingham)
Cognitive ability to memorize stablish relations and patterns to solve specific problems
Gardner 7 multiple intelligences: Students possess different kinds of mind and learn, understand, perform and remember
differently
Musical: Love singing, whistling, humming, tapping feet, etc. Need: Concerts, sing along time, music playing
Linguistic: reading, writing, telling stories, playing word games, need: Books, tapes, writing tools
Interpersonal: Love: reading, organizing, mediating. Need: friends, group games, social gathering
Spatial: Love: designing, drawing, doodling. Need: art, Legos, models
Bodily-kinesthetic: Love: Running, jumping, dancing Need: Role-play, sports, games.
Intrapersonal: Love: setting goals. Meditating, reading Need: time alone, self-paced projects, meditating
Logical-mathematic: Love: experimenting, figuring out puzzles, calculating Need: things to experiment, trips to
museums and planetariums, science materials
Types of thinking
Logical: Relations between objects
Creative: Creation and modification
Systemic: everything is a system, cause and effect
Critical: Recognize, develop and support and argument
Critical thinking
You came into this world without opinions or judgements now you have lots. Beliefs can inform or blind you. Not what
you think, how Separates truth from belief
Basics
Have an objective, make questions, use info from facts, Use concepts, theories and laws
Make inferences or conclusions
Have your own point of view
Thinking skills: Mental processes that allow people to acquire knowledge
Knowledge process: The subject-object relation is the starting point of the knowledge process
Subject: Observer, refers to what he recognizes, processes and explains images or ideas through language, senses,
emotions, reason
Object: The observed through the environment, the world, what is outside the subject
Subjectivity: statement colored by the opinion of the speaker
Objectivity: Statements verifiable by investigation, math equations, facts
Cognitive operation: Subject processes the info received from the object. Thinking is the result of the operation
Belief: Feeling of certainty that something is true, real or good, understanding about the world held to be true
Knowledge: what is or can be known by humanity, facts or ideas acquired during an investigation or experience
Belief Knowledge
Does not require a truth condition Must satisfy a truth condition
Cannot be evaluated Can be evaluated or judged
Influenced by personal experience or culture Stored in semantic networks
Based on Judgement Based on objective facts
Knowledge and critical thinking
With knowledge: Take info for granted without analysis, defend and keep beliefs based on common sense. Mandatory to
have critical thinking to develop knowledge to judge our beliefs and make good decisions
Critical thinking:
 1. Clarity- forces the thinking to be explained
2. Precision- demands that the words and data are exact, true and reliable
3. Relevance- all info and data have to do with the subject
4. Breath- all viewpoints are taken for and against, all perspectives are considered, all sides are discussed in an
argument
Obstacles to critical thinking
1. Egocentricity- ignore or reject points of view different than yours
2. Ethnocentrism- tendency to consider our social group more capable than the others
3. Stereotypes- info based on false beliefs
4. Magical thinking- believe in something that makes us feel good without paying attention to the evidence that
supports it
Arguments to support critical thinking
1. Empirical evidence: data and facts verifiable
2. Historical evidence- findings that explain a phenomenon}
3. Testimonial evidence- info brought by witnesses
4. Logical evidence- avoid mistakes and ambiguity
5. Conceptual evidence- new knowledge based on previous knowledge
6. Life experiences- based on personal experience
Basic thought processes
Perception: process by which an individual select, organizes and interprets stimuli into a coherent, meaningful picture of
the world
To perceive: realize, notice, appreciate and understand.
Perception of an image is influenced by:
Whether the image is moving or completely still, its position, color, light or shape and our context or background
Observation: method for collecting research data, helps identify certain qualities in an object: quality, quantity, texture,
color, shape, number and position. Paying attention to an object to identify its features. Concrete: first approach to the
object of study. Abstract: there is no object. You imagine its features
Types of observation
Direct. The observer is present.
Indirect: observer gathers info from different media
Description: written or spoken report of how something is done, how something is or looks like
Key questions: What is it? What does it have? What does it do? What is its purpose? What is it used for?
Classification: Separating objects into categories called classes. Grouping ideas or objects based on a category according
to its similarities
Classes: group of elements with one or more characteristics in common
Allows to organize ideas into classes and form groups based on them, helps us discriminate, allows us to deal with huge
amounts of info, eases memorization and helps with the learning process
Classification process
1) Observe the objects of a group and identify their features.
2) Identify similarities and differences
3) Identify the variables based on the similar and different features.
4) Define the classification criteria for these objects
5) Identify the group of objects that share the same features.
Comparing: Finding similarities between 2 objects or ideas. and contrasting: Finding the differences between 2 objects or
ideas
Relating: Finding a link between 2 objects that correspond to the same variable.
Elements of a relationship:
 Features of the objects that are going to be compared
 The link between these features}
 The variable used to stablish a relationship
Features:
 Similarity
 Equivalence
 Difference
Argument: Line of reasoning designed to prove a point. The author presents a central idea and then the evidence to
support it.
Objective: Offer good reasons in support of your conclusion, reasons that all partners in dispute can accept as well as to
persuade someone about a certain topic.
Elements of an argument
 Object: Topic of the argument
 Thesis: Position of the author, in favor or against
 Arguments: Reasons in which the position is based
 Types of arguments
 Rational: Personal reasoning
 Facts: Demonstrable by facts
 Data: Based on reliable info like statistics and percentages
 Example: Concrete and specific examples
 Authority: Statements is true because an expert on the subject says so, without any evidence
 Cause and effect: Cause and effect of an idea or statement.
 Standards of thought
 Clarity: Meaning can be grasped
 Accuracy: Free from errors
 Precision: Exact to the necessary level of detail
 Relevance: Related to the subject
 Depth: Containing complexities and multiple interrelations
 Breadth: Containing multiple viewpoints
 Logic: Makes sense, no contradictions
 Significance: Focusing on the relevant
 Fairness: Justifiable, not self-serving or one-sided
Fallacies: Error in reasoning that undermines the logic of your argument. May be crated unintentionally or intentionally to
deceive people.
Types
Ad Baculum: A threat is present or implied. The emotion of a threat is used rather than a pertinent reason to prove a point
 All those opposed signify by saying “I resign”.
Ad Hominem: Attack the person making the argument rather than the argument itself. The attack is completely irrelevant
to the argument.
 Your close minded, stupid and you don’t eat corn. You don’t know anything
Hasty generalization: Applies a belief to a larger population than you should based on the info you have.
 My son caught autism after the vaccine. Therefore, vaccines cause autism
Slippery-Slope: Taking a minor action will result in ridiculously terrible consequences.
 If we give in every time our baby cries, he will end up in prison because we never set limits
Red Herring: Deliberate diversion of attention with the intention of abandoning the previous argument.
 Mom I want a toy. Let’s rush home for a yummy treat for you!
Appeal to ignorance: Lack of evidence immediately proves it wrong.
 No one can prove that god exists. So, he does not
Syllogistic fallacy: Joins 2 premises to jump to a conclusion
 All books have words. Therefore, a shopping list is a book.