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HOMEBASE 1 / A TOPIC
Critical and Creative Thinking
LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end of this topic, you should be able to:
1. Define critical thinking and creative thinking
2. Explain the characteristics of critical and creative thinking;
3. Give examples of critical and creative thinking respectively;
4. Describe the barriers of critical thinking;
5. Identify the application of creative thinking in problem solving;
Critical Thinking and Creative Thinking Skills
The first skill emphasises on analytical ability: how to logically follow an argument,
how to compare, classify and sequence, and how to use deductive and inductive
reasoning to arrive at a conclusion. This thinking skill is called critical thinking.
The second skill focuses on exploring ideas, generating new possibilities, looking
for flexibility in answers and developing leads worthy of elaboration. This thinking
skill is called creative thinking. Both critical and creative thinking skills are
essential for solving problems and acquiring knowledge. In this topic, we will
explore both thinking skills, examine their characteristics and see how they are
applied in solving problems in the real world.
CRITICAL THINKING
Whenever the word critical is used, it often has a negative connotation. Critical is
often taken to mean the tendency to find and call attention to errors and flaws,
such as when a person is critical of what we do or say. However, critical also
means involving or exercising skilled judgement or observation.It is in this sense
that the word critical in critical thinking is used. Thus, when we say critical
thinking, we mean thinking clearly and intellectually. Critical thinking encompasses
a wide range of cognitive skills and intellectual characteristics needed to
effectively identify, analyse and assess arguments or truth of claims. To think
critically means to discover and overcome personal prejudices and biases, to
prepare and come up with convincing reasons in support of conclusions and to make
rational, smart decisions about what to believe and what to do. In other words,
critical thinking can be defined as, disciplined thinking regulated by clear
intellectual standards.The most important intellectual standards identified are
clarity, accuracy, relevance, consistency, logical correctness and fairness
„ (Bassham, 2000, p.7). We will briefly look at each of these important intellectual
standards in order to understand them better.
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Eight Characteristics of Critical Thinking

Now, let us look into eight characteristics of critical thinking. (a) Clarity The first
step involved before assessing an argument or claim of a person is to understand
clearly what he or she is saying. However, many a time this can be rather
challenging because people often fail to express themselves clearly and
articulately. This may be due to several reasons which can include laziness,
carelessness or lack of assertive skill. There are also instances where this may be
due to a misguided effort to appear smart, intelligent or profound. Thus, by paying
close attention to language, we can save ourselves from unnecessary
miscommunications and disappointments. Wittgenstein (2001) once remarked,
Everything that can be said can be said clearly. Besides searching for clarity of
language, critical thinkers also look for maximum clearness of thought. As
motivational writers constantly remind us to accomplish our personal goals in life,
we require a clear conception of our goals and priorities, a realistic grip of our
abilities and a clear understanding of the problems and opportunities we
encounter. However, such self-understanding can only be accomplished if we value
and practise clarity of thought. Charles Larmore (The National Post, July 29,
2000) once expressed that „clarity is not mere embellishment of the intellect; it
is the very heart of intellectual virtue. (b) Precision Some of the best examples of
critical thinking are seen in detective stories such as those of Sherlock Holmes,
the immortal creation of British writer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. An important
element of these stories is precision: through careful observation, Holmes is able
to find clues that are overlooked by others. A process of logical inference follows,
by which he is able to use the available clues to solve the mystery. Precision is
required in various specialised fields such as medicine, mathematics, architecture
and engineering. Critical thinkers are aware of the importance of precise thinking
in everyday life where in order to dissect the confusions and uncertainties that
surround many everyday problem and issues. It is a must to obtain precise answers
to precise questions. According to Peirce (as cited in Bassham et al., 2011), Really
valuable ideas can only be had at the price of close attention.(c) Accuracy A well-
known tagline on input-output systems states, Garbage in, garbage out. The human
mind works on the same concept. A person can be considered very intelligent but
if he or she makes a decision based on false information, it is very likely that the
decision would be a bad one. Critical thinkers not only value truth but also have an
obsession for accurate and timely information. They try hard to make decisions
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that are as informed as possible. To quote Socrates (as cited in Bassham et al.,
2011): „An unexamined life is not worth living if an individual stops learning,
growing and inquiring.(d) Relevance The moment we find ourselves in a situation
where the environment and people are boring, we begin to appreciate the
importance of staying focused on relevant ideas and information. Many a debater
has successfully used the technique of raising irrelevant issues to distract the
attention of his or her audience and opponents. The famous Abraham Lincoln,
when he was a lawyer, used jokes and stories to gain the favour of the jury and his
opposing counsel often complained to the judge that Lincoln's stories were
irrelevant and distracting to the jury. As Plato (as cited in Bassham et al., 2011)
once said, „No tedious and irrelevant discussion can be allowed; what is said should
be pertinent.This clearly indicates that relevance is indeed an important factor in
critical thinking. (e) Consistency Logic tells us that if a person holds inconsistent
beliefs, then at least one of those beliefs must be untrue. Critical thinkers value
truth, thus, they are always on the lookout for inconsistencies, both in their own
thoughts and in the arguments and assertions of others.
Logical inconsistency, which involves saying or believing inconsistent things, is the
first type of inconsistency that we should avoid. The second type is practical
inconsistency, which involves mentioning one thing but doing another. Many a time
people realise that when their words conflict with their actions, they are labelled
as hypocrites. However, such examples are not especially interesting from the
critical thinking point of view. More interesting are situations in which people do
not realise that their words conflict with their deeds. What is important in such
situations is that human beings often exhibit a remarkable capacity for self-
deception. As the saying of Morpheus goes, „There is a difference between
knowing the path and walking the path‰ (as cited in Bassham et al., 2011)."
Critical thinking helps us from being caught in the trap of logical and practical
inconsistencies. Practical inconsistency may be unconscious but it is borne out
through our actions and critical thinking helps us realise that. As for logical
inconsistency, Socrates had already recognised that unconscious logical
inconsistency is far more frequent than most individuals suspect. With critical
thinking, this can be identified and avoided altogether. (f) Logical Correctness To
think logically is to reason correctly; in other words, it means to draw well-
founded conclusions from the beliefs we hold. In order to think critically, we not
only require accurate and well-supported beliefs but we also need to be able to
use them to come up with logical conclusions. The Talmud says, „Intelligence means
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a person who can see implications and arrive at conclusions (as cited in Bassham et
al., 2011). (g) Completeness Most of the time, we opt for shallow and superficial
thinking rather than deep and complete thinking. We are often embroiled in
superficial discussions: condemning slipshod criminal investigations, hasty jury
deliberations, superficial news stories, unclear driving directions and incorrect
medical diagnoses. Thinking is better when it is in depth rather than shallow, and
thorough rather than superficial. Hsun Tzu (as cited in Bassham et al., 2011) once
stated, „It is only when there is completeness and exhaustiveness that there is
scholarship.(h) Fairness The final characteristic of critical thinking is fairness
which includes being open-minded, impartial and free of bias and preconceptions.
However, this is rather difficult to accomplish. According to H.G. Wells, „It is not
much good thinking of a thing unless you think it out (as cited in Bassham et al.,
2011). Study these two examples of situations where critical thinking is used. (a)
Critical Thinking in the Classroom When students enrol in a college, they are taken
aback to find out that their professors are less interested in how they got their
beliefs than they are in whether those beliefs can survive critical inspection. In
general, the focus is on higher-order thinking, the active, intelligent evaluation of
ideas and information. Thus, critical thinking plays an important role in the college
curriculum. In a critical thinking course, among the skills learned by students that
can greatly increase their classroom abilities are: Understanding the arguments
and beliefs of others; Assessing those arguments and beliefs critically; and
Developing and defending their own well-supported arguments and beliefs. John J.
Mearsheimer once said, „We don't want you to just accept the conventional
wisdom on a particular subject. Indeed, your first instinct should be to question it
(as cited in Bassham et al., 2011). (b) Critical Thinking in the Workplace Nowadays,
employers are not only looking for skilful employees with high academic
qualifications but also individuals with an excellent ability to think and
communicate effectively in the workplace. They seek fast learners who can solve
problems, think creatively, gather and analyse information, come up with
appropriate conclusions from data and communicate their ideas clearly and
effectively. As stated by the Foundation for Critical Thinking, „There is nothing
more practical than sound thinking.
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HOMEBASE 2/ B TOPIC
Classification Games in Teaching Critical Thinking
It is believed that classification plays a vital role in the growth of logical thinking
and abstract concepts right from early childhood to adulthood. Gerhard (1975)
stated that the classification skill is vital to vocabulary-concept development and
thus, to reading and preservation of information. According to Furth and Wachs
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(1974), all classification tasks require the identification of features and
separation into categories according to some rules
There are a number of commercial materials with verbal analogies, figural and
symbolic problem solving, logic puzzles and feature games. Nevertheless,
application of a wide variety of environmental objects must follow. Incorporation
of classification activities into content areas is also important to determine their
usefulness. Currently, its applications to mathematics and science, in particular
the investigating approach to science, are indeed obvious. According to the theory
of Schema, information that needs to be stored must be grouped with something
already present in memory (Tonjes & Zintz, 1987). Techniques involving
brainstorming that help in the understanding process are proposed to help
students retrieve their past knowledge on a particular topic to be read, and then
categorise and save the new information in their memory. Devine (1986) stated
that it might be necessary to reorganise students' schemata when past
experience that was limited to a different perspective intervened with the
understanding of a new concept. He used the example of students who faced
problems understanding relationships between the concepts of social class and
caste system. In a word-related exercise, the students were required to list
everything they knew about each term individually. Then, they were asked to find
resemblance, for example, while categorising facts and events, identifying the
common traits among them and labelling them, hence developing new concepts or
schemata.

Barriers to Critical Thinking

Although critical thinking is important, many highly educated and intelligent people
find it rather a challenge to practise.
Below are some common barriers to critical thinking: Lack of relevant background
information , Poor reading skills , Bias , Prejudice , Superstition , Self-centred
thinking , Group-centred thinking , Peer pressure , Conformism , Provincialism ,
Relativistic thinking , Stereotyping , Unwarranted assumptions , Scapegoating ,
Rationalisation , Denial , Wishful thinking Short-term thinking , Selective
perception, Selective memory, overpowering emotions, Narrow-mindedness ,
Close-mindedness , Distrust in reason , Self-deception , Face-saving , Fear of
change
Firstly, critical thinking prevents us from making foolish personal decisions by
teaching us to think about important life decisions more carefully, clearly and
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logically. Secondly, it plays a crucial role in promoting democratic processes.
Albert Einstein (www.leadershipnow.com/probsolvingquotes.html) once stated that
„the significant problems we face cannot be solved at the level of thinking we
were when we created them.‰ Thirdly, critical thinking is believed to bring
personal enrichment to our lives. Critical thinking can free mankind from the
unexamined postulations and biases of our upbringing and society. Howard Kahane
(as cited in Bassham et al., 2011) once remarked that „citizens who think for
themselves, rather than uncritically ingesting what their leaders tell them, are
the absolutely necessary ingredient of a society that is to remain truly free.
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HOMEBASE 3/ C
CREATIVE THINKING
It was found that before the mid-1950s, not much attention was given to
creativity. A researcher who examined more than 121,000 listings of articles in
Psychological Abstracts in the past 23 years found that only 186 articles, which
translated to less than two-tenths of 1% of the total, had any essence of
creativity.
From that point onwards, attention towards creativity increased tremendously and
many books were written on the subject. Researchers have thoroughly
investigated the lives of creative achievers, explored the creative process and
tested creative performance in every conceivable situation and at every age level.
Their efforts helped to improve our understanding of creativity and solved the
many misconceptions that for so long went unchallenged. Replacing those false
impressions with facts is a vital step in developing one's creative potential. The
facts that follow are among the most important ones: „Doing your own thing is not
necessarily a mark of creativity Creativity does not require special intellectual
talent or high IQ The use of drugs hinders creativity Creativity is an expression
of mental health Creative thinking can be defined as „being in an optimal state of
mind where new ideas can be generated(www.brainstorming.co.uk). In other words,
creative thinking is a purposeful thinking that improves the chances of new
thoughts transpiring. Some authors believe that creative thinking is thinking out
of the box where one comes about with original, diverse and elaborate ideas
Five Characteristics of Creative Thinking
Now, let us read further about the five characteristics of creative thinking. (a)
Dynamism In its simplest sense, dynamism implies the notion of change – change in
response to, and possibly ahead of, circumstances or information. It implies an
active interaction, as opposed to passive acquiescence. The mind of a critical
thinker is never allowed to be passive, unquestioning and accepting. On the other
hand, a creative thinker always manages to keep his or her curiosity burning, or at
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least rekindles it from time to time. Playfulness is said to be an important element
of this dynamism. Creative people can be regarded as little children who love to
rearrange their building blocks in various combinations, viewing them from
different perspectives. Isaac Newton (as cited in Ruggiero, 2009 p.6) once wrote,
„I do not know what I may appear to the world; but to myself, I seem to have
been only like a boy playing on the seashore, and diverting myself in now and then
finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary whilst the great ocean
of truth lay all undiscovered before me. Einstein (as cited in Ruggiero, 2009 p. 6)
speculated one step further: he saw such playfulness as „the essential feature in
productive thought. One of the most important contributions of playfulness among
creative people is that it provides these individuals with a richer and more varied
collection of ideas than an average person enjoys. (b) Daringness Thinking is an
adventure for creative people. This is because they are free from preconceived
ideas and prejudiced views. Furthermore, creative individuals are less prone to
accepting existing views, wider in their perspectives and less likely to agree with
those around them. Creative people can come up with bold ideas. They are willing
to try out ideas that are not accepted by others and also experiment with
possibilities that are disliked by others. This trait was shared by Galileo,
Columbus, Edison and the Wright brothers. These individuals were more willing to
embrace new creative ideas than their contemporaries. Daringness is a virtue
because it makes individuals who possess this trait less susceptible to face-saving
than others. Daring individuals accept bad experiences, apply their curiosity and
learn from those experiences. Thus, they are less likely than others to repeat the
same failures
(c) Resourcefulness Resourcefulness can be defined as the ability to act
effectively and conceptualise the approach that solves the problem. In addition,
being resourceful also means being able to solve a problem that perplexes others
when the resources at hand are insufficient. Although this ability is not measured
by IQ tests, it is one of the most important aspects of practical intelligence. The
best example that explains this trait is one that was published in Scientific
American more than 50 years ago. In this article, a prisoner in a western state
prison escaped but was recaptured after a few weeks. The prison officers grilled
him for days and repeatedly questioned him on where he obtained the saw to cut
through the bars. Finally, he answered that he had gathered bits of twine in the
machine shops, dipped them in glue and then in emery, and smuggled them back to
his cell. Every night for three months, he had sawed the one inch-thick steel bars.
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The officers were satisfied with his explanation, locked him up and ensured that
he never visited the machine shop again. However, after three and a half years,
the prisoner escaped again during the night. The prison officers found the bars
cut in exactly the same manner as in the previous escape. However, he was never
recaptured, and the way he escaped remained an unsolved puzzle. In fact, he had
lied about using material from the machine shop the first time. He had been much
more resourceful than that. He had used woollen strings from his socks,
moistened them with spit, and rubbed them in dirt on his cell floor. (d) Diligence
William Gordon (as cited in Ruggiero, 2009 p. 7) once said, „All problems present
themselves to the mind as threats of failure. Only individuals who are not
frightened by the prospects of failure and have an unwavering desire to succeed
no matter what the effort required, have the opportunity to succeed. Creative
individuals are ready to make the required commitment. Thomas Edison (as cited
in Ruggiero, 2009 p. 7) had commitment in mind when he said, „Genius is 99
percent perspiration and 1 percent inspiration. Another great personality, George
Bernard Shaw (as cited in Ruggiero, 2009 p. 7), once stated: „When I was a young
man, I observed that nine out of ten things I did were failures. I did not want to
be a failure, so I did ten times more work.
One important trait present in creative people is their ability to be thoroughly
engrossed in a problem and give it their full attention. In addition, creative people,
due to their competitiveness, pay more attention to their ideas rather than to
other people. One good example is Lester Pfister, who conceived the idea of
inbreeding stalks and worked by hand, season after season. After five years, he
had only four stalks left and he was poor. Less determined souls would probably
have given up in frustration and disappointment under such circumstances but
Pfister was unwilling to accept defeat. He persevered and was finally rewarded
with an improved strain. (e) Independence Every time we think of a new idea, we
separate ourselves from other people. The mere expression of the idea increases
this separation ten-fold. For most people, especially those who obtain their power
from communicating with others and those who depend on others for their
identity, such separation is frightening. Sad to say, such people do not feel
comfortable entertaining and expressing new ideas. This is due to their fear of
rejection. Creative individuals are different. Although they accept friendship and
support from others, they are not entirely dependent on them. They look within
themselves for strength and are thus more self-confident, more independent in
the way they speak and act and less afraid of appearing strange or out of place
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Understanding and knowing these five characteristics can help you build up your
creative abilities if you are willing to make the effort to develop them. However,
if you already have them, it will help you to improve and strengthen them. This is a
difficult but possible task – as the saying goes, „Old habits die hard.
Nevertheless, even modest progress will bring a change in the quality of your
thinking.

HOMEBASE 4/ D
Applying Creativity to Problems and Issues
Two extensive applications of creativity that are of special interest to most
individuals are solving problems and resolving controversial issues. Both refer to
unpleasant situations that challenge our intelligence, or situations that have no
available or suitable solutions. Such situations tend to divide people into opposing
groups, each with the notion that they are right and the other party is wrong. The
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most important methods to apply creativity to problems and issues include:
Taking an innovative and new approach; Devising or changing a process or system;
Coming up with a new product or service; Searching for new uses for existing
things; Improvising on existing things; and Discovering or redefining a concept.
Now, let us read about each of the methods together with their example to fully
understand them. (a) Taking an Innovative and New Approach Humane Society
inspectors who came across two dogs in a closed car in brutal 92C heat used a new
approach to punish the dogsÊ owners. They offered the owners an alternative to
being charged with cruelty to animals: spend an hour inside the closed car
themselves at the same temperature that the dogs were exposed to while the
dogs spend the hour in the airconditioned Humane Society building [„Couple Learns
Golden Rule.., Oneonta Star, 29 August 1981].
Another good example of taking an innovative approach is the story of D.B. Kaplan,
who was given the task of coming up with new ways of writing menus for
restaurants. He took up the challenge with a tongue-in-cheek approach. Items
that he came up with included Tongue Fu, the Italian Scallion, Chive Turkey, Ike
and Tina Tuna, Dr. Pepperoni, the Breadless Horseman, Annette Spinachello, and
Quiche and Tell. The ingredients were as creative as the names. (b) Devising or
Changing a Process or System The Dewey decimal system and the Library of
Congress system are two techniques that were created for classifying books.
Other brilliant examples are the procedures devised in the past one or two
decades to investigate the health of a foetus. Procedures such as amniocentesis
and chorionic villus sampling involve the extraction of amniotic fluid, while
ultrasound imaging involves the bouncing of sound waves off the foetus to form an
image. DNA fingerprinting is another example of creativity. This technique is
based on the fact that every individual who ever lived has his own unique genetic
makeup. A strand of hair or a spot of urine, saliva or semen found at a crime scene
can be compared with a DNA sample of a suspect and be a significant factor in
finding out the identity of the guilty individual or criminal. (c) Coming Up With a
New Product or Service In 1845, a man needed money to pay a debt. He was
thinking of what he could invent in order to pay off his debt. Three hours later,
he came up with the safety pin, an idea which he sold for $400. Other surprising
examples are Graffiti Gobbler, a chemical compound that can remove ink or paint
from wood, brick or steel, and the Moto-Stand, a three-wheeled, upholstered,
motorised truck invented by a man paralysed from chest down. This vehicle
allowed him to manoeuvre around the house in standing position [Crippled Inventor
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is Standing Proud, Oneonta Star, 30 November 1981]. (d) Searching for New Uses
for Existing Things Agricultural crops have long been used for unusual purposes.
For example, cotton lint is used to manufacture explosives while ground-up
tobacco is used to make insecticide. Scientists found new ways to use the largest
surplus crop in the United States, which was corn. For example, corn was used in
making de-icing
materials, adhesives, disposable bottles and biodegradable garbage bags. [„New
inventions from the Cornfield,‰ New York Times, 10 January 1988]. (e)
Improvising on Existing Things Some good examples of existing things that have
been improvised are the recent developments in the telephone, such as call block,
call trace, priority call, return call, repeat call and caller ID. Each of these
features was devised in response to a particular need that was not fulfilled by the
existing device or equipment. (f) Discovering or Redefining a Concept Most of us
have this notion that the many concepts that help us think and deal with reality
are permanent and last forever. However, this may not be true. Just as products
and services are invented, so are concepts. The concepts of taxation and punishing
criminals, for example, may be very old, but they were once upon a time new.
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HOMEBASE 5/ E

LATERAL THINKING
Edward de Bono (www.generations.gs/TQ11/Creativity/sites/vs.html) (a leading
authority in the field of creative thinking) defined lateral thinking as „exploring
multiple possibilities and approaches instead of pursuing a single approach.‰
Besides teaching you to think in a creative manner, lateral thinking has the ability
of transforming problems into opportunity, search for alternative solutions and
significantly increase your number of original and practical ideas employing unusual
thinking techniques that are normally not within the ability of our normal methods
of thinking.

Lateral thinking is usually employed by individuals who are given the responsibility
of coming up with new strategies in the R & D sector. Nevertheless, any individual
who is in a lookout for innovativeness, idea generation, concept development,
creative problem solving or a strategy to challenge the present situation can gain
from lateral thinking. Generally, in the modern world, individuals who are facing
fast-changing trends, intense competition and who are required to come up with
extraordinary results could benefit from lateral thinking.
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This table summarises the six different lateral thinking techniques.

Lateral thinking may be useful when applied in the following: (a) Challenging of a
present situation in a positive manner to allow room for new ideas. (b) Search and
build on the concept behind an idea in order to generate more ideas. (c) Resolve
problems in methods that were not thought of initially. (d) Utilise alternatives to
produce and harness the creative energy of an organisation. (e) Transform
problems into opportunities. (f) Choose the optimum alternate ideas and put them
into operation.
RIGHT AND LEFT BRAIN CROSSOVER In general, an individual uses both sides
of the brain when making a decision. This is due to the fact that when you use only
one side of your brain, you are basically denying yourself the opportunity to use
your full power in the decision making process. The crossover of right and left
brain crossover produces a sound, rational and logical decision that gives you
satisfaction. The right hemisphere of the brain is responsible for intuitive,
subjective and holistic thinking. Thus an individual who uses only the right brain
may end up making a decision that lacks the logical and objective reasoning. On the
other hand, the left brain is in charge of logical, analytical, rational and objective
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reasoning. Hence, a left brain user who works with facts, data and logic without
the feeling component in making decisions usually fail to notice the importance of
using their emotions. These individuals believe that facts, data and logic are not
only superior than emotions when making a particular decision but also always
produce better decisions. Feelings are an important component of the human
existence. It is essential that you embrace and accept feelings during a decision
making process in order to ensure that you will feel satisfied with the final
decision that you have made. Alan Bean [Figure 6.4(a)] and Florence Nightingale
[Figure 6.4(b)] are among the individuals who have achieved a lot in their lives with
a strong right and left brain crossover. Alan Bean was a Navy test pilot, and the
fourth man to set his foot on the moon. His job required strong left brain to
utilise logical, analytical, rational and objective reasoning. Upon his resignation
from NASA, Alan Bean became a full time artist who painted ApolloÊs human
adventure that is both visionary and historic; a task that requires a strong right
brain to employ intuitive, subjective and holistic thinking. Florence Nightingale, a
nurse by profession, exhibited the use of both her right and left brain. She
proved the importance of sanitary conditions in healing the sick and wounded
patients. She employed her left brain for this while her nurturing qualities
demonstrated the powers of her right brain.