Thinking Like A Psychologist

-Critical Thinking Guidelines

Craig McNally, JP
Licensed Associate Counselling
Psychologist
 Critical Thinking
• Critical thinking is the ability and willingness to
assess claims and make objective judgements
on the basis of well-supported reason and
evidence, rather than emotion or anecdote.
• Critical thinkers are able to look for flaws in
argument and to resist claims that have no
support.
• They realize that criticizing an argument is not
the same as critiquing the person making it,
and they are willing to engage in vigorous
debate about the validity of an idea.
• Critical thinking however, is not merely
negative thinking.
– It includes the ability to be creative and
constructive
– The ability to come up with alternative
explanations for events
– Think of implications of research findings
– Apply new knowledge to social and personal
problems.
 Here are 8 essential critical thinking
guidelines…
• Ask Questions: Be willing to wonder
• Define your terms
• Examine the evidence
• Analyze assumptions and biases
• Avoid emotional reasoning
• Don’t oversimplify
• Consider other interpretations
• Tolerate uncertainty
 Ask Questions
• Do no be afraid to ask WHY
• “Whats wrong here?”
• “Why is this the way it is?”
• “How did it come to be that way?”
– Questions like these lead to the identification of
problems and challenges.
– There might also be questions about human
behaviour. What are some of these?
 Define Your Terms
• Once you have raised a general question, the next
step is to frame it in clear and concrete terms.
• Vague or poorly defined terms in a question an
lead to misleading or incomplete answers.
• For example: Have you ever wondered if animals
use language?
– The answer depends on how you define LANGUAGE
– A system of communication? (Birds, bees etc.)
– Combining sounds and gestures into an infinite
number of structured utterances that convey meaning
• Researchers often start out with a
HYPOTHESIS.
• It is a statement that attempts to describe or
explain a given behaviour.
• These hypothesis may start out simple like:
“Misery loves company”
• Later they develop and become more precise:
“People who are anxious about a threatening
situation tend to seek out others facing the
same threat”.
• A Hypothesis leads to a prediction about what
will happen in a particular situation.
• We will have to define certain words in the
hypothesis:
– “People who are anxious about a threatening
situation tend to seek out others facing the same
threat”.
– Once we define these terms, we know how the
phenomena in question are to be observed and
measured.
 Examine the Evidence
• Have you ever heard someone say,
“I know it true, no matter what you say.” OR
“That’s my opinion, nothing’s going to change it”.

 Accepting a conclusion without evidence, or

expecting others to do so, is a sure sign statement
is a sure sign of lazy thinking.
 What evidence supports or refutes this argument
and its opposition?
 How reliable is the evidence?
• In scientific research, an idea may initially
generate excitement because it is plausible,
imaginative or appealing, but as we have
seen, eventually it must be backed by
empirical evidence if it is to be taken seriously.
 Analyze Assumptions and Biases
• Assumptions are beliefs that are taken for granted
• And biases are assumptions that keep us from
considering the evidence fairly, or that cause is to
ignore the evidence entirely.

• Critical thinkers are willing to analyze and test not only

other people’s assumptions, but also their own (which
is much harder).

• CT give themselves up to the principle of falsifiability,

which does not mean that their hypothesis will be
disproved, but it could be if contrary evidence were to
be discovered.
 Avoid Emotional Reasoning
• Passionate commitment to a view motivates
people to think boldly, to defend unpopular
ideas, and to seek evidence for creative new
theories.
• But emotional conviction alone cannot settle
arguments.
• All of us are apt to feel threatened and get
defensive whenever our most treasured beliefs
are challenged.
• Some views we hold strongly to are:
– Beliefs about child rearing, drugs, abortion, religion,
racism, gender differences, homosexuality.
 Don’t Oversimplify
• A critical thinker looks beyond the obvious,
resists easy generalizations, and rejects either-
or thinking.
• One example of oversimplifying is argument
by anecdote – generalizing from a personal
experience or a few examples to everyone.
• Anecdotes are often the source of
stereotyping as well: “All people from that
community are criminals”
 Consider other interpretations
• A critical thinker creatively formulates
hypotheses that offer reasonable explanations of
the topics at hand.
• In science, the goal is to arrive at a theory, an
organized system of assumptions and principles
that purports to explain certain phenomena and
how they are related.
• In other words, the theory EXPLAINS the
hypothesis
• Theories are PROVEN by research
 Evidence is gathered thru…
• Evidence is gathered through the following
methods:
– Case studies/case history: A detailed description
of a particular individual, based on careful
observation or on formal psychological testing.
– It may include information about a person’s
childhood, dreams, fantasies, experiences,
relationships, and hopes – anything that will
provide insight into the person’s behaviour.
 Evidence is gathered thru…
• Observational Studies:
– The researcher observes, measures and records
behaviour while taking care to avoid intruding on
the people (or animals) being observed.
– The primary purpose of naturalistic observations,
is to find out how people or other animals act in
their normal social environments,
 Evidence is gathered thru…
• Tests:
– Sometimes called assessment instruments are
procedures for measuring and evaluating
personality traists, emotional states, aptitudes,
interests, abilities and values.
– Typically they require people to answer a series of
written or oral questions. The answers are then
totalled to yield a single numerical score, or set of
scores.
– There tests are usuallly standardized.
 Evidence is gathered thru…
• Surveys:
– Psychological tests usually generate information
about people indirectly.
– Surveys however are questionnaires and
interviews that gather information by asking
people directly about their experiences, attitudes
or opinions.