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argument is relevant.
4. Twelve Angry Men (1957, 95 minutes)
This is available at most video stores. See Part 2 of this manual for ideas about critical
thinking assignments using this film.
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Individual, Group, and Environmental Factors That Promote Creative
Thinking
Members
• Willing to communicate
• Willing to be unconventional and violate societal norms
• Tolerate ambiguity
• Not afraid of rejection
• Open to new ideas
• Playful and like to have fun
Groups
• Have diverse knowledge, skills, perspectives, approaches
• Work to overcome norms that interfere with creativity
o Premature consensus, pressures to conform, groupthink
• Promote norms that foster creativity
o Take time to learn each other’s unique contributions, encourage sharing of diverse
ideas
Environment
• High value placed on creativity
• Has autonomy and room to breathe
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Guidelines for Brainstorming
1. The group previews the rules for brainstorming.
2. The group is presented with a problem to solve.
3. Members generate large quantity of solutions.
No Criticism Allowed!
4. The suggestions are recorded for all to see.
5. The ideas are evaluated at a later session.
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Attitudes and Behaviors Counterproductive to Critical Thinking
1. Oversimplification of the thinking process; evaluation of information and ideas in either-
or, black-and-white terms
2. Impulsiveness; jumping to premature conclusions
3. Overdependence on authority figures; waiting for someone else to tell you how to think,
what to conclude, or what to do
4. Lack of confidence; withdrawing if someone challenges your ideas
5. Dogmatic, inflexible behavior; closing your mind and being afraid of change
6. Unwillingness to make the effort to think critically; taking the easy way out
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Ways of Gathering Information
Direct Observation
Reading
Internet
Electronic Databases
Interviews
Other Sources
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Evaluating Information in the Critical Thinking Process
Determine what the speaker or writer is saying
Distinguish fact from opinion and inference
Identify and Clarify Ambiguous Terms
Determine the Credibility of the Source
Assess the Accuracy and Worth of the Information
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Criteria for Evaluating Web-Based Sources
Authority
Audience
Purpose
Recency
Coverage
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Common Reasoning Errors (Fallacies)
Overgeneralizing: A conclusion not supported by enough data
Attacking a person instead of the argument: A form of name-calling used to direct attention
away from someone’s evidence and logic
Confusing causal relationships: Assuming that because two things happen close together in
time, one caused the other
Either-or thinking: Asking members to choose between only two options, as if no other choices
existed
Incomplete comparisons: Asks us to stretch a comparison further than is warranted
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Symptoms of Groupthink
Group overestimates its power and morality
Group becomes closed-minded
Group members experience pressure to conform
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Preventing Groupthink
Encourage members to “kick the problem around”
Establish a norm of critical evaluation
Prevent leaders from stating preferences at the beginning of a group’s session
Prevent insulation of the group