Barriers to Critical Thinking

Barriers to Critical Thinking

By Denis Korn                                                                                                                                    

BARRIERS TO CRITICAL THINKING

Your responsibility as a critical thinker is to be aware of the barriers, acknowledge the challenges they present, and overcome them to the best of your ability.

“If critical thinking is so important, why is it that uncritical thinking is so common?  Why is it that so many people – including many highly educated and intelligent people – find critical thinking so difficult?”[1] And I [Denis] might add – impossible!

Discovering the answers to these questions is crucial to the understanding of what is required to be a true critical thinker, and the reasons you will encounter from those who resist embodying critical thinking skills are often quite complex, and can be both subtle and blatant.  The following list of barriers to critical thinking will help guide you to recognizing the challenges that await you and was compiled from Critical Thinking: A Student’s Introduction, our text Beyond Feelings: A Guide to Critical Thinking, and personal observation.

pride
greed
egocentrism (self-centered thinking)
sociocentrism or ethnocentrism (group/society/cultural-centered thinking)
an over-reliance on feelings
self-deception
the erroneous belief of personal infallible intuition
unconscious reaction
reacting in self defense – fear of personal attack – believing one’s ideas and beliefs are an extension of one’s self and must be defended at all costs
fear of change or an unwillingness to change
a pathological inability to evaluate, recognize, or accept an idea or point of view that differs from one’s own
a less than honorable agenda
lack of relevant background information or ignorance
inappropriate bias
prejudice
unwarranted assumptions
overpowering or addictive emotions
fear of being wrong or face-saving
selective perception and selective memory
peer pressure
conformism (mindless conformity)
indoctrination initiated by uncritical thinkers with malicious and selfish intent
provincialism (restricted and unsophisticated thinking)
narrow-mindedness or close-mindedness
lack of discernment
distrust in reason
relativism (relativistic thinking)
absolutism (there are no exceptions)
stereotyping
scapegoating (blaming others)
denial
wishful thinking
short-term thinking
political correctness
superstition
being influenced by drugs
excessive anger, hate, or bitterness
disturbing one’s comfort
lack of personal honesty
apathy
poor reading and comprehension skills
poor or dysfunctional communication skills
excessive addiction
a mental disorder
cognitive dissonance (psychological conflict resulting from incompatible beliefs and attitudes held simultaneously)
lack of humility
the effects of radiation and man-made atmospheric chemicals
debilitating fear and uncertainty
reliance on main stream television, newspapers and other media for information
the effects of television and electronic media on memory, cognition and brain function
In general – the older one becomes the more well-established and rooted these barriers are in the thought process, and the harder it is to overcome them – they become part of you like a scar.  It is suggested to triumph over them as soon as possible.









Questions for reflection:


- What is the purpose and value in gaining critical thinking skills?  – Is it really necessary?

- What are the rewards?  – What are the challenges?

- Am I willing to do what it takes?  – How important is it for me?  – Can I do it?

- Do I realize that demonstrating, sharing, and embodying wisdom and discernment requires exemplifying critical thinking skills and overcoming its barriers?  -  Are all these barriers overwhelming?

- Do I realize this is a life long process?  – What is the difference between intelligence and wisdom?

- What are the steps required for developing critical thinking skills?

- How do I communicate with others who are not critical thinkers and have embodied these barriers to such an extent that they are unwilling to neither engage in a meaningful dialogue nor acknowledge any responsibility in the communication breakdown?  – Or do I bother at all?

- How am I to react or respond when I experience a lack of critical thinking in the media, among friends and family, at the work place, and in my academic courses and studies?

While many think developing critical thinking skills are for the beginning philosophy student, they are in fact vital for everyone.  Recognizing and overcoming the barriers to critical thinking listed above is essential in creating and maintaining genuine, honest, and nurturing relationships – developing leadership skills for both family and vocational choices – fulfilling the goals and missions of businesses and organizations – and discovering and achieving purpose and fulfillment in all aspects of one’s life.  Many of the barriers to critical thinking are barriers to joyfulness, selflessness, and contentment.

Do not be discouraged by the enormity of the task of reflecting upon, acknowledging, and overcoming these barriers.  Have confidence that you will recognize the hold these barriers have on your thought process, and I encourage you to be committed to achieving the obtainable rewards awaiting you when you have accomplished the goal of prevailing over these barriers one by one.

A common denominator of these barriers is that the individual has no control over their effects.  They are held captive by defective responses and impressions.   One “reacts” to a situation, idea, or challenge, whereas the critical thinker “chooses” the process of thoughtful evaluation – embracing – and embodiment.  The critical thinker has the freedom to rightly assess circumstances and concepts, and the result is to arrive at an appropriate and insightful conclusion and reasonable outcome.

In the pursuit of the embodiment of critical thinking skills always be mindful of the value and necessity of honesty, wisdom, discernment, and the need to distinguish the truth from the lie.  We live in an unprecedented time of media, institutional, educational, and political self-interest that will not hesitate to use any means possible to achieve its objectives including deceptive indoctrination techniques, propaganda, deceitfulness, fallacious argument, and fraud.

Life is like riding a bicycle.

To keep your balance you must keep moving.


Albert Einstein, in a letter to his son Eduard, February 5, 1930

The Problem of Egocentric Thinking[2]

Egocentric thinking results from the unfortunate fact that humans do not naturally consider the rights and needs of others.  We do not naturally appreciate the point of view of others nor the limitations in our own point of view.  We become explicitly aware or our egocentric thinking only if trained to do so.  We do not naturally recognize our egocentric assumptions, the egocentric way we use information, the egocentric way we interpret data, the source of our egocentric concepts and ideas, the implications of our egocentric thought.  We do not naturally recognize our self-serving perspective.

As humans we live with the unrealistic but confident sense that we have fundamentally figured out the way things actually are, and that we have done this objectively.  We naturally believe in our intuitive perceptions – however inaccurate [Denis - I personally believe that intuitive perceptions are vital to critical thinking - providing one possesses the required discernment skills].  Instead of using intellectual standards in thinking, we often use self-centered psychological standards to determine what to believe and what to reject.  Here are the most commonly used psychological standards in human thinking.

“IT’S TRUE BECAUSE I BELIEVE IT.”  Innate egocentrism: I assume that what I believe is true even though I have never questioned the basis for many of my beliefs.

“IT’S TRUE BECAUSE WE BELIEVE IT.”  Innate sociocentrism: I assume that the dominant beliefs of the groups to which I belong are true even though I have never questioned the basis for those beliefs.

“IT’S TRUE BECAUSE I WANT TO BELIEVE IT.”  Innate wish fulfillment: I belief in whatever puts me (or the groups to which I belong) in a positive light.  I believe what “feels good,” what does not require me to change my thinking in any significant way, what does not require me to admit I have been wrong.

“IT’S TRUE BECAUSE I HAVE ALWAYS BELIEVED IT.”  Innate self-validation: I have a strong desire to maintain beliefs I have long held, even though I have not seriously considered the extent to which those beliefs are justified by the evidence.

“IT’S TRUE BECAUSE IT IS IN MY SELFISH INTEREST TO BELIEVE IT.”  Innate selfishness: I believe whatever justifies my getting more power, money, or personal advantage even though those beliefs are not grounded in sound reasoning or evidence.



[1]Gregory Bassham, Critical Thinking: A Student’s Introduction, 3rd ed., (New York, McGraw-Hill, 2008), p. 11
[2] Critical Thinking: Concepts and Tools, Dr. Richard Paul and Dr. Linda Elder

Six Hats of Thinking Types

CRCB Slide Outline C5- Main Ideas

•          Critical Reading for College and Beyond

•          CHAPTER FIVE

•          CHAPTER GOALS
After learning Chapter 5, you should be able to demonstrate:

•          What main ideas are.

•          Strategies for identifying main ideas in paragraphs and longer readings.

•          How to check whether you have correctly identified main ideas.

•          What is a Topic?

•          A topic is a word or short phrase that is the subject of a sentence, paragraph, essay, chapter or book.

•          What is the Main Idea?

•          The main idea is the major point (or points) the author makes about the topic.  It is stated in the form of a sentence.

•          The main idea serves as the controlling idea under which other ideas support.

•          What is a Detail?

•          A detail supports the main idea.

•          A detail is more specific than the main idea.

•          A detail proves, clarifies, justifies, or otherwise adds meaning to the main idea.

•          Strategies for Recognizing  Main Ideas

•          Question yourself.

•          Look in the usual spots.

•          Categorize author’s points.

•          Notice word clues.

•          Examples of Word Clues

•          Emphasis word clues

•          Support word clues

•          Contrast word clues

•          Chapter Vocabulary

•          topic

•          main idea

•          details

•          categorization

•          mind maps

•          previewing

•          word clues

•          emphasis word clues

•          support word clues

•          contrast word clues

Student Blogs

Siri's Blog:  http://ba370sirisha.blogspot.com/

Reading Efficiency: Rate And Comprehension

Increasing Reading Efficiency:
Rate And Comprehension

from http://www.cla.purdue.edu/students/asc/documents/reading_efficiency.pdf

Myths surrounding reading speed
•  If I read faster, I'll lose comprehension
Comprehension improves when you pace yourself at a rate equal to your thinking
rate.
•  I have only 1 rate of speed.
You can vary your rate of speed according to your purpose for reading.
•  Speed reading is never appropriate in textbook reading
Faster rates, such as skimming, are appropriate when previewing or reading for a
central idea.
Key ideas to increase reading speed
•  Push yourself to read faster than is normally comfortable.
•  Decrease number of eye fixations. Increase eye span.
Avoid faulty reading habits
•  Moving your head
•  Subvocalizing
•  Regressing or rereading
•  Word by word reading
Reading is a thinking process
•  Concentrate
•  Predict/Anticipate
•  Cluster/Read in phrases
•  Use key words
•  Register the idea  A Daily Improvement Program
Suggestions For Improving Reading Efficiency
Directions: Practice the reading speed techniques taught on the videotape by reading this
one minute passage. Before you begin, you might note the organization of the article. Set
a timer for a minute. At the end of one minute, underline the number at the end of the
line. This is your WPM.
Push yourself to read faster than you normally do.  Your reading           11
fluency will increase as you increase the number and types of              22
materials you read for pleasure.                                        27
Practice daily at home for 15 - 20 minutes.  Choose a time when you        40
are relaxed and strive to read every day at this same time.               51
Practice on easy, high-interest materials.  Read articles in the same      62
newspaper/journal or several pages in a book (fiction or nonfiction)       73
that you enjoy.  This will insure that the concept and vocabulary          84
level remain similar.  Graph the number of columns or pages read in a      97
specified period of time.  In this way you can see your rate increase     110
over time.                                                              112
Check your comprehension by questioning yourself on the material or by    123
writing a short summary.  Remember comprehension may drop slightly        132
during your first attempts but will rise again.  Don't get discouraged.   143
Continue to practice reading in larger phrases and to focus on key        155
words.                                                                156
Find your reading speed.  Take a page of material, figure the average     168
number of words in 3-4 lines of print, multiply the average number of     181
words on a line by the total number of lines on the page and you have     197
the number of words on the page.  With a watch that has a sweep second    212
hand, find the number of minutes and seconds it takes you to read the     226
entire page with understanding.  Divide the total number of words read    237
by your time and multiply by 60 seconds in a minute.  For example if      251 you read 440 words in one minute and 45 seconds (105 seconds), you        264
read four words a second or 240 words per minute (4 X 60 Sec.).           276
Expand to more difficult materials in vocabulary, style and content.      286
Follow the same procedure as above.  You'll find your reading ability     297
greatly improved through this process in 6-8 weeks.  Reach the 300        308
words per minute level on easy material, and you'll be reading as well    321
as the average reader.  Continue reading at least a half an hour a        334
day.  You'll find your proficiency and enjoyment increasing and you'll    344
be maintaining a skill that will bring you a lifetime of satisfaction.    354
Start again at the beginning if you finish in less than a minute.         367
Add the number at the end of the line you're presently reading to the     381
total.  This is your WPM.  On the back of this sheet write 4-5 key        395
ideas you learned from this article.                                      401
                                       
My WPM is _______.

Reading Efficiently

Reading Efficiently from  http://www.golemweb.com/biztools/Bus_contract/topics/m8j.htm  How efficiently do you read? Do you have more to read than time allows? You probably don't have to look beyond the top of your desk to realize the importance of reading efficiently. Managers are shuffling more paper and reading more reports and books than ever before. In many cases, their reading has become narrow and specialized, to keep up with their chosen fields or to learn more about specific management practices. The solution is to read more efficiently. For purposes of the following discussion, I would like to define efficient reading as the extraction of information and meaning from a letter, memo, paper, report, or book as rapidly and completely as possible. In this process the individual words are only important in the way they contribute information and meaning. Managers cannot afford to pass up any opportunity to improve their reading skills. Alec Mackenzie, author of The Time Trap, found that managers are spending roughly 30 percent of their time reading. Although the need to read efficiently is clear, managers often possess reading abilities far below their capacities. They learned to read during their elementary years and have not taken advantage of reading improvement programs available today. Their limited reading techniques have not prepared them for the formidable array of letters, memos, papers, and reports they read daily. Unfortunately, some otherwise efficient managers are unable to read and readily understand information presented in professional journals, magazines, and books published in their chosen fields. Others forgo the opportunity to read for pleasure daily papers, weeklies, monthly magazines, and books because they read too slowly. They cannot afford time to read more extensively.If you truly desire to read efficiently, there are basic steps you can take to master this communication skill. At the outset, give thoughtful consideration to the four key factors described below which influence reading efficiency. Key Factors The most important factor in efficient reading is comprehension. Reading is not simply a process of examining words, but one of extracting information and meaning from them. Francis Bacon once said, "Reading maketh a full man. . . ." Comprehension is the ability to understand what you read. It depends upon your ability to concentrate while reading and to grasp and retain ideas. There are three things that you, as the reader, can do to gain full meaning of the written word. First, determine the writer's basic theme or purpose in preparing the document, whatever its length. Second, determine the writer's point of view and examine his supporting evidence. Third, evaluate the written word on the basis of your understanding of it, and decide whether to accept or reject the basic thesis of the writer. Another important factor in efficient reading is the rate at which you progress through the written word. You must be able to read rapidly - to get the message quickly because time is a valuable commodity. In a survey of chief executives some 83 percent said they did not have time to keep up with the reading in their fields. This is shocking when one realizes that keeping aware of developments in a chosen field is of paramount importance for managerial survival today. A factor also worthy of note is adaptability. From time to time you should check to be sure you are adapting your comprehension and reading rate to (a) the nature of the material you are reading, i.e., "light" or "heavy," matter, and (b) your reading objectives.Finally, the efficient reader is discriminating. He chooses carefully what he reads. He decides in advance what might be gained from reading the material. Then he determines the most efficient manner to gain that knowledge. If the material must be understood thoroughly, he reads with attention to detail. If the material must be read to gain some general information, he reads rapidly. This saves time and still provides the information needed. Reading Rate How fast do you read? How fast can you read? There is considerable controversy over the pace at which people can read efficiently. Some say that, 900 words per minute is the limit imposed by physiological barriers; others claim that this reading rate can be exceeded when the material is non-technical in nature. Numerous courses are devoted to improving the rate at which we read. They are known as either speed-reading or rapid-reading courses. These courses often rely heavily on mechanical devices that force the student to concentrate, and read more and more rapidly. The experts who developed the speed-reading courses believe the average reader just plods along. Therefore, most of us have potential to improve our reading rate. If you're going to try to improve your rate, a reasonable goal would be to increase it threefold. To do so, you must first examine your present reading habits. A great deal of effort and concentrated practice is required to increase your reading rate. It is up to you to dedicate yourself to the task. Initial improvement may come about quite readily. Experts in the field have found the average college graduate can improve his reading rate by simply trying harder. It is interesting to note that this increased rate can take place without any loss of comprehension. If you are really sincere about increasing your reading rate, there are five basic steps to take: Increase your span of recognition. Decrease your fixation time. Decrease the number of regressions. Eliminate sub-vocalization. Increase your vocabulary. Let's briefly examine each of these steps. Span of Recognition. Your eyes move and then pause one or more times as they cross a line of written material. Reading occurs during the stops between the movements. The frequency of these stops, called "fixations," is determined by the eye span - the span of recognition. If the span of recognition is increased, fewer fixations per line and an increase in reading rate will occur. With practice, the span of recognition can be increased. Practice reading the daily paper with a single fixation per line. Fixation Time. If you are a slow reader, you not only make more fixations but take more time on each fixation than faster readers. Force yourself to read at an uncomfortable rate and you will soon reduce the fixation time. Time yourself using a stop watch, and try to read each succeeding page of a book at a faster rate. Regression. When your eyes move backward to the left side of a page to fix on a word or phrase, you are regressing. Fast readers make fewer regressions than slow readers. Regression is not necessarily bad. Regression to analyze a confusing statement or to reexamine an unfamiliar work is certainly desirable to improve comprehension. It is important to note that when your mind begins to wander while reading, regression increases. Therefore try to keep your reading rate high and your mind interested in the material you are reading. Sub-vocalization. Most of us learned to read aloud before we learned to read silently. Consequently, when we started to read silently, we tended to continue to say each word to ourselves. Sub-vocalization can limit our reading rate to as few as 250 to 300 words per minute - the rate many of us read aloud. A faster reader uses only his eyes and brain to read silently. His throat muscles do not vibrate. Continued practice at speeds greater than 400 words per minute will do much to break the sub-vocalizing habit. Also, chewing gum while reading silently may help to break this long-standing habit. In any case, don't become discouraged if you can't break the habit completely. Vocabulary. If you have a poor vocabulary, your comprehension will be diminished and you will have a greater tendency to regress. The best way to increase your vocabulary is to read more extensively and thus find new meanings for old words. Also, new words will become more clear in context. Take time to find the new words you discover in the dictionary. As you learn the meanings and uses of these new words, as well as new meanings for old words, they will become an active part of your reading vocabulary - provided you continue to read extensively.In the final analysis, reme mber that reading rate is a variable. Your reading rate will be higher when you read "light" rather than "heavy" material. Some Final Observations Reading improvement is a continuing process. It should not terminate upon graduation from high school or college. For leaders of our modern, complex organizations efficient reading is imperative. The main barriers to efficient reading will always be short spans of recognition, long fixation time, regression, sub-vocalization, and inadequate vocabulary. To become an efficient reader, try to overcome these barriers. You can do so by following the suggestions made here. You can then increase your reading efficiency still more by adjusting your reading rate to your reading objective and reading material. Part of the art of reading is to skip judiciously. In fact, it is important to decide whether to read or not to read something at all. Most reports, magazine articles, or books have only a few useful ideas to offer. The trick is to find them quickly. This can be done by: scanning the table of contents for a rough idea of what it is all about, scanning it quickly to get to know the writer and how he writes, and reading carefully those sections that appear to contain the information in which you have an interest. If you make a decision not to read an article, report, or book, you have gained time and not filled your mind with useless information. This gives you more time for important and entertaining reading. Regarding reading for entertainment, Bennett Cerf believed that anybody fortunate enough ". . . to have learned the joys of reading in his formative years. . . knows there has never been, and never will be a substitute for a good book." Someone has pointed out that "the person who doesn't read good books has no advantage over the person who can't read them." Isaac Watts sums it all up this way: " . . thanks to my friends for their care in my breeding, who taught me betimes to love working and reading."

Inference Making Process

Make an Inference

On standardized tests with a verbal, reading comprehension or critical reading section, you're going to have to make an inference at some point.

So how do you make an inference? First, you have to know what one is. An inference is an assumption made based on specific evidence. Someone might say to you, "Nice hair," and you make the inference that the person is being rude and is really insulting you because it was said with a smirk. You infer the implied meaning – the meaning not said directly.

Inferences are made by doctors when they diagnose conditions, by FBI agents when they follow clues, by mechanics when they figure out what's wrong with your car.

We infer things all the time. If someone flips us the bird, we might figure out that they're mad at us for some reason. If someone is pushing a stroller, we infer that the person is taking a baby for a walk.

An inference is a guess, but it's an educated one, and you can typically come to only one of a few possible conclusions. For instance, in the cases above, the person flipping the bird may have only been scratching their chin with their middle finger. The person pushing the stroller could have been wheeling around a decrepit dog. Most likely, though, the first guesses were correct.

So let's practice our inferring, shall we? Try your hand at the practice inference questions below.

from  http://testprep.about.com/od/englishlanguagetests/a/Inference.htm

Inference Practice Questions 1

Inference Practice Questions 1

Using your best inference strategies, make an inference anout the following statements. The first two are done for you.

1. I wouldn't eat after that two-year-old if I were you.
   Inference: The two-year-old probably did something gross to the food you were about to eat or has a cold and you could catch it. Something bad will happen to you if you eat it!
   
2. For Valentine’s Day, my fantastic neighbor gave his wife a poem that took him about two seconds to write. Sheesh.
   Inference: My neighbor is not very considerate since he didn't take his time writing the poem.
   
3. A man ran after a retreating bus, waving his briefcase frantically.
   Inference:
   
4. If she died, I wouldn’t go to her funeral.
   Inference:
   
5. Jake almost wished that he hadn’t listened to the radio. He went to the closet and grabbed his umbrella even though he would feel silly carrying it to the bus stop on such a sunny morning.
   Inference:
   
6. Hey! What happened to all the school construction money taken from the taxpayers? It paid for this toilet the money was flushed down.
   Inference:
   
7. As you give a speech in front of a large audience, you realize that people are laughing behind their hands and pointing to the region below your waist.
   Inference:
   
8. No, Honey, I don’t want you to spend a lot of money on my birthday present. Just having you for a husband is the only gift I need. In fact, I’ll just drive my old rusty bucket of bolts down to the mall and buy myself a little present. And if the poor old car doesn't break down, I’ll be back soon.
   Inference:
   
9. A woman walks into a hospital clutching her abdomen and cursing out her husband, who trails behind her carrying a large bag.
   Inference:
   
10. You're driving on the highway, listening to the radio, and a police officer pulls you over.
    Inference:

from http://testprep.about.com/od/readingtesttips/a/1_Inference_Questions.htm

CRCB - C4 - Slides Outline

•          Critical Reading for College and Beyond

•          CHAPTER FOUR

•          CHAPTER GOALS
After learning Chapter 4, you should be able to demonstrate:

•          What efficient reading is.

•          How to track your reading rate and compute your reading rate averages in different subjects.

•          How to develop a daily reading plan.

•          Several strategies, including skimming, regressing, subvocalizing, and pacing, which will increase your reading efficiency.

•          What Is Efficient Reading?

•          Being able to read and comprehend textbook information in an appropriate amount of time for YOU.

•          Ways to Become a More Efficient Reader

•          Know your average reading rate.

•          Track your reading rate.

•          Analyze your rate.

•          Develop a reading plan.

•          How to Develop a Reading Plan

•          Keep a record of your pages per hour reading rate for each of your classes.

•          Complete the reading for your least-favorite class first.

•          Plan to read when you are most alert.

•          Schedule specific reading tasks.

•          Ways of Reading

•          Speed Reading

•          Critical Reading

•          Skimming

•          Rereading/regressing

•          Subvocalizing

•          Pacing

•          Chapter Vocabulary

•          efficient reading

•          skimming

•          pacing

•          speed reading

•          regressing

•          critical reading

•          subvocalizing

TFY-IM-chapter 4: Inferences

TFY-IM-chapter 4: Inferences

This chapter and the preceding one on facts make up the core of this book.  When students can differentiate facts from inferences and use each with conscious awareness, then they have the basics of critical thinking.  In addition they have the basics of descriptive and expository writing.  Even when I teach developmental English, I introduce my students to paragraph and essay writing through the four steps of observation skills, word skills, facts, and inferences.

                The Core Discovery Writing Application Using Facts and Inferences to Describe a Photograph beginning on page 119 is of central importance and should not be omitted.  The task of listing facts with derived inferences consolidates the skills learned through this first section of the book; it is a strenuous thinking exercise, and it teaches what no bare reading or study of this material can.  (Be sure to try it yourself and experience what a mental workout it offers.)  All the photographs chosen for use in this text involve situations that could invite stereotypical interpretations; nevertheless, in each case, closer inspection reveals that they are complex and subtle.  Each photograph challenges student skills of observing and describing.

                Scoring sheets for this photo/inferences assignment should prevent some frustrating problems for the instructor, such as students' tendency to forget the conclusion.   The use of the two columns should help them realize how difficult it can be to state facts and how carelessly they may habitually draw inferences .   

                The second Core Discovery Application on pages 124-126, "Analyzing the Use of Facts and Inferences in a Newspaper Article" is also one that I never omit.  It will stretch mental muscles and teach some sound critical reading habits.   Once they have successfully completed this exercise, students will have a mental model for evaluating information that is both simple and efficient.

                The reading selection, "Tougher Grading Better for Students" appears on the surface to report findings from a reliable study; but the kind of careful reading this assignment requires may radically reverse that opinion.  This assignment can teach caution about accepting headlines too readily.  As the students work with the columns, they will begin to note that it may not always be clear whether the journalist is making inferences, as in the headline and first sentence, or whether the inferences are drawn from his or her sources.  Also they will discover that although many of the quotes can be verified as authentic, their content may contain inferences. Also the work using columns showing facts and inferences side by side can reveal that some of the inferences appear to be hasty conclusions. They will find pertinent missing information such as the author of the article and the name of the national survey, or the funding for their studies.  From the statistics given, they may have many questions, such as how much did the test scores decline, how was the study conducted, where were the schools located, what social classes were represented, what ethnic groups, and what standardized tests.  They may wonder if there were significant variables in the schools with students who got better grades. They will wonder what Betts means by "bad." They may wonder who funded the study of Betts and Boedeker over a five-year period and why they, as economists, were considered qualified to do this study.  They might wonder why Betts finds a 6 point difference to be "huge, " and what could be meant by "other policies to help weaker students.“ Students may also wonder if it is fair to compare students in the US to those of Europe or Japan where there are less diverse populations. Also some may note the human cost of tougher grading in Japan given the high suicide rate among Japanese students.  On page 127, paragraphs 10 and 12, some will wonder who is being referred to as "Bishop." Finally, students may wonder why the author of the article raises no questions or presents no opposing evidence. 

                As for the last column, students will learn to make a conscious separation of their own inferences from those found in the article itself.  Some will not find much to place in this column, taking the article at its face value.  Others will note the favorable slant of the article as indicated by the use of such words as ironically, enormously, striking, slack off, etc.  They might notice that inferences are often made even before the evidence is discussed, and that in general the article is more persuasive than informative.  They may discover that there are no dissenting opinions.  Some students will comment that their reading shows the economists (and perhaps the journalist) are clearly committed to standardized tests and less money for public schools, but the facts given do not seem to support these conclusions and these alone.  Some may conclude that if they had read the article as quickly as they usually read, they would not have realized how little concrete information was given to support the conclusions offered.

INFERENCES AND THE STUDY OF LITERATURE

Once students can recognize the nature of inferences, they have a new tool for understanding literature. As the reading of “The Stone Boy” so well illustrates, a whole literary work can be analyzed in terms of supplied information versus and omitted information left to the reader's imagination. With this awareness in mind, the student begins to appreciate the skill and craft required of an author who must decide what information to supply, what to suggest, and what to withhold. He or she will also begin to notice author strategies for guiding the reader into making correct or incorrect inferences. Awareness of a work of literature as a game crafted for mental engagement adds a new dimension to literary appreciation. The reader can thus become a conscious rather than manipulated participant. Literary criticism thus extends to noting how what is not said is just as important as remembering what is said. If you find your students enlivened by this approach to stories, this could be a good time to bring in some poetry where this interchange can be even more crucial. Haiku poems illustrate this principle most effectively through their presentation of a few images with undefined meanings. They can evoke long flights of inferences in the reader's mind. The most moving aspect of the haiku can be the drama inferred between the lines. Consider, for instance, the following haiku:

We’d never see White herons in morning snow If they had no voices.                               Chiyo (1703–75)

This autumn morning I stare into the mirror At my father’s face.        Murakami Kijo (1865–1938)

Piercing cold under my foot My dead wife’s comb There on the bedroom floor.          Taniguchi Buson (1715–83)

CHAPTER CONVERGENT QUESTIONS TEST

1.      Define an inference with examples.

2.      Why is it important to distinguish inferences from facts? Give an example from your own experience, or use the story of Archimedes in the problem-solving series.

3.      What are generalizations? Through what mental process do we arrive at them? Give an example.

CHAPTER THOUGHT QUESTIONS TEST

1.      The fairness of jury trials depends upon the jurors’ ability to differentiate facts from inferences. Yet who tests the jurors to find out whether they truly understand the difference? A 1976 mock jury trial study of 96 Kansas State University students found that the majority (71.4 percent) confused the two, tending to remember statements that implied facts as being factual. For example, when they heard “I ran up to the burglar alarm,” they inferred that meant I rang the burglar alarm. And when they heard “The hungry python caught the mouse,” they concluded the mouse had been eaten.

          This study does not prove that such confusion typifies U.S. jurors. Nevertheless, if it were to be proven, what recommendations would you make to remedy this tendency? Make at least three suggestions and explain each with an example. (For more information about this Kansas State study, see Richard J. Harris, R. Ros Teske, and Martha J. Ginns “Memory for Pragmatic Implications from Courtroom Testimony,” Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society 6, 1975: 494–96.)

2.        Study the Doonesbury cartoon on p. 123. Do you think Trudeau is being fair to the students? What is he telling us about thinking, learning, and traditional college education?

 3.   Explain what’s so funny––and not so funny––about the two chapter cartoons by John Heine.

REVIEW TEST ON PART ONE

Rate each of the following statements as true or false. If you decide the answer is false, rewrite it to make it true.

_______ 1.     People never agree on subjective feelings.

_______ 2.     Some “facts” that laymen often take for granted, as in the fields of physics and mathematics, are considered only to be “probability statements” by scientists in these fields.

_______ 3.     Stipulative definitions are found in dictionaries.

_______ 4.     Solomon Asch demonstrated that group pressure does not affect perception.

_______ 5.     News on American television shows us true reality.

_______ 6.     In “The Blind Men and the Elephant,” none of the blind men realized he was confusing the part of the elephant he could touch with the whole of the elephant.

_______ 7.     The ability to distinguish facts from inferences is basic to critical thinking.

_______ 8.     A characteristic of facts is that they can be verified.

_______ 9.     Facts are determined by thinking rather than by observing.

______ 10.     People tend to feel uncomfortable and isolated when they cannot get others to agree with what they think is real.

______ 11.     Subjective feelings such as excitement are not facts.

______ 12.     A knowledge of etymology can help us understand the history of root ideas behind a word and thus perhaps lead us to a clearer interpretation of its meaning.

______ 13.     There are no guidelines for determining what is factual and what is not.

______ 14.     People can argue in circles when they use words left undefined.

______ 15.     Interpretations are a form of inferences.

______ 16.     Generalizations are not inferences.

______ 17.     Understanding cartoons sometimes means waiting for an experience of insight.

______ 18.     Perceiving is closer to thinking than sensing.

______ 19.     Accurate observing requires discipline over our mind’s tendency to label, categorize, file, and dismiss.

______ 20.     Describing ordinary everyday objects can be extraordinarily difficult.  

Supplementary REVIEW  Test on Part One

Rate each of the following statements as true or false. If you decide an answer is false, rewrite or reword it to make it true.

                  1.     All feelings are subjective and therefore get in the way of obtaining true facts.

                  2.     Four standards that we use for determining facts are verifiability, reliability, plausibility, and subjectivity.

                  3.     Psychologically we seek others to confirm our perceptions before we really believe them.

                  4.     Facts have to be stated with precise language.

                  5.     Facts are one thing; our inferences, interpretations, or conclusions about them are another.

                  6.     “The Blind Men and the Elephant” is a fable that shows how we can distort reality to make it conform to our expectations.

                  7.     Television tells us what is real and true and what is not.

                  8.     Facts can be determined by observing.

                  9.     Feelings, when consciously observed, can give us valuable factual information.

               10.     A knowledge of etymology can help us understand the history of root ideas behind a word.

               11.     There are no guidelines for determining what is factual and what is not.

               12.     Facts are not absolutes but statements of probability.

               13.     When Humpty Dumpty  said that when he uses a word it means what he chooses it to mean, he was offering a persuasive definition.

               14.     Definitions of words involve the term, its class, and its characteristics.

               15.     When we clear up the definitions of words unclear to us, we also clarify our thinking.

               16.     Understanding cartoons sometimes means waiting for an experience of insight.

               17.     Thinking is a mental process quite different from sensing.

               18.     Accurate, perceptive observing requires discipline.

               19.     Inferences built on top of inferences can lead thinking astray unless each inference is checked against the facts.

           _20. Describing something simple and ordinary can nevertheless challenge our vocabulary.