Difference between revisions of "Critical Thinking Study Guide"
From Alfino
Jump to navigationJump to searchLine 113: | Line 113: | ||
::2 Multiple regression analysis | ::2 Multiple regression analysis | ||
− | |||
− | # Measure - quantification of some aspect of our experience. Numeric representation in "data point" | + | ### Measure - quantification of some aspect of our experience. Numeric representation in "data point" |
− | # Baseline - standard of comparison for interpreting | + | ### Baseline - standard of comparison for interpreting |
Reading: | Reading: |
Revision as of 23:26, 11 December 2010
Return to Critical Thinking
Mid-term covers 1st, 2nd, and part of 4th disciplines and associated readings in handbook and reader.
Note: On concepts be sure to be able to identify, define, and explain the significance of each concept.
1st Discipline: Reflective Voice
- Five Disciplines of Thought -- know all five, by heart!
1. reflective voice 2. reconstruction 3. critical response 4. recognizing knowledge 5. seeing complexity
- Terms: Rationales, arguments, explanations, claim, premise, conclusion, reflective/deliberative context. (p. 3)
• Rationales: any speech or writing which includes at least one reason for a related conclusion • Arguments: reasons offered for a conclusion to help decide whether to believe the conclusion; doubt in the conclusion • Explanations: reasons offered for a claim helps understand how some fact or situation came to be; no doubt in the conclusion but not positive in the claims • Claim: every reason, premise, or conclusion • Premise: a proposition supporting or helping to support a conclusion • Conclusion: a proposition concluded or inferred from the premises of an argument • Reflective/deliberate context: situations in which rationales are discussed or thought about
- Thinking in Stereo: what is it, what questions are asked at each level.
“Thinking about thinking” The mind thinking, the object being thought about, and my thoughts about “how I am thinking about the object” Am I focusing on the right aspects or issues? Am I reasoning clearly about the topic? When does a way of thinking provide a good reason for believing something? When am I justified in expressing absolute certainty about something?
- Cognitive Bias: 1 Anchoring, 2 Framing, 3 Fundamental attribution error, 4 Confirmation bias,
a. Anchoring- overvaluing a specific piece of information b. Framing- how you “set up” or “frame” a situation will have an effect on how it is perceived by others c. Fundamental attribution error- natural tendency to explain people’s behavior using dispositional or intentional terms and concepts rather than situational ones d. Confirmation bias- tendency to look at new information in a way that fits our preconceptions about what we already think must be true
- Thought Experiment for finding reflective ideals: What do you need to count on when you begin a serious discussion with someone? What specific values and expectations should one have? What mutual obligations follow? p. 12 and following.
- Reflective ideals: sympathetic understanding, seeking knowledge, inviting appraisal.
Questions on Readings:
- Haidt: How does basic information about the human brain help us thinking about the nature of thought?
- Stanovich: Look at specific thinking "puzzles" Stanovich consider, but also try to state his general point.
- Gopnik: How does Gopnik want us to think about thinking? What's her evidence?
2nd Discipline: Reconstruction
- Theory of Rationales - basic defintion of a rationale, distinction between argument and explanation.
- Distinguishing argument and explanation (skill of identification from exercise set "Distinguishing Argument from Explanation).
- 3 Criteria for Good Reconstruction.
- Reconstruction (skill) Might have a short argument to reconstruct. (Not Fall 2010)
- Distinguishing Deductive and Inductive arguments. (skill) also, give definitions and compare. (Handbook topic: "Logical Structure in Deductive and Inductive Reasoning")
- How do you show logical structure in deductive arguments? in inductive? in explanation? (Handbook topic: "Deductive Argument Forms" "Inductive Argument Forms", and "Form in Explanations".)
- Identify and give examples of basic deductive argument forms and formal fallacies.
- Validity. (esp. relation to truth.) Can a valid argument have a false conclusion? In a valid argument is the conclusion always true?
- Basic inductive patterns and inductive analogies.
- Understand discussion of "Why Mars is Red" in "Form in Explanation"
Reading:
- Gladwell: Why is it so hard to offer cross cultural explanations of people's drinking behavior?
3rd Discipline: Critical Response
- 3 Techniques for assessing rationales. (skill)
- What is critical response?
- What is the difference between assessing rationales and giving a critical response?
- Ad hominem fallacy
- What factors should you consider in preparing a critical response to someone's rationales?
- Identify some of the ways that critical response discussions can wrong.
4th Discipline: Recognizing Knowledge
- What does it mean to call some information authoritative in the everyday sense? in the academic sense?
- What is the "peer review" process and how does it contribute to the recognition of knowledge?
- What does is mean to define knowledge as "justified, true belief"?
- What is the difference between "knowledge by discovery" and "knowledge by interpretation"?
- Causation: what is it. What did Hume say about it? How did Mill prepare the way for modern statistics?
- Concepts in causation and correlation: independent variable, explanatory variable, dependent variable, response variable, strength of correlation, direct and inverse relationships, linear regression and multiple regression analysis.
Reading:
Rich, "For Whom the Cell Tolls"
- Why is it hard to determine whether cell phones cause brain tumors?
Schick & Vaughn, "Science and It's Pretenders"
- Give a general characterization of science based on this reading.
- What point is being made by the author's claim that, "All of the data upon which the atomic theory rests, however, can be described without mentioning atoms."
- Learn the story of Benjamin Franklin and blind testing.
- Study the criteria of adequacy for scientific hypotheses.
- What does it mean to say that we only test scientific hypotheses in bundles?
- What is phlogiston?
- Quantitative Information in Knowledge Claims
- 1 What is a measure?
- 2 Baseline
- 3 Percentages and rates
- 4 Linear vs. Non-linear relationships
- 5 Surveys
- 6 Probability
- 1 Definition,
- 2 Gambler's fallacy,
- 3 Predictive dreams
- 4 SI jinx
- 7 Causation
- 1 Regression analysis
- 2 Multiple regression analysis
- Measure - quantification of some aspect of our experience. Numeric representation in "data point"
- Baseline - standard of comparison for interpreting
Reading:
Silberman, "Placebos are Getting Better"
- Why does Silberman think placebos are getting better?
- What explanations are offered for this phenomenon?
Groopman, "The Plastic Panic"
- Summarize the main evidence for and against the claim that BPA is a dangerous chemical
Sevilla, "Probability" Chapters 18 and 19
- Major concepts: random process, sample space, event, sampling with/without replacement, probability, disjoint events, conditional probability, independent events.
- Skills: Determine the probability of an event from a table of data, determine the conditional probability of an event from a two-way table.
5th Discipline: Seeing Complexity
- 1. Simplification as part of knowledge production
- 2. Systems, complex systems, chaotic systems (links, nodes, degrees of separation)
- 3. Coupling, buffering, feedback loops
- 4. degrees of separation
- 5. Konigsburg bridge problem
- 6. Baltimore syphilis epidemic, Colorado Springs G. epidemic
- 7. What do good managers of complex systems do?
- 8. Thin slicing and the return of intuition
- 9. Stereotyping