" Kurland (1995).
Personally, I believe that critical thinking is the individual's ability to chart and guide his or her own thinking. It's the same as being the "master of your own destiny- when it comes to the cognitive process. In order to accomplish this one must first develop sound criteria and standards for analyzing and assessing his/her thinking. The following are the attributes that I believe a critical thinker must possess:.
The willingness to spend time reflecting on the ideas and problems.
The ability to evaluate and solve problems logical thinkers .
The diligence to uncover the truth .
The eagerness to express their thoughts on a topic .
The ability to research alternative views on a topic .
The ability to be open to new ideas that may not necessarily agree with their previous thought on a topic .
The ability to base their judgments on ideas and evidence .
The ability to recognize errors in thought and persuasion as well as to recognize good arguments .
The willingness to take a critical stance on issues .
The ability to ask penetrating and thought-provoking questions to evaluate ideas .
The capability to be in touch with their personal thoughts and ideas about a topic .
The willingness to reassess their views when new or discordant evidence is introduced and evaluated .
The ability to identify arguments and issues .
The ability to see connections between topics and use knowledge from other disciplines to enhance their reading and learning experiences.
Decision Making.
Decision-making is the process in which the individual uses their critical thinking skills to complete the following: evaluate the details of the problem, find out how much planning should go into the solution based on urgency of the situation and the time it will take to act upon the decision, implements a decision based on these processes, and monitors and measures the results of the decision.
For decision making to be effective, the individual must know their critical thinking process completely.
