Critical Thinking

Concrete operational thinking –

Piaget’s stage of preadolescent cognition that focuses on only one aspect of an issue or idea

versus

Applied Reasoning –

The capacity for abstract – poetic - indirect mental concepts and process, not experienced through obvious logic

and complex thinking – perceive multiple aspects of an issue or idea

Dualistic Thinking – device/tool to conceptualize the blended gradations of the two poles with the Cognitive tendency to see situations and issues in polarized, absolute, black-and-white terms

Reflective Judgment - First

The capacity to evaluate the accuracy and logical coherence of evidence and arguments

Hypothetical-deductive reasoning – Second

Piaget’s term for the process by which the formal operational thinker systematically tests possible solutions to a problem

and arrives at an answer that can be defended and explained.

Dialectical Thought - Third

Type of thinking that develops in emerging adulthood, involving a growing awareness that most problems do not have a single solution

and that problems must often be addressed with crucial pieces of information missing

Multiple Thinking - Third

Cognitive approach entailing recognition that there is more than one legitimate view of things and that it can be difficult to justify one position as the true or accurate one

Relativism - Third

Cognitive ability to recognize the legitimacy of competing points of view

but also compare the relative merits of competing views

Commitment - Finally

Cognitive status in which persons commit themselves to certain points of view that they believe to be the most valid while at the same time being open to reevaluating their views if new evidence is presented to them 

 

Reference:  Arnett, J. J. (2012). Adolescence and emerging adulthood: A cultural approach. Pearson College Division.