Critical thinking tools for taking charge of your learning and your life 3rd edition paul test bank

Chapter One

Become a Fair-minded Thinker
In the first chapter, we emphasize the importance of fairmindedness, the basis of what we call
“strong sense” critical thinking. We do this to underscore the inherent danger of skilled but
unethical thinking, thinking that serves selfish interests and motivations at the expense of the
rights and needs of others. We hope that as students begin to substantially understand critical
thinking, they come to understand it in a “strong-sense” or fair-minded way, and conceive their
own development as thinkers accordingly.
We focus on the following key concepts:



“weak sense” versus “strong sense” critical thinking
the following essential intellectual traits:
 fair-mindedness
 intellectual arrogance
 intellectual humility
 intellectual courage






intellectual empathy
intellectual integrity
intellectual perseverance
confidence in reason
intellectual autonomy

All the “Think for Yourself” activities in this chapter are designed to help students begin to
understand essential intellectual traits (virtues of mind) and to recognize the intellectual work
required to develop them.

Chapter Two

The First Four Stages of Development:
At What Level of Thinking Would You Place Yourself?


This chapter is designed to help students begin to understand the first four stages of critical
thinking development and to recognize, provisionally, the stage they are in. In our experience
students, and people in general, tend to rank themselves more highly when first introduced to this
stage theory than they do after they have done the intellectual work that advancing through the
stages requires. It is not useful to try to persuade students to rank themselves lower than they
initially do. Hopefully, their own experience and insight will develop as the course proceeds and
they will then freely revise their early estimates.
The key concept of “the stages of critical thinking development” is the focus of this chapter:
 Stage One: The Unreflective Thinker (we are unaware of significant problems in our
thinking)
 Stage Two: The Challenged Thinker (we become aware of problems in our thinking)
 Stage Three: The Beginning Thinker (we try to improve but without regular practice)
 Stage Four: The Practicing Thinker (we recognize the necessity of regular practice)
 Stage Five: The Advanced Thinker (we advance in accordance with our practice)
 Stage Six: The Accomplished Thinker (skilled & insightful thinking become second nature to
us)
In this chapter, the “Think for Yourself” activities are designed to:
1. foster a beginning understanding of the first four stages of critical thinking development, and
2. help students design a beginning game plan for developing as thinkers.

PREFACE and INTRODUCTION
MULTIPLE CHOICE
Essay question: Before reading this chapter, answer these questions: To this point how have you
thought about the role of thinking in your life? To what extent do you understand your thinking
or how it is influencing the way you live your life?
question 1.According to the authors, you are what you ________.
answer a. eat
answer b. earn
answer c. desire
answer d. think
question 2. For most people, thinking is _______.
answer a. subconscious
answer b. rare
answer c. usually explicitly stated
answer d. deliberate
question: 3. _______ causes problems, wastes time, wastes energy, and causes frustration and
pain in all areas of life.
answer a. Skilled thinking
answer b. Poor thinking
answer c. Poor paying job
answer d. Personal control of thinking
4. The following are examples of _______: self-knowledge, knowledge of how one’s own mind
works, and knowledge of how and why we think as we do.
answer a. natural learning
answer b. inward learning
answer c. making a hell of heaven
answer d. an inevitable process
question: 5. What can critical thinking do for you?
i. Be added on to everything else

ii. Provide tools of the mind for college and life
iii. Improve reasoning through short and long term goals.
answer a.
answer b.
answer c.
answer d.

i and iii
ii and iii
I and ii
all of the above


question: 6. _______ is spontaneous and non-reflective and often includes indiscriminate use of
insight, prejudice, truth and error, and good and bad reasoning.
answer a. First order thinking
answer b. Second order thinking
answer c. Reflective thinking
answer d. Empathetic thinking
question: 7. After her freshman year of college, when the anticipated social life and parties did
not fulfill her original impression of college, Sara began to change her purposes for being a
student, She consciously began to analyze, assess, and reconstruct her purpose and goals. Sara
was using
answer a. First order thinking
answer b. Second order thinking
answer c. Intellectual cowardice
answer d. Outward learning
ANSWER KEY TO PREFACE AND INTRODUCTION
1:D
2:A

3:B
4:B
5:B
6:A
7:B
CHAPTER 1 BECOMING A FAIR-MINDED THINKER
MULTIPLE CHOICE
Essay question: what is your concept of a fair-minded thinker? Can you think of ways in which
you have acted in a fair-minded manner, or in which you have failed to exhibit this trait? Focus
on one situation in which you acted unfairly – how might you change your behavior to act more
fairly in a similar situation?
question 1. All of the following are traits of strong sense critical thinking
EXCEPT:
answer a. capable of exposing masters of intellectual games who gain something at the expense
of the well-being of innocent people.
answer b. capable of winning arguments through sophistry and rhetoric.
answer c. capable of using intellectual courage in arguing publicly against unethical thinking.
answer d. capable of higher-level fair-mindedness.
question 2. A typical weak sense critical thinking high school or college student probably would
answer a. not be too concerned about grades.
answer b. take coursework very seriously
answer c. examine deep issues related to subject matter.


answer d. get high grades by cramming just before an exam.
3. You are in a heated discussion with your close friend concerning the teaching of evolution in
science classes in high school curriculums. You are an ardent creationist who passionately and
eloquently argues your point.
Even though you vehemently disagree with the opposing point of view, you force yourself to
listen to your friend’s defense of the merits of teaching evolutionary theory in public schools.

You try to accurately represent your friend’s view in your own mind.
You are using
answer a. intellectual empathy.
answer b. intellectual perseverance
answer c. intellectual humility
answer d. intellectual integrity

question 4.Which of the following is NOT a critical thinking trait?
answer a. intellectual autonomy
answer b. intellectual perseverance
answer c. intellectual conformity
answer d. intellectual humility
question 5. When one thinks independently without being blindly influenced by others, (s)he is
practicing
answer a. intellectual integrity
answer b. unreflective thinking
answer c. intellectual autonomy
answer d. intellectual arrogance
question 6. One of your roommates is playing music loudly while you are trying to study. You
ask him to turn the music down but he refuses. You start yelling at him and throw your shoe
across the room at him. You are using
answer a. egocentric thinking
answer b. intellectual empathy
answer c. academic sophistry
answer d. intellectual humility
question7. When one practices what one preaches, and one’s beliefs are consistent with one’s
actions, (s)he is practicing
answer a. intellectual humility
answer b. intellectual integrity
answer c. intellectual confidence in reason

answer d. intellectual hypocrisy

assignment: Match the intellectual trait on the left with its opposite on the right.


Intellectual Autonomy
Intellectual Integrity
Intellectual Humility
Intellectual Empathy
Intellectual Courage
Intellectual Perseverance
Intellectual Sense of Justice
Intellectual Confidence in Reason
Intellectual Fair-mindedness

Arrogance
Intellectual Cowardice
Intellectual Conformity
Intellectual Self-Centeredness
Intellectual Hypocrisy
Intellectual Egocentrism
Intellectual Laziness
Intellectual Disregard of Justice
Intellectual Distrust of Reason

Correct:
Intellectual Autonomy; Intellectual Conformity
Intellectual Integrity; Intellectual Hypocrisy
Intellectual Humility; Arrogance
Intellectual Empathy; Intellectual Self-Centeredness

Intellectual Courage; Intellectual Cowardice
Intellectual Perseverance; Intellectual Laziness
Intellectual Sense of Justice; Intellectual Disregard of Justice
Intellectual Confidence in Reason; Intellectual Distrust of Reason
Intellectual Fair-mindedness; Intellectual Egocentrism
ANSWER KEY CHAPTER 1:
1:B
2:D
3:A
4:C
5:C
6:A
7:B

Chapter 2
Essay question: what is the significance of the stage theory presented in this chapter? In what
ways does it help you assess your own level of development? What is the essence of the
difference between each stage? What does this imply for improvement in critical thinking and
thinking generally?
question 1. The third stage in the six stages of development of critical thinking is the
answer a. beginner thinker stage
answer b. advanced thinker stage
answer c. unreflective thinker stage
answer d. challenged thinker stage
question 2. Improvement in thinking may be compared to improvement in
basketball, in playing the guitar, or in dance because


answer a. we always work harder at things we enjoy
answer b. we are all natural athletes and musicians

answer c. it is easy to change one’s habits
answer d. it is unlikely to take place without a conscious commitment
question 3. We can expect to be at the advanced thinker stage by time we
complete a course using Critical Thinking - Tools for Taking Charge of Your
Learning and Your Life textbook by Richard Paul and Linda Elder.
answer a. True
answer b. False
answer c. Only if we attend 80% or more of the classes
answer d. We can probably reach this pinnacle by mid-term.
question 4: In the unreflective thinking stage, common characteristics
include all but the following:
answer a. We lack intellectual traits but we are not aware that we do not
possess them.
answer b. We fail to notice how self-centered and prejudiced we are.
answer c. We become aware of problems in our thinking.
answer d. We stereotype others.

question 5. Bess has devised a game plan to improve her thinking skills.
She consciously strives to use even small blocks of time productively; she also tries to internalize
one intellectual standard each week, and keeps a journal. Which stage of critical thinking
development is Bess in?
answer a. Beginning thinking stage
answer b. Unreflective thinking stage
answer c. Practicing thinking stage
answer d. Challenged thinking stage
question 6. One trap that derails beginning critical thinkers is _________, believing that truth is
acquired through some predetermined, nonintellectual faith.
answer a. unreflective thinking
answer b. intellectual empathy
answer c. dogmatic absolutism

answer d. intellectual autonomy
ANSWER KEY CHAPTER 2
1:A
2:D
3:B
4:C
5:C
6:C