Critical Thinking Terms D - F

Question 1

Facts, figures, or information from which conclusions can be inferred, or upon which interpretations or theories can be based.

Answer 1

DATA

Question 2

Thinking within more than one perspective (dialogical thinking), conducted to test the strengths and weaknesses of opposing points of view.

Answer 2

DIALECTICAL THINKING

Question 3

Thinking that involves a dialogue or extended exchange between different points of view or frames of reference.

Answer 3

DIALOGICAL THINKING

Question 4

Teaching by telling. the teacher directly tells the student what to believe and think about a subject.

Answer 4

DIDACTIC INSTRUCTION

Question 5

Different modes of thinking determined by their fundamental purposes and agendas.

Answer 5

DOMAINS OF THOUGHT

Question 6

The irrational tendency of the mind to seek what it wants through the irrational use of direct control or power over people.

Answer 6

DOMINATING EGO

Question 7

A tendency to view everything in relationship to oneself, to confuse immediate perception (how things seem) with reality; the tendency to be self-centered, or to consider only oneself and one’s own interests; selfishness.

Answer 7

EGOCENTRICITY

Question 8

A universal set of components of thinking, each of which can be monitored for quality. These are: purpose, question, point of view, assumptions, inferences, implications, concepts, and information.

Answer 8

ELEMENTS OF THOUGHT

Question 9

A feeling aroused to the point of awareness, often a strong feeling or state of excitement.

Answer 9

EMOTION

Question 10

Relying or based on experiment, observation, or experience rather than on theory or meaning.

Answer 10

EMPIRICAL

Question 11

That which follows from a situation or fact, not resulting from the logic of language but, rather, from experience or scientific law.

Answer 11

EMPIRICAL IMPLICATION

Question 12

Thinking-through ethical problems and issues.

Answer 12

ETHICAL REASONING

Question 13

A tendency to view one’s own race or culture as privileged, based on the deep-seated belief that one’s own group is superior to all others.

Answer 13

ETHNOCENTRICITY

Question 14

To judge or determine the worth or quality of something.

Answer 14

EVALUATE

Question 15

The data on which a judgment or conclusion might be based or by which proof or probability might be established.

Answer 15

EVIDENCE

Question 16

Stated openly and directly; distinctly expressed; definite. The term is applied to that which is so clearly stated or distinctly set forth that there is no doubt as to its meaning.

Answer 16

EXPLICIT

Question 17

What actually happened, what is true; verifiable by empirical means; distinguished from interpretation, inference, judgment, or conclusion; the raw data.

Answer 17

FACT

Question 18

Treating both or all sides alike without reference to one’s own feelings or interests; implies adhering to a standard of rightness or lawfulness without reference to one’s own inclinations.

Answer 18

FAIR

Question 19

A cultivated disposition of mind that enables the thinker to treat all perspectives relevant to an issue in an objective manner. It implies being conscious of the need to treat all viewpoints alike without reference to one’s own feelings or selfish interests, or the feelings or selfish interests of one’s friends, community, or nation.

Answer 19

FAIR-MINDEDNESS

Question 20

(1) Blind belief that does not require proof or evidence; (2) complete confidence, trust, or reliance.

Answer 20

FAITH

Question 21

Confidence that in the long run one’s own higher interests and those of humankind at large will best be served by giving the freest play to reason—by encouraging people to come to their own conclusions through a process of developing their own rational faculties; confidence that, with proper encouragement and cultivation, people can learn to think for themselves, form rational viewpoints, draw reasonable conclusions, think coherently and logically, persuade each other by reason, and become reasonable, despite the deep-seated obstacles in the native character of the human mind and in society.

Answer 21

FAITH IN REASON

Question 22

An error in reasoning, a flaw or defect in argument; an argument that doesn’t conform to rules of good reasoning (especially an argument that appears to be sound); containing or based on a fallacy; deceptive in appearance or meaning; misleading; delusive.

Answer 22

FALLACY/FALLACIOUS