Concepts of critical thinking and psychological type are reviewed. An instrument that has gained wide acceptance for evaluating individual preferences is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). Four dimensions of the MBTI that can also be considered learning preferences, with their associated contrasting preferences, are: (1) orientation toward…

A combination of information integration methodology and measures of retention was used to investigate how subjects differentially attend to and weight information in judgmental tasks. Subjects were shown sets of test scores for hypothetical students and were asked to rate the performance of each student or predict each student's performance on a…

Describes four experiments conducted among adults and 3- to 7-year-olds to validate a task analysis that indicates that the equality, group enhancement, and superiority social decisions require a greater information processing load than the altruism, rivalry, and individualism social decisions. (HOD)

The intention of this article is to focus on why students' preferences should be considered an integral part of the total evaluation of the inquiry approach and how students' preferences can be ascertained. (Author/RK)

Recommends a revision of the traditional method for teaching history, so that students view facts as the starting point, from which they learn to classify, examine, and evaluate historical events. Suggests activities and projects for implementation of this teaching method. (LS)

Presents results of study investigating cognitive strategies involved in the Kohs Block Design test. Reports that the study's purposes were to improve the distinction between syncretic and analytic strategies, match strategies with field dependence level, and assess metacognitive skills. Discusses findings of three strategies: syncretic, analytic,…

The psychology of personality has always attempted to define the individual in relation to normative data. However, personality theory should be attempting to define individuals from an interactive measurement model, examining the individual in terms of his own subjective impressions about what he does, with a conception of what he does not do.…

Research on teacher thinking has established a place for itself within the international educational research enterprise. What is not so clear is how studies of teacher thinking may be of use in improving the quality of teacher preparation programs. This paper promotes a consultant role for researchers on teacher thinking in relation to teacher…

This book presents six alternative teacher evaluation approaches in six chapters. Each contributor was directed to respond to an identical stage-setting stimulus; then the chapter was immediately relayed to a public school practitioner who was asked to supply a "from-the-field" reaction. The reactions follow each chapter under the heading, "From…

The process of introducing students to alternative approaches and giving them the opportunity to debate their views about a work in order to develop critical thinking skills can start in the elementary school grades. George Hillocks' seven-level hierarchy represents an appropriate scheme by which teachers can sequentially move students to higher…

This paper develops a comprehensive and coordinated strategy for teaching critical reading and rational decision-making skills to college students. Five skills are identified as essential for developing sound reasoning processes: (1) developing an objective viewpoint, (2) identifying and clarifying an evaluative statement--the difference between…

Sixty-five female undergraduate students who were either standing or reclining listened to a tape-recorded counterattitudinal speech containing either strong or weak arguments. Their evaluations revealed a significant interaction between posture (standing or reclining) and quality of arguments (strong or weak) on a measure of attitude change.…

Two samples, the first consisting of 13 and 16-year-olds and adults, the second consisting of children from kindergarten, second and sixth grades, are interviewed to measure the cognitive processes used to evaluate the credibility of television content. Additional goals include measuring the relationship between the use of these cognitive…

Tasks graded in terms of fluency, flexibility, originality, and elaboration of responses were administered to fourth graders in order to identify relationships between these measures of creativity, intelligence, and evaluation skills. With intelligence controlled, the relationship between creative thinking scores and evaluation ability was near…

This article discusses the importance of emotions in human life and how emotions can be brought under rational assessment and evaluated in relation to worthwhile educational goals. (JD)