The attitudes of cognitively complex subjects were not more likely to polarize after thought. No differences between complex and noncomplex subjects were obtained with the original set, and with the replication set noncomplex subjects were more likely to polarize. Results suggest limitations on the generality of polarization. (Author)

Causes of evaluator bias are: overemphasizing concrete, salient, and retrievable information; reporting only evidence which confirms hypothesis; focusing on stable personality factors, rather than on situation and environment; developing positive perceptions of a program as both an evaluator and a highly involved participant; statistical naivete;…

Four experiments investigated college students' judgments of inter-event contingency. Subjects were asked to judge the effect of a discrete response (tapping a wire) on the occurrence of a brief outcome (a radio's buzzing). Pairings of the possible event-state combinations were presented in a summary table, an unbroken time line, or a broken time…

Social theories (beliefs about relationships between variables in the social environment) are often used in making judgments, predictions, or decisions. Three experiments on the role of explanation processes in the development and use of social theories were conducted. The first experiment assessed the effects of explaining a hypothetical…

The hypothesis that high critical thinkers, who rely on plausibility estimates, would be more accurate in rejecting inappropriate inferences than low critical thinkers, who rely on direct matching, was investigated. The supposition that high critical thinkers would suffer more often from a failure to differentiate appropriate inferences from…

Three modules designed to teach creative problem solving are included. Although prepared for mathematics teachers, the situations used are non-mathematical. The modules are entitled "Application of Deferred Judgment,""Recognizing the Real Problem," and "Developing the Solution." Instructor's guides for all modules are included together with the…

The "principle of confrontation," rather than traditional systems of logic (induction and deduction), should be employed to determine the reliability and utility of arguments. The principle of confrontation relies on the premise that the validity of any statement may be tested by subjecting it to the "risk of disconfirmation" (criticism by…

Two experiments examined the determinants of children's belief or disbelief of statements made to them by other children. In both, the personal characteristics of the child transmitting the message were varied against message type and age of child receiving the message; transmitter characteristics were relative age and social dominance. (RH)

It is proposed that the various classes of a priori knowledge incorporated in heuristic reasoning processes exert a strong influence over architectural design activity. Some design problems require exercise of some provisional set of rules, inference, or plausible strategy which requires heuristic reasoning. A case study illustrates this concept.…

Describes characteristics of critical thinking and the relationship of critical thinking skills to a disposition toward critical thought. Reviews the California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory, a research instrument designed to measure several elements of student critical thinking skills. Highlights findings from a study of college…

Cognitive psychologists believe that knowledge is multifaceted and that people process more than just semantic content from a stimulus array. To investigate the implications of recall and impression formation processing objectives on the representation of serial order in memory and judgment, subjects participated in two recall and impression…

Female aging, compared to male aging, is associated with a greater decline in status and attractiveness. To investigate whether sex differences in the perception of aging function at both the cognitive and affective levels, 76 college students (38 male, 38 female), with a mean age of 22.8, viewed slides of a male and female adult. Subjects were…

This book discusses critical thinking--what it is, how it can be learned, and how it can be made a functional part of public school teaching. Part one, "A Concept of Critical Thinking," explores critical thinking and classroom teaching, as well as language, language usage, and definition, and provides a "range definition" of critical thinking.…