ERIC Number: EJ823721
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2008-Nov
Pages: 12
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0022-0663
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Heuristics and Biases as Measures of Critical Thinking: Associations with Cognitive Ability and Thinking Dispositions
West, Richard F.; Toplak, Maggie E.; Stanovich, Keith E.
Journal of Educational Psychology, v100 n4 p930-941 Nov 2008
In this article, the authors argue that there are a range of effects usually studied within cognitive psychology that are legitimately thought of as aspects of critical thinking: the cognitive biases studied in the heuristics and biases literature. In a study of 793 student participants, the authors found that the ability to avoid these biases was moderately correlated with a more traditional laboratory measure of critical thinking--the ability to reason logically when logic conflicts with prior belief. The correlation between these two classes of critical thinking skills was not due to a joint connection with general cognitive ability because it remained statistically significant after the variance due to cognitive ability was partialed out. Measures of thinking dispositions (actively open-minded thinking and need for cognition) predicted unique variance in both classes of critical thinking skills after general cognitive ability had been controlled.
Descriptors: Heuristics, Critical Thinking, Cognitive Psychology, Thinking Skills, Cognitive Ability, Correlation, Logical Thinking, Bias, Predictor Variables
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Opinion Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
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Author Affiliations: N/A