Faculty of physical therapy

Scientific thinking

Third year

Prepared By

Dr. Doaa said Mahmoud ismail

Assistant professor of chemistry Curricula &Teaching methods
Faculty of education
Benha university

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 Introduction

Think for a moment: how many times and in what ways you
are using the word ‘think’ in your day-to-day conversations.
Sometimes probably, you use it as a synonym to remember (I
can’t think of her name), pay attention (think about it ) or
convey uncertainty (I think today my friend will visit me).
‘Think’ has a wide range of meanings which cover a number of
psychological processes. However, in psychology, thinking is
a core subject area with an independent existence and a
meaning of its own. In this chapter, we will discuss thinking as
a mental activity directed at solving a problem, making
inferences, judging certain facts, and deciding and choosing
between options. Further, the nature and characteristics of
creative thinking, what it involves and how it can be developed
will also be discussed.

Have you ever seen a small child building a tower with blocks
or sand? The child would build a tower, dismantle it, make
another one and so on and so forth. While doing this, the child
sometimes talks to herself or himself. The speech would
primarily include the steps s/he is following or want to follow
(“not this”, “a little small”, “a tree at the back”), evaluation of
the design (“nice”). You also might have experienced talking

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to yourself while solving a problem. Why do we talk while we
think? What is the relationship between language and thought?
In this chapter, we shall also be discussing the development of
language and the relationship between language and thought.
Before starting our discussion on thinking, it is necessary to
discuss thinking as the base of human cognition.

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 Thinking

There is nothing we do as humans that does not involve thinking. Our

thinking tells us what to believe, what to reject, what is important, what
is unimportant, what is true, what is false, who are our friends, who our
enemies are, how we should spend our time, what jobs we should
pursue, where we should live, who we should marry, how we should
parent.

Everything we know, believe, want, fear, and hope for, our thinking
tells us.

It follows, then, that the quality of our lives is primarily determined by

the quality of our thinking. Our thinking has implications for how we
go about doing literally everything we do.

The quality of your work is determined by the quality of your thinking

as you reason through the problems you face as you work. The quality
of your relationships is determined by the thinking you do in those
relationships.

Nature of thinking:

Thinking is the base of all cognitive activities or processes and is

unique to human beings. It involves manipulation and analysis of
information received from the environment. For example, while seeing
a painting, you are not simply focusing on the colour of the painting or
the lines and strokes, rather you are going beyond the given text in
interpreting its meaning and you are trying to relate the information to

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your existing knowledge. Understanding of the painting involves
creation of new meaning that is added to your knowledge. Thinking,
therefore, is a higher mental process through which we manipulate and
analyse the acquired or existing information. Such manipulation and
analysis occur by means of abstracting, reasoning, imagining, problem
solving, judging, and decision-making.

Thinking is mostly organized and goal directed. All day-to-day

activities, ranging from cooking to solving a math problem have a goal.
One desires to reach the goal by planning, recalling the steps that one
has already followed in the past if the task is familiar or inferring
strategies if the task is new. Thinking is an internal mental process,
which can be inferred from overt behaviour. If you see a chess player
engrossed in thinking for several minutes before making a move, you
cannot observe what he is thinking. You can simply infer what he was
thinking or what strategies he was trying to evaluate, from his next
move.

Some definitions of thinking are as follows:

1. Thinking is the activity of human reason as a process of

strengthening the relationship between stimulus and response.
2. Thinking is a reasonable working of various views with the
knowledge that has been stored in the mind long before the
emergence of new knowledge.
3. Thinking can be interpreted to remember something, and
questioned whether there is a relationship between what is
intended.
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 4. Thinking is processing information mentally or cognitively by
rearranging the information from the environment and the
symbols are stored in the memory of his past.
5. Thinking is a symbolic representation of some event train of ideas
in a precise and careful that began with the problem.
6. Thinking is a mental process mental representations newly
formed through the transformation of information by interaction,
attributes such as the assessment of mental abstraction, logic,
imagination and problem-solving.

Building Blocks of Thought

We already know that thinking relies on knowledge we already

possess. Such knowledge is represented either in the form of
mental images or words. People usually think by means of
mental images or words. Suppose you are travelling by road to
reach a place, which you had visited long back. You would try
to use the visual representation of the street and other places.
On the other hand, when you want to buy a storybook your
choice would depend upon your knowledge about different
authors, themes, etc. Here, your thinking is based on words or
concepts. We shall first discuss mental image and then move
on to concepts as the base of human thought.

There are a few important elements involved in the thinking process:

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1. Images:

As mental pictures consist of personal experiences of objects, persons

or situations, heard and felt. These mental pictures symbolize actual
objects, experiences and activities. In thinking, we usually manipulate
the images rather than the actual objects, experiences or activities.

2. Concepts:

A concept is a general idea that stands for a general class and represents
the common characteristics of all objects or events of this general class.
Concept, as a tool, economize the efforts in thinking, for example,
when we hear the word ‘elephant’ we are at once reminded not only
about the nature and qualities of elephant as a class but also our own
experiences and understanding of them come to the surface in our
consciousness to stimulate our thinking at that time.

3. Symbols and signs:

Symbols and signs represent and stand for substitute of the actual
objects, experiences and activities. For example, traffic lights, railway
signals, school bells, badges, songs, flags and slogans all are symbolic
expressions, they stimulate and motivate resultant thinking because
they tell us what to do or how to act.

4. Language:

Is the most efficient and developed vehicle used for carrying out the
process of thinking. When a person reads, writes or hears words or
sentences or observes gesture in any language one is stimulated to

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think. Thus, reading and writing of documents and literature also help
in stimulating and promoting the thinking process.

5. Muscular activities:

Thinking in one way or the other shows the evidence of the

involvement of some incipient movements of groups of our muscles. A
high positive relation has been found to exist for the thinking and
muscular activities of an individual. The more we engage ourselves in
thought, the greater is the general muscular tension and conversely as
we moved towards muscular relation, our thought processes gradually
diminish.

6. Brain functions:

Whatever may be the role of the muscles, thinking is primarily a

function of the brain. Our mind is said to be the chief instrument of the
thinking process. The experiences registered by our sense organs have
no meaning, and thus cannot serve as stimulating agents, or instruments
for thinking unless these impressions are received by our brain cells
and properly interpreted to derive some meaning.

The mental pictures or images can be stored, reconstructed or put to use

only on being processed by the brain. What happens in our thought
process is simply the function or product of the activities of our brain.

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 Good Thinking vs. Poor Thinking

ASPECT THE GOOD THINKER THE POOR THINKER

General Traits • Welcomes problematic • Searches for certainty

situations and is and is intolerant of

tolerant of ambiguity. ambiguity.

• Is sufficiently self- • Is not self-critical and

critical; looks for is satisfied with first

alternate possibilities attempts.

and goals;seeks • Is impulsive, gives up

evidence on both sides. prematurely, and is

• Is reflective and overconfident of the

deliberative; searches correctness of initial

extensively when ideas.

appropriate. • Overvalues intuition,

• Believes in the value of denigrates rationality;

rationality and that believes thinking won’t

thinking can be help.

effective.

Goals • Is deliberative in • Is impulsive in

discovering goals. discovering goals.

• Revises goals when • Does not revise goals.

necessary.

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 ASPECT THE GOOD THINKER THE POOR THINKER

Possibilities • Is open to multiple • Prefers to deal with

possibilities and limited possibilities;

Considers alternatives. does not seek

• Is deliberative in alternatives to an initial

analyzing possibilities possibility.

• Is impulsive in
choosing possibilities.

Evidence • Uses evidence that • Ignores evidence that

challenges favored challenges favored

possibilities. possibilities.

• Consciously searches • Consciously searches

for evidence against only for evidence that

possibilities that are favors strong

initially strong, or in possibilities.

favor of those that are

weak.

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 TYPES OF THINKING

Thinking can be classified as follows:

1. Perceptual or Concrete Thinking:

This is the simplest form of thinking the basis of this type is perception,
i.e. interpretation of sensation according to one’s experience. It is also
called concrete thinking as it is carried out on the perception of actual
or concrete objects and events.

2. Conceptual or Abstract Thinking:

Here one makes use of concepts, the generalized objects and languages,
it is regarded as being superior to perceptual thinking as it economizes
efforts in understanding and problem-solving.

3. Reflective Thinking:

This type of thinking aims in solving complex problems, thus it requires

reorganization of all the relevant experiences to a situation or removing
obstacles instead of relating with that experiences or ideas.

This is an insightful cognitive approach in reflective thinking as the

mental activity here does not involve the mechanical trial and error type
of efforts.

In this type, thinking processes take all the relevant facts arranged in a
logical order into an account in order to arrive at a solution of the
problem.

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 4. Creative Thinking:

This type of thinking is associated with one’s ability to create or

construct something new, novel or unusual. It looks for new
relationships and associations to describe and interpret the nature of
things, events and situations. Here the individual himself usually
formulates the evidences and tools for its solution. For example;
scientists, artists or inventors.

Skinner, the famous psychologist says creative thinking means that

the prediction and inferences for the individual are new, original,
ingenious and unusual. The creative thinker is one who expresses new
ideas and makes new observations, new predictions and new
inferences.

Characteristics of Creative Thinking:

A. Creative thinking, in all its shapes and forms is absolutely an

internal mental process and hence should be considered as an
important component of one’s cognitive behaviour.
B. Every one of us is capable of creative thinking and hence it is a
universal phenomenon.
C. Creative thinking results in the production of something new or
novel including a new form of arrangement of old elements.
D. Creative thinking in all its dimensions involve divergent
thinking instead of the routine and final types of convergent
thinking. The mind must have complete freedom to wander
around to create a new idea.

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 E. The field of creative thinking and its out part is quite
comprehensive and built wide. It covers all the aspects of human
accomplishments belonging to an individual’s life.
5. Critical Thinking:

It is a type of thinking that helps a person in stepping aside from his

own personal beliefs, prejudices and opinions to sort out the faiths and
discover the truth, even at the expense of his basic belief system.

Here one resorts to set higher cognitive abilities and skills for the proper
interpretation, analysis, evaluation and inference, as well as
explanation of the gathered or communicated information resulting in
a purposeful unbiased and self-regulatory judgement

6. Non-directed or Associative Thinking:

There are times when we find ourselves engaged in a unique type of

thinking which is non-directed and without goal. It is reflected through
dreaming and other free-flowing uncontrolled activities.
Psychologically these forms of thought are termed as associative
thinking.

Here day-dreaming, fantasy and delusions all fall in the category of

withdrawal behaviour that helps an individual to escape from the
demands of the real world by making his thinking face non-directed
and floating, placing him somewhere, ordering something unconnected
with his environment.

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 SCIENTIFIC THINKING

Introduction to Scientific Thinking

Are you curious about the world around you? Do you think that
seeing is believing?

When something seems too good to be true, are you critical of the
claims? If you answered yes to any of these questions, the next step in
your quest for knowledge is to learn about the methods used to
understand events and behaviors— specifically, the methods used by
scientists. Much of what you think you know is based on the methods
that scientists use to answer questions.

For example, on a typical morning you may eat breakfast because it is

“the most important meal of the day.” If you drive to school, you may
put away your cell phone because “it is unsafe to use cell phones while
driving.” At school you may attend an exam review session because
“students are twice as likely to do well if they attend the session.” In
your downtime you may watch commercials or read articles that make
sensational claims like “scientifically tested” and “clinically proven.”

At night you may get your “recommended 8 hours of sleep” so that

you have the energy you need to start a new day. All of these
decisions and experiences are related in one way or another to the
science of human behavior.

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What is the Scientific thinking?

Scientific thinking is a process of logical thinking and analysis to find

truth through certain patterns of thinking. Scientific thinking is the
process of finding truth based on certain thoughts which are marked by
two characteristics, such as being logical and analytical and using
certain logic.

Scientific thinking is also a combination of inductive and deductive

ways of thinking. Thinking activities to be able to think scientifically
by humans contain thinking skills that are structured in a particular
series.

Scientific thinking is a process of obtaining truth through facts on an

event. After finding the facts or truths contained in an event then it is
analyzed logically. So the ability to think scientifically includes the
ability to think logically, systematically, analysis, deductive, and
inductive in solving problems in an effort to find the truth.

The ability to think scientifically does not just happen to every student
but needs to be trained in order to develop properly so that students can
think logically, systematically, analysis, deductive, and inductive in
addressing every problem that occurs as part of scientific thinking.

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 Why Scientific Thinking?

The Problem:

Everyone thinks; it is our nature to do so. But much of our thinking,

left to itself, is biased, distorted, partial, uninformed, or down-right
prejudiced. Yet the quality of our life and that of what we produce,
make, or build depends precisely on the quality of our thought. Shoddy
thinking is costly, both in money and in quality of life. Excellence in
thought, however, must be systematically cultivated.

A Definition:

Scientific thinking is that mode of thinking — about any scientific

subject, content, or problem — in which the thinker improves the
quality of his or her thinking by skillfully taking charge of the structures
inherent in thinking and imposing intellectual standards upon them.

The Result:

A well cultivated scientific thinker:

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 • raises vital scientific
questions and
problems, formulating
them clearly and
precisely;
• gathers and assesses
relevant scientific data
and information, using
abstract ideas to
interpret them
effectively;

• comes to well-reasoned scientific conclusions and solutions,

testing them against relevant criteria and standards;
• thinks open mindedly within convergent systems of scientific
thought, recognizing and assessing scientific assumptions,
implications, and practical consequences; and
• communicates effectively with others in proposing solutions to
complex scientific problems.

Scientific thinking is, in short, self-directed, self-disciplined, self-

monitored, and self-corrective. It presupposes assent to rigorous
standards of excellence and mindful command of their use. It entails
effective communication and problem solving abilities as well as a
commitment to developing scientific skills, abilities, and dispositions.

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Scientific thinking

If you find a person desperately running on the railway platform, you

could infer a number of things such as: he is running to catch the train
which is about to leave, he wants to see off his friend sitting in the train
which is about to leave, he has left his bag in the train and wants to get
in before the train leaves the station. To figure out why this person is
running, you could use different kinds of reasoning, deductive or
inductive.

Deductive and Inductive Reasoning

Since your previous experience indicates that people run on the

platform to catch a train, you would conclude that this person is getting
late and is running to catch the train.

The kind of reasoning that begins with an assumption is called

deductive reasoning.

Thus deductive reasoning begins with making a general assumption

that you know or believe to be true and then drawing specific
conclusion based on this assumption. In other words, it is reasoning
from general to particular. Your general assumption is that people run
on the railway platform only when they are getting late for the train.
The man is running on the platform. Therefore, he is getting late for the
train. One mistake that you are making (and generally people do
commit such mistakes in deductive reasoning) is that you (they) assume
but do not always know if the basic statement or assumption is true. If

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the base information is not true, i.e. people also run on the platform for
other reasons then your conclusion would be invalid or wrong.

Another way to figure out why the man is running on the platform is to
use inductive reasoning. Sometimes you would analyse other possible
reasons and observe what the man is actually doing and then draw a
conclusion about his behaviour. Reasoning, that is based on specific
facts and observation, is called inductive reasoning. Inductive
reasoning is drawing a general conclusion based on particular
observation. In the earlier example, you observed the other person’s
subsequent action or actions such as: entering into the train
compartment and returning with a bag. Based on your observation you
would conclude that the person had left his bag in the train. One mistake
you would probably make here is jumping to a conclusion without
knowing all possible facts.

From the above discussion we can conclude that reasoning is the

process of gathering and analysing information to arrive at conclusions.
In this sense, reasoning is also a form of problem solving. The goal is
to determine what conclusion can be drawn from certain given
information.

Most cases of scientific reasoning are inductive in nature. Scientists and

even lay persons consider a number of instances and try to determine
what general rule covers them all. Think of yourself using your
knowledge of problem solving steps discussed earlier in planning for a
play, or conducting a project. Your inductive reasoning is being applied
here.
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Deduction (Deductive Thinking) is a type of reasoning used to test and
evaluate scientific ideas while induction is the process used to form the
ideas and generalizations. For instance, if we have a law that all objects
fall toward the ground at the same rate no matter how heavy they are,
we could test this by dropping many pairs of light and heavy objects
and measuring their speed. This test is called deduction.

Oldroyd (1986) describes the method of science and the relationship

between induction and deduction as ‘the arch of knowledge.’

The arch begins with the use of induction to form patterns,

generalizations or laws from those observations. The best
generalizations are those that contain and account for the most
observations but no generalization can be proven; they can only be
shown to be false. We may continually show that all pairs of heavy and
light objects fall toward the ground with the same speed, but this does
not prove the generalization because some future observation may not
follow this pattern. Of course, this is highly unlikely but must be
considered a possibility.

Many scientific ideas are tested using the hypothetico-deductive (H/D)

method, which is the other vital aspect of the “arch of knowledge.” H/D
begins with the proposal of a hypothesis that can be tested. In the case
of our example of falling objects, one might propose that a ball made
from a new kind of metal might fall faster than a ball of steel. The
second step includes conducting an experiment or gathering
observations to test the hypothesis. If the two balls fall at the same

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speed, the generalization is supported, but still not proved since that is
impossible in science.

The roles of induction and deduction are central to the nature of science
but the science education literature typically focuses on induction as a
knowledge generating tool while deduction is rarely mentioned.
Students should be given opportunities to use both types of reasoning
as they explore the “arch of knowledge.”

Analogy is another form of reasoning which involves four parts, A is

to B as C is to D with the relation between the first two parts being the
same as the relation between the last two. For example, water is to fish
as air is to human; white is to snow as black is to coal. Analogies can
be helpful in solving problems. They help us in identifying and
visualising the salient attributes of an object or event, which would
otherwise go unnoticed.

The Scientific Method

“There are many hypotheses in science which are wrong. That’s

perfectly all right; they’re the opening to finding out what’s right.
Science is a self-correcting process. To be accepted, new ideas must
survive the most rigorous standards of evidence and scrutiny.”
(Carl Sagan)

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At the most basic level, the scientific method is a simple, three-step
process:

1. Observation: we must first make sure we have a clear sense of the

facts surrounding the phenomenon we are investigating through
observation.

2. Explanation: we then need to introduce a set of factors (hypothesis

or theory) that account for how and why the phenomenon in question
has come into existence. This can be formulated using
causality/correlation, causal mechanisms, scientific laws, underlying
processes and functions.

3. Experimentation: the hypothesis/theory needs to be tested to either

shoot down the previously formulated explanation (falsify it) or support
it (corroborate it).

Scientific hypotheses must always be tentative and subject to further

testing and can never be regarded as finally proven. It is a reiterative
cycle where we always have to go back to the beginning, building on
previous conclusions, and challenge them again. Science is not about
finding the final truth, but about continually testing and trying to falsify
our hypotheses, until they are extremely well supported. The
hypothesis can then become a theory, which is a well-corroborated set
of hypothesis that explain a larger part of the observations about the
world.

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1: Observation

We must first make sure we have a clear sense of the facts surrounding
the phenomenon we are investigating through observation. Observation
enables us to identify and focus on the relevant facts about the
phenomenon under investigation.

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OBSERVATION PROCESS

The process of making a set of observations must be sensitive to a

number of concerns to ensure we have included all information/ data
needed:

1. Do we have a clear sense of what the relevant phenomenon is? It

is necessary to think carefully about how key terms, such as definitions,
are being used to describe the phenomenon.

2. Are we confident we have not overlooked something in the

observation process? Once we have decided what constitutes the
phenomenon, we should make a list of the information found in the first
set of observations and then add in any overlooked items from a second
set. Keeping a detailed written record of what is being observed is
crucial to ensure that nothing is overlooked.

A set of observations may yield unanticipated information. Even

though the data does not conform to the observer’s sense of what is
relevant, it can be nonetheless of some importance and needs to be
considered.

3. What do we know for sure? What is based on fact and what on

assumption?

An assumption is a statement considered to be true based on logical

reasoning, even if it has not been scientifically tested. Assumptions can
be useful when facing information gaps or when there is a need to break
down a complex process so it is easier to understand. Assumptions need

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to be clearly specified and explained when used in a research. We thus
need to be aware of the assumptions that may innocently and discretely
be embedded in loaded explanatory questions. A loaded question is one
that cannot be answered without accepting as true something the
question assumes. When we are unaware of the embedded assumptions,
we run the risk of finding flawed results and conclusions.

Example: Did the earthquake cause much damage to the building?

Either answer assumes that the building was damaged.

4. Have our observations been contaminated by expectation?

An expectation is a belief that something will happen or be the case.

Observations can be distorted when observed through the filter of
expectation. Scientists should be aware of any heuristic or cognitive
biases1 in order to obtain accurate observations.

5. Have we considered any necessary comparative information?

Part of the point of making a set of observations is to determine what,

if anything, is unusual or significant about the data collected. The
observations collected thus need to be compared to what is already
known or assumed. We need to hunt for the right sort of comparative
data: data that will allow us to decide whether our observations led to
something that really does need explaining, such as trends, patterns,
anomalies and relationships.

Anomalies One of the outputs found from observations can be

anomalies. An anomaly is a phenomenon that does not square with the

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currently accepted ways of understanding nature. This is when the
thought ‘hang on a minute, this can’t be right’, jumps to mind.
Anomalies play a central role in the evolution of scientific ideas as they
provide a way of testing the limits of our current

of how nature works and can suggest new and fruitful areas for
scientific investigation.

Anomalies are regarded with scepticism and the burden of proof lies
with the person who claims to have observed an anomalous
phenomenon. The more extraordinary the anomalous claim, the more
rigorous is the evidence required before accepting the claim.

Step 2: Explanation

A scientific explanation is an introduction of a set of factors that

account for how and why the phenomenon in question has come to be
the case. It can be formulated using causation/correlation, causal
mechanisms, scientific/statistical laws, underlying processes or
functions.

TYPES OF EXPLANATIONS

Hypotheses and theories can both be used to provide a scientific

explanation. However, they involve different aspects of an explanation.

Hypothesis: can be anything from a vague hunch to a finely detailed

account of how and why something has come to be the case.
Hypotheses are tentative and unproven, and will typically offer an
explanation for a limited range of phenomena, a single event, or a fact.

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Example: If an earthquake-affected population learns about building
standards and reinforced structures, it is probable that they will rebuild
houses that are more earthquake resilient.

Theory: can be a well-developed, well-confirmed body of explanatory

material. A theory tends to be more general and capable of explaining
a much wider variety of phenomena. Theories will often contain well-
confirmed rules and principles that reveal underlying explanatory
similarities between apparently quite diverse phenomena. However, it
is necessary to be aware that even a well-confirmed theory can be
questionable. This can happen when supporting evidence turns out to
be erroneous or inexistent, or when new conflicting evidence is found.

Example: Following a flood there will always be a high risk of

waterborne diseases. This is because water and sanitation structures are
disrupted and drinking water may mix with sewage.

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EXPLANATION TOOLS/TECHNIQUE

1. CAUSATION AND CORRELATION One way to explain how or

why something has occurred is to give an account of the events leading
up to it.

Causation: is the relationship between cause and effect, where one event
or thing triggers another one.

Example: IDPs occupying schools, using them for shelter causes an

increased risk of children not receiving education.

Some complexities can arise in causation:

• effects can be the result of a combination of causes;

• both causes and effects can be about groups rather than individual
facts or events;

• effects may result from several distinct causes;

• effects may not invariably be associated with a given causal factor;

• causal explanations can be positive (an increase in A causes an

increase in B) or negative (an increase in A causes a decrease in B);

• causal explanations can involve a sequence of linked events.

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Originally developed to prove causation between exposure to a chemical
or biological agent and disease, Bradford Hill developed a list of criteria
in 1965 that can be used when looking for cause and effect. Although not
exhaustive, this list has an inherent logic that also can be applied to
humanitarian analysis:

1. Strength: strong relationships are more likely to be causal than weak

relationships.

2. Temporality: it is logically necessary for a cause to precede an effect

in time.

3. Consistency: a relationship is more likely to be causal if it can be

replicated with multiple observations from different populations under
different circumstances and with different measurement instruments.

4. Plausibility: it is easier to accept a relationship as causal when there is

a rational and theoretical basis for such a conclusion.

5. Coherence: the relationship should be coherent with related facts and

theories, and there are no competing theories or rival hypotheses.

6. Specificity: a relationship is more likely to be causal if there is no other

likely explanation.

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All criteria need not be fulfilled in order to demonstrate causation.
Nonetheless, having several of them met greatly strengthens the argument
that there is a relationship between a cause and an effect.

Correlation: when comparing two characteristics within a population it

is found that they display some regular, measurable relationship. Like
causation, a correlation can be positive (an increase in A is related to an
increase in B) or negative (an increase in A is related to a decrease in B).
A correlation does not necessarily imply a causal relationship. However,
if two things are causally linked, they will be correlated.

Example: A rise in reported protection issues can be correlated with

displacement, but did not cause the displacement. On the other hand, in
the previous example of cause and effect between IDPs occupying schools
and children not receiving education, there is both causation and,
consequently, correlation.

2. CAUSAL MECHANISM Explanations can be provided by citing

intervening causal factors that explain the effects of a more distant cause.

Example: Debris from the storm severed power lines, causing power
outage.

3. SCIENTIFIC/STATISTICAL LAW consists of explaining an event

by referring to a general law or principle, of which the event is an instance.

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Example: Exposed healthcare workers run the risk of contracting Ebola.
F is a nurse who works in a setting where the risk of exposure to Ebola is
high. F has Ebola. Thus, it is likely that F has contracted Ebola from a
patient.

4. UNDERLYING PROCESS By employing underlying processes, it is

possible to explain something by reference to the workings of its
component parts.

Example: A cholera outbreak is observed following an earthquake. Poor

water and sanitation infrastructure, combined with insufficient hygiene
standards and lack of immunisation in the population, makes the virus
spread rapidly.

5. FUNCTION When employing a function, we explain something by

reference to the role it fulfils in some larger design. Its existence is
explained by illuminating its function in the big picture. 3:
Experimentation

In order to either shoot down the previously formulated explanation

(falsify it) or to support it (corroborate it), the hypothesis needs to be
tested.

Control Group: One difficulty with all research is one cannot be entirely
sure that the detected effect arose from the expected cause. Another factor
might have led to the same effect. To overcome this problem, scientists

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use control groups when testing a hypothesis. A control group is a group
of subjects or conditions that is matched as closely as possible with the
experimental group (similar characteristics), but is not exposed to any
experimental treatment. Control groups provide an effective counter to the
possibility that some unknown explanatory factor may have been
overlooked.

Sampling: Sampling is the selection of a part of a population for the

purpose of determining characteristics of the whole population. The
accuracy of the sample, however, is a question that often arises. According
to the rule of large numbers, the accuracy of a sample is a function of the
sample size. The larger the sample, the greater the probability it will
accurately mirror what is true of the population from which it was taken.
The chances that a sample is accurate are measured by the margin of error
and confidence level.

Margin of Error: a statistic expressing the amount of random sampling

error – it decreases as the sample size increases, but only to a point. The
size of the total population from which the sample is selected does not
matter in the calculation of margin of error.

Confidence Level: provides the percentage of all possible samples that

can be expected to include the true population parameter. A 95% level of
confidence implies that if the study were conducted 100 times, results
would be inconsistent only five times.

34
Example: A representative sample targeting refugees in a camp using
registration figures as a baseline, has a margin of error of plus or minus
4% at a 95% level of confidence.

Statistical Significance: Scientists verify whether their results are

statistically significant by performing a statistical hypothesis testing. This
test consists in testing whether there is a relationship between cause and
effect. When a statistic is shown to be significant, it means that a
difference or relationship exists between the cause and effect. Significant
differences can be large or small, depending on the sample size.
Significant relationships can be strong or weak; thus, it is important to
evaluate their strength.

EXPERIMENT DESIGN. A well-designed experiment should

anticipate and resolve any issues suggested by the following questions:

1. Can the possibility of a false confirmation or a false rejection be

ruled out? When irrelevant factors2, i.e., factors not connected to the
claim at issue, are not controlled for during the experimentation, the test
leads to incorrect results, and thus to a false confirmation or rejection of
the claim at issue3.

False confirmation: means the results confirm there is a relationship

between the cause and effect under scrutiny, when in fact this relationship
is inexistent.

35
Example: the fire alarm goes off in a building, indicating there is a fire. It
is considered that the cause is the fire and the effect is the alarm going off.
However, when firefighters arrive at the building to extinguish the fire, no
fire is found. The alarm might have been caused by an irrelevant
(extraneous) factor, such as a quick cigarette smoke next to the fire
detector, without necessarily setting fire to the building.

False rejection: means the results reject the relationship between the
cause and the effect under scrutiny, when in fact this relationship does
exist.

Example: a blood test failing to detect the disease it was designed to

detect, in a patient who really has the disease. Omitting extraneous factors
such as the incubation period of the disease leads to false results. If the
blood test is done during the incubation period, the disease might not be
found in the patient even though it exists.

2. Is the claim at issue conceptually clear?

The vaguer the claim, the harder it is to rule out the possibility of a false
rejection or confirmation. To be able to rule out incorrect results, the claim
at issue should be conceptually clear: provide simple and precise
definitions of the claim, limitations, etc.

Example of a vague claim: Rituals like prayers or chanting, sometimes

used in alternative medicine, may claim to heal various injuries. It is

36
difficult to test the effect of the treatment as the interaction between the
rituals and the human body cannot be clearly defined.

3. Is the difference between predictive success and failure clearly

specified?

It is necessary to design a test leading to a prediction that clearly spells

out the difference between success and failure.

Example: When collecting key informant views on priority needs

following a disaster, some trends may appear. But how much similarity in
the responses is required to determine whether the assessment actually
shows a trend or not?

4. Have controls been imposed to eliminate the influence of

experimenter or experimental subject expectations?

When either the experimenter or the experimental subject has

expectations on results, bias might arise. A solution to this bias is an
experiment in which neither the experimenter nor the experimental
subject is aware of the group (experimental or control) to which the
subject belongs.

37
38
 Critical thinking

Introduction

Critical Thinking refers to the ways that individuals reflect on and

participate in the world through the organized evaluation of evidence and
argumentation to decide what to believe or do (Ennis, 1987; Jiménez-
Aleixandre & Puig, 2012).

critical thinking should be a focus in instruction. The National Science

Education Standards advocate the use of inquiry which demands critical
thinking if it is be applied effectively.

Inquiry includes components relating to and fostering critical thinking

such as ‘identification of assumptions, use of critical and logical thinking,
and consideration of alternative explanations” (National Academy of
Sciences, 1996, p. 23).

The Ideal Critical Thinkers:

There is no single list of features that define critical thinking but Ennis
(2011), suggests that ideal critical thinkers:

1. Care that their positions and decisions are justifiable by seeking and
being open to alternate hypotheses, explanations, sources, plans,
and conclusions; by considering other peoples’ points of views and
by staying well informed.

39
 2. Ensure that they understand and present all known opinions clearly
and honorably by listening to and discovering others views and
reasons for those views; by communicating clearly and precisely,
by remaining aware of their core beliefs, and by considering the
entire situation.
3. Are concerned that others not be confused or intimidated by “their
critical thinking prowess” and by reflecting and considering others’
level of understanding and feelings.

As an example of critical thinking, consider how high school biology

teachers might respond to the question ‘Does Smoking Cause Strokes?”
Students would have to evaluate the causal link of the claim as well as
rely on background knowledge of biology related to strokes and
experimental research on the cause of strokes while guarding against
leaping to conclusions and considering all alternatives. Their justification
will depend on issues such as the rigors and design of the studies and other
evidence used to support their argument (Bailin, 2002).

THE NATURE OF CRITICAL THINKING

There are many definitions for critical thinking, but Robert Ennis, one of
the leading researchers on critical thinking, offered the following
definition many years ago and it remains, to my mind, the best of the
bunch.

40
Critical thinking is reasonable, reflective thinking that is aimed at
deciding what to believe or what to do.

We can see that there are several elements to this definition, so let us look
at them one at a time, starting with the last one.

Critical thinking is the thinking that is aimed at deciding what to believe

or what to do. Deciding what to believe is a matter of deciding what the
facts are, figuring out what the world is like, or at least what some little
corner of it is like. We make these kinds of decisions when we decide
whether it is raining out or sunny, whether the Blue Jays stand a chance
this year, whether the kids will put up with another meal of macaroni and
cheese, whether the movie was as good as its billing, whether the
restaurant has gotten better over the years, or whether we should trust
what our teachers tell us. In deciding what to believe on some matter we
take a stand on it.

If it is a decision on a factual matter, like the decision about the weather

or about the blue jays, then we take a stand on what the facts are. If it is a
decision on an evaluative matter, like the one about the movie or the
restaurant, then in deciding what to believe we are taking a stand on what
is good or better. In either kind of case, critical thinking is aimed at
helping us to make those kinds of decisions about what to believe.

Critical thinking is reasonable, reflective thinking that is aimed at

deciding what to believe or what to do.
41
Deciding what to believe involves reasoning about what the facts are. This
is theoretical reasoning.

Critical thinking is also aimed at decisions about what to do. Deciding

what to do really has two parts. First, one has to decide what to value or
to strive for. This is a matter of deciding on one’s goal or end. Then, one
has to decide how best to achieve that end. This is a matter of deciding on
the best means to that end. Should I go for a run now or keep working on
my book? Should I spend my savings on a new car or continue using my
beat up one? Should the city spend its limited resources on building a new
bridge? Should the country move toward a universal health care plan?

Should I tell the truth when my friend asks me about her boyfriend?
Should I give to charities? Usually, we decide what to do on the basis of
what we already value or on what we already think makes for a good life.
I decide to go for a run instead of continuing to work on this book because
I feel that running and staying in shape is an important part of my life. I
decide to tell the truth to my friend about her new car because I value
honesty in my friends and want them to consider me trustworthy. But
sometimes, deciding what to strive for or what goals to pursue requires
first deciding what one will value, what kind of person one wants to be,
and what kind of life one wants to lead. In deciding whether to pursue
graduate school in philosophy, I had to make a decision about to value,
about what kind of shape I wanted my life to take.

42
Decisions about what to value are among the most difficult and profound
decisions we can make. Critical thinking can help us to make these kinds
of decisions. But once we make them, once we decide what we want out
life to be like, we still need to decide what the best way is to make our life
that way. Once we choose the ends, we still need to decide on the means.
Here too, critical thinking can help.

Deciding what to do involves reasoning about what to do and how to do

it. This is practical reasoning.

According to Robert Ennis’ definition, critical thinking is reasonable

thinking.

This is so in several respects. First, critical thinking is reasonable thinking

because it is sensitive to methods and standards. If we are trying to decide
what to make for dinner or whether the Blue Jays stand a chance this year,
there are various methods we should use and standards we should keep in
mind. If we try to make up our minds on these topics without relying on
those methods or respecting these standards, then we

Definitions and Perspectives of Critical Thinking

1. Critical Thinking as Cognitive Processes and Skills

The emphasis on teaching thinking led to an initial

conceptualization of critical thinking as cognitive processes and
skills. In the book Developing Minds, by the Association for
43
Supervision and Curriculum Development in the US, which is an
early effort to provide a resource guide for educators to teach
“thinking,” Pressesien presents a model of thinking skills that
involves both what she calls basic processes and complex
thinking. Basic or essential processes include the categories of

❖ causation, it involves establishing cause-and-effect and

assessment;
❖ transformations, they relate known to unknown
characteristics;
❖ relationships, they are about detecting regular operations;
❖ classification, it refers to determining common qualities; and
❖ qualifications, they are related to finding unique
characteristics.

On the other hand, complex thinking skills are based on these

essential skills for a particular purpose. Pressesien cites Cohen,
who considered the following as complex thinking skills:

➢ problem-solving includes suggesting, testing, simplifying, and

explaining alternate solutions for a defined problem;
➢ decision-making corresponds to comparing alternative
options, choosing the most effective one among them based on
relevant information, and developing justification for this
choice;

44
 ➢ critical thinking includes developing cohesive and logical
reasoning to analyze, generate insight, and to determine
underlying assumptions as to particular arguments, meanings,
or interpretations; and
➢ creative thinking means using intuitive and rational thought to
develop, invent, or create new, aesthetic, constructive ideas or
products.

There is not any hierarchical relationship between and within

these basic and complex thinking processes; complex thinking
processes are built upon the essential ones, and some complex
processes might be more relevant to specific subject areas than
others might. For example, problem-solving skills might be
favored in mathematics and science, while decision-making and
critical thinking might seem more relevant for social sciences.

This understanding of critical thinking as such cognitive

processes gave rise to comprehensive thinking models that helped
shape K-12 curricula across the US.

2. Critical Thinking as Cognitive Skills Plus Dispositions

While critical thinking was becoming increasingly more

important in education, the critique was raised based on the idea
that critical thinking attitudes or dispositions should complement
critical thinking skills. In other words, it was widely
45
acknowledged that good critical thinkers possessed not only some
cognitive skills but also the tendency to use their capacity for
thinking. Some authors assigned a more profound role to
dispositions by relating them with having a “critical spirit”.

According to Paul, defining critical thinking as the composition

of skills only reduces critical thinking to the status of “a battery
of technical skills mastered more or less one by one”. He calls for
educators to shift from this “weak-sense” approach of critical
thinking to a “strong” one by emphasizing intellectual values,
standards, matters of character, and motivation. He identifies nine
traits of mind that are needed to activate one’s critical thinking
skills. For example, critical thinkers need “intellectual curiosity”
so that they notice the contradictions and inconsistencies in their
environments and seek an explanation for them; they need to be
“fair-minded” to follow intellectual standards rather than their
feelings or vested interests to evaluate other viewpoints; or they
should display “intellectual perseverance” for pursuing
“intellectual insights and truths despite difficulties, obstacles, and
frustrations”.

Based on this major shift in the conception of critical thinking,

scholars expanded their definitions of critical thinking beyond
“pure skills” or “pure logicality” by taking more account of

46
decision-making, reasonableness, and reflection processes of the
critical thinker.

For example, the definition of critical thinking provided by Ennis

has evolved from “correct assessing of statements” to “reasonable
reflective thinking focused on deciding what to believe or do”.
Along with more comprehensive definitions of critical thinking,
much scholarly work was devoted to identifying critical thinking
dispositions along with cognitive abilities. Ennis determined
fourteen dispositions and twelve skills for a critical thinking
curriculum in 1985, and he has preserved this outline with
minimal changes in his recent articles.

Towards the end of the 1980s, the growing concern for specifying
critical thinking skills and dispositions and infusing them into K-
12 and post-secondary curricula entailed professionals developing
consensus on critical thinking’s core aspects. Forty-six prominent
experts in teaching, learning and assessing critical thinking skills
came together under the leadership of the American Philosophical
Association in 1988. The product was the Delphi Report, in which
an “ideal critical thinker” was characterized as: “[h]abitually
inquisitive, well-informed, trustful of reason, open-minded,
flexible, fair-minded in evaluation, honest in facing personal
biases, prudent in making judgments, willing to reconsider, clear

47
about issues, orderly in complex matters, diligent in seeking
relevant information, reasonable in the selection of criteria,
focused in inquiry, and persistent in seeking results which are as
precise as the subject and the circumstances of inquiry permit” .

This specific combination of skills and dispositions was proposed

as the framework for educating good critical thinkers of “a
rational and democratic society” . In addition to this definition,
the experts developed a taxonomy including six main cognitive
skills, namely interpretation, analysis, evaluation, inference,
explanation, and self-regulation together with 16 sub-skills; and
dispositions under two categories “approaches to life and living in
general” and “approaches to specific issues, questions, or
problems” .

A more recent taxonomy of critical thinking skills and

dispositions has been suggested by Davies. In this framework,
critical thinking skills are classified under four main categories:

➢ lower-level thinking skills, e.g., assumption identification

and interpretation;
➢ higher-level thinking skills, e.g., claim analysis and
synthesis;
➢ complex thinking skills, e.g., argumentation and verbal
reasoning; and

48
➢ thinking about thinking, e.g., metacognition, self-
regulation.
Critical thinking dispositions, in turn, fall into four major
groups:
➢ dispositions arising in relation to self;
➢ dispositions arising in relation to others;
➢ dispositions arising in relation to the world; and
➢ other dispositions .

49
 critical writing

1. What is critical thinking?

Critical thinking skills are used every day both consciously and
unconsciously by most of the people as their daily life. Students, for e.g.
at university need to use critical thinking skills in their reading, and
demonstrate critical thinking skills in their writing. Sumner (1940)
defined critical thinking as follows:

Critical thinking is the examination and test of propositions of any kind

which are offered for acceptance, in order to find out whether they
correspond to reality or not. The critical faculty is a product of education
and training. It is a mental habit and power. It is a prime condition of
human welfare that men and women should be trained in it. It is our only
guarantee against delusion, deception, superstition, and misapprehension
of ourselves and our earthly circumstances.

A critical thinker is enquiring, analytical, and open-minded. Critical

thinking involves reading and writing critically.

Reading critically means examining different points of view with an open

and enquiring mind, evaluating your own position, and drawing
conclusions as to whether a particular point of view is persuasive. Writing
critically means presenting your conclusions in a clear and well-reasoned
way to persuade others.
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When you think critically, you:

➢ analyze - break things down

➢ synthesize - bring parts together in a coherent way
➢ evaluate - make judgments, based on sound evidence

Critical thinkers pay attention to details, consider different points of view,

and evaluate their own position. They not only develop an accurate
understanding of an issue but also identify trends and predict outcomes.
In addition, critical thinkers consider broad implications and long-term
consequences.

2. What is critical writing?

Critical writing is not necessarily writing about the topic in a negative

way; it is simply making sure that you have considered all sides of the
argument. For example, in your reading you are likely to discover
different authors with different views. It is the job of a critical writer to
consider all of these views in their essay to show their awareness of all
the issues associated with their topic. The most characteristic features of
critical writing are:

➢ a clear and confident refusal to accept the conclusions of other

writers without evaluating the arguments and evidence that they
provide;

51
 ➢ a balanced presentation of reasons why the conclusions of other
writers may be accepted or may need to be treated with caution;
➢ a clear presentation of your own evidence and argument, leading to
your conclusion; and
➢ a recognition of the limitations in your own evidence, argument,
and conclusion.

Critical writing is about developing a person’s own academic voice within

his or her subject area. It is the result of an ongoing process of reflecting,
researching, note-making, reading and writing. It means you do not accept
information at face value.

3. The difference between critical and descriptive writing

Descriptive writing is relatively simple. In fact, with descriptive writing

you are not developing argument; you are merely setting the background
within which an argument can be developed. You are representing the
situation as it stands, without presenting any analysis or discussion. The
most characteristic features of descriptive writing are that it will describe
something, but will not go beyond an account of what appears to be there.
A certain amount of descriptive writing is needed to establish for example:

➢ the setting of the research;

➢ a general description of a piece of literature, or art;
➢ the list of measurements taken;

52
 ➢ the timing of the research;
➢ an account of the biographical details of a key figure in the
discipline; or a brief summary of the history leading up to an event
or decision.

Descriptive writers provide only description and they do not transform

information. That means they only report ideas. On the other hand, critical
writers participate in the academic debate. They need to weigh up the
evidence and arguments of others, and to contribute their own opinions.
Critical writers need to:

➢ consider the quality of the evidence and argument you have read;
➢ identify key positive and negative aspects you can comment upon;
➢ assess their relevance and usefulness to the debate that you are
engaging in for your assignment; and
➢ identify how best they can be woven into the argument that you
are developing.

This is more challenging and risky because a much higher level of skill
is clearly needed for critical writing than for descriptive writing.

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54
 Creative thinking

NATURE AND PROCESS OF CREATIVE THINKING

You might have wondered at times how someone for the first time,
thought of acts like planting a seed, or devising a wheel, or decorating the
walls of caves with drawings, etc. Perhaps not satisfied with the old ways
of carrying out day-to-day activities, such persons thought of something
original. There are countless others whose creativity has led to the present
day scientific and technological progress that we now enjoy. Music,
painting, poetry, and other forms of art that give us pleasure and joy, are
all products of creative thinking.

You might have heard about A.D. Karve, a botanist, who got the UK’s
top energy award for devising a smokeless ‘Chullah’. He converted dry,
useless sugarcane leaves into clean fuel. You might have also heard of
Class XI student Ashish Panwar, who won a bronze medal for assembling
a five feet tall robot at the First International Robotics Olympiad held at
Glasgow. These are only a few examples of creativity. Try to think of
some other examples of creativity in different fields.

It is important to remember that creative thinking is not always expressed

in extraordinary work. One does not have to be a scientist or an artist to
be a creative thinker.

55
Everyone has the potential to be creative. Creative thinking can be applied
in almost any area of human activity at different levels. It could be
reflected in activities like writing, teaching, cooking, enacting roles, story
telling, conversation, dialogues, asking questions, playing games, trying
to solve day-to-day problems, organizing activities, helping others resolve
conflicts, and so on. This concept of ‘Everyday Creativity’, which is
reflected in one’s way of perceiving thinking and problem solving, is
different from the ‘special talent creativity’ seen in outstanding creative
achievements.

Nature of Creative Thinking

Creative thinking is distinguished from other types of thinking by the fact

that it involves the production of novel and original ideas or solutions to
problems. Sometimes, creative thinking is understood just as a new way
of thinking or thinking differently. However, it is important to know that,
besides novelty, originality is also an important characteristic of creative
thinking. Every year new models of household appliances, tape-recorders,
cars, scooters, and television sets produced may not be original unless
unique features are added to these products. Creative thinking thus refers
to originality and uniqueness of ideas or solutions that did not previously
exist.

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Creative thinking is also generally characterised by what Bruner calls
“effective surprise”. If the product or idea is unusual, the response of most
who experience it is one of instant surprise or of being startled.

Another important criterion that characterises creative thinking is its

appropriateness in a particular context. Simply thinking of being different
without any purpose, doing things in one’s own ways, being non-
conformist, indulging in fantasy without any purpose or coming out with
a bizarre idea, is at times mistaken for creative thinking. Researchers tend
to agree that thinking is said to be creative when it is reality-oriented,
appropriate, constructive, and socially desirable.

J.P. Guilford, a pioneer in creativity research, proposed two types of

thinking: convergent and divergent.

Convergent thinking refers to thinking that is required to solve problems

which have only one correct answer. The mind converges to the correct
solution. To illustrate, look at the question given below. It is based on a
number series, where you have to find the next number. Only one right
answer is expected.

Q. 3,6,9….. what will come next?

Ans. 12.

Now you try to think of certain questions for which there is no one right
answer but many answers. A few such questions are given below:

57
 ❖ What are the various uses of cloth?
❖ What improvements will you suggest in a
❖ chair so that it becomes more comfortable and aesthetically
pleasing?
❖ What will happen if examinations are abolished in schools?

Answers to the above questions require divergent thinking which is an

open-ended thinking where the individual can think of different answers
to the questions or problems in terms of her/his experiences. Such kind of
thinking helps in producing novel and original ideas.

Divergent thinking abilities generally include fluency, flexibility,

originality, and elaboration.

❖ Fluency is the ability to produce many ideas for a given task or a

problem. The more ideas a person produces, the higher his fluency
ability. For example, more the number of uses of a paper cup, more
would be the fluency.
❖ Flexibility indicates variety in thinking. It may be thinking of
different uses of an object, or different interpretation of a picture,
story or different ways of solving a problem. In case of uses of a
paper cup, for example, one may give an idea to use it as a container
or to draw a circle, etc.
❖ Originality is the ability to produce ideas that are rare or unusual by
seeing new relationships, combining old ideas with new ones,
looking at things from different perspectives etc. Research has

58
 shown that fluency and flexibility are the necessary conditions for
originality. The more and varied ideas one produces, the greater the
likelihood of original ideas.
❖ Elaboration is the ability that enables a person to go into details
and workout implications of new ideas.
Divergent thinking abilities facilitate generation of a variety of ideas
which may not seem to be related. For example, what are the
common ideas for enhancing food production?
The likely answers would be related to quality of seeds, fertilizers,
irrigation, and so on. If someone thinks of cultivation in a desert for
extracting protein from weeds, it would be a remote idea. The
association here is between ‘food production’ and ‘desert’ or
‘weeds’. Ordinarily, we do not associate these together. But, if we
let our mind free to seek new and remote associations, a number of
combination of ideas may arise out of which one or two may turn
out to be original. You must remember that both convergent and
divergent thinking are important for creative thinking.
Divergent thinking is essential in generating a wide range of ideas.
Convergent thinking is important to identify the most useful or
appropriate idea.
Process of Creative Thinking
In recent years, more and more attention has been given to the way
the human mind operates. Research has made it clear that thinking

59
of new and unusual ideas involve more than a flash of insight. There
are stages before and after the new ideas come.
The starting point in creative process is the need to think or bring
out something new which initiates the effort. Not everyone
experiences this need, as one can be happy and contented, in
carrying out routine work. The need for search of new ideas and
solutions arises from sensing problems and gaps in information. The
process of creative thinking begins with the preparation stage that
requires one to understand the task or problem in hand, analyse the
problem, and become aware of the background facts and related
information. The process evokes curiosity and excitement to think
more and more in different directions. The person tries to look at the
task or problem from different angles and viewpoints. Here,
divergent thinking abilities discussed earlier play their role to help
one extend in new directions.
Coming back to the process, when the person is trying to generate
alternative ideas and trying to view the problem or task from an
unusual perspective, there may be a feeling of getting stuck. One
may even get disgusted with failure and may leave the problem or
the task for sometime. This is the stage of incubation. Research
shows that creative ideas may not occur immediately during
incubation when the individual is not consciously thinking about the
problem but seeking relaxation from conscious effort. They may

60
 occur or strike when a person is doing something else, for example,
going to sleep, waking up, taking a bath or just walking along.
Followed by incubation is the stage of illumination - the ‘Aha’! or
‘I have found it’ experience, the moment we normally associate with
emergence of creative ideas. There usually is, a feeling of
excitement, even satisfaction, of having found a creative idea. Last
is the stage of verification when the worth or appropriateness of
ideas or solutions are tested and judged. Here, convergent thinking
plays its role in selecting the appropriate idea or solution that works.

DEVELOPING CREATIVE THINKING

As discussed in the previous section, you may recall that the potential for
creative thinking is in all of us. It is not limited to a few talented artists or
scientists or to a chosen few. The expression of creative thinking may vary
from individual to individual. Although hereditary factors are important
in determining the extent to which one can be creative, environmental
factors facilitate or hamper the development of creative thinking abilities.
Research in different countries including India has shown a slump in the
level of creative thinking of school children at different stages due to
environmental factors. On the other hand, research also indicates that
children from lower socio-economic groups, ethnic and minority groups
have substantial untapped creativity and that they are creative in many
different ways.

61
Research has also shown that all of us can make better use of our abilities
for creative thinking through practice and training. We can become more
imaginative, flexible, and original in solving day-to-day problems
creatively and effectively. Development of creative thinking is important
for one’s personal growth and fulfilment.

Barriers to Creative Thinking

The first step in developing creative thinking is to identify inhibiting

factors that impede creative expression and then make conscious attempts
to overcome the same. As we are discussing, you may analyse how you
approach your tasks and problems.

There are blocks to creative thinking which can be categorised as habitual,

perceptual, motivational, emotional, and cultural. Although much habitual
learning is necessary for smooth and efficient functioning within the daily
routine, the tendency to be overpowered by habits particularly in one’s
ways of thinking can be detrimental to creative expression. We become
so used to thinking and perceiving things in a familiar way that it becomes
difficult to think in novel ways. It may be related to our tendency to
quickly jump to conclusions, not to see problems from fresh perspectives,
be satisfied with routine patterns of doing things, or resist to overcome
preconceived viewpoints, and not to change immediate judgment, etc. The
perceptual blocks prevent us from being open to novel and original ideas.
Try to recall the joining dot problem in Activity1 , where you were

62
required to connect all nine dots with four straight lines going through
each dot only once without lifting the pencil or pen from the paper. The
solution to the problem lies in going beyond the boundaries. We assume
that boundaries exist whereas they did not. Many would attempt to solve
the problem by staying in the square that the nine dots form. There is
nothing in the directions to do this. The joining dots problem is indicative
of the boundaries and the limitations that are assumed or self-imposed.

Activity (1)

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Motivational and emotional blocks also interfere with creative thinking
which show that creative thinking is not merely a cognitive process. Lack
of motivation, fear of failure, fear of being different, fear of ridicule or
rejection, poor self-concept, negativism, etc. may hamper creative

64
thinking. For example, some people may not be motivated enough to
extend themselves and make extra efforts. A person may find that s/he can
not do it further, may leave the problem in between or may accept the
intermediate idea as the final idea. Further, some people, for example,
have negative assumptions about themselves. They feel that they are not
capable of doing some tasks. You may be surprised to know that Thomas
Alva Edison, the inventor of the bulb, took years of experimentation with
hundreds of failures before he produced the first bulb.

Cultural barriers are related to excessive adherence to traditions,

expectations, conformity pressures, and stereotypes. Conformity to some
extent is essential for social existence but excessive conformity to
traditions, rituals, and procedures are likely to block creative thinking.
Cultural blocks arise due to the fear of being different, the tendency to
maintain status quo, willingness to accept mediocrity, preservation of
personal security, social pressure, over dependence on others, etc.

The fact that everyone has the potential to be creative and that one can
differ in one’s expression of creative thinking requires that we all tap our
creative potential and remove the barriers as discussed above.

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Strategies for Creative Thinking

Research on characteristics of creative people has revealed that there are

certain attitudes, dispositions, and skills which facilitate creative thinking.
Here are some strategies to help you enhance your creative thinking
abilities and skills:

❖ Become more aware and sensitive to be able to notice and respond

to feelings, sights, sounds, textures around you. Spot problems,
missing information, anomalies, gaps, deficiencies, and so on. Try
to notice contradictions and incompleteness in situations that others
may not do. For this, cultivate the habit of wider reading, exposure
to a variety of information, and develop the art of asking questions,
pondering over the mysteries of situations and objects.
❖ Generate as many ideas, responses, solutions or suggestions on a
given task or situation to increase your flow of thoughts. Try
deliberately to look for multiple angles of a task and situation to
increase flexibility in your thinking. It could be, for example,
thinking of alternative arrangements of furniture in a room to
generate more space, different ways of conversing with people,
looking for costs and benefits of a course of study or career, looking
for ways of dealing with an angry friend, helping others, etc.
❖ Osborn’s Brainstorming technique can be used to increase fluency
and flexibility of ideas to open-ended situations. Brainstorming is

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 based on the principle that producing ideas should be kept separate
from the evaluation of their worth. The basic assumption is to let the
minds think freely and the tendency to put judgment on the worth of
ideas may be postponed, i.e. imagination should be given priority
over judgment till all the ideas are exhausted. This helps in
increasing the fluency of ideas and piling up alternatives.
Brainstorming can be practised by playing brainstorming games
with family members and friends keeping its principles in mind. Use
of checklists and questions often provide a new twist for ideas like,
What other changes? What else? In how many ways could it be
done? What could be the other uses of this object? and so on.
❖ Originality can be developed by practicing fluency, flexibility, habit
of associative thinking, exploring linkages, and fusing distinct or
remote ideas. A creative thinker, it is said, may not evolve new ideas
but evolve new combination of ideas. It is the chain of thoughts and
cross-fertilisation of ideas that may bring out something new. The
idea of the ‘rocking chair’ has come from the combination of ‘chair’
and ‘seesaw’. Practice making unusual and unexpected associations
using analogies. Sometimes finding original ideas/solutions requires
a dramatic shift of focus which can be facilitated by asking oneself
: what is the opposite of the commonplace or usual solution to the
problem? Allow conflicting thoughts to co-exist. Looking for
solutions opposite to the obvious may lead to original solutions.

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❖ Engage yourself more frequently in activities which require use of
imagination and original thinking rather than routine work
according to your interest and hobbies. It may be decorating the
house, improvising or redesigning of old objects, making use of
waste products in multiple ways, completing incomplete ideas in
unique ways, giving new twist to stories or poems, developing
riddles, puzzles, solving mysteries and so on.
❖ Never accept the first idea or solution. Many ideas die because we
reject them thinking that the idea might be a silly idea. You have to
first generate a number of possible ideas or solutions, then select the
best from among them.
❖ Get a feedback on the solutions you decide on from others who are
less personally involved in the task.
❖ Try to think of what solutions someone else may offer for your
problems.
❖ Give your ideas the chance to incubate. Allowing time for
incubation between production of ideas and the stage of evaluation
of ideas, may bring in the ‘Aha!’ experience.
❖ Sometimes ideas cluster like branches of a tree. It is useful to
diagram your thinking so that you can follow each possible branch
to its completion.
❖ Resist the temptation for immediate reward and success and cope
with the frustration and failure. Encourage self-evaluation.

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❖ Develop independent thinking in making judgments, figuring out
things without any help or resources.
❖ Visualise causes and consequences and think ahead, predicting
things that have never happened, like, suppose the time starts
moving backwards, what would happen?, If we had no zero?, etc.
❖ Be aware of your own defenses concerning the problem. When we
feel threatened by a problem we are less likely to think of creative
ideas.
❖ Last but not the least, be self-confident and positive. Never
undermine your creative potential. Experience the joy of your
creation.

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