critical thinking and self awareness

What Self-Awareness Really Is (and How to Cultivate It)

It’s not just about introspection. by Tasha Eurich

Summary .   

Although most people believe that they are self-aware, true self-awareness is a rare quality. In this piece, the author describes a recent large-scale investigation that shed light on some of the biggest roadblocks, myths, and truths about what self-awareness really is — and what it takes to cultivate it. Specifically, the study found that there are actually two distinct types of self-awareness, that experience and power can hinder self-awareness, and that introspection doesn’t always make you more self-aware. Understanding these key points can help leaders learn to see themselves more clearly.

Self-awareness seems to have become the latest management buzzword — and for good reason. Research suggests that when we see ourselves clearly, we are more confident and more creative . We make sounder decisions , build stronger relationships , and communicate more effectively . We’re less likely to lie, cheat, and steal . We are better workers who get more promotions . And we’re more-effective leaders with more-satisfied employees and more-profitable companies .

Partner Center

Daring Leadership Institute: a groundbreaking partnership that amplifies Brené Brown's empirically based, courage-building curriculum with BetterUp’s human transformation platform.

What is Coaching?

Types of Coaching

Discover your perfect match : Take our 5-minute assessment and let us pair you with one of our top Coaches tailored just for you.

Find your coach

We're on a mission to help everyone live with clarity, purpose, and passion.

Join us and create impactful change.

Read the buzz about BetterUp.

Meet the leadership that's passionate about empowering your workforce.

For Business

For Individuals

How to develop critical thinking skills

Jump to section

What are critical thinking skills?

How to develop critical thinking skills: 12 tips, how to practice critical thinking skills at work, become your own best critic.

A client requests a tight deadline on an intense project. Your childcare provider calls in sick on a day full of meetings. Payment from a contract gig is a month behind. 

Your day-to-day will always have challenges, big and small. And no matter the size and urgency, they all ask you to use critical thinking to analyze the situation and arrive at the right solution. 

Critical thinking includes a wide set of soft skills that encourage continuous learning, resilience , and self-reflection. The more you add to your professional toolbelt, the more equipped you’ll be to tackle whatever challenge presents itself. Here’s how to develop critical thinking, with examples explaining how to use it.

Critical thinking skills are the skills you use to analyze information, imagine scenarios holistically, and create rational solutions. It’s a type of emotional intelligence that stimulates effective problem-solving and decision-making . 

When you fine-tune your critical thinking skills, you seek beyond face-value observations and knee-jerk reactions. Instead, you harvest deeper insights and string together ideas and concepts in logical, sometimes out-of-the-box , ways. 

Imagine a team working on a marketing strategy for a new set of services. That team might use critical thinking to balance goals and key performance indicators , like new customer acquisition costs, average monthly sales, and net profit margins. They understand the connections between overlapping factors to build a strategy that stays within budget and attracts new sales. 

Looking for ways to improve critical thinking skills? Start by brushing up on the following soft skills that fall under this umbrella: 

• Analytical thinking: Approaching problems with an analytical eye includes breaking down complex issues into small chunks and examining their significance. An example could be organizing customer feedback to identify trends and improve your product offerings. 
• Open-mindedness: Push past cognitive biases and be receptive to different points of view and constructive feedback . Managers and team members who keep an open mind position themselves to hear new ideas that foster innovation . 
• Creative thinking: With creative thinking , you can develop several ideas to address a single problem, like brainstorming more efficient workflow best practices to boost productivity and employee morale . 
• Self-reflection: Self-reflection lets you examine your thinking and assumptions to stimulate healthier collaboration and thought processes. Maybe a bad first impression created a negative anchoring bias with a new coworker. Reflecting on your own behavior stirs up empathy and improves the relationship. 
• Evaluation: With evaluation skills, you tackle the pros and cons of a situation based on logic rather than emotion. When prioritizing tasks , you might be tempted to do the fun or easy ones first, but evaluating their urgency and importance can help you make better decisions. 

There’s no magic method to change your thinking processes. Improvement happens with small, intentional changes to your everyday habits until a more critical approach to thinking is automatic. 

Here are 12 tips for building stronger self-awareness and learning how to improve critical thinking: 

1. Be cautious

There’s nothing wrong with a little bit of skepticism. One of the core principles of critical thinking is asking questions and dissecting the available information. You might surprise yourself at what you find when you stop to think before taking action. 

Before making a decision, use evidence, logic, and deductive reasoning to support your own opinions or challenge ideas. It helps you and your team avoid falling prey to bad information or resistance to change .

2. Ask open-ended questions

“Yes” or “no” questions invite agreement rather than reflection. Instead, ask open-ended questions that force you to engage in analysis and rumination. Digging deeper can help you identify potential biases, uncover assumptions, and arrive at new hypotheses and possible solutions. 

3. Do your research

No matter your proficiency, you can always learn more. Turning to different points of view and information is a great way to develop a comprehensive understanding of a topic and make informed decisions. You’ll prioritize reliable information rather than fall into emotional or automatic decision-making. 

4. Consider several opinions

You might spend so much time on your work that it’s easy to get stuck in your own perspective, especially if you work independently on a remote team . Make an effort to reach out to colleagues to hear different ideas and thought patterns. Their input might surprise you.

If or when you disagree, remember that you and your team share a common goal. Divergent opinions are constructive, so shift the focus to finding solutions rather than defending disagreements. 

5. Learn to be quiet

Active listening is the intentional practice of concentrating on a conversation partner instead of your own thoughts. It’s about paying attention to detail and letting people know you value their opinions, which can open your mind to new perspectives and thought processes.

If you’re brainstorming with your team or having a 1:1 with a coworker , listen, ask clarifying questions, and work to understand other peoples’ viewpoints. Listening to your team will help you find fallacies in arguments to improve possible solutions.

6. Schedule reflection

Whether waking up at 5 am or using a procrastination hack, scheduling time to think puts you in a growth mindset . Your mind has natural cognitive biases to help you simplify decision-making, but squashing them is key to thinking critically and finding new solutions besides the ones you might gravitate toward. Creating time and calm space in your day gives you the chance to step back and visualize the biases that impact your decision-making. 

7. Cultivate curiosity

With so many demands and job responsibilities, it’s easy to seek solace in routine. But getting out of your comfort zone helps spark critical thinking and find more solutions than you usually might.

If curiosity doesn’t come naturally to you, cultivate a thirst for knowledge by reskilling and upskilling . Not only will you add a new skill to your resume , but expanding the limits of your professional knowledge might motivate you to ask more questions. 

You don’t have to develop critical thinking skills exclusively in the office. Whether on your break or finding a hobby to do after work, playing strategic games or filling out crosswords can prime your brain for problem-solving. 

9. Write it down

Recording your thoughts with pen and paper can lead to stronger brain activity than typing them out on a keyboard. If you’re stuck and want to think more critically about a problem, writing your ideas can help you process information more deeply.

The act of recording ideas on paper can also improve your memory . Ideas are more likely to linger in the background of your mind, leading to deeper thinking that informs your decision-making process. 

10. Speak up

Take opportunities to share your opinion, even if it intimidates you. Whether at a networking event with new people or a meeting with close colleagues, try to engage with people who challenge or help you develop your ideas. Having conversations that force you to support your position encourages you to refine your argument and think critically. 

11. Stay humble

Ideas and concepts aren’t the same as real-life actions. There may be such a thing as negative outcomes, but there’s no such thing as a bad idea. At the brainstorming stage , don’t be afraid to make mistakes.

Sometimes the best solutions come from off-the-wall, unorthodox decisions. Sit in your creativity , let ideas flow, and don’t be afraid to share them with your colleagues. Putting yourself in a creative mindset helps you see situations from new perspectives and arrive at innovative conclusions. 

12. Embrace discomfort

Get comfortable feeling uncomfortable . It isn’t easy when others challenge your ideas, but sometimes, it’s the only way to see new perspectives and think critically.

By willingly stepping into unfamiliar territory, you foster the resilience and flexibility you need to become a better thinker. You’ll learn how to pick yourself up from failure and approach problems from fresh angles. 

Thinking critically is easier said than done. To help you understand its impact (and how to use it), here are two scenarios that require critical thinking skills and provide teachable moments. 

Scenario #1: Unexpected delays and budget

Imagine your team is working on producing an event. Unexpectedly, a vendor explains they’ll be a week behind on delivering materials. Then another vendor sends a quote that’s more than you can afford. Unless you develop a creative solution, the team will have to push back deadlines and go over budget, potentially costing the client’s trust. 

Here’s how you could approach the situation with creative thinking:

• Analyze the situation holistically: Determine how the delayed materials and over-budget quote will impact the rest of your timeline and financial resources . That way, you can identify whether you need to build an entirely new plan with new vendors, or if it’s worth it to readjust time and resources. 
• Identify your alternative options: With careful assessment, your team decides that another vendor can’t provide the same materials in a quicker time frame. You’ll need to rearrange assignment schedules to complete everything on time. 
• Collaborate and adapt: Your team has an emergency meeting to rearrange your project schedule. You write down each deliverable and determine which ones you can and can’t complete by the deadline. To compensate for lost time, you rearrange your task schedule to complete everything that doesn’t need the delayed materials first, then advance as far as you can on the tasks that do. 
• Check different resources: In the meantime, you scour through your contact sheet to find alternative vendors that fit your budget. Accounting helps by providing old invoices to determine which vendors have quoted less for previous jobs. After pulling all your sources, you find a vendor that fits your budget. 
• Maintain open communication: You create a special Slack channel to keep everyone up to date on changes, challenges, and additional delays. Keeping an open line encourages transparency on the team’s progress and boosts everyone’s confidence. 

Scenario #2: Differing opinions 

A conflict arises between two team members on the best approach for a new strategy for a gaming app. One believes that small tweaks to the current content are necessary to maintain user engagement and stay within budget. The other believes a bold revamp is needed to encourage new followers and stronger sales revenue. 

Here’s how critical thinking could help this conflict:

• Listen actively: Give both team members the opportunity to present their ideas free of interruption. Encourage the entire team to ask open-ended questions to more fully understand and develop each argument. 
• Flex your analytical skills: After learning more about both ideas, everyone should objectively assess the benefits and drawbacks of each approach. Analyze each idea's risk, merits, and feasibility based on available data and the app’s goals and objectives. 
• Identify common ground: The team discusses similarities between each approach and brainstorms ways to integrate both idea s, like making small but eye-catching modifications to existing content or using the same visual design in new media formats. 
• Test new strategy: To test out the potential of a bolder strategy, the team decides to A/B test both approaches. You create a set of criteria to evenly distribute users by different demographics to analyze engagement, revenue, and customer turnover. 
• Monitor and adapt: After implementing the A/B test, the team closely monitors the results of each strategy. You regroup and optimize the changes that provide stronger results after the testing. That way, all team members understand why you’re making the changes you decide to make.

You can’t think your problems away. But you can equip yourself with skills that help you move through your biggest challenges and find innovative solutions. Learning how to develop critical thinking is the start of honing an adaptable growth mindset. 

Now that you have resources to increase critical thinking skills in your professional development, you can identify whether you embrace change or routine, are open or resistant to feedback, or turn to research or emotion will build self-awareness. From there, tweak and incorporate techniques to be a critical thinker when life presents you with a problem.

Understand Yourself Better:

Big 5 Personality Test

Elizabeth Perry, ACC

Elizabeth Perry is a Coach Community Manager at BetterUp. She uses strategic engagement strategies to cultivate a learning community across a global network of Coaches through in-person and virtual experiences, technology-enabled platforms, and strategic coaching industry partnerships. With over 3 years of coaching experience and a certification in transformative leadership and life coaching from Sofia University, Elizabeth leverages transpersonal psychology expertise to help coaches and clients gain awareness of their behavioral and thought patterns, discover their purpose and passions, and elevate their potential. She is a lifelong student of psychology, personal growth, and human potential as well as an ICF-certified ACC transpersonal life and leadership Coach.

How divergent thinking can drive your creativity

What’s convergent thinking how to be a better problem-solver, 8 creative solutions to your most challenging problems, critical thinking is the one skillset you can't afford not to master, can dreams help you solve problems 6 ways to try, what is lateral thinking 7 techniques to encourage creative ideas, how emotions affect learning: the impact of emotions, 17 memorization techniques to sharpen your memory & recall, how different learning styles make a difference at work, betterup named a 2019 “cool vendor” in human capital management: enhancing employee experience by gartnerup your game: a new model for leadership, 7 critical teamwork skills and how to develop them, what is creative thinking and how can i improve, 6 big picture thinking strategies that you'll actually use, what are analytical skills examples and how to level up, stay connected with betterup, get our newsletter, event invites, plus product insights and research..

3100 E 5th Street, Suite 350 Austin, TX 78702

• Platform overview
• Integrations
• Powered by AI
• BetterUp Lead™
• BetterUp Manage™
• BetterUp Care®
• Sales Performance
• Diversity & Inclusion
• Case studies
• ROI of BetterUp
• What is coaching?
• About Coaching
• Find your Coach
• Career Coaching
• Communication Coaching
• Personal Coaching
• News and Press
• Leadership Team
• Become a BetterUp Coach
• BetterUp Briefing
• Center for Purpose & Performance
• Leadership Training
• Business Coaching
• Contact Support
• Contact Sales
• Privacy Policy
• Acceptable Use Policy
• Trust & Security
• Cookie Preferences

• A-Z Publications

Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior

Volume 10, 2023, review article, open access, developing self-awareness: learning processes for self- and interpersonal growth.

• Manuel London 1 , Valerie I. Sessa 2 , and Loren A. Shelley 2
• View Affiliations Hide Affiliations Affiliations: 1 College of Business, State University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, New York, USA; email: [email protected] 2 Department of Psychology, Montclair State University, Montclair, New Jersey, USA
• Vol. 10:261-288 (Volume publication date January 2023) https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-120920-044531
• First published as a Review in Advance on November 18, 2022
• Copyright © 2023 by the author(s). This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. See credit lines of images or other third-party material in this article for license information

Self-awareness—how we see ourselves and the effects we have on our environment—influences our behavior and the type of person we want to become. This article examines recent research and areas of practice that address the meaning of self-awareness and how it develops over time. We build on extant comprehensive reviews of the literature to define self-awareness and its accuracy, measurement, and effects, including the dark side of being overly introspective. We offer a framework to integrate theory-based processes. We present the results of a literature search of educational interventions aimed at increasing mindfulness through reflection, feedback, and coaching. We conclude with calls for research and implications for practice in areas of measurement, tracking changes, interventions, and self in relation to others in areas of societal impact, self-presentation on digital media, and promoting self-awareness in relation to organization and team membership.

[Erratum, Closure]

Article metrics loading...

Full text loading...

Literature Cited

• Alicke MD , Sedikides C. 2009 . Self-enhancement and self-protection: what they are and what they do. Eur. Rev. Soc. Psychol. 20 : 1 – 48 [Google Scholar]
• Alicke M , Zhang Y , Stephenson N. 2020 . Self-awareness and self-knowledge. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Psychology Oxford, UK: Oxford Univ. Press Self-awareness can be viewed as a path to self-knowledge and understanding one's true self. [Google Scholar]
• Andrews MC , Kacmar KM , Kacmar C. 2014 . The mediational effect of regulatory focus on the relationships between mindfulness and job satisfaction and turnover intentions. Career Dev. Int. 19 : 494 – 507 [Google Scholar]
• Ariel B , Sutherland A , Henstock D , Young J , Drover P et al. 2018 . Paradoxical effects of self-awareness of being observed: testing the effect of police body-worn cameras on assaults and aggression against officers. J. Exp. Criminol. 14 : 19 – 47 [Google Scholar]
• Atkins PWB , Wood RE. 2002 . Self-versus others’ ratings as predictors of assessment center ratings: validation evidence for 360-degree feedback programs. Pers. Psychol. 55 : 871 – 904 [Google Scholar]
• Axelrod SD. 2012 .. “ Self-awareness”: at the interface of executive development and psychoanalytic therapy. Psychoanal. Inq. 32 : 340 – 57 [Google Scholar]
• Bandura A. 1986 . Social Foundations of Thought and Action: A Social Cognitive Theory . Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall [Google Scholar]
• Baumeister RF 1998 . The self. The Handbook of Social Psychology DT Gilbert, ST Fiske, G Lindzey 680 – 740 . New York: McGraw-Hill. , 4th ed.. [Google Scholar]
• Bear JB , Cushenbery L , London M , Sherman GD. 2017 . Performance feedback, power retention, and the gender gap in leadership. Leadersh. Q. 286 : 721 – 40 [Google Scholar]
• Belmi P , Pfeffer J. 2016 . Power and death: Mortality salience increases power seeking while feeling powerful reduces death anxiety. J. Appl. Psychol. 1015 : 702 – 20 [Google Scholar]
• Bozer G , Jones RJ. 2018 . Understanding the factors that determine workplace coaching effectiveness: a systematic literature review. Eur. J. Work Organ. Psychol. 273 : 342 – 61 [Google Scholar]
• Boyatzis RE. 2006 . An overview of intentional change from a complexity perspective. J. Manag. Dev. 25 : 607 – 23 [Google Scholar]
• Braddy PW , Sturm RE , Atwater L , Taylor SN , McKee RA. 2020 . Gender bias still plagues the workplace: looking at derailment risk and performance with self-other ratings. Group Organ. Manag. 45 : 315 – 50 [Google Scholar]
• Brockner J , Higgins ET. 2001 . Regulatory focus theory: implications for the study of emotions at work. Organ. Behav. Hum. Decis. Process. 861 : 35 – 66 [Google Scholar]
• Brown KW , Ryan RM. 2003 . The benefits of being present: mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. J. Personal. Soc. Psychol. 84 : 822 – 48 [Google Scholar]
• Brown KW , Ryan RM , Creswell JD. 2007 . Mindfulness: theoretical foundations and evidence for its salutary effects. Psychol. Inq. 184 : 211 – 37 [Google Scholar]
• Butler AM , Kwantes CT , Boglarsky CA. 2014 . The effects of self-awareness on perceptions of leadership effectiveness in the hospitality industry: a cross cultural investigation. Int. J. Intercult. Relat. 40 : 87 – 98 [Google Scholar]
• Cannon-Bowers JA , Salas E , Converse E 1993 . Shared mental models in expert team decision making. Current Issues in Individual and Group Decision Making NJ Castellan Jr. 221 – 46 . Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum [Google Scholar]
• Carden J , Jones RJ , Passmore J. 2021 . An exploration of the role of coach training in developing self-awareness: a mixed methods study. Curr. Psychol. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-01929-8 [Google Scholar]
• Carden J , Jones RJ , Passmore J. 2022 . Defining self-awareness in the context of adult development: a systematic literature review. J. Manag. Educ. 46 : 140 – 77 Reviews clarity and dimensions of self-awareness that support personal development. [Google Scholar]
• Cashman K. 2014 . Return on self-awareness: Research validates the bottom line of leadership development. Forbes March 17. https://www.forbes.com/sites/kevincashman/2014/03/17/return-on-self-awareness-research-validates-the-bottom-line-of-leadership-development/ [Google Scholar]
• Caza BB , Vough H , Puranik H. 2018 . Identity work in organizations and occupations: definitions, theories, and pathways forward. J. Organ. Behav. 397 : 889 – 910 [Google Scholar]
• Chen G , Thomas B , Wallace JC 2005 . A multilevel examination of the relationships among training outcomes, mediating regulatory processes, and adaptive performance. J. Appl. Psychol. 905 : 827 – 41 [Google Scholar]
• Chen L , Zuckerman M , Diener E. 2021 . Culture moderates the relation between gender inequality and well-being. Psychol. Sci. 326 : 823 – 35 [Google Scholar]
• Choi E , Gruman JA , Leonard CM. 2022 . A balanced view of mindfulness at work. Organ. Psychol. Rev. 12 : 35 – 72 [Google Scholar]
• Chon D , Sitkin S. 2021 . Disentangling the process and content of self-awareness: a review, critical assessment, and synthesis. Acad. Manag. Ann. 15 : 2 https://doi.org/10.5465/annals.2018.0079 Review of internal and external self-awareness literature to acknowledge the evidence-based standards for proper understanding. [Google Scholar]
• Clawson JGS 2010 . Problems in managing the self-assessment process for leaders-to-be. Self-Management and Leadership Development MG Rothstein, RJ Burke 91 – 107 . Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar [Google Scholar]
• Cohen GL , Sherman DK. 2014 . The psychology of change: self-affirmation and social psychological intervention. Annu. Rev. Psychol. 65 : 333 – 71 [Google Scholar]
• Collins L , Hartog S. 2021 . Assessment centers: a blended-learning adult development strategy. See London 2021 299 – 330
• Day DV , Harrison MM , Halpin SM. 2009 . An Integrative Approach to Leader Development: Connecting Adult Development, Identity, and Expertise New York: Routledge [Google Scholar]
• Day DV , Riggio RE , Tan SJ , Conger JA. 2021 . Advancing the science of 21 st -century leadership development: theory, research, and practice. Leadersh. Q. 32 : 5 101557 [Google Scholar]
• Dierdorff EC , Rubin RS. 2015 . Research: We're not very self-aware, especially at work. Harvard Business Review March 12. https://hbr.org/2015/03/research-were-not-very-self-aware-especially-at-work [Google Scholar]
• Donald JN , Sahdra BK , Van Zanden B , Duineveld JJ , Atkins PWB et al. 2019 . Does your mindfulness benefit others? A systematic review and meta-analysis of the link between mindfulness and prosocial behavior. Br. J. Psychol. 1101 : 101 – 25 [Google Scholar]
• Drawbaugh ML , Gianelloni JE , Levy PE. 2021 . The role of the feedback environment in self-development. See London 2021 275 – 85
• Dust SB , Liu H , Wang S , Reina CS 2022 . The effect of mindfulness and job demands on motivation and performance trajectories across the workweek: an entrainment theory perspective. J. Appl. Psychol. 107 : 221 – 39 [Google Scholar]
• Dutton JE , Roberts LM , Bednar J. 2010 . Pathways for positive identity construction at work: four types of positive identity and the building of social resources. Acad. Manag. Rev. 352 : 265 – 93 [Google Scholar]
• Duval TS , Silvia PJ. 2002 . Self-awareness, probability of improvement, and the self-serving bias. J. Personal. Soc. Psychol. 82 : 49 – 61 [Google Scholar]
• Duval TS , Wicklund RA. 1972 . A Theory of Objective Self-Awareness New York: Academic [Google Scholar]
• Dweck CS. 1999 . Self-Theories: Their Role in Motivation, Personality, and Development . New York: Psychology [Google Scholar]
• Eurich T. 2017 . Insight: Why We're Not as Self-Aware as We Think, and How Seeing Ourselves Clearly Helps Us Succeed at Work and in Life New York: Crown Bus. Reviews self-awareness as a developable skill. “Insight” leads to understanding and observing the truth. [Google Scholar]
• Eurich T. 2018 . What self-awareness really is (and how to cultivate it). Harvard Business Review Jan. 4. https://hbr.org/2018/01/what-self-awareness-really-is-and-how-to-cultivate-it Reviews internal and external self-awareness; feedback allows for progressive self-journey. [Google Scholar]
• Fei X. 2015 . Globalization and Cultural Self-Awareness New York: Springer [Google Scholar]
• Grant AM , Franklin J , Langford P. 2002 . The Self-Reflection and Insight Scale: a new measure of private self-consciousness. Soc. Behav. Personal. 30 : : 821 – 35 [Google Scholar]
• Hali K , O'Neill D , Grusec E 2021 . Prosocial motivation as a mediator between dispositional mindfulness and prosocial behavior. Personal. Individ. Differ. 1773 : 110806 [Google Scholar]
• Herbst TH , Conradie PDP. 2011 . Leadership effectiveness in higher education: managerial self-perceptions versus perceptions of others. SA J. Ind. Psychol. 371 : 1 – 14 [Google Scholar]
• Hofstede G. 1980 . Culture's Consequences: International Differences in Work-Related Values . Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage [Google Scholar]
• Hogan J , Hogan R , Kaiser RB 2011 . Management derailment. APA Handbook of Industrial and Organizational Psychology , Vol. 3 S Zedeck 555 – 75 . Washington, DC: Am. Psychol. Assoc. [Google Scholar]
• Hullinger AM , DiGirolamo JA , Tkach JT. 2019 . Reflective practice for coaches and clients: an integrated model for learning. Philos. Coach. 42 : 5 – 34 [Google Scholar]
• Hülsheger UR. 2015 . Making sure that mindfulness is promoted in organizations in the right way and for the right goals. Ind. Organ. Psychol. 84 : 674 – 79 [Google Scholar]
• Hülsheger UR , Alberts H , Feinholdt A , Lang J. 2013 . Benefits of mindfulness at work: the role of mindfulness in emotion regulation, emotional exhaustion, and job satisfaction. J. Appl. Psychol. 982 : 310 – 25 [Google Scholar]
• Hülsheger UR , van Gils S , Walkowiak A. 2021 . The regulating role of mindfulness in enacted workplace incivility: an experience sampling study. J. Appl. Psychol. 1068 : 1250 – 65 [Google Scholar]
• Hyland PK , Lee RA , Mills MJ. 2015 . Mindfulness at work: a new approach to improving individual and organizational performance. Ind. Organ. Psychol. 84 : 576 – 602 [Google Scholar]
• Ibarra H , Petriglieri JL. 2010 . Identity work and play. J. Organ. Change Manag. 231 : 10 – 25 [Google Scholar]
• Itzchakov G , DeMarree KG , Kluger AN , Turjeman-Levi Y. 2018 . The listener sets the tone: High-quality listening increases attitude clarity and behavior-intention consequences. Personal. Soc. Psychol. Bull. 445 : 762 – 78 [Google Scholar]
• Jelley RB. 2021 . Using personality feedback for work-related development and performance improvement: a rapid evidence assessment. Can. J. Behav. Sci. 532 : 175 – 86 [Google Scholar]
• Jia X , Li W , Cao L. 2019 . The role of metacognitive components in creative thinking. Front. Psychol. 10 : 2404 [Google Scholar]
• Jiang X , Snyder K , Li J , Manz C. 2021 . How followers create leaders: the impact of effective followership on leader emergence in self-managing teams. Group Dyn. 25 : 303 – 18 [Google Scholar]
• Kamhawy R , Chan TM , Mondoux S. 2021 . Enabling positive practice improvement through data-driven feedback: a model for understanding how data and self-perception lead to practice change. J. Eval. Clin. Pract. 27 : 917 – 25 [Google Scholar]
• Kegan R. 1994 . In Over Our Heads Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press [Google Scholar]
• Klimoski R , Hu X. 2021 . Improving self-awareness and self-insight. See London 2021 73 – 96
• Kluger AN , DeNisi A. 1996 . The effects of feedback interventions on performance: a historical review, a meta-analysis, and a preliminary feedback intervention theory. Psychol. Bull. 119 : 254 – 84 [Google Scholar]
• Kluger AN , Itzchakov G. 2022 . The power of listening at work. Annu. Rev. Organ. Psychol. Organ. Behav. 9 : 121 – 46 [Google Scholar]
• Kolb DA , Fry R 1975 . Toward an applied theory of experiential learning. Theories of Group Process , ed. C Cooper 33 – 57 . London: John Wiley [Google Scholar]
• Kozlowski SWJ , Bell BS. 2013 . Work groups and teams in organizations. Handbook of Psychology: Industrial and Organizational Psychology , Vol. 12 NW Schmitt, S Highhouse 412 – 69 . New York: John Wiley. , 2nd ed.. [Google Scholar]
• Kragt D , Day DV. 2020 . Predicting leadership competency development and promotion among high-potential executives: the role of leader identity. Front. Psychol. 11 : 1816 [Google Scholar]
• Kraiger K , Ford JK , Salas E. 1993 . Application of cognitive, skill-based, and affective theories of learning outcomes to new methods of training evaluation. J. Appl. Psychol. 782 : 311 – 28 [Google Scholar]
• Langford J , Clance PR. 1993 . The imposter phenomenon: recent research findings regarding dynamics, personality and family patterns and their implications for treatment. Psychotherapy 30 : 495 – 501 [Google Scholar]
• Laske OE. 1999 . An integrated model of developmental coaching. Consult. Psychol. J. 51 : 139 – 59 [Google Scholar]
• Levinson DJ. 1986 . A conception of adult development. Am. Psychol. 41 : 3 – 13 [Google Scholar]
• Levy PE , Tseng ST , Rosen CC , Lueke SB. 2017 . Performance management: a marriage between practice and science—Just say “I do. .” Res. Pers. Hum. Resour. Manag. 35 : 155 – 213 [Google Scholar]
• Leyland A , Rowse G , Emerson LM. 2019 . Experimental effects of mindfulness inductions on self-regulation: systematic review and meta-analysis. Emotion 19 : 108 – 22 [Google Scholar]
• London M. 1983 . Toward a theory of career motivation. Acad. Manag. Rev. 84 : 620 – 30 [Google Scholar]
• London M. 1995 . Self and Interpersonal Insight: How People Gain Understanding of Themselves and Others in Organizations New York: Oxford Univ. Press [Google Scholar]
• London M. 2015 . The Power of Feedback . New York: Routledge [Google Scholar]
• London M 2021 . Oxford Handbook of Lifelong Learning Oxford, UK: Oxford Univ. Press. , 2nd ed.. [Google Scholar]
• London M , Sessa VI. 2007 . How groups learn, continuously. Hum. Resour. Manag. 464 : 651 – 69 [Google Scholar]
• London M , Sherman GD. 2021 . Becoming a leader: emergence of leadership style and identity. Hum. Resour. Dev. Rev. 203 : 322 – 44 [Google Scholar]
• London M , Smither JW. 2002 . Feedback orientation, feedback culture, and the longitudinal performance management process. Hum. Resour. Manag. Rev. 121 : 81 – 101 [Google Scholar]
• Lu C , Wan C. 2018 . Cultural self-awareness as awareness of culture's influence on the self: implications for cultural identification and well-being. Personal. Soc. Psychol. Bull. 44 : 823 – 37 ; supplemental material: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/suppl/10.1177/0146167217752117/suppl_file/Lu_online_appendix.pdf Culture has influence on cultural and personal self-awareness and perspectives. [Google Scholar]
• Markus H , Nurius P. 1986 . Possible selves. Am. Psychol. 41 : 954 – 69 [Google Scholar]
• Matheson FI , Daoud N , Hamilton-Wright S , Borenstein H , Pedersen C , O'Campo P. 2015 . Where did she go? The transformation of self-esteem, self-identity, and mental well-being among women who have experienced intimate partner violence. Women's Health Issues 255 : 561 – 69 [Google Scholar]
• Maurer TJ , London M. 2018 . From individual contributor to leader: a role identity shift framework for leader development within innovative organizations. J. Manag. 444 : 1426 – 52 [Google Scholar]
• Murphy SE , Reichard RJ , Johnson SK 2008 . Self-regulation and leadership: implications for leader performance and leader development. Leadership at the Crossroads , Vol. 1 Leadership and Psychology C Hoyt, A Goethals, D Forsyth 250 – 64 . Westport, CT: Praeger [Google Scholar]
• Onyeador IN , Hudson STJ , Lewis NA. 2021 . Moving beyond implicit bias training: policy insights for increasing organizational diversity. Policy Insights Behav. Brain Sci. 81 : 19 – 26 [Google Scholar]
• Park S , Park S. 2019 . Employee adaptive performance and its antecedents: review and synthesis. Hum. Resour. Dev. Rev. 183 : 294 – 324 [Google Scholar]
• Passarelli AM , Kolb DA. 2021 . The learning way: learning from experience as the path to lifelong learning. See London 2021 97 – 130
• Petriglieri G , Petriglieri JL. 2020 . The return of the oppressed: a systems psychodynamic approach to organization studies. Acad. Manag. Ann. 141 : 411 – 49 [Google Scholar]
• Pienaar JW , Nel P. 2017 . A conceptual framework for understanding leader self-schemas and the influence of those self-schemas on the integration of feedback. SA J. Hum. Resour. Manag. 150 : a772 [Google Scholar]
• Potosky D , Godé C , Lebraty JF. 2021 . Modeling the feedback process in teams: a field study of teamwork. Group Organ. Manag. 110 : 23 – 35 [Google Scholar]
• Rasheed SP , Younas A , Sundus A. 2019 . Self-awareness in nursing: a scoping review. J. Clin. Nurs. 285–86 : 762 – 74 Theory-based review focusing on nurses’ self-awareness development. [Google Scholar]
• Reb J , Narayanan J , Ho ZW. 2013 . Mindfulness at work: antecedents and consequences of employee awareness and absent-mindedness. Mindfulness 61 : 111 – 22 [Google Scholar]
• Rolison JJ. 2019 . What could go wrong? No evidence of an age-related positivity effect when evaluating outcomes of risky activities. Dev. Psychol. 558 : 1788 – 99 [Google Scholar]
• Ryan RM , Deci EL. 2017 . Self-Determination Theory: Basic Psychological Needs in Motivation, Development, and Wellness . New York: Guilford [Google Scholar]
• Ryan RM , Donald JN , Bradshaw EL. 2021 . Mindfulness and motivation: a process view using self-determination theory. Curr. Dir. Psychol. Sci. 304 : 300 – 6 [Google Scholar]
• Salovey P , Mayer JD. 1990 . Emotional intelligence. Imagin. Cogn. Personal. 93 : 185 – 211 [Google Scholar]
• Sandberg S. 2013 . Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead New York: Knopf [Google Scholar]
• Sawyer KB , Thoroughgood CN , Stillwell EE , Duffy MK , Scott KL , Adair EA. 2022 . Being present and thankful: a multi-study investigation of mindfulness, gratitude, and employee helping behavior. J. Appl. Psychol. 107 : 240 – 62 [Google Scholar]
• Sedikides C. 1993 . Assessment, enhancement, and verification determinants of the self-evaluation process. J. Personal. Soc. Psychol. 652 : 317 – 38 [Google Scholar]
• Sessa V , London M , Wanamaker M. 2019 . How multiteam systems learn. Team Perform. Manag. 25 : 1/2 ) : 138 – 56 [Google Scholar]
• Shin J , Grant AM. 2021 . When putting work off pays off: the curvilinear relationship between procrastination and creativity. Acad. Manag. J. 643 : : 772 – 98 [Google Scholar]
• Showry M , Manasa KVL. 2014 . Self-awareness—key to effective leadership. IUP J. Soft Skills 81 : 15 – 26 [Google Scholar]
• Silvia PJ , Duval TS. 2001 . Objective self-awareness theory: recent progress and enduring problems. Personal. Soc. Psychol. Rev. 53 : 230 – 41 [Google Scholar]
• Smither JW , London M , Reilly RR. 2005 . Does performance improve following multisource feedback? A theoretical model, meta-analysis, and review of empirical findings. Pers. Psychol. 58 : 33 – 66 [Google Scholar]
• Staines GL. 1980 . Spillover versus compensation: a review of the literature on the relationship between work and nonwork. Hum. Relat. 332 : 111 – 29 [Google Scholar]
• Steele CM. 1988 . The psychology of self-affirmation: sustaining the integrity of the self. Adv. Exp. Soc. Psychol. 21 : 261 – 302 [Google Scholar]
• Steffens NK , Wolyniec N , Okimoto T , Mols F , Haslam SA , Kay A. 2021 . Knowing me, knowing us: Personal and collective self-awareness enhances authentic leadership and leader endorsement. Leadersh. Q. 32 : 101498 [Google Scholar]
• Sutton A. 2016 . Measuring the effects of self-awareness: construction of the self-awareness outcomes questionnaire. Eur. J. Psychol. 12 : 645 – 58 [Google Scholar]
• Sutton A , Williams HM , Allinson CW. 2015 . A longitudinal mixed method of self-awareness training in the workplace. Eur. J. Train. Dev. 397 : 610 – 27 Self-awareness is connected to well-being, but it also has benefits within the workplace. [Google Scholar]
• Svalgaard L. 2018 . The critical moment of transition: staying with and acting on newly gained self- and social awareness. Manag. Learn. 49 : 278 – 94 [Google Scholar]
• Swann WB. 1987 . Identity negotiation: where two roads meet. J. Personal. Soc. Psychol. 536 : 1038 – 51 [Google Scholar]
• Swann WB , Griffin JJ , Predmore SC , Gaines B. 1987 . The cognitive-affective crossfire: when self-consistency confronts self-enhancement. J. Personal. Soc. Psychol. 525 : 881 – 89 [Google Scholar]
• Tafarodi RW , Swann WB. 2001 . Two-dimensional self-esteem: theory and measurement. Personal. Individ. Differ. 31 : 653 – 73 [Google Scholar]
• Tajfel H , Turner JC 1986 . The social identity theory of intergroup behavior. Psychology of Intergroup Relations S Worchel, WG Austin 7 – 24 . Chicago: Nelson-Hall [Google Scholar]
• Taylor SN. 2006 . Why the real self is fundamental to intentional change. J. Manag. Dev. 257 : : 643 – 56 [Google Scholar]
• Thornton GC III. 1992 . Assessment Centers in Human Resource Management . Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley [Google Scholar]
• Trapnell PD , Campbell JD. 1999 . Private self-consciousness and the five-factor model of personality: distinguishing rumination from reflection. J. Personal. Soc. Psychol. 762 : 284 – 304 [Google Scholar]
• Turner JC , Reynolds KJ 2010 . The story of social identity. Rediscovering Social Identity: Key Readings , ed. T Postmes, N Branscombe 13 – 32 . New York: Psychology [Google Scholar]
• Uggerslev KL , Sulsky LM. 2008 . Using frame-of-reference training to understand the implications of rater idiosyncrasy for rating accuracy. J. Appl. Psychol. 933 : 711 – 19 [Google Scholar]
• Van Dam NT , van Vugt MK , Vago DR , Schmalzl L , Saron CD et al. 2018 . Mind the hype: a critical evaluation and prescriptive agenda for research on mindfulness and meditation. Perspect. Psychol. Sci. 131 : 36 – 61 [Google Scholar]
• Vitriol JA , Moskowitz GB. 2021 . Reducing defensive responding to implicit bias feedback: on the role of perceived moral threat and efficacy to change. J. Exp. Soc. Psychol. 96 : 104165 [Google Scholar]
• Walsh MM , Arnold KA. 2020 . The bright and dark sides of employee mindfulness: leadership style and employee well-being. Stress Health 36 : 287 – 98 [Google Scholar]
• Whetten DA , Cameron KS. 2016 . Developing Management Skills London: Pearson. , 9th ed.. [Google Scholar]
• Willink J , Babin L. 2015 . Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy Seals Lead and Win . New York: St. Martin's [Google Scholar]
• Wilson TD. 2009 . Know thyself. Perspect. Psychol. Sci. 44 : 384 – 89 [Google Scholar]
• Wohlers AJ , London M. 1989 . Ratings of managerial characteristics: evaluation difficulty, co-worker agreement, and self-awareness. Pers. Psychol. 422 : 235 – 61 [Google Scholar]
• Yang Y , Hsee CK , Li X. 2021 . Prediction biases: an integrative review. Psychol. Sci. 303 : 195 – 201 [Google Scholar]

Data & Media loading...

Supplementary Data

Download Supplemental Tables 1-2 (PDF).

• Article Type: Review Article

Most Read This Month

Most cited most cited rss feed, conservation of resources in the organizational context: the reality of resources and their consequences, self-determination theory in work organizations: the state of a science, burnout and work engagement: the jd–r approach, psychological safety: the history, renaissance, and future of an interpersonal construct, employee voice and silence, psychological capital: an evidence-based positive approach, how technology is changing work and organizations, research on workplace creativity: a review and redirection, abusive supervision, alternative work arrangements: two images of the new world of work.

Translate this page from English...

*Machine translated pages not guaranteed for accuracy. Click Here for our professional translations.

Defining Critical Thinking

• Table of Contents
• Random Entry
• Chronological
• Editorial Information
• About the SEP
• Editorial Board
• How to Cite the SEP
• Special Characters
• Advanced Tools
• Support the SEP
• PDFs for SEP Friends
• Make a Donation
• SEPIA for Libraries
• Entry Contents

Bibliography

Academic tools.

• Friends PDF Preview
• Author and Citation Info
• Back to Top

Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is a widely accepted educational goal. Its definition is contested, but the competing definitions can be understood as differing conceptions of the same basic concept: careful thinking directed to a goal. Conceptions differ with respect to the scope of such thinking, the type of goal, the criteria and norms for thinking carefully, and the thinking components on which they focus. Its adoption as an educational goal has been recommended on the basis of respect for students’ autonomy and preparing students for success in life and for democratic citizenship. “Critical thinkers” have the dispositions and abilities that lead them to think critically when appropriate. The abilities can be identified directly; the dispositions indirectly, by considering what factors contribute to or impede exercise of the abilities. Standardized tests have been developed to assess the degree to which a person possesses such dispositions and abilities. Educational intervention has been shown experimentally to improve them, particularly when it includes dialogue, anchored instruction, and mentoring. Controversies have arisen over the generalizability of critical thinking across domains, over alleged bias in critical thinking theories and instruction, and over the relationship of critical thinking to other types of thinking.

2.1 Dewey’s Three Main Examples

2.2 dewey’s other examples, 2.3 further examples, 2.4 non-examples, 3. the definition of critical thinking, 4. its value, 5. the process of thinking critically, 6. components of the process, 7. contributory dispositions and abilities, 8.1 initiating dispositions, 8.2 internal dispositions, 9. critical thinking abilities, 10. required knowledge, 11. educational methods, 12.1 the generalizability of critical thinking, 12.2 bias in critical thinking theory and pedagogy, 12.3 relationship of critical thinking to other types of thinking, other internet resources, related entries.

Use of the term ‘critical thinking’ to describe an educational goal goes back to the American philosopher John Dewey (1910), who more commonly called it ‘reflective thinking’. He defined it as

active, persistent and careful consideration of any belief or supposed form of knowledge in the light of the grounds that support it, and the further conclusions to which it tends. (Dewey 1910: 6; 1933: 9)

and identified a habit of such consideration with a scientific attitude of mind. His lengthy quotations of Francis Bacon, John Locke, and John Stuart Mill indicate that he was not the first person to propose development of a scientific attitude of mind as an educational goal.

In the 1930s, many of the schools that participated in the Eight-Year Study of the Progressive Education Association (Aikin 1942) adopted critical thinking as an educational goal, for whose achievement the study’s Evaluation Staff developed tests (Smith, Tyler, & Evaluation Staff 1942). Glaser (1941) showed experimentally that it was possible to improve the critical thinking of high school students. Bloom’s influential taxonomy of cognitive educational objectives (Bloom et al. 1956) incorporated critical thinking abilities. Ennis (1962) proposed 12 aspects of critical thinking as a basis for research on the teaching and evaluation of critical thinking ability.

Since 1980, an annual international conference in California on critical thinking and educational reform has attracted tens of thousands of educators from all levels of education and from many parts of the world. Also since 1980, the state university system in California has required all undergraduate students to take a critical thinking course. Since 1983, the Association for Informal Logic and Critical Thinking has sponsored sessions in conjunction with the divisional meetings of the American Philosophical Association (APA). In 1987, the APA’s Committee on Pre-College Philosophy commissioned a consensus statement on critical thinking for purposes of educational assessment and instruction (Facione 1990a). Researchers have developed standardized tests of critical thinking abilities and dispositions; for details, see the Supplement on Assessment . Educational jurisdictions around the world now include critical thinking in guidelines for curriculum and assessment.

For details on this history, see the Supplement on History .

2. Examples and Non-Examples

Before considering the definition of critical thinking, it will be helpful to have in mind some examples of critical thinking, as well as some examples of kinds of thinking that would apparently not count as critical thinking.

Dewey (1910: 68–71; 1933: 91–94) takes as paradigms of reflective thinking three class papers of students in which they describe their thinking. The examples range from the everyday to the scientific.

Transit : “The other day, when I was down town on 16th Street, a clock caught my eye. I saw that the hands pointed to 12:20. This suggested that I had an engagement at 124th Street, at one o’clock. I reasoned that as it had taken me an hour to come down on a surface car, I should probably be twenty minutes late if I returned the same way. I might save twenty minutes by a subway express. But was there a station near? If not, I might lose more than twenty minutes in looking for one. Then I thought of the elevated, and I saw there was such a line within two blocks. But where was the station? If it were several blocks above or below the street I was on, I should lose time instead of gaining it. My mind went back to the subway express as quicker than the elevated; furthermore, I remembered that it went nearer than the elevated to the part of 124th Street I wished to reach, so that time would be saved at the end of the journey. I concluded in favor of the subway, and reached my destination by one o’clock.” (Dewey 1910: 68–69; 1933: 91–92)

Ferryboat : “Projecting nearly horizontally from the upper deck of the ferryboat on which I daily cross the river is a long white pole, having a gilded ball at its tip. It suggested a flagpole when I first saw it; its color, shape, and gilded ball agreed with this idea, and these reasons seemed to justify me in this belief. But soon difficulties presented themselves. The pole was nearly horizontal, an unusual position for a flagpole; in the next place, there was no pulley, ring, or cord by which to attach a flag; finally, there were elsewhere on the boat two vertical staffs from which flags were occasionally flown. It seemed probable that the pole was not there for flag-flying.

“I then tried to imagine all possible purposes of the pole, and to consider for which of these it was best suited: (a) Possibly it was an ornament. But as all the ferryboats and even the tugboats carried poles, this hypothesis was rejected. (b) Possibly it was the terminal of a wireless telegraph. But the same considerations made this improbable. Besides, the more natural place for such a terminal would be the highest part of the boat, on top of the pilot house. (c) Its purpose might be to point out the direction in which the boat is moving.

“In support of this conclusion, I discovered that the pole was lower than the pilot house, so that the steersman could easily see it. Moreover, the tip was enough higher than the base, so that, from the pilot’s position, it must appear to project far out in front of the boat. Moreover, the pilot being near the front of the boat, he would need some such guide as to its direction. Tugboats would also need poles for such a purpose. This hypothesis was so much more probable than the others that I accepted it. I formed the conclusion that the pole was set up for the purpose of showing the pilot the direction in which the boat pointed, to enable him to steer correctly.” (Dewey 1910: 69–70; 1933: 92–93)

Bubbles : “In washing tumblers in hot soapsuds and placing them mouth downward on a plate, bubbles appeared on the outside of the mouth of the tumblers and then went inside. Why? The presence of bubbles suggests air, which I note must come from inside the tumbler. I see that the soapy water on the plate prevents escape of the air save as it may be caught in bubbles. But why should air leave the tumbler? There was no substance entering to force it out. It must have expanded. It expands by increase of heat, or by decrease of pressure, or both. Could the air have become heated after the tumbler was taken from the hot suds? Clearly not the air that was already entangled in the water. If heated air was the cause, cold air must have entered in transferring the tumblers from the suds to the plate. I test to see if this supposition is true by taking several more tumblers out. Some I shake so as to make sure of entrapping cold air in them. Some I take out holding mouth downward in order to prevent cold air from entering. Bubbles appear on the outside of every one of the former and on none of the latter. I must be right in my inference. Air from the outside must have been expanded by the heat of the tumbler, which explains the appearance of the bubbles on the outside. But why do they then go inside? Cold contracts. The tumbler cooled and also the air inside it. Tension was removed, and hence bubbles appeared inside. To be sure of this, I test by placing a cup of ice on the tumbler while the bubbles are still forming outside. They soon reverse” (Dewey 1910: 70–71; 1933: 93–94).

Dewey (1910, 1933) sprinkles his book with other examples of critical thinking. We will refer to the following.

Weather : A man on a walk notices that it has suddenly become cool, thinks that it is probably going to rain, looks up and sees a dark cloud obscuring the sun, and quickens his steps (1910: 6–10; 1933: 9–13).

Disorder : A man finds his rooms on his return to them in disorder with his belongings thrown about, thinks at first of burglary as an explanation, then thinks of mischievous children as being an alternative explanation, then looks to see whether valuables are missing, and discovers that they are (1910: 82–83; 1933: 166–168).

Typhoid : A physician diagnosing a patient whose conspicuous symptoms suggest typhoid avoids drawing a conclusion until more data are gathered by questioning the patient and by making tests (1910: 85–86; 1933: 170).

Blur : A moving blur catches our eye in the distance, we ask ourselves whether it is a cloud of whirling dust or a tree moving its branches or a man signaling to us, we think of other traits that should be found on each of those possibilities, and we look and see if those traits are found (1910: 102, 108; 1933: 121, 133).

Suction pump : In thinking about the suction pump, the scientist first notes that it will draw water only to a maximum height of 33 feet at sea level and to a lesser maximum height at higher elevations, selects for attention the differing atmospheric pressure at these elevations, sets up experiments in which the air is removed from a vessel containing water (when suction no longer works) and in which the weight of air at various levels is calculated, compares the results of reasoning about the height to which a given weight of air will allow a suction pump to raise water with the observed maximum height at different elevations, and finally assimilates the suction pump to such apparently different phenomena as the siphon and the rising of a balloon (1910: 150–153; 1933: 195–198).

Diamond : A passenger in a car driving in a diamond lane reserved for vehicles with at least one passenger notices that the diamond marks on the pavement are far apart in some places and close together in others. Why? The driver suggests that the reason may be that the diamond marks are not needed where there is a solid double line separating the diamond lane from the adjoining lane, but are needed when there is a dotted single line permitting crossing into the diamond lane. Further observation confirms that the diamonds are close together when a dotted line separates the diamond lane from its neighbour, but otherwise far apart.

Rash : A woman suddenly develops a very itchy red rash on her throat and upper chest. She recently noticed a mark on the back of her right hand, but was not sure whether the mark was a rash or a scrape. She lies down in bed and thinks about what might be causing the rash and what to do about it. About two weeks before, she began taking blood pressure medication that contained a sulfa drug, and the pharmacist had warned her, in view of a previous allergic reaction to a medication containing a sulfa drug, to be on the alert for an allergic reaction; however, she had been taking the medication for two weeks with no such effect. The day before, she began using a new cream on her neck and upper chest; against the new cream as the cause was mark on the back of her hand, which had not been exposed to the cream. She began taking probiotics about a month before. She also recently started new eye drops, but she supposed that manufacturers of eye drops would be careful not to include allergy-causing components in the medication. The rash might be a heat rash, since she recently was sweating profusely from her upper body. Since she is about to go away on a short vacation, where she would not have access to her usual physician, she decides to keep taking the probiotics and using the new eye drops but to discontinue the blood pressure medication and to switch back to the old cream for her neck and upper chest. She forms a plan to consult her regular physician on her return about the blood pressure medication.

Candidate : Although Dewey included no examples of thinking directed at appraising the arguments of others, such thinking has come to be considered a kind of critical thinking. We find an example of such thinking in the performance task on the Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA+), which its sponsoring organization describes as

a performance-based assessment that provides a measure of an institution’s contribution to the development of critical-thinking and written communication skills of its students. (Council for Aid to Education 2017)

A sample task posted on its website requires the test-taker to write a report for public distribution evaluating a fictional candidate’s policy proposals and their supporting arguments, using supplied background documents, with a recommendation on whether to endorse the candidate.

Immediate acceptance of an idea that suggests itself as a solution to a problem (e.g., a possible explanation of an event or phenomenon, an action that seems likely to produce a desired result) is “uncritical thinking, the minimum of reflection” (Dewey 1910: 13). On-going suspension of judgment in the light of doubt about a possible solution is not critical thinking (Dewey 1910: 108). Critique driven by a dogmatically held political or religious ideology is not critical thinking; thus Paulo Freire (1968 [1970]) is using the term (e.g., at 1970: 71, 81, 100, 146) in a more politically freighted sense that includes not only reflection but also revolutionary action against oppression. Derivation of a conclusion from given data using an algorithm is not critical thinking.

What is critical thinking? There are many definitions. Ennis (2016) lists 14 philosophically oriented scholarly definitions and three dictionary definitions. Following Rawls (1971), who distinguished his conception of justice from a utilitarian conception but regarded them as rival conceptions of the same concept, Ennis maintains that the 17 definitions are different conceptions of the same concept. Rawls articulated the shared concept of justice as

a characteristic set of principles for assigning basic rights and duties and for determining… the proper distribution of the benefits and burdens of social cooperation. (Rawls 1971: 5)

Bailin et al. (1999b) claim that, if one considers what sorts of thinking an educator would take not to be critical thinking and what sorts to be critical thinking, one can conclude that educators typically understand critical thinking to have at least three features.

• It is done for the purpose of making up one’s mind about what to believe or do.
• The person engaging in the thinking is trying to fulfill standards of adequacy and accuracy appropriate to the thinking.
• The thinking fulfills the relevant standards to some threshold level.

One could sum up the core concept that involves these three features by saying that critical thinking is careful goal-directed thinking. This core concept seems to apply to all the examples of critical thinking described in the previous section. As for the non-examples, their exclusion depends on construing careful thinking as excluding jumping immediately to conclusions, suspending judgment no matter how strong the evidence, reasoning from an unquestioned ideological or religious perspective, and routinely using an algorithm to answer a question.

If the core of critical thinking is careful goal-directed thinking, conceptions of it can vary according to its presumed scope, its presumed goal, one’s criteria and threshold for being careful, and the thinking component on which one focuses. As to its scope, some conceptions (e.g., Dewey 1910, 1933) restrict it to constructive thinking on the basis of one’s own observations and experiments, others (e.g., Ennis 1962; Fisher & Scriven 1997; Johnson 1992) to appraisal of the products of such thinking. Ennis (1991) and Bailin et al. (1999b) take it to cover both construction and appraisal. As to its goal, some conceptions restrict it to forming a judgment (Dewey 1910, 1933; Lipman 1987; Facione 1990a). Others allow for actions as well as beliefs as the end point of a process of critical thinking (Ennis 1991; Bailin et al. 1999b). As to the criteria and threshold for being careful, definitions vary in the term used to indicate that critical thinking satisfies certain norms: “intellectually disciplined” (Scriven & Paul 1987), “reasonable” (Ennis 1991), “skillful” (Lipman 1987), “skilled” (Fisher & Scriven 1997), “careful” (Bailin & Battersby 2009). Some definitions specify these norms, referring variously to “consideration of any belief or supposed form of knowledge in the light of the grounds that support it and the further conclusions to which it tends” (Dewey 1910, 1933); “the methods of logical inquiry and reasoning” (Glaser 1941); “conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication” (Scriven & Paul 1987); the requirement that “it is sensitive to context, relies on criteria, and is self-correcting” (Lipman 1987); “evidential, conceptual, methodological, criteriological, or contextual considerations” (Facione 1990a); and “plus-minus considerations of the product in terms of appropriate standards (or criteria)” (Johnson 1992). Stanovich and Stanovich (2010) propose to ground the concept of critical thinking in the concept of rationality, which they understand as combining epistemic rationality (fitting one’s beliefs to the world) and instrumental rationality (optimizing goal fulfillment); a critical thinker, in their view, is someone with “a propensity to override suboptimal responses from the autonomous mind” (2010: 227). These variant specifications of norms for critical thinking are not necessarily incompatible with one another, and in any case presuppose the core notion of thinking carefully. As to the thinking component singled out, some definitions focus on suspension of judgment during the thinking (Dewey 1910; McPeck 1981), others on inquiry while judgment is suspended (Bailin & Battersby 2009, 2021), others on the resulting judgment (Facione 1990a), and still others on responsiveness to reasons (Siegel 1988). Kuhn (2019) takes critical thinking to be more a dialogic practice of advancing and responding to arguments than an individual ability.

In educational contexts, a definition of critical thinking is a “programmatic definition” (Scheffler 1960: 19). It expresses a practical program for achieving an educational goal. For this purpose, a one-sentence formulaic definition is much less useful than articulation of a critical thinking process, with criteria and standards for the kinds of thinking that the process may involve. The real educational goal is recognition, adoption and implementation by students of those criteria and standards. That adoption and implementation in turn consists in acquiring the knowledge, abilities and dispositions of a critical thinker.

Conceptions of critical thinking generally do not include moral integrity as part of the concept. Dewey, for example, took critical thinking to be the ultimate intellectual goal of education, but distinguished it from the development of social cooperation among school children, which he took to be the central moral goal. Ennis (1996, 2011) added to his previous list of critical thinking dispositions a group of dispositions to care about the dignity and worth of every person, which he described as a “correlative” (1996) disposition without which critical thinking would be less valuable and perhaps harmful. An educational program that aimed at developing critical thinking but not the correlative disposition to care about the dignity and worth of every person, he asserted, “would be deficient and perhaps dangerous” (Ennis 1996: 172).

Dewey thought that education for reflective thinking would be of value to both the individual and society; recognition in educational practice of the kinship to the scientific attitude of children’s native curiosity, fertile imagination and love of experimental inquiry “would make for individual happiness and the reduction of social waste” (Dewey 1910: iii). Schools participating in the Eight-Year Study took development of the habit of reflective thinking and skill in solving problems as a means to leading young people to understand, appreciate and live the democratic way of life characteristic of the United States (Aikin 1942: 17–18, 81). Harvey Siegel (1988: 55–61) has offered four considerations in support of adopting critical thinking as an educational ideal. (1) Respect for persons requires that schools and teachers honour students’ demands for reasons and explanations, deal with students honestly, and recognize the need to confront students’ independent judgment; these requirements concern the manner in which teachers treat students. (2) Education has the task of preparing children to be successful adults, a task that requires development of their self-sufficiency. (3) Education should initiate children into the rational traditions in such fields as history, science and mathematics. (4) Education should prepare children to become democratic citizens, which requires reasoned procedures and critical talents and attitudes. To supplement these considerations, Siegel (1988: 62–90) responds to two objections: the ideology objection that adoption of any educational ideal requires a prior ideological commitment and the indoctrination objection that cultivation of critical thinking cannot escape being a form of indoctrination.

Despite the diversity of our 11 examples, one can recognize a common pattern. Dewey analyzed it as consisting of five phases:

• suggestions , in which the mind leaps forward to a possible solution;
• an intellectualization of the difficulty or perplexity into a problem to be solved, a question for which the answer must be sought;
• the use of one suggestion after another as a leading idea, or hypothesis , to initiate and guide observation and other operations in collection of factual material;
• the mental elaboration of the idea or supposition as an idea or supposition ( reasoning , in the sense on which reasoning is a part, not the whole, of inference); and
• testing the hypothesis by overt or imaginative action. (Dewey 1933: 106–107; italics in original)

The process of reflective thinking consisting of these phases would be preceded by a perplexed, troubled or confused situation and followed by a cleared-up, unified, resolved situation (Dewey 1933: 106). The term ‘phases’ replaced the term ‘steps’ (Dewey 1910: 72), thus removing the earlier suggestion of an invariant sequence. Variants of the above analysis appeared in (Dewey 1916: 177) and (Dewey 1938: 101–119).

The variant formulations indicate the difficulty of giving a single logical analysis of such a varied process. The process of critical thinking may have a spiral pattern, with the problem being redefined in the light of obstacles to solving it as originally formulated. For example, the person in Transit might have concluded that getting to the appointment at the scheduled time was impossible and have reformulated the problem as that of rescheduling the appointment for a mutually convenient time. Further, defining a problem does not always follow after or lead immediately to an idea of a suggested solution. Nor should it do so, as Dewey himself recognized in describing the physician in Typhoid as avoiding any strong preference for this or that conclusion before getting further information (Dewey 1910: 85; 1933: 170). People with a hypothesis in mind, even one to which they have a very weak commitment, have a so-called “confirmation bias” (Nickerson 1998): they are likely to pay attention to evidence that confirms the hypothesis and to ignore evidence that counts against it or for some competing hypothesis. Detectives, intelligence agencies, and investigators of airplane accidents are well advised to gather relevant evidence systematically and to postpone even tentative adoption of an explanatory hypothesis until the collected evidence rules out with the appropriate degree of certainty all but one explanation. Dewey’s analysis of the critical thinking process can be faulted as well for requiring acceptance or rejection of a possible solution to a defined problem, with no allowance for deciding in the light of the available evidence to suspend judgment. Further, given the great variety of kinds of problems for which reflection is appropriate, there is likely to be variation in its component events. Perhaps the best way to conceptualize the critical thinking process is as a checklist whose component events can occur in a variety of orders, selectively, and more than once. These component events might include (1) noticing a difficulty, (2) defining the problem, (3) dividing the problem into manageable sub-problems, (4) formulating a variety of possible solutions to the problem or sub-problem, (5) determining what evidence is relevant to deciding among possible solutions to the problem or sub-problem, (6) devising a plan of systematic observation or experiment that will uncover the relevant evidence, (7) carrying out the plan of systematic observation or experimentation, (8) noting the results of the systematic observation or experiment, (9) gathering relevant testimony and information from others, (10) judging the credibility of testimony and information gathered from others, (11) drawing conclusions from gathered evidence and accepted testimony, and (12) accepting a solution that the evidence adequately supports (cf. Hitchcock 2017: 485).

Checklist conceptions of the process of critical thinking are open to the objection that they are too mechanical and procedural to fit the multi-dimensional and emotionally charged issues for which critical thinking is urgently needed (Paul 1984). For such issues, a more dialectical process is advocated, in which competing relevant world views are identified, their implications explored, and some sort of creative synthesis attempted.

If one considers the critical thinking process illustrated by the 11 examples, one can identify distinct kinds of mental acts and mental states that form part of it. To distinguish, label and briefly characterize these components is a useful preliminary to identifying abilities, skills, dispositions, attitudes, habits and the like that contribute causally to thinking critically. Identifying such abilities and habits is in turn a useful preliminary to setting educational goals. Setting the goals is in its turn a useful preliminary to designing strategies for helping learners to achieve the goals and to designing ways of measuring the extent to which learners have done so. Such measures provide both feedback to learners on their achievement and a basis for experimental research on the effectiveness of various strategies for educating people to think critically. Let us begin, then, by distinguishing the kinds of mental acts and mental events that can occur in a critical thinking process.

• Observing : One notices something in one’s immediate environment (sudden cooling of temperature in Weather , bubbles forming outside a glass and then going inside in Bubbles , a moving blur in the distance in Blur , a rash in Rash ). Or one notes the results of an experiment or systematic observation (valuables missing in Disorder , no suction without air pressure in Suction pump )
• Feeling : One feels puzzled or uncertain about something (how to get to an appointment on time in Transit , why the diamonds vary in spacing in Diamond ). One wants to resolve this perplexity. One feels satisfaction once one has worked out an answer (to take the subway express in Transit , diamonds closer when needed as a warning in Diamond ).
• Wondering : One formulates a question to be addressed (why bubbles form outside a tumbler taken from hot water in Bubbles , how suction pumps work in Suction pump , what caused the rash in Rash ).
• Imagining : One thinks of possible answers (bus or subway or elevated in Transit , flagpole or ornament or wireless communication aid or direction indicator in Ferryboat , allergic reaction or heat rash in Rash ).
• Inferring : One works out what would be the case if a possible answer were assumed (valuables missing if there has been a burglary in Disorder , earlier start to the rash if it is an allergic reaction to a sulfa drug in Rash ). Or one draws a conclusion once sufficient relevant evidence is gathered (take the subway in Transit , burglary in Disorder , discontinue blood pressure medication and new cream in Rash ).
• Knowledge : One uses stored knowledge of the subject-matter to generate possible answers or to infer what would be expected on the assumption of a particular answer (knowledge of a city’s public transit system in Transit , of the requirements for a flagpole in Ferryboat , of Boyle’s law in Bubbles , of allergic reactions in Rash ).
• Experimenting : One designs and carries out an experiment or a systematic observation to find out whether the results deduced from a possible answer will occur (looking at the location of the flagpole in relation to the pilot’s position in Ferryboat , putting an ice cube on top of a tumbler taken from hot water in Bubbles , measuring the height to which a suction pump will draw water at different elevations in Suction pump , noticing the spacing of diamonds when movement to or from a diamond lane is allowed in Diamond ).
• Consulting : One finds a source of information, gets the information from the source, and makes a judgment on whether to accept it. None of our 11 examples include searching for sources of information. In this respect they are unrepresentative, since most people nowadays have almost instant access to information relevant to answering any question, including many of those illustrated by the examples. However, Candidate includes the activities of extracting information from sources and evaluating its credibility.
• Identifying and analyzing arguments : One notices an argument and works out its structure and content as a preliminary to evaluating its strength. This activity is central to Candidate . It is an important part of a critical thinking process in which one surveys arguments for various positions on an issue.
• Judging : One makes a judgment on the basis of accumulated evidence and reasoning, such as the judgment in Ferryboat that the purpose of the pole is to provide direction to the pilot.
• Deciding : One makes a decision on what to do or on what policy to adopt, as in the decision in Transit to take the subway.

By definition, a person who does something voluntarily is both willing and able to do that thing at that time. Both the willingness and the ability contribute causally to the person’s action, in the sense that the voluntary action would not occur if either (or both) of these were lacking. For example, suppose that one is standing with one’s arms at one’s sides and one voluntarily lifts one’s right arm to an extended horizontal position. One would not do so if one were unable to lift one’s arm, if for example one’s right side was paralyzed as the result of a stroke. Nor would one do so if one were unwilling to lift one’s arm, if for example one were participating in a street demonstration at which a white supremacist was urging the crowd to lift their right arm in a Nazi salute and one were unwilling to express support in this way for the racist Nazi ideology. The same analysis applies to a voluntary mental process of thinking critically. It requires both willingness and ability to think critically, including willingness and ability to perform each of the mental acts that compose the process and to coordinate those acts in a sequence that is directed at resolving the initiating perplexity.

Consider willingness first. We can identify causal contributors to willingness to think critically by considering factors that would cause a person who was able to think critically about an issue nevertheless not to do so (Hamby 2014). For each factor, the opposite condition thus contributes causally to willingness to think critically on a particular occasion. For example, people who habitually jump to conclusions without considering alternatives will not think critically about issues that arise, even if they have the required abilities. The contrary condition of willingness to suspend judgment is thus a causal contributor to thinking critically.

Now consider ability. In contrast to the ability to move one’s arm, which can be completely absent because a stroke has left the arm paralyzed, the ability to think critically is a developed ability, whose absence is not a complete absence of ability to think but absence of ability to think well. We can identify the ability to think well directly, in terms of the norms and standards for good thinking. In general, to be able do well the thinking activities that can be components of a critical thinking process, one needs to know the concepts and principles that characterize their good performance, to recognize in particular cases that the concepts and principles apply, and to apply them. The knowledge, recognition and application may be procedural rather than declarative. It may be domain-specific rather than widely applicable, and in either case may need subject-matter knowledge, sometimes of a deep kind.

Reflections of the sort illustrated by the previous two paragraphs have led scholars to identify the knowledge, abilities and dispositions of a “critical thinker”, i.e., someone who thinks critically whenever it is appropriate to do so. We turn now to these three types of causal contributors to thinking critically. We start with dispositions, since arguably these are the most powerful contributors to being a critical thinker, can be fostered at an early stage of a child’s development, and are susceptible to general improvement (Glaser 1941: 175)

8. Critical Thinking Dispositions

Educational researchers use the term ‘dispositions’ broadly for the habits of mind and attitudes that contribute causally to being a critical thinker. Some writers (e.g., Paul & Elder 2006; Hamby 2014; Bailin & Battersby 2016a) propose to use the term ‘virtues’ for this dimension of a critical thinker. The virtues in question, although they are virtues of character, concern the person’s ways of thinking rather than the person’s ways of behaving towards others. They are not moral virtues but intellectual virtues, of the sort articulated by Zagzebski (1996) and discussed by Turri, Alfano, and Greco (2017).

On a realistic conception, thinking dispositions or intellectual virtues are real properties of thinkers. They are general tendencies, propensities, or inclinations to think in particular ways in particular circumstances, and can be genuinely explanatory (Siegel 1999). Sceptics argue that there is no evidence for a specific mental basis for the habits of mind that contribute to thinking critically, and that it is pedagogically misleading to posit such a basis (Bailin et al. 1999a). Whatever their status, critical thinking dispositions need motivation for their initial formation in a child—motivation that may be external or internal. As children develop, the force of habit will gradually become important in sustaining the disposition (Nieto & Valenzuela 2012). Mere force of habit, however, is unlikely to sustain critical thinking dispositions. Critical thinkers must value and enjoy using their knowledge and abilities to think things through for themselves. They must be committed to, and lovers of, inquiry.

A person may have a critical thinking disposition with respect to only some kinds of issues. For example, one could be open-minded about scientific issues but not about religious issues. Similarly, one could be confident in one’s ability to reason about the theological implications of the existence of evil in the world but not in one’s ability to reason about the best design for a guided ballistic missile.

Facione (1990a: 25) divides “affective dispositions” of critical thinking into approaches to life and living in general and approaches to specific issues, questions or problems. Adapting this distinction, one can usefully divide critical thinking dispositions into initiating dispositions (those that contribute causally to starting to think critically about an issue) and internal dispositions (those that contribute causally to doing a good job of thinking critically once one has started). The two categories are not mutually exclusive. For example, open-mindedness, in the sense of willingness to consider alternative points of view to one’s own, is both an initiating and an internal disposition.

Using the strategy of considering factors that would block people with the ability to think critically from doing so, we can identify as initiating dispositions for thinking critically attentiveness, a habit of inquiry, self-confidence, courage, open-mindedness, willingness to suspend judgment, trust in reason, wanting evidence for one’s beliefs, and seeking the truth. We consider briefly what each of these dispositions amounts to, in each case citing sources that acknowledge them.

• Attentiveness : One will not think critically if one fails to recognize an issue that needs to be thought through. For example, the pedestrian in Weather would not have looked up if he had not noticed that the air was suddenly cooler. To be a critical thinker, then, one needs to be habitually attentive to one’s surroundings, noticing not only what one senses but also sources of perplexity in messages received and in one’s own beliefs and attitudes (Facione 1990a: 25; Facione, Facione, & Giancarlo 2001).
• Habit of inquiry : Inquiry is effortful, and one needs an internal push to engage in it. For example, the student in Bubbles could easily have stopped at idle wondering about the cause of the bubbles rather than reasoning to a hypothesis, then designing and executing an experiment to test it. Thus willingness to think critically needs mental energy and initiative. What can supply that energy? Love of inquiry, or perhaps just a habit of inquiry. Hamby (2015) has argued that willingness to inquire is the central critical thinking virtue, one that encompasses all the others. It is recognized as a critical thinking disposition by Dewey (1910: 29; 1933: 35), Glaser (1941: 5), Ennis (1987: 12; 1991: 8), Facione (1990a: 25), Bailin et al. (1999b: 294), Halpern (1998: 452), and Facione, Facione, & Giancarlo (2001).
• Self-confidence : Lack of confidence in one’s abilities can block critical thinking. For example, if the woman in Rash lacked confidence in her ability to figure things out for herself, she might just have assumed that the rash on her chest was the allergic reaction to her medication against which the pharmacist had warned her. Thus willingness to think critically requires confidence in one’s ability to inquire (Facione 1990a: 25; Facione, Facione, & Giancarlo 2001).
• Courage : Fear of thinking for oneself can stop one from doing it. Thus willingness to think critically requires intellectual courage (Paul & Elder 2006: 16).
• Open-mindedness : A dogmatic attitude will impede thinking critically. For example, a person who adheres rigidly to a “pro-choice” position on the issue of the legal status of induced abortion is likely to be unwilling to consider seriously the issue of when in its development an unborn child acquires a moral right to life. Thus willingness to think critically requires open-mindedness, in the sense of a willingness to examine questions to which one already accepts an answer but which further evidence or reasoning might cause one to answer differently (Dewey 1933; Facione 1990a; Ennis 1991; Bailin et al. 1999b; Halpern 1998, Facione, Facione, & Giancarlo 2001). Paul (1981) emphasizes open-mindedness about alternative world-views, and recommends a dialectical approach to integrating such views as central to what he calls “strong sense” critical thinking. In three studies, Haran, Ritov, & Mellers (2013) found that actively open-minded thinking, including “the tendency to weigh new evidence against a favored belief, to spend sufficient time on a problem before giving up, and to consider carefully the opinions of others in forming one’s own”, led study participants to acquire information and thus to make accurate estimations.
• Willingness to suspend judgment : Premature closure on an initial solution will block critical thinking. Thus willingness to think critically requires a willingness to suspend judgment while alternatives are explored (Facione 1990a; Ennis 1991; Halpern 1998).
• Trust in reason : Since distrust in the processes of reasoned inquiry will dissuade one from engaging in it, trust in them is an initiating critical thinking disposition (Facione 1990a, 25; Bailin et al. 1999b: 294; Facione, Facione, & Giancarlo 2001; Paul & Elder 2006). In reaction to an allegedly exclusive emphasis on reason in critical thinking theory and pedagogy, Thayer-Bacon (2000) argues that intuition, imagination, and emotion have important roles to play in an adequate conception of critical thinking that she calls “constructive thinking”. From her point of view, critical thinking requires trust not only in reason but also in intuition, imagination, and emotion.
• Seeking the truth : If one does not care about the truth but is content to stick with one’s initial bias on an issue, then one will not think critically about it. Seeking the truth is thus an initiating critical thinking disposition (Bailin et al. 1999b: 294; Facione, Facione, & Giancarlo 2001). A disposition to seek the truth is implicit in more specific critical thinking dispositions, such as trying to be well-informed, considering seriously points of view other than one’s own, looking for alternatives, suspending judgment when the evidence is insufficient, and adopting a position when the evidence supporting it is sufficient.

Some of the initiating dispositions, such as open-mindedness and willingness to suspend judgment, are also internal critical thinking dispositions, in the sense of mental habits or attitudes that contribute causally to doing a good job of critical thinking once one starts the process. But there are many other internal critical thinking dispositions. Some of them are parasitic on one’s conception of good thinking. For example, it is constitutive of good thinking about an issue to formulate the issue clearly and to maintain focus on it. For this purpose, one needs not only the corresponding ability but also the corresponding disposition. Ennis (1991: 8) describes it as the disposition “to determine and maintain focus on the conclusion or question”, Facione (1990a: 25) as “clarity in stating the question or concern”. Other internal dispositions are motivators to continue or adjust the critical thinking process, such as willingness to persist in a complex task and willingness to abandon nonproductive strategies in an attempt to self-correct (Halpern 1998: 452). For a list of identified internal critical thinking dispositions, see the Supplement on Internal Critical Thinking Dispositions .

Some theorists postulate skills, i.e., acquired abilities, as operative in critical thinking. It is not obvious, however, that a good mental act is the exercise of a generic acquired skill. Inferring an expected time of arrival, as in Transit , has some generic components but also uses non-generic subject-matter knowledge. Bailin et al. (1999a) argue against viewing critical thinking skills as generic and discrete, on the ground that skilled performance at a critical thinking task cannot be separated from knowledge of concepts and from domain-specific principles of good thinking. Talk of skills, they concede, is unproblematic if it means merely that a person with critical thinking skills is capable of intelligent performance.

Despite such scepticism, theorists of critical thinking have listed as general contributors to critical thinking what they variously call abilities (Glaser 1941; Ennis 1962, 1991), skills (Facione 1990a; Halpern 1998) or competencies (Fisher & Scriven 1997). Amalgamating these lists would produce a confusing and chaotic cornucopia of more than 50 possible educational objectives, with only partial overlap among them. It makes sense instead to try to understand the reasons for the multiplicity and diversity, and to make a selection according to one’s own reasons for singling out abilities to be developed in a critical thinking curriculum. Two reasons for diversity among lists of critical thinking abilities are the underlying conception of critical thinking and the envisaged educational level. Appraisal-only conceptions, for example, involve a different suite of abilities than constructive-only conceptions. Some lists, such as those in (Glaser 1941), are put forward as educational objectives for secondary school students, whereas others are proposed as objectives for college students (e.g., Facione 1990a).

The abilities described in the remaining paragraphs of this section emerge from reflection on the general abilities needed to do well the thinking activities identified in section 6 as components of the critical thinking process described in section 5 . The derivation of each collection of abilities is accompanied by citation of sources that list such abilities and of standardized tests that claim to test them.

Observational abilities : Careful and accurate observation sometimes requires specialist expertise and practice, as in the case of observing birds and observing accident scenes. However, there are general abilities of noticing what one’s senses are picking up from one’s environment and of being able to articulate clearly and accurately to oneself and others what one has observed. It helps in exercising them to be able to recognize and take into account factors that make one’s observation less trustworthy, such as prior framing of the situation, inadequate time, deficient senses, poor observation conditions, and the like. It helps as well to be skilled at taking steps to make one’s observation more trustworthy, such as moving closer to get a better look, measuring something three times and taking the average, and checking what one thinks one is observing with someone else who is in a good position to observe it. It also helps to be skilled at recognizing respects in which one’s report of one’s observation involves inference rather than direct observation, so that one can then consider whether the inference is justified. These abilities come into play as well when one thinks about whether and with what degree of confidence to accept an observation report, for example in the study of history or in a criminal investigation or in assessing news reports. Observational abilities show up in some lists of critical thinking abilities (Ennis 1962: 90; Facione 1990a: 16; Ennis 1991: 9). There are items testing a person’s ability to judge the credibility of observation reports in the Cornell Critical Thinking Tests, Levels X and Z (Ennis & Millman 1971; Ennis, Millman, & Tomko 1985, 2005). Norris and King (1983, 1985, 1990a, 1990b) is a test of ability to appraise observation reports.

Emotional abilities : The emotions that drive a critical thinking process are perplexity or puzzlement, a wish to resolve it, and satisfaction at achieving the desired resolution. Children experience these emotions at an early age, without being trained to do so. Education that takes critical thinking as a goal needs only to channel these emotions and to make sure not to stifle them. Collaborative critical thinking benefits from ability to recognize one’s own and others’ emotional commitments and reactions.

Questioning abilities : A critical thinking process needs transformation of an inchoate sense of perplexity into a clear question. Formulating a question well requires not building in questionable assumptions, not prejudging the issue, and using language that in context is unambiguous and precise enough (Ennis 1962: 97; 1991: 9).

Imaginative abilities : Thinking directed at finding the correct causal explanation of a general phenomenon or particular event requires an ability to imagine possible explanations. Thinking about what policy or plan of action to adopt requires generation of options and consideration of possible consequences of each option. Domain knowledge is required for such creative activity, but a general ability to imagine alternatives is helpful and can be nurtured so as to become easier, quicker, more extensive, and deeper (Dewey 1910: 34–39; 1933: 40–47). Facione (1990a) and Halpern (1998) include the ability to imagine alternatives as a critical thinking ability.

Inferential abilities : The ability to draw conclusions from given information, and to recognize with what degree of certainty one’s own or others’ conclusions follow, is universally recognized as a general critical thinking ability. All 11 examples in section 2 of this article include inferences, some from hypotheses or options (as in Transit , Ferryboat and Disorder ), others from something observed (as in Weather and Rash ). None of these inferences is formally valid. Rather, they are licensed by general, sometimes qualified substantive rules of inference (Toulmin 1958) that rest on domain knowledge—that a bus trip takes about the same time in each direction, that the terminal of a wireless telegraph would be located on the highest possible place, that sudden cooling is often followed by rain, that an allergic reaction to a sulfa drug generally shows up soon after one starts taking it. It is a matter of controversy to what extent the specialized ability to deduce conclusions from premisses using formal rules of inference is needed for critical thinking. Dewey (1933) locates logical forms in setting out the products of reflection rather than in the process of reflection. Ennis (1981a), on the other hand, maintains that a liberally-educated person should have the following abilities: to translate natural-language statements into statements using the standard logical operators, to use appropriately the language of necessary and sufficient conditions, to deal with argument forms and arguments containing symbols, to determine whether in virtue of an argument’s form its conclusion follows necessarily from its premisses, to reason with logically complex propositions, and to apply the rules and procedures of deductive logic. Inferential abilities are recognized as critical thinking abilities by Glaser (1941: 6), Facione (1990a: 9), Ennis (1991: 9), Fisher & Scriven (1997: 99, 111), and Halpern (1998: 452). Items testing inferential abilities constitute two of the five subtests of the Watson Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal (Watson & Glaser 1980a, 1980b, 1994), two of the four sections in the Cornell Critical Thinking Test Level X (Ennis & Millman 1971; Ennis, Millman, & Tomko 1985, 2005), three of the seven sections in the Cornell Critical Thinking Test Level Z (Ennis & Millman 1971; Ennis, Millman, & Tomko 1985, 2005), 11 of the 34 items on Forms A and B of the California Critical Thinking Skills Test (Facione 1990b, 1992), and a high but variable proportion of the 25 selected-response questions in the Collegiate Learning Assessment (Council for Aid to Education 2017).

Experimenting abilities : Knowing how to design and execute an experiment is important not just in scientific research but also in everyday life, as in Rash . Dewey devoted a whole chapter of his How We Think (1910: 145–156; 1933: 190–202) to the superiority of experimentation over observation in advancing knowledge. Experimenting abilities come into play at one remove in appraising reports of scientific studies. Skill in designing and executing experiments includes the acknowledged abilities to appraise evidence (Glaser 1941: 6), to carry out experiments and to apply appropriate statistical inference techniques (Facione 1990a: 9), to judge inductions to an explanatory hypothesis (Ennis 1991: 9), and to recognize the need for an adequately large sample size (Halpern 1998). The Cornell Critical Thinking Test Level Z (Ennis & Millman 1971; Ennis, Millman, & Tomko 1985, 2005) includes four items (out of 52) on experimental design. The Collegiate Learning Assessment (Council for Aid to Education 2017) makes room for appraisal of study design in both its performance task and its selected-response questions.

Consulting abilities : Skill at consulting sources of information comes into play when one seeks information to help resolve a problem, as in Candidate . Ability to find and appraise information includes ability to gather and marshal pertinent information (Glaser 1941: 6), to judge whether a statement made by an alleged authority is acceptable (Ennis 1962: 84), to plan a search for desired information (Facione 1990a: 9), and to judge the credibility of a source (Ennis 1991: 9). Ability to judge the credibility of statements is tested by 24 items (out of 76) in the Cornell Critical Thinking Test Level X (Ennis & Millman 1971; Ennis, Millman, & Tomko 1985, 2005) and by four items (out of 52) in the Cornell Critical Thinking Test Level Z (Ennis & Millman 1971; Ennis, Millman, & Tomko 1985, 2005). The College Learning Assessment’s performance task requires evaluation of whether information in documents is credible or unreliable (Council for Aid to Education 2017).

Argument analysis abilities : The ability to identify and analyze arguments contributes to the process of surveying arguments on an issue in order to form one’s own reasoned judgment, as in Candidate . The ability to detect and analyze arguments is recognized as a critical thinking skill by Facione (1990a: 7–8), Ennis (1991: 9) and Halpern (1998). Five items (out of 34) on the California Critical Thinking Skills Test (Facione 1990b, 1992) test skill at argument analysis. The College Learning Assessment (Council for Aid to Education 2017) incorporates argument analysis in its selected-response tests of critical reading and evaluation and of critiquing an argument.

Judging skills and deciding skills : Skill at judging and deciding is skill at recognizing what judgment or decision the available evidence and argument supports, and with what degree of confidence. It is thus a component of the inferential skills already discussed.

Lists and tests of critical thinking abilities often include two more abilities: identifying assumptions and constructing and evaluating definitions.

In addition to dispositions and abilities, critical thinking needs knowledge: of critical thinking concepts, of critical thinking principles, and of the subject-matter of the thinking.

We can derive a short list of concepts whose understanding contributes to critical thinking from the critical thinking abilities described in the preceding section. Observational abilities require an understanding of the difference between observation and inference. Questioning abilities require an understanding of the concepts of ambiguity and vagueness. Inferential abilities require an understanding of the difference between conclusive and defeasible inference (traditionally, between deduction and induction), as well as of the difference between necessary and sufficient conditions. Experimenting abilities require an understanding of the concepts of hypothesis, null hypothesis, assumption and prediction, as well as of the concept of statistical significance and of its difference from importance. They also require an understanding of the difference between an experiment and an observational study, and in particular of the difference between a randomized controlled trial, a prospective correlational study and a retrospective (case-control) study. Argument analysis abilities require an understanding of the concepts of argument, premiss, assumption, conclusion and counter-consideration. Additional critical thinking concepts are proposed by Bailin et al. (1999b: 293), Fisher & Scriven (1997: 105–106), Black (2012), and Blair (2021).

According to Glaser (1941: 25), ability to think critically requires knowledge of the methods of logical inquiry and reasoning. If we review the list of abilities in the preceding section, however, we can see that some of them can be acquired and exercised merely through practice, possibly guided in an educational setting, followed by feedback. Searching intelligently for a causal explanation of some phenomenon or event requires that one consider a full range of possible causal contributors, but it seems more important that one implements this principle in one’s practice than that one is able to articulate it. What is important is “operational knowledge” of the standards and principles of good thinking (Bailin et al. 1999b: 291–293). But the development of such critical thinking abilities as designing an experiment or constructing an operational definition can benefit from learning their underlying theory. Further, explicit knowledge of quirks of human thinking seems useful as a cautionary guide. Human memory is not just fallible about details, as people learn from their own experiences of misremembering, but is so malleable that a detailed, clear and vivid recollection of an event can be a total fabrication (Loftus 2017). People seek or interpret evidence in ways that are partial to their existing beliefs and expectations, often unconscious of their “confirmation bias” (Nickerson 1998). Not only are people subject to this and other cognitive biases (Kahneman 2011), of which they are typically unaware, but it may be counter-productive for one to make oneself aware of them and try consciously to counteract them or to counteract social biases such as racial or sexual stereotypes (Kenyon & Beaulac 2014). It is helpful to be aware of these facts and of the superior effectiveness of blocking the operation of biases—for example, by making an immediate record of one’s observations, refraining from forming a preliminary explanatory hypothesis, blind refereeing, double-blind randomized trials, and blind grading of students’ work. It is also helpful to be aware of the prevalence of “noise” (unwanted unsystematic variability of judgments), of how to detect noise (through a noise audit), and of how to reduce noise: make accuracy the goal, think statistically, break a process of arriving at a judgment into independent tasks, resist premature intuitions, in a group get independent judgments first, favour comparative judgments and scales (Kahneman, Sibony, & Sunstein 2021). It is helpful as well to be aware of the concept of “bounded rationality” in decision-making and of the related distinction between “satisficing” and optimizing (Simon 1956; Gigerenzer 2001).

Critical thinking about an issue requires substantive knowledge of the domain to which the issue belongs. Critical thinking abilities are not a magic elixir that can be applied to any issue whatever by somebody who has no knowledge of the facts relevant to exploring that issue. For example, the student in Bubbles needed to know that gases do not penetrate solid objects like a glass, that air expands when heated, that the volume of an enclosed gas varies directly with its temperature and inversely with its pressure, and that hot objects will spontaneously cool down to the ambient temperature of their surroundings unless kept hot by insulation or a source of heat. Critical thinkers thus need a rich fund of subject-matter knowledge relevant to the variety of situations they encounter. This fact is recognized in the inclusion among critical thinking dispositions of a concern to become and remain generally well informed.

Experimental educational interventions, with control groups, have shown that education can improve critical thinking skills and dispositions, as measured by standardized tests. For information about these tests, see the Supplement on Assessment .

What educational methods are most effective at developing the dispositions, abilities and knowledge of a critical thinker? In a comprehensive meta-analysis of experimental and quasi-experimental studies of strategies for teaching students to think critically, Abrami et al. (2015) found that dialogue, anchored instruction, and mentoring each increased the effectiveness of the educational intervention, and that they were most effective when combined. They also found that in these studies a combination of separate instruction in critical thinking with subject-matter instruction in which students are encouraged to think critically was more effective than either by itself. However, the difference was not statistically significant; that is, it might have arisen by chance.

Most of these studies lack the longitudinal follow-up required to determine whether the observed differential improvements in critical thinking abilities or dispositions continue over time, for example until high school or college graduation. For details on studies of methods of developing critical thinking skills and dispositions, see the Supplement on Educational Methods .

12. Controversies

Scholars have denied the generalizability of critical thinking abilities across subject domains, have alleged bias in critical thinking theory and pedagogy, and have investigated the relationship of critical thinking to other kinds of thinking.

McPeck (1981) attacked the thinking skills movement of the 1970s, including the critical thinking movement. He argued that there are no general thinking skills, since thinking is always thinking about some subject-matter. It is futile, he claimed, for schools and colleges to teach thinking as if it were a separate subject. Rather, teachers should lead their pupils to become autonomous thinkers by teaching school subjects in a way that brings out their cognitive structure and that encourages and rewards discussion and argument. As some of his critics (e.g., Paul 1985; Siegel 1985) pointed out, McPeck’s central argument needs elaboration, since it has obvious counter-examples in writing and speaking, for which (up to a certain level of complexity) there are teachable general abilities even though they are always about some subject-matter. To make his argument convincing, McPeck needs to explain how thinking differs from writing and speaking in a way that does not permit useful abstraction of its components from the subject-matters with which it deals. He has not done so. Nevertheless, his position that the dispositions and abilities of a critical thinker are best developed in the context of subject-matter instruction is shared by many theorists of critical thinking, including Dewey (1910, 1933), Glaser (1941), Passmore (1980), Weinstein (1990), Bailin et al. (1999b), and Willingham (2019).

McPeck’s challenge prompted reflection on the extent to which critical thinking is subject-specific. McPeck argued for a strong subject-specificity thesis, according to which it is a conceptual truth that all critical thinking abilities are specific to a subject. (He did not however extend his subject-specificity thesis to critical thinking dispositions. In particular, he took the disposition to suspend judgment in situations of cognitive dissonance to be a general disposition.) Conceptual subject-specificity is subject to obvious counter-examples, such as the general ability to recognize confusion of necessary and sufficient conditions. A more modest thesis, also endorsed by McPeck, is epistemological subject-specificity, according to which the norms of good thinking vary from one field to another. Epistemological subject-specificity clearly holds to a certain extent; for example, the principles in accordance with which one solves a differential equation are quite different from the principles in accordance with which one determines whether a painting is a genuine Picasso. But the thesis suffers, as Ennis (1989) points out, from vagueness of the concept of a field or subject and from the obvious existence of inter-field principles, however broadly the concept of a field is construed. For example, the principles of hypothetico-deductive reasoning hold for all the varied fields in which such reasoning occurs. A third kind of subject-specificity is empirical subject-specificity, according to which as a matter of empirically observable fact a person with the abilities and dispositions of a critical thinker in one area of investigation will not necessarily have them in another area of investigation.

The thesis of empirical subject-specificity raises the general problem of transfer. If critical thinking abilities and dispositions have to be developed independently in each school subject, how are they of any use in dealing with the problems of everyday life and the political and social issues of contemporary society, most of which do not fit into the framework of a traditional school subject? Proponents of empirical subject-specificity tend to argue that transfer is more likely to occur if there is critical thinking instruction in a variety of domains, with explicit attention to dispositions and abilities that cut across domains. But evidence for this claim is scanty. There is a need for well-designed empirical studies that investigate the conditions that make transfer more likely.

It is common ground in debates about the generality or subject-specificity of critical thinking dispositions and abilities that critical thinking about any topic requires background knowledge about the topic. For example, the most sophisticated understanding of the principles of hypothetico-deductive reasoning is of no help unless accompanied by some knowledge of what might be plausible explanations of some phenomenon under investigation.

Critics have objected to bias in the theory, pedagogy and practice of critical thinking. Commentators (e.g., Alston 1995; Ennis 1998) have noted that anyone who takes a position has a bias in the neutral sense of being inclined in one direction rather than others. The critics, however, are objecting to bias in the pejorative sense of an unjustified favoring of certain ways of knowing over others, frequently alleging that the unjustly favoured ways are those of a dominant sex or culture (Bailin 1995). These ways favour:

• reinforcement of egocentric and sociocentric biases over dialectical engagement with opposing world-views (Paul 1981, 1984; Warren 1998)
• distancing from the object of inquiry over closeness to it (Martin 1992; Thayer-Bacon 1992)
• indifference to the situation of others over care for them (Martin 1992)
• orientation to thought over orientation to action (Martin 1992)
• being reasonable over caring to understand people’s ideas (Thayer-Bacon 1993)
• being neutral and objective over being embodied and situated (Thayer-Bacon 1995a)
• doubting over believing (Thayer-Bacon 1995b)
• reason over emotion, imagination and intuition (Thayer-Bacon 2000)
• solitary thinking over collaborative thinking (Thayer-Bacon 2000)
• written and spoken assignments over other forms of expression (Alston 2001)
• attention to written and spoken communications over attention to human problems (Alston 2001)
• winning debates in the public sphere over making and understanding meaning (Alston 2001)

A common thread in this smorgasbord of accusations is dissatisfaction with focusing on the logical analysis and evaluation of reasoning and arguments. While these authors acknowledge that such analysis and evaluation is part of critical thinking and should be part of its conceptualization and pedagogy, they insist that it is only a part. Paul (1981), for example, bemoans the tendency of atomistic teaching of methods of analyzing and evaluating arguments to turn students into more able sophists, adept at finding fault with positions and arguments with which they disagree but even more entrenched in the egocentric and sociocentric biases with which they began. Martin (1992) and Thayer-Bacon (1992) cite with approval the self-reported intimacy with their subject-matter of leading researchers in biology and medicine, an intimacy that conflicts with the distancing allegedly recommended in standard conceptions and pedagogy of critical thinking. Thayer-Bacon (2000) contrasts the embodied and socially embedded learning of her elementary school students in a Montessori school, who used their imagination, intuition and emotions as well as their reason, with conceptions of critical thinking as

thinking that is used to critique arguments, offer justifications, and make judgments about what are the good reasons, or the right answers. (Thayer-Bacon 2000: 127–128)

Alston (2001) reports that her students in a women’s studies class were able to see the flaws in the Cinderella myth that pervades much romantic fiction but in their own romantic relationships still acted as if all failures were the woman’s fault and still accepted the notions of love at first sight and living happily ever after. Students, she writes, should

be able to connect their intellectual critique to a more affective, somatic, and ethical account of making risky choices that have sexist, racist, classist, familial, sexual, or other consequences for themselves and those both near and far… critical thinking that reads arguments, texts, or practices merely on the surface without connections to feeling/desiring/doing or action lacks an ethical depth that should infuse the difference between mere cognitive activity and something we want to call critical thinking. (Alston 2001: 34)

Some critics portray such biases as unfair to women. Thayer-Bacon (1992), for example, has charged modern critical thinking theory with being sexist, on the ground that it separates the self from the object and causes one to lose touch with one’s inner voice, and thus stigmatizes women, who (she asserts) link self to object and listen to their inner voice. Her charge does not imply that women as a group are on average less able than men to analyze and evaluate arguments. Facione (1990c) found no difference by sex in performance on his California Critical Thinking Skills Test. Kuhn (1991: 280–281) found no difference by sex in either the disposition or the competence to engage in argumentative thinking.

The critics propose a variety of remedies for the biases that they allege. In general, they do not propose to eliminate or downplay critical thinking as an educational goal. Rather, they propose to conceptualize critical thinking differently and to change its pedagogy accordingly. Their pedagogical proposals arise logically from their objections. They can be summarized as follows:

• Focus on argument networks with dialectical exchanges reflecting contesting points of view rather than on atomic arguments, so as to develop “strong sense” critical thinking that transcends egocentric and sociocentric biases (Paul 1981, 1984).
• Foster closeness to the subject-matter and feeling connected to others in order to inform a humane democracy (Martin 1992).
• Develop “constructive thinking” as a social activity in a community of physically embodied and socially embedded inquirers with personal voices who value not only reason but also imagination, intuition and emotion (Thayer-Bacon 2000).
• In developing critical thinking in school subjects, treat as important neither skills nor dispositions but opening worlds of meaning (Alston 2001).
• Attend to the development of critical thinking dispositions as well as skills, and adopt the “critical pedagogy” practised and advocated by Freire (1968 [1970]) and hooks (1994) (Dalgleish, Girard, & Davies 2017).

A common thread in these proposals is treatment of critical thinking as a social, interactive, personally engaged activity like that of a quilting bee or a barn-raising (Thayer-Bacon 2000) rather than as an individual, solitary, distanced activity symbolized by Rodin’s The Thinker . One can get a vivid description of education with the former type of goal from the writings of bell hooks (1994, 2010). Critical thinking for her is open-minded dialectical exchange across opposing standpoints and from multiple perspectives, a conception similar to Paul’s “strong sense” critical thinking (Paul 1981). She abandons the structure of domination in the traditional classroom. In an introductory course on black women writers, for example, she assigns students to write an autobiographical paragraph about an early racial memory, then to read it aloud as the others listen, thus affirming the uniqueness and value of each voice and creating a communal awareness of the diversity of the group’s experiences (hooks 1994: 84). Her “engaged pedagogy” is thus similar to the “freedom under guidance” implemented in John Dewey’s Laboratory School of Chicago in the late 1890s and early 1900s. It incorporates the dialogue, anchored instruction, and mentoring that Abrami (2015) found to be most effective in improving critical thinking skills and dispositions.

What is the relationship of critical thinking to problem solving, decision-making, higher-order thinking, creative thinking, and other recognized types of thinking? One’s answer to this question obviously depends on how one defines the terms used in the question. If critical thinking is conceived broadly to cover any careful thinking about any topic for any purpose, then problem solving and decision making will be kinds of critical thinking, if they are done carefully. Historically, ‘critical thinking’ and ‘problem solving’ were two names for the same thing. If critical thinking is conceived more narrowly as consisting solely of appraisal of intellectual products, then it will be disjoint with problem solving and decision making, which are constructive.

Bloom’s taxonomy of educational objectives used the phrase “intellectual abilities and skills” for what had been labeled “critical thinking” by some, “reflective thinking” by Dewey and others, and “problem solving” by still others (Bloom et al. 1956: 38). Thus, the so-called “higher-order thinking skills” at the taxonomy’s top levels of analysis, synthesis and evaluation are just critical thinking skills, although they do not come with general criteria for their assessment (Ennis 1981b). The revised version of Bloom’s taxonomy (Anderson et al. 2001) likewise treats critical thinking as cutting across those types of cognitive process that involve more than remembering (Anderson et al. 2001: 269–270). For details, see the Supplement on History .

As to creative thinking, it overlaps with critical thinking (Bailin 1987, 1988). Thinking about the explanation of some phenomenon or event, as in Ferryboat , requires creative imagination in constructing plausible explanatory hypotheses. Likewise, thinking about a policy question, as in Candidate , requires creativity in coming up with options. Conversely, creativity in any field needs to be balanced by critical appraisal of the draft painting or novel or mathematical theory.

• Abrami, Philip C., Robert M. Bernard, Eugene Borokhovski, David I. Waddington, C. Anne Wade, and Tonje Person, 2015, “Strategies for Teaching Students to Think Critically: A Meta-analysis”, Review of Educational Research , 85(2): 275–314. doi:10.3102/0034654314551063
• Aikin, Wilford M., 1942, The Story of the Eight-year Study, with Conclusions and Recommendations , Volume I of Adventure in American Education , New York and London: Harper & Brothers. [ Aikin 1942 available online ]
• Alston, Kal, 1995, “Begging the Question: Is Critical Thinking Biased?”, Educational Theory , 45(2): 225–233. doi:10.1111/j.1741-5446.1995.00225.x
• –––, 2001, “Re/Thinking Critical Thinking: The Seductions of Everyday Life”, Studies in Philosophy and Education , 20(1): 27–40. doi:10.1023/A:1005247128053
• American Educational Research Association, 2014, Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing / American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association, National Council on Measurement in Education , Washington, DC: American Educational Research Association.
• Anderson, Lorin W., David R. Krathwohl, Peter W. Airiasian, Kathleen A. Cruikshank, Richard E. Mayer, Paul R. Pintrich, James Raths, and Merlin C. Wittrock, 2001, A Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching and Assessing: A Revision of Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives , New York: Longman, complete edition.
• Bailin, Sharon, 1987, “Critical and Creative Thinking”, Informal Logic , 9(1): 23–30. [ Bailin 1987 available online ]
• –––, 1988, Achieving Extraordinary Ends: An Essay on Creativity , Dordrecht: Kluwer. doi:10.1007/978-94-009-2780-3
• –––, 1995, “Is Critical Thinking Biased? Clarifications and Implications”, Educational Theory , 45(2): 191–197. doi:10.1111/j.1741-5446.1995.00191.x
• Bailin, Sharon and Mark Battersby, 2009, “Inquiry: A Dialectical Approach to Teaching Critical Thinking”, in Juho Ritola (ed.), Argument Cultures: Proceedings of OSSA 09 , CD-ROM (pp. 1–10), Windsor, ON: OSSA. [ Bailin & Battersby 2009 available online ]
• –––, 2016a, “Fostering the Virtues of Inquiry”, Topoi , 35(2): 367–374. doi:10.1007/s11245-015-9307-6
• –––, 2016b, Reason in the Balance: An Inquiry Approach to Critical Thinking , Indianapolis: Hackett, 2nd edition.
• –––, 2021, “Inquiry: Teaching for Reasoned Judgment”, in Daniel Fasko, Jr. and Frank Fair (eds.), Critical Thinking and Reasoning: Theory, Development, Instruction, and Assessment , Leiden: Brill, pp. 31–46. doi: 10.1163/9789004444591_003
• Bailin, Sharon, Roland Case, Jerrold R. Coombs, and Leroi B. Daniels, 1999a, “Common Misconceptions of Critical Thinking”, Journal of Curriculum Studies , 31(3): 269–283. doi:10.1080/002202799183124
• –––, 1999b, “Conceptualizing Critical Thinking”, Journal of Curriculum Studies , 31(3): 285–302. doi:10.1080/002202799183133
• Blair, J. Anthony, 2021, Studies in Critical Thinking , Windsor, ON: Windsor Studies in Argumentation, 2nd edition. [Available online at https://windsor.scholarsportal.info/omp/index.php/wsia/catalog/book/106]
• Berman, Alan M., Seth J. Schwartz, William M. Kurtines, and Steven L. Berman, 2001, “The Process of Exploration in Identity Formation: The Role of Style and Competence”, Journal of Adolescence , 24(4): 513–528. doi:10.1006/jado.2001.0386
• Black, Beth (ed.), 2012, An A to Z of Critical Thinking , London: Continuum International Publishing Group.
• Bloom, Benjamin Samuel, Max D. Engelhart, Edward J. Furst, Walter H. Hill, and David R. Krathwohl, 1956, Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. Handbook I: Cognitive Domain , New York: David McKay.
• Boardman, Frank, Nancy M. Cavender, and Howard Kahane, 2018, Logic and Contemporary Rhetoric: The Use of Reason in Everyday Life , Boston: Cengage, 13th edition.
• Browne, M. Neil and Stuart M. Keeley, 2018, Asking the Right Questions: A Guide to Critical Thinking , Hoboken, NJ: Pearson, 12th edition.
• Center for Assessment & Improvement of Learning, 2017, Critical Thinking Assessment Test , Cookeville, TN: Tennessee Technological University.
• Cleghorn, Paul. 2021. “Critical Thinking in the Elementary School: Practical Guidance for Building a Culture of Thinking”, in Daniel Fasko, Jr. and Frank Fair (eds.), Critical Thinking and Reasoning: Theory, Development, Instruction, and Assessmen t, Leiden: Brill, pp. 150–167. doi: 10.1163/9789004444591_010
• Cohen, Jacob, 1988, Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences , Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2nd edition.
• College Board, 1983, Academic Preparation for College. What Students Need to Know and Be Able to Do , New York: College Entrance Examination Board, ERIC document ED232517.
• Commission on the Relation of School and College of the Progressive Education Association, 1943, Thirty Schools Tell Their Story , Volume V of Adventure in American Education , New York and London: Harper & Brothers.
• Council for Aid to Education, 2017, CLA+ Student Guide . Available at http://cae.org/images/uploads/pdf/CLA_Student_Guide_Institution.pdf ; last accessed 2022 07 16.
• Dalgleish, Adam, Patrick Girard, and Maree Davies, 2017, “Critical Thinking, Bias and Feminist Philosophy: Building a Better Framework through Collaboration”, Informal Logic , 37(4): 351–369. [ Dalgleish et al. available online ]
• Dewey, John, 1910, How We Think , Boston: D.C. Heath. [ Dewey 1910 available online ]
• –––, 1916, Democracy and Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education , New York: Macmillan.
• –––, 1933, How We Think: A Restatement of the Relation of Reflective Thinking to the Educative Process , Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath.
• –––, 1936, “The Theory of the Chicago Experiment”, Appendix II of Mayhew & Edwards 1936: 463–477.
• –––, 1938, Logic: The Theory of Inquiry , New York: Henry Holt and Company.
• Dominguez, Caroline (coord.), 2018a, A European Collection of the Critical Thinking Skills and Dispositions Needed in Different Professional Fields for the 21st Century , Vila Real, Portugal: UTAD. Available at http://bit.ly/CRITHINKEDUO1 ; last accessed 2022 07 16.
• ––– (coord.), 2018b, A European Review on Critical Thinking Educational Practices in Higher Education Institutions , Vila Real: UTAD. Available at http://bit.ly/CRITHINKEDUO2 ; last accessed 2022 07 16.
• ––– (coord.), 2018c, The CRITHINKEDU European Course on Critical Thinking Education for University Teachers: From Conception to Delivery , Vila Real: UTAD. Available at http:/bit.ly/CRITHINKEDU03; last accessed 2022 07 16.
• Dominguez Caroline and Rita Payan-Carreira (eds.), 2019, Promoting Critical Thinking in European Higher Education Institutions: Towards an Educational Protocol , Vila Real: UTAD. Available at http:/bit.ly/CRITHINKEDU04; last accessed 2022 07 16.
• Ennis, Robert H., 1958, “An Appraisal of the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal”, The Journal of Educational Research , 52(4): 155–158. doi:10.1080/00220671.1958.10882558
• –––, 1962, “A Concept of Critical Thinking: A Proposed Basis for Research on the Teaching and Evaluation of Critical Thinking Ability”, Harvard Educational Review , 32(1): 81–111.
• –––, 1981a, “A Conception of Deductive Logical Competence”, Teaching Philosophy , 4(3/4): 337–385. doi:10.5840/teachphil198143/429
• –––, 1981b, “Eight Fallacies in Bloom’s Taxonomy”, in C. J. B. Macmillan (ed.), Philosophy of Education 1980: Proceedings of the Thirty-seventh Annual Meeting of the Philosophy of Education Society , Bloomington, IL: Philosophy of Education Society, pp. 269–273.
• –––, 1984, “Problems in Testing Informal Logic, Critical Thinking, Reasoning Ability”, Informal Logic , 6(1): 3–9. [ Ennis 1984 available online ]
• –––, 1987, “A Taxonomy of Critical Thinking Dispositions and Abilities”, in Joan Boykoff Baron and Robert J. Sternberg (eds.), Teaching Thinking Skills: Theory and Practice , New York: W. H. Freeman, pp. 9–26.
• –––, 1989, “Critical Thinking and Subject Specificity: Clarification and Needed Research”, Educational Researcher , 18(3): 4–10. doi:10.3102/0013189X018003004
• –––, 1991, “Critical Thinking: A Streamlined Conception”, Teaching Philosophy , 14(1): 5–24. doi:10.5840/teachphil19911412
• –––, 1996, “Critical Thinking Dispositions: Their Nature and Assessability”, Informal Logic , 18(2–3): 165–182. [ Ennis 1996 available online ]
• –––, 1998, “Is Critical Thinking Culturally Biased?”, Teaching Philosophy , 21(1): 15–33. doi:10.5840/teachphil19982113
• –––, 2011, “Critical Thinking: Reflection and Perspective Part I”, Inquiry: Critical Thinking across the Disciplines , 26(1): 4–18. doi:10.5840/inquiryctnews20112613
• –––, 2013, “Critical Thinking across the Curriculum: The Wisdom CTAC Program”, Inquiry: Critical Thinking across the Disciplines , 28(2): 25–45. doi:10.5840/inquiryct20132828
• –––, 2016, “Definition: A Three-Dimensional Analysis with Bearing on Key Concepts”, in Patrick Bondy and Laura Benacquista (eds.), Argumentation, Objectivity, and Bias: Proceedings of the 11th International Conference of the Ontario Society for the Study of Argumentation (OSSA), 18–21 May 2016 , Windsor, ON: OSSA, pp. 1–19. Available at http://scholar.uwindsor.ca/ossaarchive/OSSA11/papersandcommentaries/105 ; last accessed 2022 07 16.
• –––, 2018, “Critical Thinking Across the Curriculum: A Vision”, Topoi , 37(1): 165–184. doi:10.1007/s11245-016-9401-4
• Ennis, Robert H., and Jason Millman, 1971, Manual for Cornell Critical Thinking Test, Level X, and Cornell Critical Thinking Test, Level Z , Urbana, IL: Critical Thinking Project, University of Illinois.
• Ennis, Robert H., Jason Millman, and Thomas Norbert Tomko, 1985, Cornell Critical Thinking Tests Level X & Level Z: Manual , Pacific Grove, CA: Midwest Publication, 3rd edition.
• –––, 2005, Cornell Critical Thinking Tests Level X & Level Z: Manual , Seaside, CA: Critical Thinking Company, 5th edition.
• Ennis, Robert H. and Eric Weir, 1985, The Ennis-Weir Critical Thinking Essay Test: Test, Manual, Criteria, Scoring Sheet: An Instrument for Teaching and Testing , Pacific Grove, CA: Midwest Publications.
• Facione, Peter A., 1990a, Critical Thinking: A Statement of Expert Consensus for Purposes of Educational Assessment and Instruction , Research Findings and Recommendations Prepared for the Committee on Pre-College Philosophy of the American Philosophical Association, ERIC Document ED315423.
• –––, 1990b, California Critical Thinking Skills Test, CCTST – Form A , Millbrae, CA: The California Academic Press.
• –––, 1990c, The California Critical Thinking Skills Test--College Level. Technical Report #3. Gender, Ethnicity, Major, CT Self-Esteem, and the CCTST , ERIC Document ED326584.
• –––, 1992, California Critical Thinking Skills Test: CCTST – Form B, Millbrae, CA: The California Academic Press.
• –––, 2000, “The Disposition Toward Critical Thinking: Its Character, Measurement, and Relationship to Critical Thinking Skill”, Informal Logic , 20(1): 61–84. [ Facione 2000 available online ]
• Facione, Peter A. and Noreen C. Facione, 1992, CCTDI: A Disposition Inventory , Millbrae, CA: The California Academic Press.
• Facione, Peter A., Noreen C. Facione, and Carol Ann F. Giancarlo, 2001, California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory: CCTDI: Inventory Manual , Millbrae, CA: The California Academic Press.
• Facione, Peter A., Carol A. Sánchez, and Noreen C. Facione, 1994, Are College Students Disposed to Think? , Millbrae, CA: The California Academic Press. ERIC Document ED368311.
• Fisher, Alec, and Michael Scriven, 1997, Critical Thinking: Its Definition and Assessment , Norwich: Centre for Research in Critical Thinking, University of East Anglia.
• Freire, Paulo, 1968 [1970], Pedagogia do Oprimido . Translated as Pedagogy of the Oppressed , Myra Bergman Ramos (trans.), New York: Continuum, 1970.
• Gigerenzer, Gerd, 2001, “The Adaptive Toolbox”, in Gerd Gigerenzer and Reinhard Selten (eds.), Bounded Rationality: The Adaptive Toolbox , Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, pp. 37–50.
• Glaser, Edward Maynard, 1941, An Experiment in the Development of Critical Thinking , New York: Bureau of Publications, Teachers College, Columbia University.
• Groarke, Leo A. and Christopher W. Tindale, 2012, Good Reasoning Matters! A Constructive Approach to Critical Thinking , Don Mills, ON: Oxford University Press, 5th edition.
• Halpern, Diane F., 1998, “Teaching Critical Thinking for Transfer Across Domains: Disposition, Skills, Structure Training, and Metacognitive Monitoring”, American Psychologist , 53(4): 449–455. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.53.4.449
• –––, 2016, Manual: Halpern Critical Thinking Assessment , Mödling, Austria: Schuhfried. Available at https://pdfcoffee.com/hcta-test-manual-pdf-free.html; last accessed 2022 07 16.
• Hamby, Benjamin, 2014, The Virtues of Critical Thinkers , Doctoral dissertation, Philosophy, McMaster University. [ Hamby 2014 available online ]
• –––, 2015, “Willingness to Inquire: The Cardinal Critical Thinking Virtue”, in Martin Davies and Ronald Barnett (eds.), The Palgrave Handbook of Critical Thinking in Higher Education , New York: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 77–87.
• Haran, Uriel, Ilana Ritov, and Barbara A. Mellers, 2013, “The Role of Actively Open-minded Thinking in Information Acquisition, Accuracy, and Calibration”, Judgment and Decision Making , 8(3): 188–201.
• Hatcher, Donald and Kevin Possin, 2021, “Commentary: Thinking Critically about Critical Thinking Assessment”, in Daniel Fasko, Jr. and Frank Fair (eds.), Critical Thinking and Reasoning: Theory, Development, Instruction, and Assessment , Leiden: Brill, pp. 298–322. doi: 10.1163/9789004444591_017
• Haynes, Ada, Elizabeth Lisic, Kevin Harris, Katie Leming, Kyle Shanks, and Barry Stein, 2015, “Using the Critical Thinking Assessment Test (CAT) as a Model for Designing Within-Course Assessments: Changing How Faculty Assess Student Learning”, Inquiry: Critical Thinking Across the Disciplines , 30(3): 38–48. doi:10.5840/inquiryct201530316
• Haynes, Ada and Barry Stein, 2021, “Observations from a Long-Term Effort to Assess and Improve Critical Thinking”, in Daniel Fasko, Jr. and Frank Fair (eds.), Critical Thinking and Reasoning: Theory, Development, Instruction, and Assessment , Leiden: Brill, pp. 231–254. doi: 10.1163/9789004444591_014
• Hiner, Amanda L. 2021. “Equipping Students for Success in College and Beyond: Placing Critical Thinking Instruction at the Heart of a General Education Program”, in Daniel Fasko, Jr. and Frank Fair (eds.), Critical Thinking and Reasoning: Theory, Development, Instruction, and Assessment , Leiden: Brill, pp. 188–208. doi: 10.1163/9789004444591_012
• Hitchcock, David, 2017, “Critical Thinking as an Educational Ideal”, in his On Reasoning and Argument: Essays in Informal Logic and on Critical Thinking , Dordrecht: Springer, pp. 477–497. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-53562-3_30
• –––, 2021, “Seven Philosophical Implications of Critical Thinking: Themes, Variations, Implications”, in Daniel Fasko, Jr. and Frank Fair (eds.), Critical Thinking and Reasoning: Theory, Development, Instruction, and Assessment , Leiden: Brill, pp. 9–30. doi: 10.1163/9789004444591_002
• hooks, bell, 1994, Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom , New York and London: Routledge.
• –––, 2010, Teaching Critical Thinking: Practical Wisdom , New York and London: Routledge.
• Johnson, Ralph H., 1992, “The Problem of Defining Critical Thinking”, in Stephen P, Norris (ed.), The Generalizability of Critical Thinking , New York: Teachers College Press, pp. 38–53.
• Kahane, Howard, 1971, Logic and Contemporary Rhetoric: The Use of Reason in Everyday Life , Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
• Kahneman, Daniel, 2011, Thinking, Fast and Slow , New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
• Kahneman, Daniel, Olivier Sibony, & Cass R. Sunstein, 2021, Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgment , New York: Little, Brown Spark.
• Kenyon, Tim, and Guillaume Beaulac, 2014, “Critical Thinking Education and Debasing”, Informal Logic , 34(4): 341–363. [ Kenyon & Beaulac 2014 available online ]
• Krathwohl, David R., Benjamin S. Bloom, and Bertram B. Masia, 1964, Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, Handbook II: Affective Domain , New York: David McKay.
• Kuhn, Deanna, 1991, The Skills of Argument , New York: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511571350
• –––, 2019, “Critical Thinking as Discourse”, Human Development, 62 (3): 146–164. doi:10.1159/000500171
• Lipman, Matthew, 1987, “Critical Thinking–What Can It Be?”, Analytic Teaching , 8(1): 5–12. [ Lipman 1987 available online ]
• –––, 2003, Thinking in Education , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2nd edition.
• Loftus, Elizabeth F., 2017, “Eavesdropping on Memory”, Annual Review of Psychology , 68: 1–18. doi:10.1146/annurev-psych-010416-044138
• Makaiau, Amber Strong, 2021, “The Good Thinker’s Tool Kit: How to Engage Critical Thinking and Reasoning in Secondary Education”, in Daniel Fasko, Jr. and Frank Fair (eds.), Critical Thinking and Reasoning: Theory, Development, Instruction, and Assessment , Leiden: Brill, pp. 168–187. doi: 10.1163/9789004444591_011
• Martin, Jane Roland, 1992, “Critical Thinking for a Humane World”, in Stephen P. Norris (ed.), The Generalizability of Critical Thinking , New York: Teachers College Press, pp. 163–180.
• Mayhew, Katherine Camp, and Anna Camp Edwards, 1936, The Dewey School: The Laboratory School of the University of Chicago, 1896–1903 , New York: Appleton-Century. [ Mayhew & Edwards 1936 available online ]
• McPeck, John E., 1981, Critical Thinking and Education , New York: St. Martin’s Press.
• Moore, Brooke Noel and Richard Parker, 2020, Critical Thinking , New York: McGraw-Hill, 13th edition.
• Nickerson, Raymond S., 1998, “Confirmation Bias: A Ubiquitous Phenomenon in Many Guises”, Review of General Psychology , 2(2): 175–220. doi:10.1037/1089-2680.2.2.175
• Nieto, Ana Maria, and Jorge Valenzuela, 2012, “A Study of the Internal Structure of Critical Thinking Dispositions”, Inquiry: Critical Thinking across the Disciplines , 27(1): 31–38. doi:10.5840/inquiryct20122713
• Norris, Stephen P., 1985, “Controlling for Background Beliefs When Developing Multiple-choice Critical Thinking Tests”, Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice , 7(3): 5–11. doi:10.1111/j.1745-3992.1988.tb00437.x
• Norris, Stephen P. and Robert H. Ennis, 1989, Evaluating Critical Thinking (The Practitioners’ Guide to Teaching Thinking Series), Pacific Grove, CA: Midwest Publications.
• Norris, Stephen P. and Ruth Elizabeth King, 1983, Test on Appraising Observations , St. John’s, NL: Institute for Educational Research and Development, Memorial University of Newfoundland.
• –––, 1984, The Design of a Critical Thinking Test on Appraising Observations , St. John’s, NL: Institute for Educational Research and Development, Memorial University of Newfoundland. ERIC Document ED260083.
• –––, 1985, Test on Appraising Observations: Manual , St. John’s, NL: Institute for Educational Research and Development, Memorial University of Newfoundland.
• –––, 1990a, Test on Appraising Observations , St. John’s, NL: Institute for Educational Research and Development, Memorial University of Newfoundland, 2nd edition.
• –––, 1990b, Test on Appraising Observations: Manual , St. John’s, NL: Institute for Educational Research and Development, Memorial University of Newfoundland, 2nd edition.
• OCR [Oxford, Cambridge and RSA Examinations], 2011, AS/A Level GCE: Critical Thinking – H052, H452 , Cambridge: OCR. Past papers available at https://pastpapers.co/ocr/?dir=A-Level/Critical-Thinking-H052-H452; last accessed 2022 07 16.
• Ontario Ministry of Education, 2013, The Ontario Curriculum Grades 9 to 12: Social Sciences and Humanities . Available at http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/secondary/ssciences9to122013.pdf ; last accessed 2022 07 16.
• Passmore, John Arthur, 1980, The Philosophy of Teaching , London: Duckworth.
• Paul, Richard W., 1981, “Teaching Critical Thinking in the ‘Strong’ Sense: A Focus on Self-Deception, World Views, and a Dialectical Mode of Analysis”, Informal Logic , 4(2): 2–7. [ Paul 1981 available online ]
• –––, 1984, “Critical Thinking: Fundamental to Education for a Free Society”, Educational Leadership , 42(1): 4–14.
• –––, 1985, “McPeck’s Mistakes”, Informal Logic , 7(1): 35–43. [ Paul 1985 available online ]
• Paul, Richard W. and Linda Elder, 2006, The Miniature Guide to Critical Thinking: Concepts and Tools , Dillon Beach, CA: Foundation for Critical Thinking, 4th edition.
• Payette, Patricia, and Edna Ross, 2016, “Making a Campus-Wide Commitment to Critical Thinking: Insights and Promising Practices Utilizing the Paul-Elder Approach at the University of Louisville”, Inquiry: Critical Thinking Across the Disciplines , 31(1): 98–110. doi:10.5840/inquiryct20163118
• Possin, Kevin, 2008, “A Field Guide to Critical-Thinking Assessment”, Teaching Philosophy , 31(3): 201–228. doi:10.5840/teachphil200831324
• –––, 2013a, “Some Problems with the Halpern Critical Thinking Assessment (HCTA) Test”, Inquiry: Critical Thinking across the Disciplines , 28(3): 4–12. doi:10.5840/inquiryct201328313
• –––, 2013b, “A Serious Flaw in the Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA) Test”, Informal Logic , 33(3): 390–405. [ Possin 2013b available online ]
• –––, 2013c, “A Fatal Flaw in the Collegiate Learning Assessment Test”, Assessment Update , 25 (1): 8–12.
• –––, 2014, “Critique of the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal Test: The More You Know, the Lower Your Score”, Informal Logic , 34(4): 393–416. [ Possin 2014 available online ]
• –––, 2020, “CAT Scan: A Critical Review of the Critical-Thinking Assessment Test”, Informal Logic , 40 (3): 489–508. [Available online at https://informallogic.ca/index.php/informal_logic/article/view/6243]
• Rawls, John, 1971, A Theory of Justice , Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
• Rear, David, 2019, “One Size Fits All? The Limitations of Standardised Assessment in Critical Thinking”, Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education , 44(5): 664–675. doi: 10.1080/02602938.2018.1526255
• Rousseau, Jean-Jacques, 1762, Émile , Amsterdam: Jean Néaulme.
• Scheffler, Israel, 1960, The Language of Education , Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas.
• Scriven, Michael, and Richard W. Paul, 1987, Defining Critical Thinking , Draft statement written for the National Council for Excellence in Critical Thinking Instruction. Available at http://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/defining-critical-thinking/766 ; last accessed 2022 07 16.
• Sheffield, Clarence Burton Jr., 2018, “Promoting Critical Thinking in Higher Education: My Experiences as the Inaugural Eugene H. Fram Chair in Applied Critical Thinking at Rochester Institute of Technology”, Topoi , 37(1): 155–163. doi:10.1007/s11245-016-9392-1
• Siegel, Harvey, 1985, “McPeck, Informal Logic and the Nature of Critical Thinking”, in David Nyberg (ed.), Philosophy of Education 1985: Proceedings of the Forty-First Annual Meeting of the Philosophy of Education Society , Normal, IL: Philosophy of Education Society, pp. 61–72.
• –––, 1988, Educating Reason: Rationality, Critical Thinking, and Education , New York: Routledge.
• –––, 1999, “What (Good) Are Thinking Dispositions?”, Educational Theory , 49(2): 207–221. doi:10.1111/j.1741-5446.1999.00207.x
• Simon, Herbert A., 1956, “Rational Choice and the Structure of the Environment”, Psychological Review , 63(2): 129–138. doi: 10.1037/h0042769
• Simpson, Elizabeth, 1966–67, “The Classification of Educational Objectives: Psychomotor Domain”, Illinois Teacher of Home Economics , 10(4): 110–144, ERIC document ED0103613. [ Simpson 1966–67 available online ]
• Skolverket, 2018, Curriculum for the Compulsory School, Preschool Class and School-age Educare , Stockholm: Skolverket, revised 2018. Available at https://www.skolverket.se/download/18.31c292d516e7445866a218f/1576654682907/pdf3984.pdf; last accessed 2022 07 15.
• Smith, B. Othanel, 1953, “The Improvement of Critical Thinking”, Progressive Education , 30(5): 129–134.
• Smith, Eugene Randolph, Ralph Winfred Tyler, and the Evaluation Staff, 1942, Appraising and Recording Student Progress , Volume III of Adventure in American Education , New York and London: Harper & Brothers.
• Splitter, Laurance J., 1987, “Educational Reform through Philosophy for Children”, Thinking: The Journal of Philosophy for Children , 7(2): 32–39. doi:10.5840/thinking1987729
• Stanovich Keith E., and Paula J. Stanovich, 2010, “A Framework for Critical Thinking, Rational Thinking, and Intelligence”, in David D. Preiss and Robert J. Sternberg (eds), Innovations in Educational Psychology: Perspectives on Learning, Teaching and Human Development , New York: Springer Publishing, pp 195–237.
• Stanovich Keith E., Richard F. West, and Maggie E. Toplak, 2011, “Intelligence and Rationality”, in Robert J. Sternberg and Scott Barry Kaufman (eds.), Cambridge Handbook of Intelligence , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 3rd edition, pp. 784–826. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511977244.040
• Tankersley, Karen, 2005, Literacy Strategies for Grades 4–12: Reinforcing the Threads of Reading , Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
• Thayer-Bacon, Barbara J., 1992, “Is Modern Critical Thinking Theory Sexist?”, Inquiry: Critical Thinking Across the Disciplines , 10(1): 3–7. doi:10.5840/inquiryctnews199210123
• –––, 1993, “Caring and Its Relationship to Critical Thinking”, Educational Theory , 43(3): 323–340. doi:10.1111/j.1741-5446.1993.00323.x
• –––, 1995a, “Constructive Thinking: Personal Voice”, Journal of Thought , 30(1): 55–70.
• –––, 1995b, “Doubting and Believing: Both are Important for Critical Thinking”, Inquiry: Critical Thinking across the Disciplines , 15(2): 59–66. doi:10.5840/inquiryctnews199515226
• –––, 2000, Transforming Critical Thinking: Thinking Constructively , New York: Teachers College Press.
• Toulmin, Stephen Edelston, 1958, The Uses of Argument , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Turri, John, Mark Alfano, and John Greco, 2017, “Virtue Epistemology”, in Edward N. Zalta (ed.), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2017 Edition). URL = < https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2017/entries/epistemology-virtue/ >
• Vincent-Lancrin, Stéphan, Carlos González-Sancho, Mathias Bouckaert, Federico de Luca, Meritxell Fernández-Barrerra, Gwénaël Jacotin, Joaquin Urgel, and Quentin Vidal, 2019, Fostering Students’ Creativity and Critical Thinking: What It Means in School. Educational Research and Innovation , Paris: OECD Publishing.
• Warren, Karen J. 1988. “Critical Thinking and Feminism”, Informal Logic , 10(1): 31–44. [ Warren 1988 available online ]
• Watson, Goodwin, and Edward M. Glaser, 1980a, Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal, Form A , San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation.
• –––, 1980b, Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal: Forms A and B; Manual , San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation,
• –––, 1994, Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal, Form B , San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation.
• Weinstein, Mark, 1990, “Towards a Research Agenda for Informal Logic and Critical Thinking”, Informal Logic , 12(3): 121–143. [ Weinstein 1990 available online ]
• –––, 2013, Logic, Truth and Inquiry , London: College Publications.
• Willingham, Daniel T., 2019, “How to Teach Critical Thinking”, Education: Future Frontiers , 1: 1–17. [Available online at https://prod65.education.nsw.gov.au/content/dam/main-education/teaching-and-learning/education-for-a-changing-world/media/documents/How-to-teach-critical-thinking-Willingham.pdf.]
• Zagzebski, Linda Trinkaus, 1996, Virtues of the Mind: An Inquiry into the Nature of Virtue and the Ethical Foundations of Knowledge , Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CBO9781139174763

How to cite this entry . Preview the PDF version of this entry at the Friends of the SEP Society . Look up topics and thinkers related to this entry at the Internet Philosophy Ontology Project (InPhO). Enhanced bibliography for this entry at PhilPapers , with links to its database.

• Association for Informal Logic and Critical Thinking (AILACT)
• Critical Thinking Across the European Higher Education Curricula (CRITHINKEDU)
• Critical Thinking Definition, Instruction, and Assessment: A Rigorous Approach
• Critical Thinking Research (RAIL)
• Foundation for Critical Thinking
• Insight Assessment
• Partnership for 21st Century Learning (P21)
• The Critical Thinking Consortium
• The Nature of Critical Thinking: An Outline of Critical Thinking Dispositions and Abilities , by Robert H. Ennis

abilities | bias, implicit | children, philosophy for | civic education | decision-making capacity | Dewey, John | dispositions | education, philosophy of | epistemology: virtue | logic: informal

Copyright © 2022 by David Hitchcock < hitchckd @ mcmaster . ca >

• Accessibility

Support SEP

Mirror sites.

View this site from another server:

• Info about mirror sites

The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy is copyright © 2024 by The Metaphysics Research Lab , Department of Philosophy, Stanford University

Library of Congress Catalog Data: ISSN 1095-5054

Have a language expert improve your writing

Run a free plagiarism check in 10 minutes, generate accurate citations for free.

• Knowledge Base
• Working with sources
• What Is Critical Thinking? | Definition & Examples

What Is Critical Thinking? | Definition & Examples

Published on May 30, 2022 by Eoghan Ryan . Revised on May 31, 2023.

Critical thinking is the ability to effectively analyze information and form a judgment .

To think critically, you must be aware of your own biases and assumptions when encountering information, and apply consistent standards when evaluating sources .

Critical thinking skills help you to:

• Identify credible sources
• Evaluate and respond to arguments
• Assess alternative viewpoints
• Test hypotheses against relevant criteria

Table of contents

Why is critical thinking important, critical thinking examples, how to think critically, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about critical thinking.

Critical thinking is important for making judgments about sources of information and forming your own arguments. It emphasizes a rational, objective, and self-aware approach that can help you to identify credible sources and strengthen your conclusions.

Critical thinking is important in all disciplines and throughout all stages of the research process . The types of evidence used in the sciences and in the humanities may differ, but critical thinking skills are relevant to both.

In academic writing , critical thinking can help you to determine whether a source:

• Is free from research bias
• Provides evidence to support its research findings
• Considers alternative viewpoints

Outside of academia, critical thinking goes hand in hand with information literacy to help you form opinions rationally and engage independently and critically with popular media.

Don't submit your assignments before you do this

The academic proofreading tool has been trained on 1000s of academic texts. Making it the most accurate and reliable proofreading tool for students. Free citation check included.

Try for free

Critical thinking can help you to identify reliable sources of information that you can cite in your research paper . It can also guide your own research methods and inform your own arguments.

Outside of academia, critical thinking can help you to be aware of both your own and others’ biases and assumptions.

Academic examples

However, when you compare the findings of the study with other current research, you determine that the results seem improbable. You analyze the paper again, consulting the sources it cites.

You notice that the research was funded by the pharmaceutical company that created the treatment. Because of this, you view its results skeptically and determine that more independent research is necessary to confirm or refute them. Example: Poor critical thinking in an academic context You’re researching a paper on the impact wireless technology has had on developing countries that previously did not have large-scale communications infrastructure. You read an article that seems to confirm your hypothesis: the impact is mainly positive. Rather than evaluating the research methodology, you accept the findings uncritically.

Nonacademic examples

However, you decide to compare this review article with consumer reviews on a different site. You find that these reviews are not as positive. Some customers have had problems installing the alarm, and some have noted that it activates for no apparent reason.

You revisit the original review article. You notice that the words “sponsored content” appear in small print under the article title. Based on this, you conclude that the review is advertising and is therefore not an unbiased source. Example: Poor critical thinking in a nonacademic context You support a candidate in an upcoming election. You visit an online news site affiliated with their political party and read an article that criticizes their opponent. The article claims that the opponent is inexperienced in politics. You accept this without evidence, because it fits your preconceptions about the opponent.

There is no single way to think critically. How you engage with information will depend on the type of source you’re using and the information you need.

However, you can engage with sources in a systematic and critical way by asking certain questions when you encounter information. Like the CRAAP test , these questions focus on the currency , relevance , authority , accuracy , and purpose of a source of information.

When encountering information, ask:

• Who is the author? Are they an expert in their field?
• What do they say? Is their argument clear? Can you summarize it?
• When did they say this? Is the source current?
• Where is the information published? Is it an academic article? Is it peer-reviewed ?
• Why did the author publish it? What is their motivation?
• How do they make their argument? Is it backed up by evidence? Does it rely on opinion, speculation, or appeals to emotion ? Do they address alternative arguments?

Critical thinking also involves being aware of your own biases, not only those of others. When you make an argument or draw your own conclusions, you can ask similar questions about your own writing:

• Am I only considering evidence that supports my preconceptions?
• Is my argument expressed clearly and backed up with credible sources?
• Would I be convinced by this argument coming from someone else?

If you want to know more about ChatGPT, AI tools , citation , and plagiarism , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

• ChatGPT vs human editor
• ChatGPT citations
• Is ChatGPT trustworthy?
• Using ChatGPT for your studies
• What is ChatGPT?
• Chicago style
• Paraphrasing

 Plagiarism

• Types of plagiarism
• Self-plagiarism
• Avoiding plagiarism
• Academic integrity
• Consequences of plagiarism
• Common knowledge

Critical thinking refers to the ability to evaluate information and to be aware of biases or assumptions, including your own.

Like information literacy , it involves evaluating arguments, identifying and solving problems in an objective and systematic way, and clearly communicating your ideas.

Critical thinking skills include the ability to:

You can assess information and arguments critically by asking certain questions about the source. You can use the CRAAP test , focusing on the currency , relevance , authority , accuracy , and purpose of a source of information.

Ask questions such as:

• Who is the author? Are they an expert?
• How do they make their argument? Is it backed up by evidence?

A credible source should pass the CRAAP test  and follow these guidelines:

• The information should be up to date and current.
• The author and publication should be a trusted authority on the subject you are researching.
• The sources the author cited should be easy to find, clear, and unbiased.
• For a web source, the URL and layout should signify that it is trustworthy.

Information literacy refers to a broad range of skills, including the ability to find, evaluate, and use sources of information effectively.

Being information literate means that you:

• Know how to find credible sources
• Use relevant sources to inform your research
• Understand what constitutes plagiarism
• Know how to cite your sources correctly

Confirmation bias is the tendency to search, interpret, and recall information in a way that aligns with our pre-existing values, opinions, or beliefs. It refers to the ability to recollect information best when it amplifies what we already believe. Relatedly, we tend to forget information that contradicts our opinions.

Although selective recall is a component of confirmation bias, it should not be confused with recall bias.

On the other hand, recall bias refers to the differences in the ability between study participants to recall past events when self-reporting is used. This difference in accuracy or completeness of recollection is not related to beliefs or opinions. Rather, recall bias relates to other factors, such as the length of the recall period, age, and the characteristics of the disease under investigation.

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

Ryan, E. (2023, May 31). What Is Critical Thinking? | Definition & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved September 10, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/working-with-sources/critical-thinking/

Is this article helpful?

Eoghan Ryan

Other students also liked, student guide: information literacy | meaning & examples, what are credible sources & how to spot them | examples, applying the craap test & evaluating sources, get unlimited documents corrected.

✔ Free APA citation check included ✔ Unlimited document corrections ✔ Specialized in correcting academic texts

• Bipolar Disorder
• Therapy Center
• When To See a Therapist
• Types of Therapy
• Best Online Therapy
• Best Couples Therapy
• Managing Stress
• Sleep and Dreaming
• Understanding Emotions
• Self-Improvement
• Healthy Relationships
• Student Resources
• Personality Types
• Sweepstakes
• Guided Meditations
• Verywell Mind Insights
• 2024 Verywell Mind 25
• Mental Health in the Classroom
• Editorial Process
• Meet Our Review Board
• Crisis Support

How to Boost Your Self-Awareness

Here's why knowing yourself is so important—plus, how to improve it

• Development
• How to Improve
• Self-Consciousness

Frequently Asked Questions

Self-awareness is your ability to perceive and understand the things that make you who you are as an individual, including your personality, actions, values, beliefs, emotions, and thoughts. Essentially, it is a psychological state in which the self becomes the focus of  attention .

While self-awareness is central to your identity, it is not something you are acutely focused on at every moment of every day. Instead, self-awareness becomes woven into the fabric of who you are and emerges at different points depending on the situation and your personality .​

At a Glance

While we might not think about it all the time, self-awareness is critical to our understand of our selves and our relationship with the world. This understanding starts to form early in life, and become increasingly important as we grow older and begin to gain greater insights into our own thoughts, feelings, sensations, and behavior patterns. Keep reading to learn more about what experts have learned about how self-awareness develops, the different forms it can take, and what you can do to gain deeper insights into who you are as an individual.

How Does Self-Awareness Develop?

Self-awareness is one of the first components of the  self-concept  to emerge. People are not born completely self-aware. Yet evidence suggests that infants do have a rudimentary sense of self-awareness.

Infants are aware that they are separate from others, as evidenced by behaviors such as the rooting reflex, in which an infant searches for a nipple when something brushes against their face. Researchers have also found that even newborns can differentiate between self- and non-self touch.

Studies have demonstrated that a more complex sense of self-awareness emerges around one year of age and becomes much more developed by approximately 18 months of age.

Self-Awareness and the Mirror Recognition Task

One way that research can measure self-awareness is by using what is known as a mirror self-recognition task. In a classic conducted by researchers Lewis and Brooks-Gunn, the researchers utilized this task to examine how self-awareness develops.

The researchers applied a red dot to an infant's nose and held the child to a mirror. Children who recognized themselves in the mirror would reach for their own noses rather than the reflection in the mirror, which indicated that they had at least some level of self-awareness.

Lewis and Brooks-Gunn found that almost no children under one year would reach for their own noses rather than the reflection in the mirror.

About 25% of the infants between 15 and 18 months reached for their own noses while about 70% of those between 21 and 24 months did so. This suggests that children exhibit self-awareness and self-recognition at 15 months and have a fully developed sense of mirror recognition by 24 months.

It is important to note that the Lewis and Brooks-Gunn study only indicates an infant's visual self-awareness; children might actually possess other forms of self-awareness even at this early point in life. For example, researchers have also suggested that  expressing emotions  involves self-awareness and an ability to think about oneself in relation to other people.

Self-Awareness and the Brain

Researchers have proposed that an area of the brain known as the anterior cingulate cortex located in the frontal lobe region plays an important role in developing self-awareness. Studies have also used brain imaging to show that this region becomes activated in adults who are self-aware.

The Lewis and Brooks-Gunn experiment suggests that self-awareness begins to emerge in children around the age of 18 months, an age that coincides with the rapid growth of spindle cells in the anterior cingulate cortex.

However, one study found that a patient retained self-awareness even with extensive damage to areas of the brain including the insula and the anterior cingulate cortex.

This suggests that these areas of the brain are not required for most aspects of self-awareness and that awareness may instead arise from interactions distributed among brain networks.

Levels of Self-Awareness

So how exactly do children become aware of themselves as separate beings? One major theory of self-awareness, introduced by developmental psychologist Philippe Rochat, suggests that there are five levels of self-awareness. Children progress through these stages between birth and approximately age 4 or 5:

• Differentiation : A baby begins to acknowledge their own reflection. They may detect there is something different or special about looking at their reflection.
• Situation : A baby begins to recognize their own reflection, being, and movements as separate from those around them.
• Identification : This is the stage during which a child fully knows that it is their own reflection in a mirror. They know, "This is me ."
• Permanence : They have a complete sense of themselves and can identify themselves in pictures or videos, even as their appearance changes.
• Self-consciousness : A child adapts a third-person point of view of themselves; they become aware of the idea that others perceive them in certain ways. This may result in feelings such as pride or shame .

Types of Self-Awareness

Self-awareness also takes different forms that can emerge in different situations and settings. Psychologists often break self-awareness down into two different types, either public or private.

Public Self-Awareness

This type emerges when people are aware of how they appear to others. Public self-awareness typically emerges in situations when people are at the center of attention .

This type of self-awareness often compels people to adhere to social norms . When we are aware that we are being watched and evaluated, we often try to behave in socially acceptable and desirable ways.

Public self-awareness can also lead to evaluation anxiety in which people become distressed, anxious, or worried about how they are perceived by others. Performance anxiety and social anxiety are two examples of how public self-awareness can sometimes lead to worry and distress about how other evaluate us.

Public Self-Awareness Examples

You may experience public self-awareness in the workplace, such as when you're giving an important presentation or when telling a story to a group of friends. Because you are the focus of attention, you become more acutely aware of how others might perceive you.

Private Self-Awareness

This type happens when people become aware of some aspects of themselves, but only in a private way. For example, seeing your face in the mirror is a type of private self-awareness.

Certain strategies can help you build a greater sense of private self-awareness. For example, journaling, meditating, and practicing mindfulness can help you become more aware of your inner thoughts, feelings, and sensations.

Private Self-Awareness Examples

Feeling your stomach lurch when you realize you forgot to study for an important test or feeling your heart flutter when you see someone you are attracted to are also examples of private self-awareness.

Why Is Self-Awareness Important?

Self-awareness is important because it allows you to reflect on aspects of yourself. As you understand your abilities and tendencies, your self-awareness also allows you to think about how you interact with others and the world around you.

Self-aware people are able to manage their behaviors and adapt to situations. They can accurately evaluate what the situation requires and then modify their actions accordingly.

This can be vital in many areas of life, including your relationships and work. It can also factor in when it comes to personal development. As you become more aware of your strengths and weaknesses, you can take steps to capitalize on the things you are good at and explore ways to improve the areas where you might struggle.

How to Improve Your Self-Awareness

So how do you grow self-awareness? There are many ways you can practice being present with yourself and your emotions, which, in turn, can help improve your self-awareness.

Meditation can be an especially useful practice because you don't have to worry about changing anything—simply noticing what happens during a meditation can bring greater awareness of your thoughts and feelings.

Maybe you notice that you hold tension in your body by clenching your jaw, for instance, or that you tend to worry so much about the future that it's hard to be in the present moment. This is all valuable information that can help you get to know yourself and your tendencies.

Journaling is a practice of self-reflection that can help you notice how you think and behave and even which areas in your life you may wish to improve. It can be a therapeutic way to gain insight into your life events and relationships.

Talk Therapy

During therapy—such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)—a therapist works with you to address negative thought patterns or behaviors.

By understanding the underlying cause of your negative thoughts, for instance, you're in a more advantageous position to change them and use healthy coping mechanisms instead.

Develop Your Emotional Intelligence

Self-awareness and emotional intelligence (EQ) go hand in hand. EQ refers to a person's ability to perceive their own emotions and those of others. Someone with a high EQ can effectively respond to emotions with empathy and compassion .

Of course, no one is perfect, and EQ is a skill like any other. But by learning to express your emotions in a healthy way and practicing active listening in your relationships, you're contributing to the expansion of your self-awareness as well.

Try Our EQ Test

Our fast and free EQ test can help you determine whether or not your responses to certain situations in life indicate a high level of emotional intelligence:

When Self-Awareness Leads to Self-Consciousness

Sometimes, people can become overly self-aware and veer into what is known as self-consciousness . Have you ever felt like everyone was watching you, judging your actions, and waiting to see what you will do next? This heightened state of self-awareness can leave you feeling awkward and nervous in some instances.

In many cases, these feelings of self-consciousness are only temporary and arise when we are "in the spotlight." For some people, however, excessive self-consciousness can reflect a chronic condition such as social anxiety disorder .

While self-awareness plays a critical role in how we understand ourselves and how we relate to others and the world, excessive self-consciousness can result in challenges such as anxiety and stress .

If you struggle with self-consciousness, discuss your symptoms with a doctor or mental health professional to learn more about what you can do to cope with these feelings.

Being self-aware is all about having an understanding of your own thoughts, feelings, values, beliefs, and actions. It means that you understand who you are, what you want, how you feel, and why you do the things that you do.

There are many different ways to think about self-awareness, but four keys that are often mentioned included mindfulness, self-compassion, reflection, and feedback.

Mindfulness allows people to become more aware of themselves in the present, while compassion allows them to do so without passing judgment on themselves. Reflection and feedback allow people to take what they have learned and improve themselves in order to achieve their goals and reach their full potential.

The five elements of self-awarenesses are:

• Consciousness : This means being aware of your internal experiences, including your emotions and thoughts.
• Self-knowledge : This element is focused on your understanding of who you are, including your beliefs, values, and motivations.
• Emotional intelligence : This element is focused on the ability to understand and manage emotions.
• Self-acceptance : This aspect is centered on accepting who you are and showing yourself compassion and kindness.
• Self-reflection : This element of self-awareness involves being able to think deeply about your feelings, thoughts, and goals in order to gain an even better understanding of who you are and your place in the world.

Rochat, P. Five levels of self-awareness as they unfold early in life . Consciousness and Cognition . 2003;12(4):717-31. doi:10.1016/S1053-8100(03)00081-3

Lewis M, Minar NJ. Self-recognition and emotional knowledge .  Eur J Dev Psychol . 2022;19(3):319-342. doi:10.1080/17405629.2021.1890578

Moeller SJ, Goldstein RZ. Impaired self-awareness in human addiction: deficient attribution of personal relevance . Trends Cogn Sci (Regul Ed). 2014;18(12):635-41. PMID: 25278368

Philippi CL, Feinstein JS, Khalsa SS, et al. Preserved self-awareness following extensive bilateral brain damage to the insula, anterior cingulate, and medial prefrontal cortices . PLoS ONE. 2012;7(8):e38413. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0038413

Rochat P. Layers of awareness in development . Developmental Review . 2015;38:122-145. doi:10.1016/j.dr.2015.07.009

Sutton A. Measuring the effects of self-awareness: Construction of the self-awareness outcomes questionnaire .  Eur J Psychol . 2016;12(4):645-658. doi:10.5964/ejop.v12i4.1178

Xiao Q, Yue C, He W, Yu JY. The mindful self: A mindfulness-enlightened self-view .  Front Psychol . 2017;8:1752. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01752

Pena‐Silva RA, Velasco‐Castro JM, Matsingos C, Jaramillo‐Rincon SX. Journaling as an effective tool to promote metacognition and enhance study methods in a pharmacology course, during and after the pandemic .  FASEB J . 2022;36(Suppl 1):10.1096/fasebj.2022.36.S1.R4840. doi:10.1096/fasebj.2022.36.S1.R4840

Nakao M, Shirotsuki K, Sugaya N. Cognitive–behavioral therapy for management of mental health and stress-related disorders: Recent advances in techniques and technologies . BioPsychoSocial Med. 2021;15(1). doi:10.1186/s13030-021-00219-w

Serrat O. Understanding and developing emotional intelligence . Knowledge Solutions. 2017:329-339. doi:10.1007/978-981-10-0983-9_37

Dasilveira A, Desouza ML, Gomes WB. Self-consciousness concept and assessment in self-report measures . Front Psychol . 2015;6:930. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00930

Stein DJ. Social anxiety disorder and the psychobiology of self-consciousness .  Front Hum Neurosci . 2015;9:489. doi:10.3389/fnhum.2015.00489

By Kendra Cherry, MSEd Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Self-Awareness and Critical Thinking

If you’re actively working on increasing your self-awareness then you’re familiar with critical thinking, the process by which you determine whether something is true or false. When you’re able to use facts to determine whether something is valid or not, you’re better equipped to deal with any situation that comes your way and live a happier life. Let’s look at the difference between an individual who doesn’t think critically and one who does:

Someone says something to this person that scares her. She can’t figure out what to do and doesn’t know how to assess what’s true or false about what she’s being told. Because she doesn’t understand the topic at hand, she draws conclusions based on visceral feelings, suppositions, or hunches rather than facts. Unable to ascertain what’s really going on, she remains uninformed and fearful.

This person has been told the same thing, initially feels scared, but has the presence of mind to evaluate the topic. She does some research to determine what is true or false about what she’s been told based on demonstrable and verifiable facts. She is able to view the issue in context and asses its likely impact on her life. She reacts appropriately based on the information she’s collected.

You’ll be much more likely to live a meaningful and balanced life if you take the time to determine what’s actually true or false about any given topic or situation. Some people leave things to emotion, chance, or superstition; you can choose to take a dispassionate look at the issue and deal with it based on demonstrable facts. How will you use your critical thinking skills?

Don't Miss These Other Trusted Tips

• Schools & departments

Reflecting for self-awareness

A collection of reflective activities and questions for developing self-awareness .

This page covers:

Self-awareness: learning about yourself to improve

• Some traits are stable, others change frequently
• Challenging your answers to remain reflective
• Links to example activities and approaches for self-awareness

The purpose of reflection is to improve practice and become informed in our decisions. Generally, we want to become more able and effective in what we are doing. A lot of reflection is done to make more sense of particular experiences – critical experiences, disorienting dilemmas – however reflection can also start with the want to develop better understanding of ourselves.

This doesn’t necessarily have to start with an experience, but rather a reflective question. To answer this type of question, we will often use experiences as evidence or support.

By learning about ourselves, our motives, and our assumptions, we can develop a toolkit of knowledge and abilities that we can draw on to help ourselves preform to the best of our ability.

Some traits remain stable, others change frequently

Aspects of ourselves like strengths, weaknesses, and values often tend to be fairly consistent over time. That said, they do change naturally and, of course, with awareness we can start consciously targeting these elements, for example by building reflective habits and goals. However, sometimes we might also want to be aware of things that vary faster such as our mood, or how we feel about something particular.

The questions and activities you can access from this page will help with awareness of both more stable traits such as strengths and weaknesses, and traits that vary more rapidly.  They include simple check-in questions we can ask ourselves in the moment, and get us to think slightly differently about a problem.

Challenge your answers to remain reflective

One very important aspect of these types of activities and questions is that they lend themselves well to reflection, but don’t necessarily require a reflective approach. Therefore, to remain reflective it is important that you challenge your initial instincts and look for evidence – ask yourself ‘How do I know?’ and ‘Why?’ regularly.

Example activities and approaches for self-awareness

There are many ways to build self-awareness.  The activities and questions available below are not exhaustive, but give you a place to start when trying to increase your self-awareness.

Strengths and weaknesses

Goal setting, writing letters to your future and past selves, items for self-awareness.

How to Increase Self-Awareness: 16 Activities & Tools (+PDF)

In our stressful, modern lives, it’s easy to react passively to our environment and fracture opportunities to connect. Possessing emotional intelligence and regulating our emotions should be some of the most valued skills; self-awareness is the cornerstone of that intelligence.

Read along for some tried-and-tested, science-based strategies to raise self-awareness.

But first, we thought you might like to download our three Emotional Intelligence Exercises for free . These science-based exercises will not only enhance your ability to understand and work with your emotions, but also give you the tools to foster the emotional intelligence of your clients, students, or employees.

This Article Contains:

How do we develop self-awareness, 4 ways to increase self-awareness, 3 tests, questionnaires, and assessment scales, 5 activities, games, and exercises to build self-awareness, the self-awareness wheel, some group exercises, interview questions, techniques, and tips, a look at journaling for self-awareness, self-awareness and kids + activities, training your self-awareness: 3 courses, 5 books on the topic, 5 interesting videos and ted talks, top podcasts, inspirational quotes on self-awareness, a take-home message.

Self-awareness is the ability to monitor our inner and external world. Our thoughts and feelings arise as signals. Developing self-awareness allows us to keep from being swept away by those signals, and instead, objectively and thoughtfully respond to them. Self-aware people understand their internal experience and their impact on the experience of others.

The ability to self-evaluate has been criticized in the past for increasing negative affect. When encouraging self-awareness from the “cool” system of stimuli (Metcalfe & Mischel, 1999), the increase in negative affect can be lessened. A rise in negative emotional affect is a hindrance to progress in self-awareness.

When working on self-awareness, it is essential to do so from a self-distanced perspective, with a focus on reasons underlying emotional experience rather than what was emotionally experienced (Kross, Ayduk, & Mischel, 2005).

An open, objective observation of feelings, senses, desires, and actions can help someone move up the flourishing continuum. There’s no need to relive negative emotions, but noticing them and learning from their presence can boost self-awareness.

Developing self-awareness requires higher level cognitive processing. It requires an information-gathering perspective. This processing results in increases in adaptability and flexibility. Having increased self-awareness builds resilience (Hippe, 2004). Self-awareness also improves our ability to empathize with others (Younas, Rasheed, Sundus, & Inayat, 2020).

When compassion and empathy rise, so does the higher self. With intentions and purpose, a self-aware human can significantly impact the world around them. Self-aware people tend to show up with self-confidence , self-worth , and high success rates (Duval & Silvia, 2002).

Keep track of thoughts that pop up in the form of an automatic reaction.

Track what was occurring at the time.

Track your level of emotion to the stimulus.

If time allows, analyze the underlying reason for the emotion experienced. If time does not allow, the diary will enable you to track common threads.

Introspection is not efficient in higher order cognitive processes (Nisbett & Wilson, 1977). Humans tend to reflect with a self-serving bias, rather than objectively analyzing situations for abstract learning. To be more efficient, the thought diary should be less of an emotional exercise and more of a fact-finding mission. In other words, leave judgment out of it.

Starting a mindfulness practice is another way to increase self-awareness. There are a variety of activities to include in a mindfulness practice. Find a few ideas to inspire you to incorporate meditation, yoga, or some other variation to improve your presence. When mindfulness is practiced, behavior becomes more intentional, and increased self-awareness develops.

Asking a friend to clarify your strengths and weaknesses can be a significant pathway to self-awareness. While many people believe they are self-aware, having an outside perspective is helpful in a clearer understanding of external self-awareness.

Download 3 Free Emotional Intelligence Exercises (PDF)

These detailed, science-based exercises will help you or your clients understand and use emotions advantageously.

Download 3 Free Emotional Intelligence Tools Pack (PDF)

By filling out your name and email address below.

The Self Consciousness Scale (Scheier & Carver, 1985) has been validated and translated into several languages. It helps to better understand one’s level of rumination and to shift it instead to objective reflection.

The Situational Self-Awareness Scale was designed to quantify levels of public and private awareness. It has been validated and translated many times. It has two sub-scales that help validate differences and cues to these two forms of self-awareness (Govern & Marsch, 2001). You need permission from the authors to use this scale for scientific purposes.

Tasha Eurich’s research on self-awareness leads to this interesting quiz . It measures internal and external self-awareness and places participants in quadrants, allowing for growth in understanding the power of knowing the ‘self.’ There is more on her interesting book below.

Various scales to measure mindfulness and increase awareness can be found on our blog.

Other personality inventories offer an increase in self-awareness too. Taking that insight into real-time practice is a vital awareness builder.

Becoming self-aware is not a single moment of inspiration. It requires continual, objective reflection and experimentation in real-world settings.

Taking healthy risks is another way to build your self-awareness. Placing yourself in new situations and out of your comfort zone can offer unique personal insight. Here are a few ideas for healthy risks:

• Join a club
• Begin a new activity (painting, exercise, etc.)
• Switch to open-ended questions

Ask your friends for feedback . By trusting a friend or relative to give you feedback about your qualities – helpful and unhelpful – you can gain insight into how you are perceived. Allowing a mirror to be placed in front of you by your loved ones can be illuminating.

Writing a regret letter is a way to build self-awareness and practice radical forgiveness at the same time. Write to your former self about regrets and forgive that self for mistakes that have been made. This activity permits you to be human.

Write your imaginary eulogy to illuminate how you’d like to be remembered after you’re gone. This exercise allows you to know how you want to show up in the world and the necessary shifts that need to occur. This self-awareness builder will enable you to understand your higher self better.

We have more self-awareness activities on our blog.

There are variations of the self-awareness wheel used in counseling, mindfulness practices, and even education. Though the wheel has many variations, the version from Dr. Dan Siegel is evidence based. His version can be found on his website . It is a visual metaphor for the process of integrating consciousness.

The core of awareness develops from a central “hub” containing the understanding of awareness or mindfulness as:

The core of awareness is the goal, where one’s attention focuses on the surroundings of the “hub” while scanning for:

• The body’s five senses
• Interconnectedness (interaction with the environment)
• Cognitive processes
• Internal physical body

Another version of an awareness wheel was created in the book Alive and Aware (Miller, Nunnally, & Wackman, 1975).

In this wheel, awareness is surrounded by:

It’s basically the same concept as Siegel’s wheel but simplified. It can be utilized for improving communication in relationships.

A fun parlor game popularized by French essayist Marcel Proust can be used as an exercise to grow self-awareness. It is called the Proust Questionnaire .

A group activity that requires vulnerability and listening skills is a share circle . With participants in a circle, pass around the following questions on a piece of paper. Have participants listen deeply. Be sure that everyone gets a turn with a positive and negative emotion.

• I feel angry when…
• I feel joyful when…
• I feel unhappy when…
• I feel hope when…
• I wish I didn’t have to…
• I enjoy…
• I feel afraid when…
• Something I’d like to change is…
• If I were (name the person), I would…
• I feel like no one loves me when…
• I know I am loved when…
• Something I find boring is…
• I know I can trust…
• I admire (name the person) because…
• I feel serene when…
• I am most interested in….
• I am annoyed when…
• I disapprove of…
• I am optimistic when…

Another group activity that increases self-awareness is a body language exercise . Divide participants into partners. Give one partner a note showing the type of emotion they should display with only body language. Have the other partner choose what emotion is present in the body language.

To develop awareness in a team setting , help the group become aware of common goals. Team strengths and weaknesses can then be identified and transformed into action steps for team growth. In a group, brainstorm the answers to the following prompts:

This team is great at… This team struggles at… This team supports each other by…

On a scale from 1 to 10, how much does each team member notice their emotional reactions? Our common goals are… We will grow by… Our daily actions include…

As we know, self-awareness is the cornerstone of building that intelligence.

Here are some questions, techniques, and tips for assessing someone’s self-awareness.

What makes you angry at work?

A self-aware person would respond with an answer that shows how anger is handled in real time. Speaking about how anger is a signal to an adjustment toward perspective taking is a great way to highlight self-awareness capabilities.

As a manager, how do you handle a subordinate who enters your office crying?

A self-aware person would respond with an answer that shows the ability to respond with compassion and strong listening skills. A manager has to have the ability to handle emotions and likely has empathy for others.

How would you handle a subordinate making a mistake?

A self-aware person can take the perspective of failure as a natural process of growth and can help the subordinate learn from that mistake.

What is your superpower?

A self-aware person can effectively articulate what unique offering they bring to the table.

Self-aware folks will typically value teamwork above self-promotion. They value collaboration and have the ability to respond, rather than passively react, to stimuli. Self-aware leaders will lead with intention, empathy, and compassion.

World’s Largest Positive Psychology Resource

The Positive Psychology Toolkit© is a groundbreaking practitioner resource containing over 500 science-based exercises , activities, interventions, questionnaires, and assessments created by experts using the latest positive psychology research.

Updated monthly. 100% Science-based.

“The best positive psychology resource out there!” — Emiliya Zhivotovskaya , Flourishing Center CEO

At the heart of any journaling practice for self-awareness is honesty. Allowing ourselves to recognize and redirect the self-serving bias enables journaling to increase accuracy in subjective emotional experience. Tracking triggers is quite powerful in decreasing the automated reactions to them.

Someone doesn’t have to be a writer to journal for self-awareness. A stream of consciousness journal won’t be reviewed or read by anyone but the writer. It can reveal and enlighten when reread.

Journaling offers insight into changes that could be made and tracked through personal experience. By writing daily, the thread becomes illuminated. It may even help to keep journals for different areas of life (e.g., work, home, fitness, etc.).

To get creative, it can be quite helpful to start journaling with prompts that ignite self-discovery. Here are a few examples to get you started:

• If I could speak to my teenage self, I would say…
• Can I come up with 20 things that make me smile?
• Two of the most impactful moments of my life were…
• When I’m in pain, the sweetest thing I can do for myself is…
• Today, I used my strengths in the following ways…
• I was most surprised when….
• The scariest day of my life was…

Developing emotional intelligence takes some effort, and it begins with self-awareness.

Speaking to strengths and accepting that emotions are temporary is helpful for anyone working with children.

Mindfulness for Kids is an important exercise used to increase self-awareness. The link will take you to games, worksheets, and activities to help those kids in your life.

Offering older kids sentence starters and encouraging them to complete the sentences is a great activity for building self-awareness. Start with these examples:

When I’m bored, I like to… In my free time, I enjoy… I’m happiest when… When I make a mistake, I… When my day doesn’t go my way, I…

The emotional pie exercise is a healthy way for kids to discuss their emotions. Have the child create a circle. Help the child name eight emotions with individually chosen representative colors. If they have trouble, you can help them with the assistance of Plutchik’s Wheel of Emotions .

Once they are identified, have the child fill the circle with the emotions weighing the slices from most prominent to least prominent. Encourage them to use colors that might feel like they represent those feelings (e.g., red for anger).

A fun idea for younger kids is the emoji plate game. Help children develop the vocabulary to talk about their emotions by making paper plates into emojis created with self-determined labels. For little ones, emotions such as anger, frustration, or disappointment can be hard feelings to process. Yet, it is important to help them to develop the vocabulary to express them positively.

Lea Waters’s work on strengths is a great way to help children develop self-awareness. Waters’s (2017) The Strength Switch is a great book for sparking a genuinely transformational conversation between parents and kids. Like any other humans, kids want to be seen. Helping them recognize their strengths and telling them the strengths that you see in them are wonderful places to start.

Mindfulness X is a comprehensive training course for practitioners to learn how to infuse mindfulness into their practices.

Udemy offers an affordable online course utilizing Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, neuroplasticity, and mindfulness. This course is geared toward self-development, particularly in reducing depression and anxiety.

ACT for Youth has developed a helpful toolkit filled with resources for kids.

Improving self-awareness helps people improve their lives by offering an objective reflection. The topic has gained scientific evidence in improving overall emotional intelligence and success. With increased emotional intelligence, improved human connection and leadership are possible. Here are some great reads on the topic.

1. A Theory of Objective Self Awareness – Shelley Duval and Robert Wicklund

It offers links to cognitive processes.

While somewhat antiquated, it has bedrock theory that can help readers understand the concept of objective self-awareness.

Available on Amazon .

2. Self-Awareness (HBR Emotional Intelligence Series) – Harvard Business Review, Daniel Goleman, Robert Steven Kaplan, Susan David, and Tasha Eurich

This book teaches the concept of being human at work. Knowing your strengths, shortcomings, and potential helps leaders develop.

3. Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ – Daniel Goleman

Emotional Intelligence , by Daniel Goleman, explores the scientific concept of two brains: the logical and the emotional.

This book outlines the skills needed to improve your emotional intelligence.

Self-awareness is the bedrock of these skills .

4. Insight: The Surprising Truth About How Others See Us, How We See Ourselves, and Why the Answers Matter More Than We Think – Tasha Eurich

With a pragmatic approach to professional development, this book serves leaders in becoming more self-aware and successful.

Grounded in the science of human behavior, this book offers readers the ability to uncover the invisible blocks to self-awareness.

5. How Emotions Are Made: The Secret Life of The Brain – Lisa Feldman Barrett Ph.D.

Ten additional books are discussed in our article regarding the best self-awareness books .

The following visuals are great ways to improve one’s knowledge of self-awareness.

1. How Youth Thrive

Peter Benson’s TED talk, How Youth Thrive, is compelling. This talk discusses the spark that youth have and their awareness of its existence in themselves. Knowing that they are ‘seen’ gives youth self-awareness and joy.

2. Increase your self-awareness with one simple fix

Tasha Eurich’s TED talk highlights her research in self-awareness. Her evidence-based perspective as an organizational psychologist gives an informative speech about how most people are not, in fact, self-aware.

3. My Stroke of Insight

Jill Bolte Taylor’s TED talk discusses her very personal experience of having a stroke. It’s an astonishing story about the brain and self-awareness.

4. The Power of Self-Awareness

Dr. William Sparks talks about the power of self-awareness and his deeper understanding of “the shadow.”

5. How Self-Awareness Can Help You to Live the Life You Want

Marina Barayeva’s TED talk on self-awareness is helpful for youth.

Being Well by Rick Hanson, PhD uses psychology to look at achievement, awareness, and success. This episode, in particular, offers insight from Daniel Goleman.

The Self-Awareness Podcast , from Aaron Dodge, is a personal journey through self-awareness.

The Pathway to Happiness podcast, and this Awareness and Consciousness episode in particular, offers interesting insights into the voices in our heads.

If you enjoy listening to podcasts, we also have a selection of the eight best positive psychology podcasts .

17 Exercises To Develop Emotional Intelligence

These 17 Emotional Intelligence Exercises [PDF] will help others strengthen their relationships, lower stress, and enhance their wellbeing through improved EQ.

Created by Experts. 100% Science-based.

Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding about ourselves.

Carl Gustav Jung

You can’t get away from yourself by moving from one place to another.

Ernest Hemingway

The greatest thing in the world is to know how to belong to oneself.

Michel de Montaigne

Every human has four endowments – self-awareness, conscience, independent will, and creative imagination. These give us the ultimate human freedom… The power to choose, to respond, to change.

Stephen R. Covey

Science tells us that most human beings are not very adept at self-awareness. What researchers have found is that self-awareness is like a golden ticket for success and fulfillment. It takes work. Self-awareness and self-acceptance lead to improvements in emotional intelligence.

More people awakened and aware would be a massive transition in humanity. It would create better families, schools, and workplaces. With the shift would come increased compassion and empathy. Dare we dream that we can do better?

Thanks for reading!

We hope you enjoyed reading this article. Don’t forget to download our three Emotional Intelligence Exercises for free .

• Duval, T. S., & Silvia, P. J. (2002). Self-awareness, probability of improvement, and the self-serving bias.  Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82 (1), 49-61.
• Govern, J. M., & Marsch, L. A. (2001). Development and validation of the situational self-awareness scale. Consciousness and Cognition, 10 (3), 366-378.
• Hippe, J. (2004). Self-awareness: A precursor to resiliency. Reclaiming Children & Youth ,  12 (4), 240-242.
• Kross, E., Ayduk, O., & Mischel, W. (2005). When asking “why” does not hurt: Distinguishing rumination from reflective processing of negative emotions. Psychological Science, 16 (9), 709-715.
• Metcalfe, J., & Mischel, W. (1999). A hot/cool-system analysis of delay of gratification: Dynamics of willpower. Psychological Review, 106 (1), 3-19.
• Miller, S., Nunnally, E. W., & Wackman, D. B. (1975). Alive and aware: Improving communications in relationships . Minneapolis, MN: Interpersonal Communication Programs.
• Nicholls, S., Wegener, M., Bay, D., & Cook, G. L. (2012). Emotional intelligence tests: Potential impacts on the hiring process for accounting students.  Accounting Education ,  21 (1), 75-95.
• Nisbett, R. E., & Wilson, T. D. (1977). Telling more than we know: Verbal reports on mental processes. Psychological Review, 81 (3), 231–257.
• Ostroff, C., Atwater, L. E., & Feinberg, B. J. (2004). Understanding self-other agreement: A look at rater and ratee characteristics, context and outcomes. Personnel Psychology, 57 (2), 333-375.
• Scheier, M. F., & Carver, C. S. (1985). The self-consciousness scale: A revised version for use with general populations. Journal of Applied Social Psychology ,  15 (8), 687-699.
• Waters, L. (2017).  The strength switch: How the new science of strength-based parenting can help your child and your teen to flourish. New York, NY: Penguin.
• Younas, A., Rasheed, S. P., Sundus, A., & Inayat, S. (2020). Nurses’ perspectives of self-awareness in nursing practice: A descriptive qualitative study. Nursing & Health Sciences ,  22 (2), 398-405.

Share this article:

Article feedback

What our readers think.

the scoring results for Self-Consciousness-Scale. is not clear after i sum the result for each category how shall i know if i’m doing good or not so could you please advise how to know the scale for Private Self-Consciousness and the others after sum all the related point

The Self Consciousness Scale measures two aspects: private self-consciousness (inner thoughts and emotions) and public self-consciousness (how one appears to others). People who score higher on private self-consciousness tend to be more introspective and attuned to their inner experiences (which can also lead to rumination). Scoring higher in public self-consciousness relates to being more attuned to how they present themselves to others and may feel more concerned about social evaluations and judgments.

I hope this answers your question! Kind regards, Julia | Community Manager

Thanks for this. Interesting read and helpful.

I was initially listening to these talks whilst moving around my house .I found I needed to stop and REALLY listen as part of what I was doing was avoiding some things that were uncomfortable and challenging .Thankyou for the first part of a journey I NEED to travel

This was an amazing read, thank you so much for compiling all of this!

Let us know your thoughts Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Related articles

Urge Surfing: How Riding the Wave Breaks Bad Habits

We all experience cravings, sometimes daily. For some, it might be chocolate, caffeine, or social connection, while for others, it can be more serious, including [...]

Reparenting: Seeking Healing for Your Inner Child

In our work as therapists, we often encounter the undeniable truth: we never truly outgrow our inner child. A youthful part within us persists, sometimes [...]

30 Best Self-Exploration Questions, Journal Prompts, & Tools

Life is constantly in flux – our environment and ‘self’ change continually. Self-exploration helps us make sense of who we are, where we are, and [...]

Read other articles by their category

• Body & Brain (52)
• Coaching & Application (39)
• Compassion (23)
• Counseling (40)
• Emotional Intelligence (22)
• Gratitude (18)
• Grief & Bereavement (18)
• Happiness & SWB (40)
• Meaning & Values (26)
• Meditation (16)
• Mindfulness (40)
• Motivation & Goals (41)
• Optimism & Mindset (29)
• Positive CBT (28)
• Positive Communication (23)
• Positive Education (37)
• Positive Emotions (32)
• Positive Leadership (16)
• Positive Parenting (14)
• Positive Psychology (21)
• Positive Workplace (35)
• Productivity (16)
• Relationships (46)
• Resilience & Coping (39)
• Self Awareness (20)
• Self Esteem (37)
• Strengths & Virtues (29)
• Stress & Burnout Prevention (33)
• Theory & Books (42)
• Therapy Exercises (37)
• Types of Therapy (54)

PEAK MENTAL

  performance  ,   coaching, llc, a clinical, educational, and sport psychology practice, the importance of self-awareness, critical thinking, and responsibility to being mentally tough.

At Peak Mental Performance Coaching LLC I work with clients with many different clinical needs, but whether they are a general client, student, or athlete our goals are the same – to increase mental toughness, build confidence, and learn the skills to succeed in life. Prior blogs have hit on many of these skills. Over the past few months with the pandemic and everything else going on in the world, we have noticed three skills that are so important to mental toughness, but that are neglected by so many people in society – Self Awareness, Critical Thinking, and Responsibility. Before you start to think this is a political article I want to be explicitly clear it is not, and you going there will actually prove this blog’s point. This blog is about how in order to protect the mental health of children, parents, and even ourselves. If as a society we do not learn these skills, teach them and expect them from others, and utilize them ourselves everyone loses. These three skills continually play off of each other which is why we spend a significant amount of time with all our clients teaching our clients these skills together so they can apply them every day to grow and succeed.

According to dictionary.com Self awareness is defined as: Realization of oneself as an individual entity or personality. This means that you are your own person with different strengths, weaknesses, thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Within that sphere we have relationships with others that impact and influence each of these areas, and the motives behind many of our choices. Given these facts it is imperative that clients learn to be as self-aware as soon as possible continually assessing themselves on how they present themselves to the world, but also how they want to present and be a person t themselves. In sessions we use self-awareness to continually apply to a growth mindset and improvement as a person. We put an emphasis on taking in constructive feedback, being open to learning not just from those who hold similar beliefs, but those with opposite. Sometimes those with the opposite can be our best teachers. We emphasize communication and a constant questioning, not disrespectfully, but in an inquisitive curious manner. For our general clients this self awareness may involve struggles with emotion management, reactivity, or conflict with others. Learning self-awareness skills helps with understanding why we put ourselves in emotionally damaging situations. For students, it can be learning why do they shut down, quit, and get negative. Even athletes need to learn self-awareness skills to understand how they mentally respond under pressure. These are only a few small examples, but ultimately this awareness aids in problem solving. Once we realize we can solve a problem we can take control, which ultimately improves mental health.

While problem solving is one of the keys to mental toughness, it cannot be done without learning critical thinking skills. Critical thinking is defined by dictionary.com as: disciplined thinking that is clear, rational, open minded, and informed by evidence. Emotion management is key because when one is too emotional he or she loses the ability to use rational thought. I spend an exceptional amount of teaching all my clients the concepts of logic, statistics, assessing, and looking for alternative explanations, motives, or answers. It involves asking questions of ourselves and to those around us. This skill in society is starting to get away from us and the concept of dialogue and asking questions, even the ‘’experts’’, or propose alternative opinions is being seen increasingly as a bad thing. This is so damaging to a person’s mental health. Part of logic does involve using evidence, not cherry picked evidence to fit your argument, but all the evidence to make an informed decision. The evidence needs to be applied in a logical manner. This doesn’t mean that you are guaranteed to succeed as statistics allows for success and failure, but increases the probability of success. There are a limitless number of examples that could be used on applying critical thinking for all my clients regardless of why they meet with me. Perhaps my favorite is when I use a game of chess with my clients to learn to analyze the situation, try to think ahead of why am I doing what I am doing, and how are they going to respond to that, and then respond to my response. This is a never ending cycle, but so much fun, because it can be applied to infinite number of situations. Imagine how much a person’s confidence grows when they see success by applying their critical thinking skills.

The final of these three skills that are essential for the growth of mental toughness is Responsibility which is defined as the state or fact of being responsible , answerable, or accountable for something within one's power, control, or management. It is so easy for people these days to avoid responsibility or displace it onto someone or something else. This is done as a way of self protection of one’s emotional state, but relying on it over the long term as a behavioral response will inevitably hinder growth. Many people will key in on the concept of control and that there are forces or things against them that they just cannot control. Imagine hearing that on a regular basis, as you basically would start to believe why bother trying cause I can’t control the situation. The reality is you cannot control things outside of you at times, but you can always control how you respond to challenges. That is the essence of responsibility, realizing you have more control than you think. If you get angry, you can say your brother made you mad which is why you hit him. If you have a learning disability you can make the excuse that you failed as a result, or as an athlete you lost because of the weather. These are just a few examples, but in each the person is not taking responsibility for his or her role in their response, the decision to own their own response and control their emotions, or ultimately their choices. I emphasize all the time with my clients the concept of choice. Everyone has challenges in life, some may be fair, some may not seem fair, but ultimately your choice of how you respond and work through these challenges is your responsibility. By not emphasizing this leads to a sense of helplessness, negativity, maybe even depression or anxiety to set in. How is this supporting mental toughness? The answer is it is not. By not allowing or teaching a person or learning yourself to focus on responsibility, a person is held back from reaching his or her optimal self. Mental toughness and responsibility go hand in hand.

This blog is just a brief review of the mental skills of self-awareness, critical thinking, and responsibility and their connection to mental toughness. They are connected and each skill interacts and overlaps with the others. Obviously the work we do is much more complex and takes more time to learn than simply reading a blog. However, it appears that as a society we are starting to get away from these skills. It is a safe assumption that the negative consequences for everyone’s mental health would be significant if we continue down this road. Given that is incumbent on all of us to return to the basics, to seek everyday to teach these to children, to expect them from others, and to apply them to ourselves. Everyone will succeed and become stronger mentally when this is our shared goal.

Featured Posts

Recent posts.

Accepting And Going Towards Anxiety

Be Your Own CEO

Be Calm, Be Courageous, Be Confident

Adapting And The Possible Role of AI In Mental Health

Take Control Of Your Mental Health - Part 2 - The 1-2-3s

Take Control Of Your Mental Health - The ABCs

Summer Reflections To Take Into The Fall

Perfectionism And Mental Health

One Step At A Time

It Is Time To Expand Support

Search By Tags

Changing the Habit of Self-Criticism

The habit of critical self-talk matters as much as what we say..

Posted November 4, 2022 | Reviewed by Ekua Hagan

• Self-criticism is strongly associated with depression, anxiety, trauma, addictions, and eating disorders.
• The habitual behavior of self-critical thinking impacts depression and anxiety as much as the self-critical thoughts themselves.
• Practicing specific mental techniques can significantly change the habit of self-criticism.

Which aspect of self-criticism causes more distress: the content of your self-criticism, or the habit of criticizing yourself throughout the day?

Seeing yourself as lazy, fat, stupid, or unsuccessful—either with words or as a general attitude—can certainly cause a great deal of emotional pain. Self-criticism is positively linked with a range of mental health conditions , including depression , anxiety , eating disorders, posttraumatic stress disorder, addictions, and self-harm .

As a clinical psychologist, I’ve heard many patients describe intense self-criticism about different aspects of themselves. Self-criticism seems to make everything worse, as though it forms an extra layer of pain on top of other stressors and mental health difficulties.

When I first meet with self-critical patients, they often seem resigned to their self-criticism. “That’s just the way I am,” they tell me. “I’ve always been like that,” they’ll insist, as though it’s a pre-programmed, unchangeable feature, such as height or eye color.

However, self-criticism is influenced by family and cultural contexts, including emotional abuse , racial discrimination , and homophobia . The evidence shows that many of us internalize negative messages so that our own minds habitually perpetuate self-criticism. The research also indicates that self-criticism can be changed .

How the Habitual Nature of Self-Criticism Impacts Mental Health

What if the habit of self-criticism is just as important as the content of the self-critical thoughts themselves? When I was researching self-criticism for my new book, The Self-Talk Workout , I read a set of research studies that underscore the value of treating self-criticism as a powerful mental habit, rather than only addressing the substance of self-critical thoughts.

Researchers Bas Verplanken and colleagues highlight a few different features of self-criticism that bring its habitual quality into focus. These include the frequency with which you criticize yourself, the extent to which self-criticism happens automatically, the efficiency with which your mind leaps to criticize yourself in any difficult situation, and the degree to which self-criticism occurs outside of your intent, awareness, or control.

Verplanken et al. created a self-report measure called the Habit Index of Negative Thinking (HINT). Analyzing responses to the following questions, the research team assessed the degree to which participants engaged in self-critical thinking by having them respond to the following:

Thinking negatively about myself is something... I do frequently. I do automatically. I do unintentionally. That feels sort of natural to me. I do without further thinking. That would require mental effort to leave. I do every day. I start doing before I realize I’m doing it. I would find hard not to do. I don’t do on purpose. That’s typically "me." I have been doing for a long time. (Verplanken et al., p. 541)

The researchers found that levels of habitual self-criticism as measured by the HINT contributed to symptoms of depression and anxiety over a 9-month period in a sample of 1,102 respondents (641 women and 461 men). Self-criticism predicted depression and anxiety even beyond the content of the negative thoughts themselves, as measured by the Dysfunctional Attitude Scale , and even after accounting for work stress, home stress, age, and gender .

These results don’t tell us that the habit of self-criticism causes more mental health problems than the self-criticism itself, but rather that both aspects of self-criticism impact depression and anxiety. Perhaps it’s a bit like smoking : the smoking itself causes health problems, but the habit or addiction to smoking propagates the behavior.

How to Change the Habit of Self-Criticism

Awareness of default behaviors can be a valuable step toward changing habits, but awareness or intentions alone (“I should really be nicer to myself”), are unlikely to produce real change. Instead, the research indicates that people make significant changes in self-criticism from specific mental techniques that reduce self-judgment and promote self-compassion .

The term “self-compassion” means treating yourself in a friendly and caring manner, even during moments of difficulty or failure. Self-compassion is not the same as self-esteem , which involves evaluating yourself positively or negatively.

Mindfulness meditation and lovingkindness meditation are two specific approaches that decrease self-criticism. Both practices are concentration workouts because they train your mental attention away from habitual thoughts. These workouts might not seem particularly easy, or as though they work immediately, but the research evidence is strong that they reduce self-criticism over time.

Mindfulness meditation is not about clearing your mind, but rather the practice of noticing and reshaping your mental experience. You can start by tuning into the sensations of your breath, and then redirecting your attention back to the breath, for about 10 minutes or longer.

The goal is not to repress the thoughts that arise, but instead to return your attention back to the breath with as little self-criticism as possible (“My mind wandered, that’s OK, now back to the breath”). When you notice self-criticism about becoming distracted, simply handle it as you would any other thought (“There’s the self-criticism, that’s OK, back to the breath).”

Some people get discouraged at how much their minds wander but it’s that very pull towards the habit of self-criticism that repeated meditation can change through regular practice. In fact, reducing judgment seems to be a key mechanism explaining why mindfulness improves mental health.

Another approach that meaningfully reduces self-criticism is lovingkindness meditation (LKM). The practice involves several minutes of silently repeating phrases to yourself, such as, “May I be safe. May I be happy. May I be healthy. May I live with ease.”

My students sometimes say that repeating phrases feels strange or awkward at first but that after a few weeks of regular practice, they notice less self-criticism. Studies demonstrate that LKM significantly reduces self-criticism , posttraumatic stress disorder , and depression .

If it sounds hard to add five or ten minutes of practice to your day to change the habit of self-criticism, I encourage people to begin with a single breath: “Inhale, my friend; exhale, my friend.” One breath without self-criticism can be a starting point to shift your mental habits and build a relationship with yourself that is more friendly, encouraging, and compassionate.

Rachel Goldsmith Turow, Ph.D. , is a psychotherapist, research scientist, mindfulness teacher, and an adjunct faculty member at Seattle University and at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Her current work emphasizes evidence-based techniques to decrease self-criticism and cultivate self-encouragement and self-compassion.

• Find a Therapist
• Find a Treatment Center
• Find a Psychiatrist
• Find a Support Group
• Find Online Therapy
• International
• New Zealand
• South Africa
• Switzerland
• Asperger's
• Bipolar Disorder
• Chronic Pain
• Eating Disorders
• Passive Aggression
• Personality
• Goal Setting
• Positive Psychology
• Stopping Smoking
• Low Sexual Desire
• Relationships
• Child Development
• Self Tests NEW
• Therapy Center
• Diagnosis Dictionary
• Types of Therapy

It’s increasingly common for someone to be diagnosed with a condition such as ADHD or autism as an adult. A diagnosis often brings relief, but it can also come with as many questions as answers.

• Emotional Intelligence
• Gaslighting
• Affective Forecasting
• Neuroscience

Sorry, there was a problem.

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required .

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

Image Unavailable

• To view this video download Flash Player

Critical Thinking and Self-Awareness: How to Use Critical Thinking Skills to Find Your Passion: Plus 20 Questions You Must Ask Yourself Paperback – July 17, 2019

Are you ready to get clarity and finally find your Passion?

Have you ever wondered what your place in this world is? What your passion in life is? Maybe you've wondered what your good at or how to get a better career? A career you care about if you don't already. Many people ask themselves these questions on a daily basis and have no answer. This book will help you answer those questions by showing you how critical thinking can help you learn about what your passions in life are. It will help you realize the strengths you have, and how they can lead to your passions as well as explaining how critical thinking can accomplish this. We have a step by step explanation about what critical thinking is and how best to use it in your daily life to help you feel happier and more fulfilled. We also have a set of twenty bonus questions with explanations and tips that will help you clarify your passion and purpose in life.

When You Download This Book Today You'll Also Learn...

• Why Critital Thinking is a BIG Deal
• How to Use Critical Thinking
• How to Find Your Passion
• How to overcome doubt with simple techniques
• How to be happy everyday
• Discover your strength and talents
• 20 Questions that you must ask yourself
• Much, much more!

Get your copy today!

Take action today and discover your true Passion and Purpose in life

• Print length 72 pages
• Language English
• Publication date July 17, 2019
• Dimensions 5.5 x 0.18 x 8.5 inches
• ISBN-10 1393179630
• ISBN-13 978-1393179634
• See all details

Product details

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Steven West (July 17, 2019)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 72 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1393179630
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1393179634
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 3.53 ounces
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.18 x 8.5 inches
• #36,571 in Happiness Self-Help

Customer reviews

• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 5 star 73% 0% 0% 0% 27% 73%
• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 4 star 73% 0% 0% 0% 27% 0%
• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 3 star 73% 0% 0% 0% 27% 0%
• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 2 star 73% 0% 0% 0% 27% 0%
• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 1 star 73% 0% 0% 0% 27% 27%

Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.

To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.

• Sort reviews by Top reviews Most recent Top reviews

Top reviews from the United States

Top reviews from other countries.

• About Amazon
• Investor Relations
• Amazon Devices
• Amazon Science
• Sell products on Amazon
• Sell on Amazon Business
• Sell apps on Amazon
• Become an Affiliate
• Advertise Your Products
• Self-Publish with Us
• Host an Amazon Hub
• › See More Make Money with Us
• Amazon Business Card
• Shop with Points
• Reload Your Balance
• Amazon Currency Converter
• Amazon and COVID-19
• Your Account
• Your Orders
• Shipping Rates & Policies
• Returns & Replacements
• Manage Your Content and Devices

• Conditions of Use
• Privacy Notice
• Consumer Health Data Privacy Disclosure
• Your Ads Privacy Choices

Critical Thinking and Self-Awareness: How to Use Critical Thinking Skills to Find Your Passion: Plus 20 Questions You Must Ask Yourself

How to use critical thinking skills to find your passion: plus 20 questions you must ask yourself.

Are you ready to get clarity and finally find your Passion?

Have you ever wondered what your place in this world is? What your passion in life is? Maybe you’ve wondered what your good at or how to get a better career? A career you care about if you don’t already. Many people ask themselves these questions on a daily basis and have no answer. This book will help you answer those questions by showing you how critical thinking can help you learn about what your passions in life are. It will help you realize the strengths you have, and how they can lead to your passions as well as explaining how critical thinking can accomplish this. We have a step by step explanation about what critical thinking is and how best to use it in your daily life to help you feel happier and more fulfilled. We also have a set of twenty bonus questions with explanations and tips that will help you clarify your passion and purpose in life.

When You Download This Book Today You’ll Also Learn…

Take action today and discover your true Passion and Purpose in life

You may also like

Social anxiety detox practical solutions for dealing with everyday anxiety, fear, awkwardness, shyness and how to be yourself in social situations, critical thinking: improve your critical thinking and decision making skills: 2 manuscripts, critical thinking: beginners guide to advanced critical thinking concepts for problem solving, decision making and goal achievement, critical thinking skills: practical strategies for better decision making, problem-solving and goal setting.

Information

• Author Services

Initiatives

You are accessing a machine-readable page. In order to be human-readable, please install an RSS reader.

All articles published by MDPI are made immediately available worldwide under an open access license. No special permission is required to reuse all or part of the article published by MDPI, including figures and tables. For articles published under an open access Creative Common CC BY license, any part of the article may be reused without permission provided that the original article is clearly cited. For more information, please refer to https://www.mdpi.com/openaccess .

Feature papers represent the most advanced research with significant potential for high impact in the field. A Feature Paper should be a substantial original Article that involves several techniques or approaches, provides an outlook for future research directions and describes possible research applications.

Feature papers are submitted upon individual invitation or recommendation by the scientific editors and must receive positive feedback from the reviewers.

Editor’s Choice articles are based on recommendations by the scientific editors of MDPI journals from around the world. Editors select a small number of articles recently published in the journal that they believe will be particularly interesting to readers, or important in the respective research area. The aim is to provide a snapshot of some of the most exciting work published in the various research areas of the journal.

Original Submission Date Received: .

• Active Journals
• Find a Journal
• Proceedings Series
• For Authors
• For Reviewers
• For Editors
• For Librarians
• For Publishers
• For Societies
• For Conference Organizers
• Open Access Policy
• Institutional Open Access Program
• Special Issues Guidelines
• Editorial Process
• Research and Publication Ethics
• Article Processing Charges
• Testimonials
• Preprints.org
• SciProfiles
• Encyclopedia

Article Menu

• Subscribe SciFeed
• Recommended Articles
• Author Biographies
• Google Scholar
• on Google Scholar
• Table of Contents

Find support for a specific problem in the support section of our website.

Please let us know what you think of our products and services.

Visit our dedicated information section to learn more about MDPI.

JSmol Viewer

New insights for teaching the one health approach: transformative environmental education for sustainability.

1. Introduction

• Analysis of conclusions from previous systematic reviews and studies proposing effective solutions: This study extends and complements the theoretical framework by building on two previous systematic reviews [ 50 , 51 ]. These reviews explored how EE has been addressed in high-impact national and international educational research, particularly in Science Education and Education for Social Justice. They also examined the evolution of EE since the publication of the SDGs, highlighting limitations in addressing it from an Environmental Justice perspective. The conclusions of these reviews identify key problems and limitations within the EE framework, including the traditional focus on isolated ecological concepts and the lack of sufficient didactic training for teachers. From them, we can infer that there is an ineffective integration of the One Health approach into EE. Analysing these limitations helps to understand the factors hindering the educational impact of current EE strategies and how these issues obstruct the promotion of sustainable behaviours. This situation could be improved if strategies advocated by Science Education research, such as learning based on scientific and epistemic practices, were integrated into the classroom culture within the framework of EE (see Section 5.4 ).
• Synthesis and reframing of the current state of EE: The conclusions from the reviewed studies are used to develop a descriptive and critical review of the current state of EE. This review focuses on two fundamental aspects: classroom practice in EE and teacher training in this field.
• Discussion and selection of practical examples: Building on this new integrative vision, a series of new directions for EE are recommended, emphasising teacher competencies within the European framework, particularly the pedagogical knowledge of content and the environmental skills necessary in the Anthropocene era. In addition to developing the theory, practical examples of educational activities are proposed, aligned with the principles of TEE. This study clarifies how these activities promote systems thinking, the application of scientific and epistemic practices, and the development of Environmental Justice awareness, highlighting a selection of common best practices. The examples are based on the method of didactic transposition, which transforms conceptual and competency-based scientific knowledge into specific activity proposals suitable for various educational levels, including teacher training. The rationale for selecting these examples lies in their ability to present students with realistic socio-environmental problems that foster critical thinking, evidence-based argumentation, personal engagement, and the pursuit of solutions. These practical examples aim not only to inform but also to raise students’ awareness of their potential role as agents of social change, regardless of the decisions they later make in their daily lives, which fall outside the evaluative scope of formal education.

3. Classroom Practice in Environmental Education: The Road to Its Hegemonic Narrative

4. how is environmental education approached in teacher training, 5. discussion, 5.1. emphasising the didactic dimension of environmental education in teacher training, 5.2. integration of greencomp and lifecomp competences in the “teachcomp” during teacher training, 5.3. what skills do international scientific frameworks aim to foster in today’s citizens, 5.4. practical examples: redefining the didactic approach of environmental education towards transformative environmental education, 5.4.1. example 1 within the framework of primary education: activity that addresses the problem of raptor deficiency in wetlands and its consequences for human, animal, and environmental health.

• Systems thinking: The activity is designed to foster a systemic vision of the presented environmental issue that integrates the One Health approach. It requires students to understand the complex ecological relationships and the role of top predators in maintaining ecosystem balance, highlighting the implications of their absence for human, animal, and environmental health (disease transmission).
• Scientific and epistemic practices: The activity promotes the development of scientific practices such as inquiry, modelling, and argumentation to enhance the understanding of ecological issues. Students engage in these practices by formulating hypotheses, collecting and analysing data, and constructing increasingly sophisticated scientific arguments and models based on available evidence. This process helps students develop a deeper understanding of scientific concepts and the nature of scientific inquiry (how science is constructed).
• Awakening Environmental Justice: The activity is designed to raise awareness of Environmental Justice by illustrating how the degradation of wetlands affects organisms, emphasising the importance of preserving ecological balance for the well-being of all species. Environmental degradation, such as climate change, is primarily driven by high-impact actions in hyper-urbanised areas, which ultimately affect more natural rural areas, jeopardising ecosystem balance. Therefore, the inhabitants of these areas suffer the most from the consequences, despite being less responsible for the damage (unequal distribution of the benefits and burdens of environmental harm).

5.4.2. Example 2 within the Framework of Secondary Education: Activity on Reproductive Problems in Animals and Humans Caused by Environmental Contamination from Pesticides

• Systems thinking: The activity enables students to develop a systemic understanding of the interconnections between environmental pollution and the reproductive health of animals and humans by integrating evidence-based argumentation, the One Health approach, and complexity-based solutions. This approach allows students to analyse the multifaceted nature of environmental challenges and propose well-reasoned solutions to reduce pollution and its effects.
• Scientific and epistemic practices: The activity emphasises the importance of students applying scientific skills such as identifying relevant data, establishing cause-and-effect relationships, and evaluating evidence to support conclusions. Engaging in evidence-based argumentation within the context of One Health education can enhance students’ scientific reasoning and environmental literacy. Additionally, delving into how scientific ideas are constructed, the role of data and evidence in science (argumentation as a process of critical evaluation and evolution towards sophisticated models, using evidence to support scientific explanations, and so on) could implicitly improve their epistemic practices.
• Awakening Environmental Justice: The activity fosters a sense of global citizenship and environmental responsibility by encouraging students to propose solutions that take into account both planetary and human health.

5.4.3. Example 3 within the Framework of Teacher Training: Activity on the Sustainability of Avocado Production and Consumption in the World

• Systems thinking: The activity encourages students to analyse the sustainability of avocado consumption from multiple perspectives, including ecological, economic, political, and social aspects. By providing materials that encompass various viewpoints, students are prompted to adopt a holistic view to understand the complexity of the case and make informed decisions about it.
• Scientific and epistemic practices: Through the activity, pre-service teachers must make informed decisions about the sustainability of avocado consumption in countries like Spain (southern regions), considering factors such as resource depletion that may render its continuous production unfeasible. This fosters the development of their scientific reasoning and critical thinking skills, recognising the limitations of the available data for certain claims, the importance of seeking consensus, and the value of considering alternative viewpoints (thus implicitly working on epistemic practices).
• Awakening Environmental Justice: The activity promotes Eco-social Education by involving students in debates and reflections on Environmental Justice and sustainability, deepening their understanding of the issues, and making them feel engaged in solving environmental problems. The ultimate goal is that the knowledge acquired will lead to changes in everyday behaviour including sustainable use and consumption of resources.

6. Limitations and Future Directions

7. conclusions, author contributions, conflicts of interest.

• Cook, R.A.; Karesh, W.B.; Osofsky, S.A. The Manhattan Principles on “One World, One Health” Buildling Interdisciplinary Bridges to Health in a Globalized World ; Wildlife Conservation Society: New York, NY, USA, 2004. [ Google Scholar ]
• Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO); World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE); World Health Organization (WHO). Taking a Multisectoral One Health Approach: A Tripartite Guide to Addressing Zoonotic Diseases in Countries ; WHO; FAO; OIE: Geneve, Switzerland, 2019; p. 166. Available online: https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241514934 (accessed on 25 July 2024).
• Amuasi, J.H.; Lucas, T.; Horton, R.; Winkler, A.S. Reconnecting for our future: The Lancet One Health Commission. Lancet 2020 , 395 , 1469–1471. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ] [ PubMed ]
• AVMA (American Veterinary Medical Association). One Health: A New Professional Imperative ; AVMA: Washington, DC, USA, 2008; p. 76. Available online: https://www.avma.org/sites/default/files/resources/onehealth_final.pdf (accessed on 25 July 2024).
• Barrett, M.A.; Bouley, T.A.; Stoertz, A.H.; Stoertz, R.W. Integrating a One Health approach in education to address global health and sustainability challenges. Front. Ecol. Environ. 2011 , 9 , 239–245. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Conrad, P.A.; Mazet, J.A.; Clifford, D.; Scott, C.; Wilkes, M. Evolution of a transdisciplinary “One Medicine–One Health” approach to global health education at the University of California, Davis. Prev. Vet. Med. 2009 , 92 , 268–274. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ] [ PubMed ]
• Haxton, E.; Lindberg, A.; Troell, K.; Redican, K.J. One Health education meets science. Infect. Ecol. Epidemiol. 2015 , 5 , 30264. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Kahn, L.H.; Kaplan, B.; Monath, T.P.; Steele, J.H. Teaching “One Medicine, One Health”. Am. J. Med. 2008 , 121 , 169–170. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Karesh, W. Championing “One Health”. Bull. World Health Organ. 2020 , 98 , 652–653. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Shamas, N.; Baffoe-Bonnie, H. Antimicrobial Resistance: Research and Action Towards the One Health Approach. J. Infect. Public Health 2023 , 16 , 1. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• The Lancet. Zoonoses: Beyond the human-animal-environment interface. Lancet 2020 , 396 , 1. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Vallés, C.; Rodríguez-Losada, N.; Pérez-Martín, J.M.; Abril, A.M. Where Does this Coronavirus Come from? [¿De dónde proviene este coronavirus?] In Science Education in Times of COVID-19. From Didactic Research to the Classroom [Enseñanza de las Ciencias en Tiempos de COVID-19. De la Investigación Didáctica al Aula] ; Abril, A.M., Blanco, A., Franco, A.J., Eds.; Graó: Barcelona, Spain, 2021; pp. 63–74. [ Google Scholar ]
• Lee, J.M.; Wasserman, R.J.; Gan, J.Y.; Wilson, R.F.; Rahman, S.; Yek, S.H. Human Activities Attract Harmful Mosquitoes in a Tropical Urban Landscape. EcoHealth 2020 , 17 , 52–63. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Schmeller, D.S.; Courchamp, F.; Killeen, G. Biodiversity loss, emerging pathogens, and human health risks. Biodivers. Conserv. 2020 , 29 , 3095–3102. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Ezhova, E.; Orlov, D.; Suhonen, E.; Kaverin, D.; Mahura, A.; Gennadinik, V.; Kukkonen, I.; Drozdov, D.; Lappalainen, H.K.; Melnikov, V.; et al. Climatic Factors Influencing the Anthrax Outbreak of 2016 in Siberia, Russia. EcoHealth 2021 , 18 , 217–228. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ] [ PubMed ]
• Alempic, J.-M.; Lartigue, A.; Goncharov, A.E.; Grosse, G.; Strauss, J.; Tikhonov, A.N.; Fedorov, A.N.; Poirot, O.; Legendre, M.; Santini, S.; et al. An Update on Eukaryotic Viruses Revived from Ancient Permafrost. Viruses 2023 , 15 , 564. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ] [ PubMed ]
• Guevara-Herrero, I.; Esquivel-Martín, T.; Fernández-Huetos, N.; Pérez-Martín, J.M. Towards Transformative Environmental Education: Effective Activities for Primary Education. In Interdisciplinary Approach to Fostering Change in Schools ; Güneş, A.M., Yünkül, E., Eds.; IGI-Global: Hershey, PA, USA, 2024; pp. 70–97. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• McAlister, M.M.; Zhang, Q.; Annis, J.; Schweitzer, R.W.; Guidotti, S.; Mihelcic, J.R. Systems thinking for effective interventions in global environmental health. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2022 , 56 , 732–738. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ] [ PubMed ]
• Jay, A.K.; Crimmins, A.R.; Avery, C.W.; Dahl, T.A.; Dodder, R.S.; Hamlington, B.D.; Lustig, A.; Marvel, K.; Méndez-Lazaro, P.A.; Osler, M.S.; et al. Overview: Understanding risks, impacts, and responses. In Fifth National Climate Assessment ; Crimmins, A.R., Avery, C.W., Easterling, D.R., Kunkel, K.E., Stewart, B.C., Maycock, T.K., Eds.; U.S. Global Change Research Program: Washington, DC, USA, 2023; p. 47. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Watts, N.; Adger, W.N.; Agnolucci, P.; Blackstock, J.; Byass, P.; Cai, W.; Chaytor, S.; Colbourn, T.; Collins, M.; Cooper, A.; et al. Health and climate change: Policy responses to protect public health. Lancet 2015 , 386 , 1861–1914. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ] [ PubMed ]
• IPCC. Summary for Policymakers. In Climate Change 2023: Synthesis Report ; Core Writing Team, Lee, H., Romero, J., Eds.; Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change; IPCC: Geneva, Switzerland, 2023; pp. 1–34. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Malvar, J.L.; Santos, J.L.; Martín, J.; Aparicio, I.; Alonso, E. Occurrence of the main metabolites of the most recurrent pharmaceuticals and personal care products in Mediterranean soils. J. Environ. Manag. 2021 , 278 , 111584. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Neto, B.M.S.; Combi, T.; Taniguchi, S.; Albergaria-Barbosa, A.C.; Ramos, R.B.; Figueira, R.C.L.; Montone, R.C. Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and personal care products (PCPs) in the surface sediments of a large tropical bay (Todos os Santos Bay, Brazil). Mar. Pollut. Bull. 2020 , 161 , 111818. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Olowoyo, J.O.; Mugivhisa, L.L. Evidence of uptake of different pollutants in plants harvested from soil treated and fertilized with organic materials as source of soil nutrients from developing countries. Chem. Biol. Technol. Agric. 2019 , 6 , 28. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Chaturvedi, P.; Shukla, P.; Giri, B.S.; Chowdhary, P.; Chandra, R.; Gupta, P.; Pandey, A. Prevalence and hazardous impact of pharmaceutical and personal care products and antibiotics in environment: A review on emerging contaminants. Environ. Res. 2021 , 194 , 110664. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Ebele, A.J.; Oluseyi, T.; Drage, D.S.; Harrad, S.; Abdallah, M.A.E. Occurrence, seasonal variation and human exposure to pharmaceuticals and personal care products in surface water, groundwater and drinking water in Lagos State, Nigeria. Emerg. Contam. 2020 , 6 , 124–132. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Sanusi, I.O.; Olutona, G.O.; Wawata, I.G.; Onohuean, H. Occurrence, environmental impact and fate of pharmaceuticals in groundwater and surface water: A critical review. Environ. Sci. Pollut. Res. 2023 , 30 , 90595–90614. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Xu, M.; Huang, H.; Li, N.; Li, F.; Wang, D.; Luo, Q. Occurrence and ecological risk of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) and pesticides in typical surface watersheds, China. Ecotoxicol. Environ. Saf. 2019 , 175 , 289–298. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ] [ PubMed ]
• Duarte, B.; Gameiro, C.; Matos, A.R.; Figueiredo, A.; Silva, M.S.; Cordeiro, C.; Caçador, I.; Reis-Santos, P.; Fonseca, V.; Cabrita, M.T. First screening of biocides, persistent organic pollutants, pharmaceutical and personal care products in Antarctic phytoplankton from Deception Island by FT-ICR-MS. Chemosphere 2021 , 274 , 129860. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ] [ PubMed ]
• Fu, Q.; Meyer, C.; Patrick, M.; Kosfeld, V.; Rüdel, H.; Koschorreck, J.; Hollender, J. Comprehensive screening of polar emerging organic contaminants including PFASs and evaluation of the trophic transfer behavior in a freshwater food web. Water Res. 2022 , 218 , 118514. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ] [ PubMed ]
• Zhang, H.; Kelly, B.C. Sorption and bioaccumulation behavior of multi-class hydrophobic organic contaminants in a tropical marine food web. Chemosphere 2018 , 199 , 44–53. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ] [ PubMed ]
• Brack, W.; Barceló Culleres, D.; Boxall, A.B.A.; Budzinski, H.; Castiglioni, S.; Covaci, A.; Dulio, V.; Escher, B.I.; Fantke, P.; Kandie, F.; et al. One planet: One health. A call to support the initiative on a global science–policy body on chemicals and waste. Environ. Sci. Eur. 2022 , 34 , 21. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Urban, M.C. Accelerating extinction risk from climate change. Science 2015 , 348 , 571–573. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Directorate General for Communication from European Parliament. Biodiversity Loss: What Is Causing It and Why Is It a Concern? European Parliament: Brussels, Belgium, 2020; Available online: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/pdfs/news/expert/2020/1/story/20200109STO69929/20200109STO69929_en.pdf (accessed on 25 July 2024).
• OECD. PISA 2025 Science Framework (Draft) ; OECD: Paris, France, 2023; p. 93. Available online: https://pisa-framework.oecd.org/science-2025/ (accessed on 25 July 2024).
• Walker, C. Tomorrow’s leaders and today’s agents of change? Children, sustainability education and environmental governance. Child. Soc. 2017 , 31 , 72–83. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Hurtado-Hurtado, J.; Hämäläinen, V.; Ruuska, T.; Heikkurinen, P. Care as pluriversal strategy? Caring in counter-hegemonic struggles in the degrowth and environmental justice movements. Globalizations 2024 , 1–21. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• United Nations Organization. Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development ; UN: New York, NY, USA, 2015; Available online: https://unctad.org/system/files/official-document/ares70d1_es.pdf (accessed on 25 July 2024).
• UNESCO. Education for Sustainable Development Goals ; UNESCO: Paris, France, 2017; Available online: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000247444 (accessed on 25 July 2024).
• Agyerman, J. Environmental justice and sustainability. In Handbook of Sustainable Development ; Atkinson, G., Dietz, S., Eds.; Edward Elgar: Cheltenham, UK, 2007; pp. 171–188. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Grass, R. Environmental education and environmental justice: A three circles perspective. Pathw. Outdoor Commun. 1995 , 5 , 9–13. [ Google Scholar ]
• Stapp, W.B. The concept of environmental education. Environ. Educ. 1969 , 1 , 30–31. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• United Nations Organization. Guidelines and Principles of Environmental Law. Stockholm Declaration ; UN: Stockholm, Sweden, 1972; Available online: https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/29567/ELGP1StockD_SP.pdf?sequence=5&isAllowed=y (accessed on 25 July 2024).
• UNESCO. Belgrade Charter: A General Framework for Environmental Education ; International Seminar on Environmental Education; UNESCO: Belgrade, Serbia, 1975; Available online: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000027608_spa (accessed on 25 July 2024).
• UNESCO. Tbilisi: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization with UNEP. Intergovernmental Conference on Environmental Education Organized by UNESCO in Co-Operation with UNEP ; UNESCO: Tbilisi, Georgia, 1978; Available online: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000032763_spa (accessed on 25 July 2024).
• United Nations Organization. Our Common Future. United Nations General Assembly ; UN: Moscow, Russia, 1987; Available online: https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/5987our-common-future.pdf (accessed on 25 July 2024).
• Ripple, W.J.; Wolf, C.; Newsome, T.M.; Barnard, P.; Moomaw, W.R. World Scientists’ Warning of a Climate Emergency. BioScience 2020 , 70 , 100–112. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Ripple, W.J.; Wolf, C.; Newsome, T.M.; Galetti, M.; Alamgir, M.; Crist, E.; Mahmoud, M.I.; Laurance, W.F. 15,364 Scientist Signatories from 184 Countries. World Scientists’ Warning to Humanity: A Second Notice. BioScience 2017 , 67 , 1026–1028. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Lewandowsky, S. Liberty and the pursuit of science denial. Curr. Opin. Behav. Sci. 2021 , 42 , 65–69. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Guevara-Herrero, I.; Pérez-Martín, J.M.; Bravo-Torija, B. Impact of the Sustainable Development Goals on educational research on Environmental Education. Rev. Eureka Ensen. Divulg. Cienc. 2023 , 20 , 2501. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Guevara-Herrero, I.; Bravo-Torija, B.; Pérez-Martín, J.M. Educational Practice in Education for Environmental Justice: A Systematic Review of the Literature. Sustainability 2024 , 16 , 2805. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Svalfors, U. Education for sustainable development and multidimensional implementation. A study of implementations of sustainable development in education with the curriculum of upper secondary school in Sweden as an example. Discourse Commun. Sustain. Educ. 2017 , 8 , 114–126. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Reid, A.; Dillon, J.; Ardoin, N.; Ferreira, J.A. Scientists’ warnings and the need to reimagine, recreate, and restore environmental education. Environ. Educ. Res. 2021 , 27 , 783–795. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Martínez-Pena, I.; Uskola, A.; Puig, B. What is the trainee teacher’s notion of Antibiotic Resistance from the ‘One Health’ approach? Rev. Eureka Ensen. Divulg. Cienc. 2024 , 21 , 2603. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Carrasquer-Álvarez, B.; Ponz-Miranda, A.; Gavidia-Catalán, V. Environmental health competencies in textbooks. Rev. Eureka Ensen. Divulg. Cienc. 2023 , 20 , 1301. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Ogunseitan, O.A. One Health and the Environment: From Conceptual Framework to Implementation Science. Environment 2022 , 64 , 11–21. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Essack, S.Y. Environment: The neglected component of the One Health triad. Lancet Planet. Health 2018 , 2 , e238–e239. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ] [ PubMed ]
• Harrison, S.; Kivuti-Bitok, L.; Macmillan, A.; Priest, P. EcoHealth and One Health: A theory-focused review in response to calls for convergence. Environ. Int. 2019 , 132 , 105058. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ] [ PubMed ]
• Klein, J.; Rauchwerk, S. Ecological literacy: Meanings and approaches. In Across the Spectrum: Resources for Environmental Educators , 3rd ed.; Monroe, M.C., Krasny, M.E., Eds.; North American Association for Environmental Education: Washington, FL, USA, 2016; pp. 65–84. [ Google Scholar ]
• Roldán-Arcos, S.; Pérez-Martín, J.M.; Esquivel-Martín, T. Education for Environmental Justice: What Proposals are Being Made? Rev. Int. Educ. Justicia Soc. 2022 , 11 , 11–27. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Bamberg, S.; Rees, J.; Seebauer, S. Collective climate action: Determinants of participation intention in community-based pro-environmental initiatives. J. Environ. Psychol. 2015 , 43 , 155–165. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Wals, A.E.; Brody, M.; Dillon, J.; Stevenson, R.B. Convergence between science and environmental education. Science 2014 , 344 , 583–584. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Esquivel-Martín, T.; Pérez-Martín, J.M.; Bravo-Torija, B. Does Pollution Only Affect Human Health? A Scenario for Argumentation in the Framework of One Health Education. Sustainability 2023 , 15 , 6984. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Bengtsson, S.L. Hegemony and the politics of policy making for education for sustainable development: A case study of Vietnam. J. Environ. Educ. 2016 , 47 , 77–90. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Rabinowitz, P.M.; Natterson-Horowitz, B.J.; Kahn, L.H.; Kock, R.; Pappaioanou, M. Incorporating one health into medical education. BMC Med. Educ. 2017 , 17 , 45. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Guevara-Herrero, I. Is Consuming Avocados Equally Sustainable Worldwide? An Activity to Promote Eco-Social Education from Science Education. Educ. Sci. 2024 , 14 , 560. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Pérez-Martín, J.M.; Esquivel-Martín, T. The challenge of sizing environmental competence for teachers through their perceptions during initial training [El reto de dimensionar la competencia ambiental para maestros/as a través de sus percepciones durante la formación inicial]. In General Competences in Initial Teacher Education: Experiences and Guidelines for Their Development [Las Competencias Generales en la Formación Inicial Docente: Experiencias y Orientaciones para su Desarrollo] ; Cañadas, L., Rappoport, S., Eds.; Dykinson: Madrid, Spain, 2022; pp. 36–47. [ Google Scholar ]
• Zhou, G. Environmental Pedagogical Content Knowledge: A Conceptual Framework for Teacher Knowledge and Development. In Educating Science Teachers for Sustainability ; Stratton, S., Hagevik, R., Feldman, A., Bloom, M., Eds.; ASTE Series in Science Education; Springer: Cham, Switzerland, 2015; pp. 185–204. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Álvarez-García, O.; Sureda-Negre, J.; Comas-Forgas, R. Evaluation of pre-service teachers’ environmental competences: Case study. Enseñanza Cienc. 2018 , 36 , 117–141. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Mora-Penagos, W.M.; Guerrero-Guevara, N. Key environmental competences in the teaching activities of science teachers. [Las competencias ambientales clave en las actividades docentes del profesorado de Ciencias]. Tecné Epistem. Didaxis 2022 , 51 , 299–316. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Ministry of Education and Vocational Training (Spain). Organic Law 3/2020, of 29 December, which amends Organic Law 2/2006, of 3 May, on Education. Off. State Gaz. 2020 , 340 , 122868–122953. [ Google Scholar ]
• Ministry of Education and Science (Spain). Ministerial Order regulating the Early Childhood Education Teaching Profession. ECI/3854/2007. Off. State Gaz. 2007 , 312 , 53735–53738. [ Google Scholar ]
• Ministry of Education and Science (Spain). Ministerial Order regulating the Primary Education Teaching Profession. ECI/3857/2007. Off. State Gaz. 2007 , 312 , 53747–53750. [ Google Scholar ]
• Puig, B.; Uskola, A. Understanding Pandemics Such as COVID-19 through the Lenses of the “One Health” Approach. Sustainability 2021 , 13 , 13389. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Ardoin, N.M.; Bowers, A.W. Early childhood environmental education: A systematic review of the research literature. Educ. Res. Rev. 2020 , 31 , 100353. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Bianchi, G.; Pisiotis, U.; Cabrera-Giraldez, M. GreenComp The European Sustainability Competence Framework ; Punie, Y., Bacigalupo, M., Eds.; EUR 30955 EN; Publications Office of the European Union: Luxembourg, 2022. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Davis, J. Revealing the research ‘hole’ of early childhood education for sustainability: A preliminary survey of the literature. Environ. Educ. Res. 2009 , 15 , 227–241. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Olsson, D.; Gericke, N. The adolescent dip in students’ sustainability consciousness. J. Environ. Educ. 2016 , 47 , 35–51. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Villanueva-Cabezas, J.P.; Winkel, K.D.; Campbell, P.T.; Wiethoelter, A.; Pfeiffer, C. One Health education should be early, inclusive, and holistic. Lancet Planet. Health 2022 , 6 , e188–e189. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Valladares, L. Scientific literacy and social transformation. Sci. Educ. 2021 , 30 , 557–587. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Sala, A.; Punie, Y.; Garkov, V.; Cabrera-Giraldez, M. LifeComp: The European Framework for Personal, Social and Learning to Learn Key Competence ; EUR 30246 EN; Publications Office of the European Union: Luxembourg, 2020. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Favier, T.; Van Gorp, B.; Cyvin, J.B.; Cyvin, J. Learning to teach climate change: Students in teacher training and their progression in pedagogical content knowledge. J. Geogr. Higher Educ. 2021 , 45 , 594–620. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Werner da Rosa, C.; Otero, J. Influence of source credibility on students’ noticing and assessing comprehension obstacles in science texts. Int. J. Sci. Educ. 2018 , 40 , 1653–1668. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Howell, E.L.; Brossard, D. (Mis)informed about what? What it means to be a science-literate citizen in a digital world. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 2021 , 118 , e1912436117. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ] [ PubMed ]
• Lederman, N.G.; Lederman, J.S. I read it on the Internet, it has to be true! J. Sci. Teach. Educ. 2016 , 27 , 795–798. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Coffey, Y.; Bhullar, N.; Durkin, J.; Islam, M.S.; Usher, K. Understanding eco-anxiety. J. Climat. Chang. Health 2021 , 3 , 100047. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ]
• Ardoin, N.M. Toward an interdisciplinary understanding of place: Lessons for environmental education. Can. J. Environ. Educ. 2006 , 11 , 112–126. [ Google Scholar ]

Click here to enlarge figure

Share and Cite

Pérez-Martín, J.M.; Esquivel-Martín, T. New Insights for Teaching the One Health Approach: Transformative Environmental Education for Sustainability. Sustainability 2024 , 16 , 7967. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16187967

Pérez-Martín JM, Esquivel-Martín T. New Insights for Teaching the One Health Approach: Transformative Environmental Education for Sustainability. Sustainability . 2024; 16(18):7967. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16187967

Pérez-Martín, José Manuel, and Tamara Esquivel-Martín. 2024. "New Insights for Teaching the One Health Approach: Transformative Environmental Education for Sustainability" Sustainability 16, no. 18: 7967. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16187967

Article Metrics

Article access statistics, further information, mdpi initiatives, follow mdpi.

Subscribe to receive issue release notifications and newsletters from MDPI journals