Critical Thinking in Helping Professions

Critical Thinking

The ability and willingness to assess claims and make objective judgments based on well-supported reasons and evidence.

Claim

A belief or statement that something is true or a fact.

Objective

Without bias; not influenced by personal feelings in considering and representing facts.

Subjective

Based on or influenced by personal feelings or opinions.

Anecdote

A short account of an amusing or interesting incident; may imply superficiality.

Emotion

A strong instinctive feeling derived from one's circumstances, mood, or relationships.

Compassion

Feelings of compassion and desire to help others, typically underpinning reasons for choosing helping professions.

Emotional Competence

The ability to be aware of one's own emotions and those of others, using understanding to form relationships.

Weak-sense thinker

A thinker who uses critical thinking to defend their own beliefs while disregarding others.

Strong-sense thinker

A thinker who evaluates all claims, including their own, and remains open to well-founded views.

Belief Perseverance

The tendency to maintain a belief despite contradictory evidence.

Cognitive Bias

A systematic pattern of deviation from norm or rationality in judgment.

System 1 thinking

Fast, automatic thinking based on habits and prior experiences.

System 2 thinking

Slow, deliberate thinking that is self-regulated and requires effort.

Descriptive issue

Questions regarding the accuracy of information.

Prescriptive issue

Questions concerning how we should behave or act, related to standards of conduct or ethics.

Conflict of interest

Situations where conflicting interests may influence objectivity.

Halo effect

Overgeneralizing from a positive personal characteristic to evaluate someone positively overall.

Wishful thinking

Interpreting information according to what one wants to believe rather than reality.

The curse of knowledge

A cognitive bias that leads individuals to forget what it feels like not to know something.

Fallacy

Deceptive reasoning that gives a false impression of validity.

Ad hominem

A fallacy that attacks the person making an argument instead of addressing the argument itself.

Narrative fallacy

Believing a story because it appears to explain facts, even when it may not be accurate.

Slippery slope

Argument suggesting that a small first step leads to a chain of related events culminating in significant impact.

Appeal to popularity

Assuming something is true or acceptable because a lot of people believe it.

Straw man

Misrepresenting someone’s argument to make it easier to attack.

Red herring

Introducing irrelevant information to distract from the original issue.

Begging the question

Assuming the conclusion is true in the premises of an argument.

Critical thinking in clinical practice

Using critical thinking to evaluate information and make informed decisions in helping professions.

Epistemic values

Values that relate to knowledge and what one believes to be true.

Open-mindedness

Willingness to consider alternative views supported by good reasons.

Reflective thinking

Learning from past experiences and considering quality evidence.

Emotional influence on decision-making

Recognizing how emotions can either help or hinder the evaluation and interpretation of situations.

Interpretation

Understanding the issue and conclusion, including ambiguous words or phrases.

Evaluation

Assessing how acceptable a conclusion is based on the quality of supporting reasons.

Metacognition

Thinking about one's own thinking to monitor and evaluate thought processes.

Bias

A tendency to believe some ideas or individuals are better than others, leading to personal unfair treatment.

Obstacles to thinking

Factors that can hinder clear and critical thought processes.

Evidence-based practice (EBP)

Using client perspectives, clinical expertise, and evidence to guide practice.

Values in critical thinking

Principles or standards we believe are worthwhile, guiding behavior evaluation.

Flawed beliefs

Beliefs formed without sufficient evidence, often leading to poor decision-making.

Complex information management

The ability to handle and evaluate a multitude of information sources critically.

Helping relationships

Relationships in which one party provides assistance or support to another, influenced by emotions.

Character of a critical thinker

Someone who is reflective, open-minded, and capable of evaluating conflicting claims.

Misconception about critical thinking

Critical thinking is often mistakenly viewed as argumentative or merely negative thinking.