Education for Rational Thought

Toplak, Maggie E.; West, Richard F.; Stanovich, Keith E.

doi:10.1017/cbo9781139048224.006

Cited by 9 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 152 publications

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“…Rationality is a multifarious concept that encompasses both epistemic (what is true) and instrumental (what to do) thinking. The shift into the rationality in education will enhance the quality of student learning inside and outside of the classroom (Toplak et al, 2012). Seen in the current context, on the one hand the distance learning approach orients the students towards being more demanding about learning and in the other one it becomes more difficult to be accessed from them.…”

Section: Conclusion and Recommendationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perceptions regarding Distance Learning in Higher Education, Smoothing the Transition

Todri

Papajorgji

Moskowitz

et al. 2020

CONTEMP EDUC TECHNOL

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This paper presents the perceptions on distance learning approaches, assessed through an online survey, using experimental design of ideas (Mind Genomics). Students and professors of higher education institutions who had not yet experienced distance learning before COVID-19 pandemic period participated in the study. The participants belong to the universities located in Mediterranean basin, e.g., Albania, Italy, Morocco, Algeria and few African countries. Results suggest that distance learning will shift many of the responsibilities formerly on the professors to those of the students. The data suggests the need for emotional support during this transition, specifically to maintain interaction among students and professor as well as among students themselves in distance learning platforms as in traditional classrooms. The study shows that the effectiveness and the interactivity of this new paradigm are very important and any further developments of distance learning should provide strong support for these components. The position of the professor is indispensable as the guide to the entire process, suggesting that at least at the time of this writing (2020) distance learning approach is perceived only to be an intermittent complementary path to in-person interactions.

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Section: Conclusion and Recommendationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perceptions regarding Distance Learning in Higher Education, Smoothing the Transition

Todri

Papajorgji

Moskowitz

et al. 2020

CONTEMP EDUC TECHNOL

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“…The AOT questionnaire by Stanovich and West (1997) is composed of multiple subcategories including: flexible thinking, openness to ideas, openness to values, absolutism, dogmatism, and categorical thinking, which together provide a measurement for open-minded thinking. Actively Open-minded Thinking is generally defined as a person's ability to actively reflect on his/her thinking, actively seek and process information that contradicts his/her beliefs, and be willing to alter his/her mindset after carefully considering opposing beliefs (Stanovich & West, 1997;2007;Toplak, West, & Stanovich, 2012). Previous studies have shown that students with higher AOT scores are better able to contextualize prior knowledge and personal beliefs in order to make rational decisions (Stanovich & West, 2007).…”

Section: Actively Open-minded Thinking (Aot) Questionnairementioning

confidence: 99%

“There is No Single Right Answer”: The Potential for Active Learning Classrooms to Facilitate Actively Open-minded Thinking

Chen

2015

CELT

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Education is meant to open your mind, but is that what universities are really doing? Rather than fostering open-minded thinking, the format of lecturing, the lack of interaction among students and instructors, and the passive nature of learning are likely producing the opposite, students with closed-minds. The development and implementation of Active Learning Classrooms (ALC) has the capability to counteract this negative trend by providing a configuration suited for more collaborative learning and opportunities for students to share their thoughts, hear other perspectives from peers, and have the potential to become more open-minded. A description of a study on students in a fourth year psychology course is provided in which the instructor changed her course in order to use the ALC to its fullest capacity. Students were also given an Actively Open-minded Thinking questionnaire (Stanovich & West, 1997) pre and post course, with results indicating that open-minded thinking increased over the term. Although there are many components that could contribute to this result, the impact that educational spaces may have on student learning are discussed.

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“…Teachers can also find a more detailed discussion of ways to enhance rational thinking in Chapter 10 of Stanovich (2011). In addition, a chapter by Toplak, West, and Stanovich (2012) describes a wide variety of efforts to train and improve various different components of rational thinking. Table 4.1 in Toplak et al’s (2012) chapter also includes a list of several relevant empirical studies.…”

Section: Enhancement Of Rational Thinkingmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Assessment of Rational Thinking

Stanovich

West

2014

Teaching of Psychology

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Variation in intelligence has been one of the most studied topics in psychology for many decades (Geary, 2005;Hunt, 2011;Lubinski, 2004). Because people frequently assume that assessments of intelligence (and similar tests of cognitive ability) are the quintessence of good thinking, one might assume that such measures would serve as proxies for judgment and decision-making skills. It is important to understand why such an assumption would be misplaced.Judgment and decision making are more properly regarded as components of rational thinking, and people often fail to recognize that rationality and intelligence (as traditionally defined) are two different things. In scientific psychology, intelligence definitions derive from performance on established tests and cognitive ability indicators. Statistical study of this performance yields a scientific concept of general intelligence, usually symbolized by g; a concept of fluid intelligence (Gf); and a concept of crystallized intelligence (Gc). The latter two concepts refer to the Cattell/Horn/Carroll (CHC) theory of intelligence-as close as there is to a consensus view in the field of intelligence research (Carroll, 1993;Horn & Cattell, 1967). Sometimes called the theory of fluid and crystallized intelligence (symbolized Gf/Gc theory), this theory posits that tests of mental ability tap a small number of broad factors, of which two are dominant. Gf reflects reasoning abilities operating across of variety of domains-in particular, novel ones. Gf is measured by tasks of abstract reasoning such as figural analogies, Raven Matrices, and series completion (e.g., What is the next number in the series 1, 4, 5, 8, 9, 12, __?). Gc reflects declarative knowledge acquired from acculturated learning experiences and is measured by vocabulary tasks, verbal comprehension, and general knowledge measures. The two dominant factors in the CHC theory reflect a long history of considering two aspects of intelligence: intelligence as process (Gf) and intelligence as knowledge (Gc). The IQ-test components that measure Gf do not assess judgment and decision making and neither do the IQ-test components that measure Gc. In short, no components of currently popular IQ tests measure aspects of rationality.Distinguishing between rationality and intelligence thus helps explain how people can be, at the same time, intelligent and irrational (Stanovich, 2009). As such, researchers need to study separately the individual differences in cognitive skills that underlie intelligence and the individual differences in cognitive skills that underlie rational thinking because they are conceptually and empirically different.

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Education for Rational Thought

Cited by 9 publications

References 152 publications

Perceptions regarding Distance Learning in Higher Education, Smoothing the Transition

Perceptions regarding Distance Learning in Higher Education, Smoothing the Transition

“There is No Single Right Answer”: The Potential for Active Learning Classrooms to Facilitate Actively Open-minded Thinking

The Assessment of Rational Thinking

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