Thinking, Reading, and Writing Critically

1. Thinking, Reading, and Writing Critically The Art and Science of Critical Thinking © Martha J. Bianco, Ph.D.

2. Previewing Text Can Help You Plan to Read Efficiently • How much material do I have to read? • Can I divide the material into chunks/day? • Are there titles and subtitles I can skim? • What do the introduction & conclusion say? © Martha J. Bianco, Ph.D.

3. Previewing Text Can Improve Critical Reading • Am I already familiar with the material? • Do I have an opinion one way or another? • How can I find out more about this difficult topic to understand it better? © Martha J. Bianco, Ph.D.

4. Distinguish Between Fact and Opinion © Martha J. Bianco, Ph.D.

5. FACT • Reliable piece of information • Reliability = provable & unbiased • Can be tested or proved • Verifiable through independent sources • 100 grams of orange has 50 mg vitamin C • 100 grams of strawberry has 60 mg vitamin C © Martha J. Bianco, Ph.D.

6. OPINION • Statement or Inference (logical conclusion) • May or may not be based on facts • Can be challenged • Gram for gram, strawberries are better than oranges. • Gram for gram, strawberries have more vitamin C than oranges. • Gram for gram, strawberries are better for you than oranges. © Martha J. Bianco, Ph.D.

7. Absolute Dr. White’s RD 115 course is the hardest class on campus. Moderate Some of Dr. White’s students find her class to be very challenging. Distinguish Between Absolute and Moderate Claims • It’s impossible to get an A from Dr. White. • Dr. White gives very few A’s. © Martha J. Bianco, Ph.D.

8. FACT or OPINION? • Willa Cather won the Pulitzer Price for fiction in 1923. • Women often earn less money than men holding the same position. • You cannot write well unless you know how to write correctly. • A college diploma is necessary for jobs that pay well. • Running is good for your health. • Many people believe that a diet low in fat is good for your health. • John F. Kennedy was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald. • Students must pass RD 115 with a C or better to go on to WR 121. • Students do best in WR 121 if they have passed RD 115 with a C or better. © Martha J. Bianco, Ph.D.

9. Exercise Critical Thinking Practice Exercise 1 © Martha J. Bianco, Ph.D.

10. Inductive Moves from little to BIG. From the specific to the general. Deductive Moves from BIG to little. From the general to the specific. Inductive vs. Deductive Reasoning © Martha J. Bianco, Ph.D.

11. Hypothesize Gather Data Can we research this? Is there a lot of good data? Inductive ReasoningUses Scientific Method • Can we analyze the data scientifically? • Can we draw valid conclusions? • Analyze Data • Draw Conclusions © Martha J. Bianco, Ph.D.

12. Biggest Dangers: • Relying on anecdotes or small case-study “evidence” • Vitamin C is great for arthritis. My mother took it for her arthritis, and it cured her completely! • One person is a “small case study” • Studying is a waste of time. I never even cracked a textbook in high school, and I got all A’s! • Anecdotal, one-person story – not scientific © Martha J. Bianco, Ph.D.

13. Biggest Dangers: • The “inductive leap” • sweeping generalizations • A study showed that graduating seniors at Jefferson High School who had 4.0 GPAs went on to have at least a 3.0 GPA in college. • Fact, resulting from research (“a study”) • Students with high GPAs in college had high GPAs in high school. • “Inductive leap” – or sweeping generalization! © Martha J. Bianco, Ph.D.

14. Deductive ReasoningFrom General to Specific MAIN IDEA (Assumption): All PCC students must take RD 115. SUPPORTING DETAIL: Le Vu is a PCC student. CONCLUSION: Therefore, Le Vu must take RD 115. © Martha J. Bianco, Ph.D.

15. Biggest Dangers: • The assumption behind the main idea must be true: • Not all PCC students must take RD 115. • The supporting detail must be logical: • All horses are animals • A dog is an animal. • Therefore, a dog is a horse. © Martha J. Bianco, Ph.D.

16. Qualifiers Help Moderate Statements © Martha J. Bianco, Ph.D.

17. Exercise Critical Thinking Practice Exercise 2 Critical Thinking Practice Exercise 3 © Martha J. Bianco, Ph.D.

18. Avoid Logical Fallacies Faulty Premises, Misuse of Data, Distortion of Evidence . . . used as “Propaganda Devices”! © Martha J. Bianco, Ph.D.

19. Ad hominem “George W. Bush is a bully, waging war at all costs.” Personal attack, with negative values, unrelated to thesis. © Martha J. Bianco, Ph.D.

20. Appeal to Tradition “Marriage has always been between a man and a woman.” Relying on tradition as an explanation. © Martha J. Bianco, Ph.D.

21. Bandwagon Argument “Everyone knows that 90 percent of Americans believe in God and in prayer.” Justifying an argument because “everyone” thinks or acts that way. © Martha J. Bianco, Ph.D.

22. Begging the Question “Campus search engines should be filtered to stop students’ viewing of porn and other unacceptable content.” Assuming what needs to be proved – or answered – before action is taken. © Martha J. Bianco, Ph.D.

23. Equivocation “Understanding communities is complicated because communities are complicated.” Explaining or describing a word by using the same word. © Martha J. Bianco, Ph.D.

24. False Analogy “Homosexuals should not be given the same rights as pedophiles.” Assuming that two things that are similar in one way are similar in other ways. © Martha J. Bianco, Ph.D.

25. False Authority “My children’s pediatrician doesn’t think that Jane Doe was truly brain dead.” Assuming that someone who is an expert in one field is an authority in other fields. © Martha J. Bianco, Ph.D.

26. False Causepost hoc, ergo propter hoc “As the number of new immigrants to Portland has increased, so has the percentage of people on welfare.” Arguing that because one event follows another or because the two events are correlated, the first caused the second.

27. False Dilemmathe “either/or fallacy” “Either we provide young mothers with daycare at school or we don’t allow them to take classes until their kids reach school age.” Insisting that there are just two possible solutions or alternatives, when in fact there may be many. © Martha J. Bianco, Ph.D.

28. Guilt by Association “The new mayor must be gay, because I saw him and his two assistants at a lesbian bookstore.” Unfairly criticizing or accusing someone because of the beliefs or actions of others.

29. Hasty / Sweeping Generalizations“Leaping to Conclusions” “She’s Italian, so you know she must love garlic!” Generalizing or inferring to a larger population based on a personal anecdote or very little or biased evidence. © Martha J. Bianco, Ph.D.

30. Oversimplification “We can solve the health care crisis by encouraging private medical savings accounts.” An argument that provides a very simple explanation or solution for a very complex problem or issue.

31. Dodging the IssueIgnoring the Question / Red Herring “We should be celebrating free, democratic elections in Iraq rather than quibbling over who had what weapons where.” Diverting attention away from the real problem or question by focusing on something unrelated.

32. The Slippery Slope Argument “If we allow gays to marry, should we also allow grown men to marry underage girls, or brothers to wed their sisters?” Arguing that doing one thing will just lead to a cascade of other events.

33. Exercise Critical Thinking Practice Exercise 4 Critical Thinking Practice Exercise 5 © Martha J. Bianco, Ph.D.