Fundamentals Of Critical Thinking Skills

When evaluating information or an argument, ask yourself the following: The ability to infer and draw conclusions based on the information presented to you is another important skill for mastering critical thinking.

When evaluating information or an argument, ask yourself the following: The ability to infer and draw conclusions based on the information presented to you is another important skill for mastering critical thinking.

You’ll often need to assess the information given and draw conclusions based upon raw data.

The ability to infer allows you to extrapolate and discover potential outcomes when assessing a scenario.

While there’s no universal standard for what skills are included in the critical thinking process, we’ve boiled it down to the following six.

Focusing on these can put you on the path to becoming an exceptional critical thinker.

Even if you want to be a better critical thinker, it’s hard to improve upon something you can’t define.

Critical thinking is the analysis of an issue or situation and the facts, data or evidence related to it.

How to improve: When facing any new situation, question or scenario, stop to take a mental inventory of the state of affairs and ask the following questions: When comparing arguments about an issue, independent research ability is key.

Arguments are meant to be persuasive—that means the facts and figures presented in their favor might be lacking in context or come from questionable sources.

It is equally important—and arguably more difficult—to learn how to set aside your own personal biases that may cloud your judgement.

“Have the courage to debate and argue with your own thoughts and assumptions,” Potrafka encourages.