Diane F. Halpern - Thought and Knowledge: An Introduction to Critical Thinking

THOUGHT AND KNOWLEDGE

This best-selling textbook, written by award-winning educator and past president of the American Psychological Association, Diane F. Halpern, applies theory and research from the learning sciences to teach students the thinking skills they need to succeed in todays world. This new edition retains features from earlier editions that have helped its readers become better thinkers. A rigorous academic grounding based in cognitive psychology is presented in a clear writing style with a humorous tone and supported by numerous practical examples and anecdotes.

Thought and Knowledge, Fifth Edition has been revised to help students meet the challenges of a global neighborhood and make meaningful conclusions from the overwhelming quantity of information now available at the click of a mouse. The skills learned with this text will help students learn more efficiently, research more productively, and present logical, informed arguments.

Thought and Knowledge, Fifth Edition is appropriate for use as a textbook in critical thinking courses offered in departments of psychology, philosophy, English, humanities, or as a supplement in any course where critical thinking is emphasized.

Diane F. Halpern is the McElwee Family Professor of Psychology and Roberts Fellow at Claremont McKenna College. She is a past president of the American Psychological Association, the Western Psychological Association, the Society for General Psychology, and the Society for the Teaching of Psychology.

Professor Halpern has won many awards for her teaching and research, including the James McKeen Cattell Fellow Award from the Association for Psychological Science (2013); the Arthur W. Staats Lecture on Unifying Psychology Award from the American Psychological Association (2013); Outstanding Professor Award from the Western Psychological Association (2002); American Psychological Foundation Award for Distinguished Teaching (1999); Distinguished Career Award for Contributions to Education from the American Psychological Association (1996); and the California State Universitys State-Wide Outstanding Professor Award.

THOUGHT AND KNOWLEDGE

An Introduction to Critical Thinking

Fifth Edition

Diane F. Halpern

Claremont McKenna College

Fifth edition published 2014

by Psychology Press

711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017

and by Psychology Press

27 Church Road, Hove, East Sussex BN3 2FA

Psychology Press is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

2014 Taylor & Francis

The right of Diane F. Halpern to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

First edition published 1985 by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates

Fourth edition published 2003 by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Halpern, Diane F.

Thought and knowledge : an introduction to critical thinking / Diane F.

Halpern, Claremont McKenna College.5 Edition.

pages cm

1. Critical thinking. I. Title.

BF441.H25 2013

153dc23 2013014029

ISBN: 978-1-84872-628-4 (hbk)

ISBN: 978-1-84872-629-1 (pbk)

ISBN: 978-1-315-88527-8 (ebk)

Typeset in Stone Serif

by Apex CoVantage, LLC

CONTENTS

It is hard to believe, but it has been 30 years since the publication of the first edition of Thought and Knowledge: An Introduction to Critical Thinking. The world has changed in many ways over the last three decades. For the first edition, I wrote all of the text long hand (remember that?) and had it typed by a professional secretary who had a sleek new typewriter with a tape that allowed her to white out errors and a return key so she did not have to push the carriage return at the end of every line. I am guessing that most readers have no idea what any of this means because they never lived in a world with typewriters or heard of a carriage return.

But, despite all of the changes in technology in the last 30 years (yes, there was a time when there was no Internet), the need to think critically has not changed. One might argue that it is even more important now that everyone has easy access to more information than they can possibly use and much of that information is biased in ways that can be difficult to detect. It is to the users of new and emerging technologies that I dedicate this book.

I have many wonderful colleagues, students, and reviewers to thank for their assistance with this edition. I thank Heather Butler, an extraordinary doctoral student who will be Dr. Butler by the time you are reading this. She has helped me question, research, and rethink much of what I know about critical thinking. I also thank Amanda Franco, a doctoral student at University of Minho in Portugal for carefully reading an early draft of this book and offering insightful recommendations. Special thanks to Dr. Heidi Riggio at California State University, Los Angeles, for her careful and creative work on the instructors materials and student online exercises in this edition of Thought and Knowledge and in previous editions. This edition has a new publisher, Psychology Press, a division of the international publisher Taylor & Francis. The psychology editor Paul Dukes and the editor assigned for this book, Fred Coppersmith, have been supportive throughout the process of bringing this book to print. In addition, I have been fortunate to have suggestions from some of the top luminaries in the field of teaching critical thinking. Some of the reviewers have chosen to remain anonymous, so I thank them anonymously. Sincere thanks to the following reviewers: