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Nursing research: perspectives on critical thinking.

Critical thinking is an important component of professional practice. It is the hallmark of the competent nursing practitioner and yet there is no consensus on its definition, teaching or learning strategies of critical thinking skills in nursing students. Although critical thinking appears to be desirable at all levels of nursing practice, evidence to support its educational development in nurses appears to be limited. If educators are to prepare nurses to become leaders in their profession, the educational development of these essential skills in nurses needs to be addressed.

Assertiveness↗

PubMed2003

Learning styles: self-reports versus thinking-aloud measures.

BACKGROUND: Learning styles are often assessed through students' self-reports on instruments such as Vermunt's Inventory of Learning Styles (ILS). Recent research, however, has questioned the adequacy of questionnaires for the assessment of learning styles. AIMS: The objective of this paper is to evaluate methods of learning style assessment as a means for identifying students at risk. Therefore, the ILS as a self-report instrument will be compared with the students' actual study processes, assessed through the thinking-aloud method. SAMPLE: In the first study 1,060 students from the Technical University of Delft participated. Thirty-three of them were selected on the ILS for participation in the second study. METHOD: The ILS was administered to the 1,060 participants and their study results (GPA and credit points) were collected. Next, the selected 33 participants studied a technical text while thinking aloud. Knowledge acquisition was measured by means of a post-test. Thinking-aloud protocols were analysed on frequencies of study activities, thus representing process measures of learning styles. RESULTS: The ILS proved to be a rather weak predictor of study results in Study 1. Results from Study 2 show hardly any correspondence between ILS and study process measures, although principal component structures of both measures were highly similar. Furthermore, study process measures outweighed the ILS in the prediction of study results (post-test, GPA and credit points). CONCLUSIONS: Learning style theory was confirmed by results on the study process measures. The assessment of learning styles through self-report instruments such as the ILS, however, should be reconsidered.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

Sentence completion test for depression (SCD): an idiographic measure of depressive thinking.

OBJECTIVES: This study set out to investigate the reliability and validity of the Sentence Completion Test for Depression (SCD) as a clinical measure. In contrast to questionnaire measures of depressive thinking, respondents finish incomplete sentences using their own words. This elicits idiographic information concurrent with measuring depressive thinking. METHOD: In Study 1, measures of negative thinking were tested between a depressed group and a non-depressed control group. A preliminary item analysis was conducted and replicated on separate samples in Study 2. Psychometric properties of the test were investigated. In Study 3, idiographic validity and sensitivity to change were explored in a sample of clinical cases with reference to cognitive-behavioural case-formulation. RESULTS: In Study 1, the depressed group produced more negatives and fewer positives, and the SCD demonstrated good content validity, internal consistency and inter-rater reliability. The preliminary short-form had comparable psychometric properties, and these were replicated on new samples in Study 2. Sensitivity and specificity values were above 90% in both studies. In Study 3, idiographic content generated hypotheses about target problems and dysfunctional beliefs within cognitive-behavioural case-formulation, and SCD scores were sensitive to clinical change. CONCLUSIONS: The SCD demonstrates good construct validity, internal consistency, inter-rater reliability, sensitivity, and specificity. It offers an idiographic assessment of depression that is complementary to questionnaire measures, particularly by generating hypotheses about target problems and dysfunctional beliefs within a cognitive-behavioural case-formulation. This is achieved without loss to reliability and validity at the nomothetic level.

Adult↗

PubMed2006

Julie's museum: the evolution of thinking, dreaming and historicization in the treatment of traumatized patients.

The author contends that, following Freud, trauma may be viewed as a disruption of the ego's 'protective shield' and that a central factor of this shield is an internalized relationship to a thinking-containing mother. Severe trauma destroy this inner connection, resulting in the reversal of a-function and the establishment of a rigid traumatic organization (ss-screen) that brings coherence to the shattered psyche. However, this is an 'organized chaos' in which concrete forms of thinking predominate. The patient's ability to think, dream and imagine is significantly curtailed and she is consequently locked in a traumatic world from which she is unable to evolve. He offers a detailed case history to illustrate these points and the vital role the analyst's imaginative capacities play in the analysis of such individuals. Finally, he addresses the development of the capacity to represent the trauma, starting with primitive, often somatically encoded experiences, and evolving toward the capacity for historicization.

Child↗

PubMed1983

Divergent thinking and hemispheric dominance for language function among preschool children.

An investigation of the relationship of hemispheric dominance (dichotic listening) and divergent thinking (Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking) with 27 preschool children (11 males and 16 females; mean age of 4-8) indicated a positive relationship between right hemispheric dominance and scores on the Product Improvement task. Low intertask correlations suggested that the Unusual Uses and Product Improvement tasks were not measuring the same construct. These findings were discussed with regard to nature of the task (stimulus specificity) and the age of the subjects in this study. The findings show that divergent thinking is associated with right hemispheric dominance in children as young as 4 years.

Child, Preschool↗

PubMed1991

Development of critical thinking among students in kindergarten through grade 4.

A test to measure critical thinking ability in early elementary grades was designed and used to assess the development of one aspect of critical thinking, the detection of bias, in 102 students in kindergarten through fourth grade. The test was administered in a story-telling format. Analysis showed an age-related increase in critical thinking ability, with differences becoming significant at Grade 4.

Child↗

PubMed1993

Inferred hemispheric thinking style, gender, and academic major among United Arab Emirates college students.

To examine the relationships between the inferred hemispheric thinking style, gender, and academic major, 190 undergraduate men and women in social science and applied science classes were administered the Your Style of Learning and Thinking to assess their thinking styles. Although endorsements of an integrated style were highest for all subjects, analysis indicated men tended to endorse the right-hemisphere style items in processing information more than women, while the latter tended to endorse items of an integrated style in processing information. Applied science majors appeared to endorse items of a more right-hemisphere style in processing information than social science majors. These results were discussed in view of contemporary biological, psychosocial, and educational perspectives.

Adult↗

PubMed2000

Is visual thinking "imageless thought"?

Two measures of visual problem solving ability and two measures of visual-imaging ability were administered to 99 subjects. Scores on the Emergent Patterns Test, a problem-solving test which requires subjects to think about specific combinations of visual icons and to identify the emergent patterns, did not correlate significantly with scores on either the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire or the Brightness of Visual Imagery Measure. Scores on the Block Visualization Test, which requires subjects to think about blocks being painted and diced and to answer questions about the resulting pieces of block, did not correlate significantly with the scores on the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire and correlated negatively with the scores on the Brightness of Visual Imagery Measure. The three nonsignificant correlations support nineteenth century arguments that vivid imagers tend to construct sensory representations of unconscious visual thoughts, whereas "imageless thinkers" tend not to. The one negative correlation further may suggest that the conscious construction of visual imagery can sometimes interfere with the underlying processes of unconscious visual thinking.

Humans↗

PubMed1993

Human response to traumatic events: an integration of counterfactual thinking, hindsight bias, and attribution theory.

In documenting cognitive processes underlying persons' reactions to negative events, counterfactual thinking, hindsight bias, and attribution theory focus on distinct, although not unrelated, aspects of human information processing. Counterfactual thinking highlights the cognitive processing undertaken when persons imagine different courses of action that lead to alternative outcomes. Hindsight bias describes the inflated retrospective estimates individuals make regarding event probabilities that come with the advantage of knowledge about outcomes. And attribution theory concerns the affective and behavioral consequences that result from the perceived causes of events. This essay argues that a more comprehensive understanding of the processes underlying human response to traumatic events results from the integration of counterfactual thinking, hindsight bias, and attribution theory into a single model.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed2001

Relation of irrational thinking and the Pessimistic Explanatory Style.

This study investigated the possible relationship between Ellis's construct of irrational thinking and Seligman's construct of explanatory style, with a view toward possibly strengthening the personality theory underlying Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy in particular and cognitive-behavior therapies more generally. In this investigation 180 college students were administered the Survey of Personal Beliefs and the Attributional Style Questionnaire to measure irrational thinking and explanatory style, respectively. Students who scored higher on Pessimistic Explanatory Style also scored higher on Overall Irrational Thinking and on Low Frustration Tolerance than did those who were categorized as having an Optimistic Explanatory Style. This indicates support for Ellis's developing personality theory, especially his theoretical account of depression.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

Thinking styles of school teachers and university students in mathematics.

This research studied the thinking styles of 18 school teachers and 15 college students in the field of mathematics, using the Inquiry Mode Questionnaire by Harrison and Bramson. The multivariate analysis of variance showed that the 21 female teachers and college students scored as more Idealistic than their 12 male peers. There also was a significant group-by-sex interaction, which indicated that the female college students preferred the Analyst thinking style more frequently than their male peers, whereas the male teachers preferred the Analyst style more frequently than the female teachers. On the whole, the most preferred thinking style was the Analyst style, and the least preferred one was the Synthesist style. The implications of findings are discussed.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

Are parents' and children's thinking styles related?

This study extends the investigation of the validity of Sternberg's theory of mental self-government to mainland Chinese secondary school students and their parents. The assumption of a 'socialization effect' underlying the theory was subjected to broader investigation. 232 students and their parents responded to a range of demographic questions and to the Thinking Styles Inventory which is based on Sternberg's theory. The two major findings are that (1) Sternberg's theory is valid with both samples, and (2) students' thinking styles are related not only to their personal factors, e.g., sex, grade, and self-rated abilities, but also to their parents' thinking styles. These findings have implications for school teachers and counselors as well as for parents.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

Students' use of self-reflective thinking: when teaching becomes coaching.

This study examined students' use of self-reflection in relation to their teachers' coaching behavior in a cooperative learning situation. Participants were 218 fourth grade secondary vocational students and 12 teachers of different study domains in The Netherlands. Students rated teachers' coaching behavior. Stepwise multiple regression analysis showed that teachers' guidance was related to students' use of self-reflective thinking. Teachers' coaching style was measured as their instructional beliefs, self-efficacy beliefs, and coaching behavior. Visual inspection of means of students' rating of teachers' behavior and by students' self-reflective thinking indicated that teachers, whose intentions and behavior are in line with student-led teaching, provide a coaching style that is high in guidance and encourages students' use of self-reflective thinking. The implications of teachers' coaching behavior in the classroom are discussed.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2006

Concrete and abstract thinking styles and art preferences in a sample of serious art collectors.

59 art collectors (30 men, 29 women) were given the Gregorc Style Delineator to classify them by thinking styles and a questionnaire regarding their art preferences. Their ages ranged from 33 to 99 years (M=59.5 yr.). Abstract art was preferred by 34% of the sample. Representational art, such as Dutch Masters and Impressionism, was preferred by 66% of the sample. Of the collectors who preferred nonobjective abstract paintings, such as works by color field artists like Mark Rothko, and Abstract Expressionist paintings, such as works by Jackson Pollock, 62% had scores on the Gregorc Style Delineator by which they were classified as showing abstract thinking styles. Of the collectors who preferred representational painting, 86% were classified as showing concrete thinking styles.

Adult↗

PubMed2006

Benefits of negative thinking and negative affect: analyses of answers to an open-ended question by Japanese undergraduates.

What are the benefits of negative thinking and negative affect? Although previous studies in evolutionary psychology, social psychology, and clinical psychology have clarified the question, there has been no definitive study asking people directly about the perceived benefits. In the present study, 119 Japanese undergraduates were asked how they recognized the benefits of negative thinking and negative affect. Their answers were analyzed qualitatively. The answers were arranged into 30 smaller categories and 12 superordinate ones. The benefits were divided into "benefits to the self" and "benefits to interpersonal relations". Finally, the conditions necessary for the negative thinking and negative affect being benign, and possible cultural differences, were discussed.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1998

Do domestic animals have minds and the ability to think? A provisional sample of opinions on the question.

Faculty, staff, and graduate students in a number of departments, students in an undergraduate course, and some groups outside the university were polled to obtain their perceptions about whether domestic animals have minds, the ability to think, and differing degrees of intelligence (the surveys focused only on horses, cows, sheep, dogs, chickens, pigs, cats, and turkeys). A clear majority of all groups surveyed (except the Department of Zoology) said yes, they believe animals have minds, but a substantial number of those in animal sciences and zoology (17 to 25%) said no. A number of others in animal sciences, zoology, and philosophy (11 to 37%) refused to answer the question because the concept of mind was not defined. From 80 to 100% of respondents in other groups said yes to the question of minds. From 67 to 100% of all participants said yes, they perceive that animals have the ability to think, but a substantial number of animal scientists, zoologists, veterinarians, and English faculty said no, animals don't think (6 to 33%). On the question Do domestic animals differ in relative intelligence?, the responses varied from 88% in animal sciences to 100%. Surprisingly, when asked to rank different animal species by intelligence, there was a remarkable degree of similarity across all groups regardless of background; the overall ranking from highest intelligence to lowest was dog, cat, pig, horse, cow, sheep, chicken, and turkey. Most of the respondents believed that the possession of minds, thought, and intelligence were relevant factors in how animals should be treated and the prevalent concept was that we should not be cruel to animals, but should treat them humanely.

Animal Husbandry↗

PubMed2005

Relationships between critical thinking and attitudes toward women's roles in society.

This exploratory study is the first examination of the relationships between critical thinking--as measured by subscales on the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal Form S (WGCTA Form S; G. B. Watson & E. M. Glaser, 1994)-and attitudes toward women's roles in society--as measured by subscales on the Attitudes Toward Women Scale (AWS: J. T. Spence & R. L. Helmreich, 1972). The authors hypothesized that greater critical thinking skills would be associated with more liberal attitudes toward women's roles in society. Results from a sample of 90 nursing and management undergraduates supported the hypothesis. There were moderate correlations between scores from the WGCTA Form S Inference (.24 to .37) and Deduction (.19 to .26) subtests and scores from the AWS Freedom and Independence; Marital Relationships and Obligation; and Vocational, Educational, and Intellectual Roles subscales. These findings suggest that further research with larger samples and cross-cultural samples is warranted.

Adult↗

PubMed2004

Counterfactual thinking: the temporal order effect.

People often think about how things might have happened differently. Their counterfactual thoughts tend to mentally undo the most recent event in an independent sequence. Consider a game in which two players must each pick the same color card, both red or both black. The first picks black and the second picks red and so they lose. People think, "If only the second player had picked black." Our study tested the idea that the ways in which the players could have won provide counterfactual alternatives to the facts. In three experiments, the same set of facts (both players picked black cards), and the same winning conditions (to win in this new game they must pick different color cards) were presented, but the description of the winning conditions varied (e.g., "if one or the other but not both picks a red card" vs. "if one or the other but not both picks a black card"). The results showed that the temporal order effect can be produced or reversed by different descriptions. The descriptions make accessible different elements of the winning possibilities. A theory of the mental representations and cognitive processes underlying counterfactual thinking in the temporal order effect is described.

Adolescent↗