Critical Thinking Skills: What It Is, Examples and Guidelines
Copyright Carter McNamara, Authenticity Consulting, LLC
Sections in This Topic Include
- What is Critical Thinking?
- Benefits and Examples of Critical Thinking
- How Good Are Your Critical Thinking Skills?
- Developing Your Critical Thinking Skills
- General Resources
Also consider
- Concentration
- Creative Thinking
- Mindfulness
- Mindsets
- Reframing
- Systems Thinking
- Strategic Thinking
- Related Library Topics
Learn More in the Library’s Blogs Related to Personal Development
In addition to the articles on this current page, also see the following blogs that have posts related to Personal Development. Scan down the blog’s page to see various posts. Also see the section “Recent Blog Posts” in the sidebar of the blog or click on “next” near the bottom of a post in the blog. The blog also links to numerous free related resources.
What is Critical Thinking?
“What is critical thinking? It refers to the ability to analyze information objectively and make a reasoned judgment. Critical thinking involves the evaluation of sources such as data, facts, observable phenomenon, and research findings. Good critical thinkers can draw reasonable conclusions from a set of information and discriminate between useful and less useful details to solve a problem or make a decision.” Adrian Doyle at:
WikiPedia provides several different definitions of critical thinking at:
Definitions of Critical Thinking
One of the most comprehensive overviews of critical thinking is from the Foundation for Critical Thinking. Here is their very comprehensive “definition” of critical thinking:
Defining Critical Thinking
The Foundation also provides a brief history of critical thinking:
- A Brief History of the Idea of Critical Thinking
- Critical Thinking 101
- Critical Thinking Skills (activities involved in)
- At The Intersection of Creativity and Critical Thinking
- Creative Thinking Skills
Benefits and Examples of Critical Thinking
Similar to creative thinking, there are numerous examples of critical thinking in our lives, but we usually don’t think of them as such, for example, when you think about
- How Critical Thinking Improves Life Outcomes
- Fifteen Positive Examples of Critical Thinking
- Critical Thinking Examples That Will Influence The World Around You
- Examples of Critical Thinking in Everyday Life
- Examples of Using Critical Thinking to Make Decisions in the Workplace
- Critical Thinking in Everyday Life: 9 Strategies
- Critical Thinking in Everyday Life
How Good Are Your Critical Thinking Skills?
Take this self-assessment:
Critical Thinking
The next topic includes articles to help you improve your critical thinking skills.
Developing Your Critical Thinking Skills
As with any skill, it takes practice. First, you get new information about how something could be done and then you practice applying that information.
- Critical Thinking Skills: What are They and How Do I Get Them?
- How Companies Can Develop Critical Thinkers and Creative Leaders
- 7 Ways to Improve Your Critical Thinking Skills
- 7 Steps to Improving Your Critical Thinking
- How to Develop Critical Thinking Skills
- Improve Your Critical Thinking Skills With These 9 Powerful Tricks
Also consider
- Self-Assessments (numerous self-assessments)
- Goals – Setting Personal Goals
- Changing Your Behavior
- Basic Requirements of Learners in Training and Development
- Learning Style Inventory
- Personal Productivity
- Personal Wellness
- Reading Skills
General Resources
- Research in Critical Thinking
- Critical Thinking: Basic Questions & Answers
- Measure What Matters: Critical Thinking
For the Category of Personal Development:
To round out your knowledge of this Library topic, you may want to review some related topics, available from the link below. Each of the related topics includes free, online resources.
Also, scan the Recommended Books listed below. They have been selected for their relevance and highly practical nature.