Summary: What I Learned About Critical Thinking

One of the key concepts I learned about critical thinking is the capacity to actively apply critical thinking skills to all areas of life. In the past, I primarily thought about critical thinking skills as it related to research articles. On occasions, I also thought about critical thinking skills when discussions about popular beliefs or religious aspects arose. There were times when I have rebelled against social pressures and have thought about the ways people in general are influenced by opinions and notions that are not necessarily true (or concepts that lack evidence). I have questioned things in the past, but not with conscious critical thinking efforts. The thoughts and questions were automatic and instinctual in many cases. In some ways, automatic thoughts can be associated with passive thinking. Passivity was another aspect I learned to be aware of in relation to critical thinking. Passive thinking can play a part in how easily we are influenced by social messages, media, and advertisements. In regard to advertisements, conscious and purposeful thinking about influence and persuasion can help consumers to refrain from buying unnecessary products and to save money. I thought about how many times I’ve purchased things because infomercials influenced me that I needed the product. I learned that just because a product may be helpful in some ways, that doesn’t mean I necessarily need it, and this idea taught me that critical thinking can be economical.

Sometimes we (as consumers and as social beings in general) go along with a variety of acts because we subconsciously thing we’re “supposed” to do things in a certain way. I’ve learned to apply conscious efforts in making decisions no matter how large or small the decision may be. Critical thinking involves having a mind of our own and not just going along with claims and persuasion. However, critical thinking does not mean we should reject everything. Critical thinking does not always have to take a negative stance. Regardless of my personal opinions about a particular subject, I have learned to consider all possible sides of issues and that critical thinking can be applied to problem solving strategies in every domain. The Force Field Analysis exercise Gary Hare introduced to the Media 700 group at NSO facilitated new ways of thinking about arguments and counter-arguments before deciding on a position to take regarding a particular problem. Some of the topics discussed during the Force Field Analysis exercise (which included an examination of the aspects that facilitated current states particular problems as well as factors that prevented the current states from moving toward goal states) lead me to think about unseen reasons and motives for the state of different problems and why a particular person or group of people might want to present a particular side of an issue. Things that are considered problems to some can be considered solutions to others. Therefore, it is important to consider the role of biases, motives, and possible gains when thinking about information given by particular parties. When information is given, evidence and support is should be taken into account. The methods used to gain evidence should also be examined. Having and applying knowledge of scientific methods is practical in deciding if particular claims are believable or credible.

Lastly, Critical thinking can be used as a self-correcting method. We can use critical thinking to explore our own biases and ways of thinking about, questioning, and viewing various concepts. Critical thinking is not only to be used in a negative sense or as skepticism and rejection of the ideas of others, but can also be used to ensure a proper balance of questioning and accepting information. Considering all sides of issues can help us to identify our own faulty thinking and to decide if we are considering gray areas as opposed to black or white thinking in regard to particular issues and decisions. Applying balanced thinking skills may help us to realize that we are not always correct in our judgments and may have biases in favor of ourselves. One of the most valuable lessons I have learned about applying critical thinking skills to my everyday life is to ask objective questions about subjective matters. I will apply the concepts learned within the PSY 700 Critical Thinking course in decision making and in improving academic, career, and personal matters. I know that it will take practice to master critical thinking skills and I will make conscious efforts to apply the learned concepts in daily activities and experiences.

PSY 700 NSO Reflection

Reflection of NSO PSY 700 activities:

The PSY 700 activities that took place on day two of NSO were all valuable in helping me to put the scope of media psychology into perspective. The presentations from the media faculty (Jean-Pierre, Karen, and Jason) were all exciting and touched on areas that I am personally and professionally passionate about, and each part of day two confirmed my decision to enroll in the media psychology program. The presentations covered theories, methodology, arguments/research questions, and scholarly writing; and all helped me to further think about what I wanted to focus on within my dissertation. Although I had previously attended a New Student Orientation at FGU, the activities were still beneficial and the focus of day two really distinguished the clinical and media programs for me.

Media Boot Camp was an exciting learning experience. I had the opportunity of taking PSY 767 with Jason over the summer, and that gave me a chance to learn to incorporate images, narrative, and music in a short film project before attending NSO. However, the film festival portion of the day provided a lot of insight about different ways of approaching film productions. I learned a lot from both the faculty and my classmates. The range of different angles was great and I look forward to seeing more work from the other group members as we take courses together, and I am also looking forward to working with classmates on creative and expressive projects. I would have never thought to use the type of (narrative) rhythm and humor some of the other members used in their short films. I learned how to be more creative in movie making. The media production activity also taught me about using image and audio files, the significance of file sizes, and the balance needed to produce movies with high quality images and sound. I plan to apply the things learned during the boot camp activities to upcoming program assignments as well as to personal projects. I felt somewhat limited with the software I was working with (MovieMaker), and as I said at NSO, I am looking forward to using new software with broader capabilities. One of the main things I wanted to change about my mini production was the transition effects. There may be ways to better utilize MovieMaker that I am not yet aware of, but I think better/different software would really allow me to bring my ideas to life.

There are many aspects of media psychology I’d love to research and apply. In order to really capture the details of each area, I realized I had to narrow my focus as I looked at different areas. Before NSO, I wanted my dissertation to include “everything” about interactions with media. I wanted to ask questions about every type of media, art, and entertainment possible, but I left NSO with a narrower scope for my dissertation (which was very good). Karen Dill’s presentation on content analysis and Jonny White’s FOR was very helpful in my thinking about media research and helpful in forming a research question for my dissertation. Overall, I think my interest areas and research plans are more supported in the media program, and while I love FGU’s school of psychology in general, day two helped me to see that I was really where I needed to be (in the media program) in terms of personal and professional interest areas and plans.

Media Bias & Stereotyping

One of the messages I took away from this week’s activities was to use critical thinking skills at all times and apply those skills to every piece of information we observe or take in. It’s easy to be persuaded by messages and even images within the media. Within my FELIX posting as well as my discussion with classmates, I referred to the sleeper effect theory Karen mentioned. I can see how information in general (and even the knowingly untrue information) gets embedded in our minds and has the ability to have subtle effects on our thoughts and opinions. I can still remember headings I’ve seen on the cover of the National Inquirer magazines while standing in line at the grocery store. I have a pretty good idea that the information I read (one in particular was a rumor about the president) was false, but I still remember it, and if I happen to discuss that heading or accusation with others, that rumor or misinformation is then on its way to being passed on to many more people who didn’t even see the story in the magazine. I can imagine how many more people saw that heading and passed it on. However, somewhere down the line, the illegitimate source was not reported and some may believe that story came from a credible source.

Checking out the credibility of information sources was another thing I took away from this week’s activities. The activity using the Martinlutherking.org website and the whois.com website that can be used to look up publishers of websites was very much helpful in teaching me to use critical thinking skills, questioning, and evaluation methods when deciding whether information I’m getting is accurate or whether the source providing the information is trustworthy. That example taught me that just because a website seems professional or has a URL that seems professional, that doesn’t mean they are giving us the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Before this week, I thought all sites with the ending “.org” were from professionally established organizations and foundations. Thus far, I’ve only seen ‘.org’ used with state, federal, and health foundation based websites. I would have never thought a social organization such as that of racial supremacists would be granted that type of URL. Also, the placement of search result would have thrown me off. I was one of those people who did not look past the first page (or first 10 listings) of search results. I thought all of the best and most relevant information appeared at the top of the search results. I now know better. Out of thousands of results, it is possible that some of the best pages are embedded in the numbers. I have learned to not be a lazy researcher through this experience. However, after reading the MLK website I referred to, I started questioning whether there could have been an ounce of truth in their statements. In the same manner that all sources that seem to be credible are not perfect, I also think that just because the source/publisher is found to be of poor taste or character, that doesn’t mean everything they say is untrue or biased. There may be some facts listed in between the lies as well. .

Overall, learning about media biases caused me to take a critical look at information, find out who the publishers are, and to consider their motives before moving forward in taking in information from that source. I am now more likely to scan information before I dive into it or read in depth. During quick assessments of information I’ll be looking for clues related to possible influences, personal feelings or opinions about topics, evidence to support claims, whether references to other credible sources been made… are other sources making similar claims? … and if so, are those sources related to each other?

I also learned to skim information from top to bottom to try to answer the question … Are they selling something? Trying to sell a product does not always take away from the truthfulness of claims, but it is definitely a red flag to conduct further research before listening to what the publisher of that information has to say and before taking it all in as facts. In the example of the National Inquirer and their rumors about celebrities, their main focus is to sell the magazine whether the claims are true or not. Even pharmaceutical companies have paid researchers to make particular claims in order to get medication and supplements approved and sold. Even some of the professionals in the science and health world cannot be trusted due to biases, motives, and personal gains. In the world of information and mass communication the question of “Who can we trust?” is a big one. After realizing the issue of information source credibilitiy, biases, and motives, I will not be a passive learner or receiver of information. I will look for evidence based claims, and I will also closely examine the evidence and how much support there is for the evidence. I will look for multiple levels of checks and balances before I believe or pass on any information I didn’t observe with my own eyes… and if I happen to see it, I will still question if I saw what I think I saw. Especially with photo images… as Photoshop and other editing software can aid in deception. With modern technology and the ability for any and everyone to contribute to published information, it would be unwise to passively believe any type of information. Applied critical thinking skills and thorough examination of information, sources, and credibility is a must. A lot of people in general utilize sites such as Wikipedia, which allows anyone to edit or contribute to the information provided. These types of sources can be good starting points for certain types of research, but they should only be starting points that lead to other sources and verification of the information found. Some sources do offer ill information on purpose for personal gains, but in some cases, the providing sources may not have purposefully provided incorrect information. They may have been misinformed themselves. That’s another point I learned. Just because more than one person/source says it, that doesn’t mean it’s correct. They all could be wrong; and that is where truthful and carefully conducted scientific experimentation (from sources with nothing to gain from reporting one way or the other) comes into play.. and I’m not sure if that scenario exists in the world of research, history, or information in general. What can we believe and trust? Reports? Images? Claims? …. In many cases, No. … Science? Hopefully.

Social Media

Before this week, I was unaware of Web 2.0. I often searched for different types of sites by typing in or googling keywords for personal interests such as ‘music’ or ‘poetry’, but did not know all of the web applications were compiled in one place and organized within categories. I found that to be helpful. As computer and internet savvy as I am (or thought I was), I can’t believe I didn’t know about Web 2.0. From this week’s materials and discussions, I gained a better understanding of social media and the role it can play in my personal and professional life. Some of the things I took away from this week’s topic included the fact that social media facilitates personal and professional sharing and collaboration, social media gives everyone a chance to contribute to information, to participate in the exchange of information, products, and services, and to both buy and sell. I also realized how social media takes reading and writing to a higher and more productive level.

Reading and writing have been a huge part of my academic, professional, and personal life, and I now see ways in which the fundamentals of reading and writing via the web can further enhance all of those areas. The video tutorials on RSS in plain English and Blogs in plain English gave me a new perspective of viewing shared information as personal “news”. I also realized how people with similar news can team up and how that can lead to a better quality of life overall. One of the main reasons for connecting and sharing with others with similar interests is commercial. Buying and selling along with advertising and promoting via the web is big. Considering the amount of time people in general spend consuming media, using media to promote business, research, various projects would be wise and allows for a level of success that would not have been as easy to obtain in the past. After this week’s focus, I feel more empowered in my abilities (or better understanding of abilities) to seek and contribute to (and publish) things I am personally and professionally interested in, and I am more likely to take advantage of those means as I now realize the significance of them.

A definition of critical thinking: Take away realizations

The overall concepts of critical thinking gained from the readings, postings, and responses included the notion that critical thinking is multi-directional and can be positive or negative. Critical thinking (and reading) is not solely to be critical as in finding things we disagree with, but also to point out what is logical, rational, and reasonable. The ways information, data, and results are interpreted can vary from person to person. When we assess the interpretations of others, it is also important to be able to assess our own thinking and personal biases that may play a role in how we view, perceive, and present things. As we review our own writings and statements, skills related to empathetic and critical thinking can help us to use our imagination to examine views different than our own.

Another take away realization from this week’s topic/activities is that critical thinking is not only for academic use, but can also be used in daily living (Criticalthinking.org). I plan to use the 9 strategies for critical thinking in everyday life to improve areas related to productivity in my academic and career activities as well as health and quality of life. Critical thinking can lead to realizations and inventions that can lead to advancements in the lives of individuals who produced them, the field of psychology, and the world at large. The modern technology which influences the lives of so many would not have existed without critical thinking, opened mindedness, and creativity. I am personally and professionally interested in creative and expressive arts, and took away the connections between media, creativity, and critical thinking.

When we see things in the media, the symbols, representations, and underlying meanings should also be considered. Sometimes consumers take images and messages presented in the media for face value, but the producers have strategically placed some of these things to influence and promote particular ideas, concepts, beliefs, and behaviors. The assignments from this week has helped me to think about how much is missed when consumers are passive or go with the flow of what is put forth in media, everyday experiences, and perceptions. I am more likely to really think about everything I come into contact with as well as the things I believe, feel, and do after learning more about the meaning of critical thinking.

Introduction...

Hello, I’m Yashica Holmes-Smith… and I have a background in Psychology. I have a B.A. in Psychology, and a M.S. in Applied Clinical Psychology. I’ve been a counselor for over 5 years. However, I’ve always been interested in arts, entertainment, and media; and planned to incorporate the arts in therapy. However, counseling /therapy is no longer a career goal for me. As I started thinking about my dissertation topic and my future career plans I realized how much my interests cohered with concepts of Media Psychology as opposed to clinical psychology.
I define media psychology as the study of the ways people interact with media (including print, images/photos, audio, video, literature, computers, games, etc.). My career plans include media psychology research to learn about ways of using media (music, film, photos, mass communication) to positively influence psychosocial factors, directing programs that allow people to use media, arts, and entertainment in ways that can be casually therapeutic, and producing documentaries featuring creative and expressive artists and their work. I am interested in studying the ways people (individually and socially) interact (cognitively, emotionally, and behaviorally) with different mediums of art and entertainment (as creator and/or consumer). I plan to focus on those aspects within my documentaries.