KXEX 2163

THINKING & COMMUNICATION SKILLS

LECTURE 1:
Comm. Skills
By:
Dr. Narendra Kumar, Dr.-Ing
(Germany), SMIEEE (USA),
FIET (UK)
Department of Electrical Engineering

Critical Thinking Communication

Skills (KXEX2163)
What is Critical Thinking?
How Critical Thinking relates to your Communication
Skills?
Method of Delivery?
Lecture (1 hour) , Group Discussion and interactive
Session (2 hours)
Assessment Methods?
Continuous Assessment (Individual and Group):100%
with No Examination:0%

Critical Thinking Communication

Skills (KXEX2163)
Learning Outcomes?
Recognize the ways words and phrases are
used to convey a message.
Recognize the method of thinking critically
Use different thinking methods to solve a
problem
Present ideas convincingly and work in group
Point out the importance of knowledge in
contemporary issues.

Critical Thinking Communication

Skills (KXEX2163)
What is Critical Thinking?

You show me yours and then Ill show

you mine
You first: What do you think it is?

Language,
clarity
thought

precisio
What
exactly
n

Accurate,

accurac
timely
y
information

Dont get
distracted
relevancby
e
irrelevant
issue.

Critical Thinking:
A
wide
range
of
cognitive skills and
intellectual
dispositions needed to
effectively
identify,
analyze, and evaluate
arguments and truth
claims, to discover and
overcome
personal
prejudices and biases,
to
formulate
and
present
convincing
reasons in support of
conclusions, and to
make
reasonable,
intelligent
decisions
about what to believe
and what to do.

Logical
consiste&
n-cy
Practical

Logical
To reason
Correctcorrectly
ness

Deep rather
than shallow,
Complet
thorough
e-ness
rather that
superficial
Openminded,
impartial,
free of
fairness
distorting
bias,
preconceptio

Egocentrism
Tendency to see reality as
centered on oneself.
Selfish, self-absorbed
people who view their
own interests, ideas and
values as superior to
everyone elses
i. Self-interested
Thinking
ii. Self-serving Bias

Unwarranted
Assumptions and
Stereotypes
Take for granted,
something we believe to
be true without any proof
or conclusive evidence.

Barriers to
Critical
Thinking

Sociocentrism
Group-centered thinking.
i. Group Bias
ii. Conformism

Wishful thinking
Believing something not
because of good
evidence for it but simply
because you wished it
were true.

Relativistic thinking
assumes that truth is just
a matter of opinion.
1. Subjectivism
2. Cultural relativism

In a 1989 international study of 13-year-olds, Koreans

finished first in mathematics and Americans finished
last.
Yet when asked whether they thought they were "good
at mathematics," only 23 percent of Koreans said "yes,"
compared to 68 percent of Americans.

Based on what you have learned in this chapter, which

critical thinking hindrance do the American youngsters in
this study demonstrate?

In a 1989 international study of 13-year-olds, Koreans

finished first in mathematics and Americans finished
last.
Yet when asked whether they thought they were "good
at mathematics," only 23 percent of Koreans said "yes,"
compared to 68 percent of Americans.

Egocentrism.
Egocentrism is self-centered thinking. Chapter 1
discusses two major forms of egocentrism: self-interested
thinking and self-serving bias.
Which form of egocentrism do the American students
exhibit: self-interested thinking or self-serving bias?

In a 1989 international test of 13-year-olds, Koreans

finished first in mathematics and Americans finished
last.
Yet when asked whether they thought they were "good
at mathematics," only 23 percent of Koreans said "yes,"
compared to 68 percent of Americans.

Self-serving bias
Self-serving bias is the tendency to overrate oneself--to
be overly confident of one's knowledge, abilities, or good
fortune.
The American students in this study certainly don't lack
"self-esteem." What they do lack is a proper sense of how
little they know about mathematics.

Muhammad Ali [speaking in Zaire, Africa]: "There's no

country as great as the smallest city in America. I mean
[here in Zaire] you can't watch television. The water won't
even run right. The toilets won't flush. The roads, the
cars--there's nothing as great as America."

Sociocentrism
Sociocentrism is group-centered thinking, i.e., thinking
that is excessively influenced by group standards of
conduct or belief.
Chapter 1 discusses two major forms of sociocentrism:
group bias and conformism.
What form of sociocentrism does Ali display in this
passage: group bias or the herd conformism?

Muhammad Ali [speaking in Zaire, Africa]: "There's no

country as great as the smallest city in America. I mean
[here in Zaire] you can't watch television. The water won't
even run right. The toilets won't flush. The roads, the
cars--there's nothing as great as America."

Group bias
Group bias is the tendency to think more highly of one's
nation, race, school, family, or other social group than is
warranted by the evidence.
In saying, for example, that "there's no country as great as
the smallest city in America," Ali is clearly overstating the
comparative virtues of his own country, and thus is guilty
of group bias.

Sexually active bisexual: Ill never get AIDS. Im a very

intuitive person. I would sense it if someone had
something as degenerative as the AIDS virus.

Based on your reading of this chapter, what critical

thinking hindrance does this person exhibit?

Sexually active bisexual: Ill never get AIDS. Im a very

intuitive person. I would sense it if someone had
something as degenerative as the AIDS virus.
Wishful thinking
Wishful thinking occurs when a person believes that
something is true, not because they have good reasons for
the belief, but because they wish it were true.
Persons who engage in risky sexual activity often kid
themselves in thinking, It wont happen to me.
Notice that this is also a case of self-serving bias. This
person is overly confident of his or her ability to know
intuitively when a potential sexual partner has the AIDS
virus.

Ed: My friend Dirk is a college sophomore at a state

university in upstate New York. He is blonde, loves surfing,
and has a very laid-back personality.
Mary: I bet hes from California.

What critical thinking hindrance does Mary exhibit?

Ed: My friend Dirk is a college sophomore at a state

university in upstate New York. He is blonde, loves surfing,
and has a very laid-back personality.
Mary: I bet hes from California.

Stereotyping
Having blonde hair, enjoying surfing, and having a laidback personality are qualities people stereotypically
associate with Californians--and this despite the fact that a
majority of Californians are not Caucasians. But of course
many people who are not from California also have these
three qualities. And given that Dirk attends a state
university in upstate New York, it is unlikely, in fact, that he
comes from California.

Liz: I can't believe I got a B- on this marketing paper. My

friend Jill turned in this same paper in a different
marketing class last semester, and she got an A.
Bob: Don't you realize it's wrong to plagiarize someone
else's work?
Liz: That's your opinion. What's wrong for one person isn't
necessarily wrong for another, and I say there's nothing
wrong with plagiarism--as long as you don't get caught.

Based on your reading of this chapter, which critical

thinking hindrance does Liz exhibit?

Relativistic thinking
Relativistic thinking is thinking that assumes
that truth is just a matter of opinion.
Chapter 1 discusses two major forms of
relativistic thinking: subjectivism and cultural
relativism.
Which type of relativism does Liz apparently
accept?

Subjectivism
Subjectivism is the idea that truth is just a
matter of individual opinion. In other words,
what is truth for an individual is whatever that
individual believes is true.
Cultural relativism is the idea that truth is a
matter of societal opinion. In other words,
what is true for an individual is whatever his
or her society believes is true.

Notice that both forms of relativism make it pretty much

impossible to engage in any serious critical thinking.
According to subjectivism, there is no point in trying to
develop thoughtful, well-substantiated beliefs, because no
matter what beliefs you hold, those beliefs will be true for
you.
Likewise, if cultural relativism were true, there would be
no point in trying to base your beliefs on evidence and
good reasoning--in fact, it would be wrong to do so,
because that might lead you to question society's
prevailing beliefs. And according to cultural relativism, it is
always wrong for a person to question his or her society's
beliefs, because those beliefs are always TRUE!