Critical Thinking Habits of the Mind


	Critical Thinking Habits of the Mind

Scheffer and Rubenfeld state that critical thinking is an essential component of professional accountability. These also give critical thinking habits that can apply to any discipline. These habits are shown below.

Confidence	Assurance of one's reasoning abilities
Contextual Perspective	Consideration of the whole situation, including relationships, background, and environment, relevant to some happening
Creativity	Intellectual inventiveness used to generate, discover, or restructure ideas, imagining alternatives
Flexibility	Capacity to adapt, accommodate, modify, or change thoughts, ideas, and behaviors
Inquisitiveness	An eagerness to know by seeking knowledge and understanding through observation and thoughtful questioning in order to explore possibilities and alternatives
Intellectual Integrity	Process of seeking the truth through sincere, honest means, even if the results are contrary to one's assumptions and beliefs
Intuition	Insightful sense of knowing without conscious use of reason
Open-mindedness	A viewpoint characterized by being receptive to divergent views and sensitive to one's biases
Perseverance	Pursuit of a course with determination to overcome obstacles
Reflection	Contemplation of a subject, especially one's assumptions and thinking, for the purposes of deeper understanding and self-evaluation

Adapted from R. W. Paul, Critical Thinking (Santa Rosa, Calif.: Foundation for Critical Thinking, 1992).