University of Phoenix Material

Stages of Critical Thinking

Part 1: Stages of Critical Thinking

Complete the matrix by identifying the four beginning stages of critical thinking as detailed in Critical Thinking.

|Stages of critical thinking |Stage description |
|Unreflective Thinker |Have no useful concept of what thinking entails. They do not notice that they are |
| |making assumptions, forming concepts, drawing conclusions. In this stage we do not |
| |know how to analyze and assess our thinking. You cannot determine whether our purposes|
| |are clearly formulated, assumptions justified and if our conclusions are logically |
| |drawn. They are not aware of intellectual traits and do not embody them. In this stage|
| |we lack intellectual traits but are unaware we lack them. We create and maintain |
| |pleasant illusions. We make decisions, react to people, go out way in life and never |
| |questions our thinking. We lack the skills and motivation to notice how self- centered|
| |and prejudiced we are, how we stereotype others, we frequently dismiss ideas because |
| |we do not want to change our behavior or our ways of looking at things. |
| |(Elder & Paul, 2012) |
|Challenged Thinker |In this stage we begin