Critical Thinking (Psyc 401) - Winter 2013

YOU WILL LEARN HOW TO APPLY THE 7 STEPS OF CRITICAL THINKING TO LIFE: 
1) What am I being asked to believe or accept?
2) What evidence is available to support the claim?
3) What alternative ways are there to interpret the evidence?
4) Rate all the evidence/alternatives on a 0-10 scale based on validity/strength
5) What assumptions or biases came up when doing the above steps?
(e.g., naïve realism; personal validation; confirmation bias; hindsight bias; illusory correlation)
6) What additional evidence would help us evaluate the alternatives?
7) What conclusions are most reasonable or likely?
                                                                                   (Burke, Kraus, & Sears, 2013)

Dr. Brian Burke HOW TO MANAGE YOUR OWN               
Brian's Schedule PROCRASTINATION
The Foundation for Critical Thinking

That's using your brain...
Critical thinking means finding and evaluating evidence to guide your decision making.

COURSE SYLLABUS  |  |  GRADES  |  FLC PSYCH DEPT  |  FLC DIRECTORY

The Universe and
Carl Sagan (article)

VIDEOS:
Amazing Homeopathy
An Honest Liar:
James Randi
Happiness Science
Science Denial
Climate Change
Force Trainer
Lie Detection
Placebo Surgery
(research article)

Upcoming Readings/Events

TOGETHER WE WILL PLANT OUR TREE OF CT!
Teaching others how to think critically at the Durango Discovery Museum (2013 demo list/schedule)
Reading about critical thinking topics in Science & Pseudoscience in Clinical Psychology book and articles below
Examining real-world claims made by local citizens (via your class PROJECT)
Evaluating others’ critical thinking via Science Fair or Destination Imagination judging + experiment consulting

CHOOSE ONE EVENT TO JUDGE by mid-January: The San Juan Regional Science Fair (March 7th), local science fair in Mancos (January 18th), Bayfield (January 22nd), or Durango (Miller Middle, March 1st) or Destination Imagination (Durango, March 23rd). EMAIL LYNN SCHNEIDER at lschneider@sjboces.org to inform her of which event you want to judge; include your name, email address, the event you will judge, and your specialty area (e.g., "I am a psychology major at FLC with an interest in...")

WEEK	TOPIC/TASK	LOCATION or READING
1/7/13	What is critical thinking?	Class syllabus
1/14/13	The Multiple Personality Controversy	Chapters 1 and 5
1/21/13	New Age Treatments	Chapter 7 + Hakomi (read theory + testimonials)
1/25/13	First visit to Durango Discovery Museum	1333 Camino del Rio, Durango, CO
1/28/13	How to Recover from Life Trauma	Chapter 9 + EMDR
2/4/13	Treatments for Alcohol & Substances	Chapter 10 + MI (watch 1 video + read 1 pdf) + Your museum DEMO
2/11/13	Pills vs. Herbs: Depression & Beyond	Chapter 11 + Drugs + FLC + SciAm
2/18/13	Autism: Treatments and Controversies	Chapter 13 + AutismVac + Treat + SciAm + 10 minute video (Larry King)
2/25/13	Media and Self-Help Psychology	Chapter 14 + DrPhil + 2 Johns + 7 minute video (Tony Robbins)
2/22/13	2nd visit to Durango Discovery Museum - PRESENT DEMOS TO STAFF! (2/20 - In class Practice)
3/11/13	CT in game shows and sports	Deal or No Deal research + Scorecasting excerpt + Moneyball
3/18/13	CT of religion	Prayer + God + TMT + 2-min radio clip (+optional: TMT study)
3/20/13	Consult with FLC human physiology lab students (~25 students with experiments in groups) on their research!	From 2-3 PM in Berndt 2410
3/25/13	CT of psychic & paranormal	ESPmeta + Psi 2012 + J. Edward + video (watch 1st segment)
4/1/13	CT in your life and relationships	Gottman reading (blog) + 10-min video + DO Map activity
4/8/13	CT in predictions: Elections et al.	"Poll Quants" articles + 6-min video + March Mad + College
4/15/13	CT of Near Death Experiences +  CT class Wrap-UP	NDE + Kahneman excerpt + CT research +  CT post-test

Regional Science Fair
Science Fair Judge Form

Key Project Resources:

PROJECT QUESTIONS

Herald UFO article
Psychic Readings
Spiritual Coaching
Haunted Durango
Paranormal Investigators
(tel. 970-403-4616)
Bayfield Graphologist
Mercy Reiki & Others
Mercy Healing Touch
Local Autism Treatment
Durango Atheist Group