Critical and creative thinking for life experience and career success

The first edition of The Pearson Guide to Critical and Creative Thinking provides students with the tools, techniques, and strategies for thinking both critically and creatively. A toolbox for higher-order analytical and imaginative thinking, readers practice critical and creative thinking by applying learned theories to examples, demonstrations, and exercises. Exercises involve both individual and collaborative critical and creative thinking applications across academic disciplines, as well as in personal and professional career contexts. The clear and easy to follow writing style makes concepts and theories accessible to all students, especially in the foundational chapters. Later chapters enable students to exercise their reasoning skills and judgment by generating ideas and applying what they’ve learned.

Dr. Robert DiYanni is a professor of humanities at New York University, where he teaches literature, writing, interdisciplinary humanities, and critical/creative thinking. Professor DiYanni holds a B.A. in English from Rutgers University and a Ph.D. in English Language and Literature from The City University of New York. He has lectured and conducted workshops on critical and creative thinking in twenty countries, including Canada, China, England, France, Germany, Mexico, and the US. Among his many books are Literature: Reading Fiction, Poetry, and Drama; Modern American Poets: Their Voices and Visions; Modern American Prose; Writing about the Humanities; and Arts and Culture: An Introduction to the Humanities. This last book formed the basis for a series of lectures given with co-author, Janetta Benton, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Prior to coming to NYU, Dr. DiYanni taught at Queens College CUNY, Pace University, and as a Visiting Professor at Harvard University. He has also served as Senior Director of International Services at The College Board, and as Director of Arts and Aesthetic Education for the Scarsdale, NY public schools.

In This Section:

I) Brief Table of Contents

II) Detailed Table of Contents

I) Brief Table of Contents

PART ONE - INTRODUCING CRITICAL AND CREATIVE THINKING

Chapter 1. Developing Critical Thinking

Chapter 2. Developing Creative Thinking

PART TWO - CRITICAL THINKING: ANALYSIS

Chapter 3. Analyzing Language

Chapter 4. Analyzing Images

Chapter 5. Thinking, Reading, Writing

PART THREE - CRITICAL THINKING: ARGUMENT

Chapter 6. Reasoning Well: Sound Thinking

Chapter 7. Reasoning Badly: Thinking Fallacies

Chapter 8. Analyzing and Constructing Arguments

PART FOUR - CREATIVE THINKING: GENERATING IDEAS

Chapter 9. Parallel Thinking and Lateral Thinking

Chapter 10. Finding Ideas Through Imaginative Thinking

Chapter 11. Creative Whacks and Thinkertoys

PART FIVE - CREATIVE THINKING: APPLICATIONS AND EXPLORATIONS

Chapter 12. Thinking about Design

Chapter 13. Thinking about Innovation

Chapter 14. Thinking about Technology and Information

II) Detailed Table of Contents

PART ONE - INTRODUCING CRITICAL AND CREATIVE THINKING

Chapter 1. Developing Critical Thinking

Learning Goals

Chapter Overview

Focusing Questions

What is Critical Thinking?

Habits of Mind

Overcoming Obstacles to Thinking

A Model for Critical Thinking

Thinking about Thinking: How We Know What We Know

Focus on Perception: Perception and Knowledge

Being Wrong

Intuitions and Rationalizations

The Pleasures and Benefits of Error

The Perspective of Philosophy

Looking Back and Looking Ahead

Resources

Chapter 2. Developing Creative Thinking

Learning Goals

Chapter Overview

Focusing Questions

What is Creative Thinking?

Seeking Alternatives and Possibilities

Broadening Perception

Reversing Relationships

Cross-Fertilization

Shifting Attention

Denying the Negative, Pursuing the Possible

The Eight Commandments of Ideation

SCAMPER

The Creative Habit

Developing Creative Confidence

Idea Killers and Idea Growers

Creative Questioning

Looking Back and Looking Ahead

Resources

PART TWO - CRITICAL THINKING: ANALYSIS

Chapter 3. Analyzing Language

Learning Goals

Chapter Overview

Focusing Questions

Language Saturation

Words

The Prevalence of Metaphor

Language and Thought

Reports, Inferences, and Judgments

Language and Critical Analysis

An Approach to Analysis

Looking Back and Looking Ahead

Resources

Chapter 4. Analyzing Images

Learning Goals

Chapter Overview

Focusing Questions

The Prevalence and Power of Images

Image, Icon, Symbol, Sign

The Vocabulary of Comics

Images with Words: Analyzing an Advertisement

Observations and Analysis: Allen Edmonds Shoe Ad

Images, Ideas and Emotion

Comparing Representational and Abstract Images

A Graphic Novel: Shaun Tan’s The Arrival

Two Powerful Images

Moving Images: The Power of Movies

The Attraction of Movies

Looking Back and Looking Ahead

Resources

Chapter 5. Thinking, Reading, Writing

Learning Goals

Chapter Overview

Focusing Questions

Why Read?

The Pleasures of Reading

Kinds of Reading

Why Write?

The Pleasures of Writing

Kinds of Writing

Active Reading

The Interpretive Impulse

An Approach to Reading and Writing

Summarizing and Paraphrasing

Evaluation—Judging and Considering Values

Writing to Evaluate a Text

The Value of Reading

Digital Reading

Looking Back and Looking Ahead

Resources

PART THREE - CRITICAL THINKING: ARGUMENT

Chapter 6. Reasoning Well: Sound Thinking

Learning Goals

Chapter Overview

Focusing Questions

The Pervasiveness of Argument

What is an Argument?

Argument Basics: Claims, Evidence, Assumptions

Argument and Implications

Going Further Into Evidence: Claims, Warrants, Backing

Inductive and Deductive Reasoning

Syllogisms and Argument

Argument and Authority

Argument and Analogy

Argument and Causality

Looking Back and Looking Ahead

Resources

Chapter 7. Reasoning Badly: Thinking Fallacies

Learning Goals

Chapter Overview

Focusing Questions

How Thinking Goes Wrong

Fallacies—Errors in Reasoning

Looking Back and Looking Ahead

Resources

Chapter 8. Analyzing and Constructing Arguments

Learning Goals

Chapter Overview

Focusing Questions

Analyzing Arguments

Logic and Rhetoric

Logos, Ethos, Pathos

Argument and Eloquence—“Letter from Birmingham Jail”

Constructing Arguments

Guidelines for Constructing an Argument

Argument and the Classical Oration

Rogerian Argument

Cultural Relativism

Looking Back and Looking Ahead

Resources

PART FOUR - CREATIVE THINKING: GENERATING IDEAS

Chapter 9. Parallel Thinking and Lateral Thinking

Learning Goals

Chapter Overview

Focusing Questions

Thinking Tools

Six Thinking Hats

Lateral Thinking

Concepts

Essences

Concepts as Cognitive Tools

Looking Back and Looking Ahead

Resources

Chapter 10. Finding Ideas Through Imaginative Thinking

Learning Goals

Chapter Overview

Focusing Questions

The Priority of Imagination

Imagination First: Unlocking Possibility

Why Imagination?

Imagination, Creativity, Innovation

Capacities for Imaginative Thinking

Raising Your Imagination Quotient

The Limits of Imagination

What is an Idea?

Why Ideas are Important

How to Get Ideas

Creation and Destruction

Looking Back and Looking Ahead

Resources

Chapter 11. Creative Whacks and Thinkertoys

Learning Goals

Chapter Overview

Focusing Questions

Creative Whacks

Explorer, Artist, Judge, Warrior

Thinkertoys

Using Paradox

Combining Things

Thinking the Unthinkable

Walt Disney—Dreamer, Realist, Critic

Looking Back and Looking Ahead

Resources

PART FIVE - CREATIVE THINKING: APPLICATIONS AND EXPLORATIONS

Chapter 12. Thinking about Design

Learning Goals

Chapter Overview

Focusing Questions

What We Talk About When We Talk About Design

Design and Everyday Life

The Design of Processes

Good and Bad Design

Levels of Design

Design and Human Behavior

Designing for Error

Paradoxes of Design

Principles of Design

Design Constraints and Compromises

Anti-Design

Design Thinking

Design, Art, and Society

Design and Truth

Looking Back and Looking Ahead

Resources

Chapter 13. Thinking about Innovation

Learning Goals

Chapter Overview

Focusing Questions

What is Innovation?

Principles of Innovation

Conditions of Innovation

Innovation and Resonance

Innovation Myths and Innovation Drivers

Inadvertent Discoveries

Achieving Insights

Group and Solo Innovation

Where Good Ideas Come From

Creating Innovators

Zig-Zag Innovation

Social Innovation

What Thwarts Innovation?

Balancing Innovation Factors

Looking Back and Looking Ahead

Resources

Chapter 14. Thinking about Technology and Information

Learning Goals

Chapter Overview

Focusing Questions

The Power and Promise of Technology

The Internet and Responsibility

Into the Electronic Millennium

Technology Education

Technopoly

Technology and Ethics

Social Networking

Does Facebook Reduce Life to a Data Base?

The Implications of Artificial Intelligence

Technology and Our Brains

Digital Citizenship

Technology and Information

The River of Knowledge

The Trustworthiness of Information

Big Data

Information, Privacy, and Political Control

Information, Meaning, and Knowledge

Looking Back and Looking Ahead

Resources

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