Chapter 11 Think Reflectively Strategies for Decision Making

Chapter 11 Think Reflectively Strategies for Decision Making © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Dominance Structuring: a Fortress Of Conviction • Once human beings have made a decision: – They almost never change their minds • What Can We Learn from Popular Fiction? • “I Would Definitely Go to the Doctor” • Explaining and Defending Ourselves © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Dominance Structuring: a Fortress Of Conviction – Our thinking capacities helped us survive as a species through the many millennia when we: • Were anything but the most formidable species on the planet – Objectivity in decision making is something we prize © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Dominance Structuring: a Fortress Of Conviction – Objectivity can be very difficult for us when: • We already have a strongly held opinion on a given issue – A Poorly Crafted Assignment • The challenge for critical thinking is not unlike: – The problem of building a new house on a lot where an older house already stands © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Dominance Structuring: a Fortress Of Conviction – Moving from Decision to Action • Pro or Con Revisited • Poor Reflective Decisions – Phase 1: Pre-editing • Look for reasonable ways to make the decision easier and more efficient © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Dominance Structuring: a Fortress Of Conviction • Typically, we use the elimination by aspect heuristic and the satisficing heuristic to: – Make our work go more quickly – Phase 2: Identifying One Promising Option • Finding an alternative more attractive than the others on at least one critically important attribute © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Dominance Structuring: a Fortress Of Conviction – Phase 3: Testing the Promising Option • Having identified a promising option, we begin almost immediately to test it against other options • Typically, we focus on seeing whether our promising option has any salient disadvantages • Recalling One of Your Own Decisions © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Dominance Structuring: a Fortress Of Conviction – Phase 4: Fortifying the To-Be-Chosen Option • We restructure our appraisals of the options to achieve dominance of one option over the others • This restructuring can be more or less rational • The process of de-emphasizing, bolstering, trading off, and collapsing attributes • When is dominance structuring complete? © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Dominance Structuring: a Fortress Of Conviction • Map Your Own Arguments • Benefits and Risks of Dominance Structuring – Humans seek to establish a strong and enduring rationale for the belief that: • One alternative dominates over others © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Dominance Structuring: a Fortress Of Conviction • The Classic “O. J. Defense” Example – Our desire to achieve closure by making a decision – Our psychological capacity, whether it is logical and ethical or not: • To revisit and renegotiate every aspect of a decision to advance the to-be-chosen option © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Self-Regulation Critical Thinking Skill Strategies • Critical Thinking Precautions When Pre. Editing – Be Sure about “the Problem” – Specify the Decision-Critical Attributes – Be Clear about Why an Option Is In or Out • Critical Thinking Precautions When Identifying the Promising Option © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Self-Regulation Critical Thinking Skill Strategies – Scrutinize Options with Disciplined Impartiality – Listen to Both Sides First • Critical Thinking Precautions When Testing the Promising Option – Use All the Essential Criteria – Treat Equals as Equals © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Self-Regulation Critical Thinking Skill Strategies – Diligently Engage in Truth-Seeking and Remain Impartial • Critical Thinking Precautions When Fortifying the To-Be-Chosen Option – Be Honest with Yourself • Critical Thinking Strategies for Better Decision Making © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Self-Regulation Critical Thinking Skill Strategies – Task Independent Teams with the Same Problem – Decide When It’s Time to Decide – Analyze Indicators and Make Mid-Course Corrections – Create a Culture of Respect for Critical Thinking © 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.