Critical thinking is a valuable skill in all situations. Whether you’re a student, entrepreneur, or manager, it allows you to make better decisions and solve problems.
However, developing critical thinking exercises isn’t always easy. Many tools, techniques, and strategies exist, and choosing the most relevant ones can be complex. Vague online suggestions, such as “read more,” are of little use, and overly elaborate business examples are not applicable to most of us.
As problem-solvers, we need practical thinking exercises to improve our critical thinking and optimize our thought processes. Regularly practicing exercises that specifically stimulate our decision-making and reasoning is the most effective way to develop our cognitive abilities.
This article presents several exercises to develop your critical thinking exercises. Whether you’re preparing for an exam, making an important business decision, or managing your daily life, these engaging activities will develop your reasoning and creativity in problem-solving.
Improve your logical reasoning and develop critical thinking exercises with these 10 exercises.
Overview of Critical Thinking
As a reflective student, you probably already understand the basics of critical thinking, but here’s a quick refresher.
Critical thinking involves analyzing problems and issues objectively and rationally. People who practice critical thinking are able to understand their own biases and assumptions, as well as those of others. They can also consider the world from a different perspective and understand how their experiences influence their thinking.
Developing critical thinking exercises is essential because it allows us to consider things from multiple perspectives, identify biases and flawed reasoning, and open ourselves up to potential solutions. Making informed decisions is easier when we better understand the world around us.
Why practice critical thinking?
We are not born with critical thinking exercises, and this ability does not develop naturally beyond survival instincts. Mastering critical thinking requires practice and gradual development.
However, learning to think critically is not as simple as learning to ride a bicycle. There is no step-by-step method or practical guide, and this instruction is neither systematic nor reliable in public schools. To ensure student success, teachers must understand high-level thinking skills (HLS) and know how to teach them, as research demonstrates.
Unfortunately, while teachers understand the importance of HLS and strive to teach them, studies show that their ability to assess them is limited. Dr. Kulvarn Atwal, an educator and author, states, “It seems we are succeeding in producing students who can overcome obstacles and pass exams.”
While critical thinking is becoming increasingly important in higher grades, some students struggle to grasp the concept. To develop the necessary thinking skills, it is essential to question our preconceived ideas and beliefs. This allows us to explore and examine subjects from a fresh perspective and to distinguish facts from opinions.
7 critical thinking exercises to improve your skills
The good news is that by evaluating, analyzing, and interpreting our thought processes, we can improve our skills. Critical thinking exercises are essential for this improvement. Our critical thinking develops and refines itself with regular practice, like a muscle that strengthens with use.
If you want to develop your critical thinking exercises, here are a few exercises to try:
Exercise #1: The Inference Ladder
You can practice your critical thinking using the Inference Ladder model. This model was developed by the renowned organizational psychologist Chris Argyris. Each rung on the ladder represents a step in the process leading to your conclusions.
The decision-making process begins when we are faced with a problem or situation. As soon as we observe something problematic or important, we assume it is the cause and, based on this assumption, we draw conclusions. It is on the basis of these conclusions that we act.
For example, imagine you’re at a party and you see a friend across the room. You look them in the eye and greet them, but they turn away and walk off. Using the ladder analogy, you could climb the rungs as follows:
- You notice your friend walking away.
- You analyze some details of the situation, including your greeting and your assumption that they saw you.
- The context allows you to interpret the situation, leading you to think that your friend must have other people to talk to at the party.
- You deduce that your friend doesn’t like you as much as they do.
- You draw conclusions from this assumption and deduce that your friend is angry with you or doesn’t want you at the party.
- You conclude that you’re not welcome.
- You take action and leave the party.
In this example, you started with a situation (someone walking away from a crowded party) and made a series of inferences to arrive at a conclusion (that this person is angry with you and doesn’t want you there).
The inference ladder can be a valuable tool for structuring your thinking, as it encourages you to examine each step of your reasoning and avoid jumping to conclusions. It’s easy to make assumptions without realizing it, as in this example. Your friend may not have even seen you wave to them from across the crowded room.
Exercise #2: The 5 Whys Method
The “5 Whys” technique is an analytical method that can help you identify the root cause of a problem. Created by Sakichi Toyoda, the founder of Toyota, this method involves repeatedly asking yourself “why?” when a problem arises, in order to determine its root cause.
This exercise can be challenging, as it’s sometimes difficult to know if you’ve found the root cause of the problem. The “five” in “5 Whys” is just a guideline; you may need to ask more questions. When you can’t ask any more questions and your answer relates to the initial problem, you’ve probably reached the end.
Even if several rounds of questioning are necessary, persevere. The key to critical thinking lies in the ability to ask “why?” and identify the root causes of a situation.
For example, imagine you’re trying to understand why your computer keeps crashing.
- You ask yourself “why?” and the answer is that there’s a software problem.
- Why? Because the computer is constantly running out of memory.
- Why? Because too many programs are running simultaneously.
- Why? Because too many tabs are open in your browser.
- Why? Because multitasking is distracting; you’re doing too many things at once.
In this example, analyzing the “whys” revealed the underlying cause. Therefore, you can find the best solution: focus on one thing at a time.
Exercise #3: Investment
The inversion exercise is another critical thinking exercise applicable to all situations. It’s a bit like playing devil’s advocate. In this exercise, you adopt the opposing viewpoint on the topic you’re exploring and examine the possible arguments in its favor. This will allow you to broaden your critical thinking and gain a clearer understanding of other perspectives on a situation or topic.
For example, suppose you’re considering starting a business. Through the inversion exercise, you would explore all the possible arguments explaining why starting a business would be a bad idea. This might include concerns such as:
- You could go into debt.
- The business could go bankrupt.
- It’s a lot of work.
- You might not have enough time for other things.
By exploring these possible negative consequences, you can identify the potential risks of starting your own business and make a more informed decision. You might realize that now isn’t the right time to start a business. And if you decide to give it a try, you’ll be better prepared to deal with the problems you’ve identified when they arise.
Exercise #4: Argument Outline
The argument outline is a beneficial exercise for developing critical thinking exercises. Like mind maps, it allows you to visually represent the structure of an argument. It facilitates the analysis and evaluation of ideas, as well as the development of new ones.
In critical thinking textbooks, the argument outline is often presented to introduce students to argumentative constructions. It is an effective way to create mental maps or plans for argumentative structures, which, according to researchers, can facilitate critical evaluation.
An argument outline typically includes the following elements:
- Conclusion: What is being argued or refuted
- Premises: The reasons given to support the conclusion
- Inferences: The connections established between the premises and the conclusion
The argument outline should be as clear and concise as possible, with each element represented by a single word or phrase. This will make it easier to establish connections. Once the outline is complete, it can be used to identify weaknesses in the argument. If a point is insufficiently supported, additional premises can be added.
Structuring arguments can be applied to any situation requiring critical thinking. The more time you dedicate to developing an argument, the better you will understand how its elements fit together. Ultimately, this will allow you to think more creatively and critically, and to make more informed decisions.
Exercise 5: Opinion vs. Fact
Critical thinking activities focusing on opinions and facts provide particularly valuable and relevant learning opportunities. In our hyper-connected world, it is easy to confuse opinions and facts, especially with sensationalist news and clickbait headlines.
How can you distinguish a fact from an opinion? Facts are generally objective and established, while opinions are subjective and unverified. For example, “There’s a cloud in the air” is a fact. “That dress looks good on you” is an opinion.
Develop your critical thinking exercises by reading or listening to the news. Try to identify when someone is expressing an opinion rather than a fact. Ask yourself the following questions:
- Who is saying what? What reasons might justify these statements?
- Is this statement plausible? Who might dispute it and why?
- How can you tell if the facts are reliable? Can they be verified? Have they been reported by other credible media outlets?
- How can you tell if the presenter is biased? What kind of language is being used?
This effective exercise can train you to question any new claim. This will help you critically analyze the information you receive and challenge what you hear before accepting it as true.
Exercise #6: Object Autonomy
In her book “The Critical Thinking Tool Kit,” Dr. Marlene Caroselli describes a critical thinking exercise called “Living Problems, Living Solutions.” This exercise uses the autonomy of an object as a tool for problem-solving and finding possible solutions.
To do this, you will personify your problem and place it in a different context: another place or another time. This will allow you to discover original solutions to the problem, potentially linked to your mental associations with this new environment.
For example, if your problem is poor time management, you could personify it as a thief stealing your time. The idea of ​​a thief might make you think of a prison, which could motivate you to isolate certain distractions from your life. The idea of ​​a prison might also make you think of guards and lead you to consider the solution of speaking to a responsible colleague who can help you stick to your schedule.
The object autonomy technique works because it stimulates reflections that you wouldn’t have thought of without the specific context in which the problem is presented.
Exercise #7: The Six Thinking Hats
Developed by Edward de Bono, the Six Thinking Hats method is a critical thinking exercise that allows groups to explore different perspectives on a topic. Using different modes of thinking can make meetings more difficult than beneficial.
To help teams work more productively and mindfully, de Bono suggests categorizing different thinking styles into six groups, represented by hats:
- The white hat symbolizes objectivity and focuses on facts and logic.
- The red hat represents intuition and focuses on emotions and instinct.
- The black hat symbolizes caution and anticipates negative outcomes.
- The yellow hat symbolizes optimism and encourages positive results.
- The green hat symbolizes creativity, generating many ideas and offering little criticism.
- The blue hat represents control and is used for management and organization.
With each team member wearing a different hat, the group can examine a problem from multiple perspectives, preventing any single viewpoint (or person) from dominating the meeting or discussion. This means that decisions and solutions reached using the Six Thinking Hats method are likely to be more robust and effective, and everyone’s creativity will benefit.
Train your brain with critical thinking exercises.
Regularly practicing critical thinking in various situations can improve our ability to evaluate and analyze information. These seven critical thinking exercises train your brain to develop better critical thinking exercises. With daily practice, they can become habits that will help you think more critically every day.