Obstacles to Critical Thinking

No one in Collin’s circle of friends likes rap music. They all say that it sounds like noise; it has no melody and it takes no talent to produce, they claim. Personally, Collin tends to like rap, and he thinks that a lot of skill and knowledge would have to go into producing something that complex. But if everyone else hates it, he reasons that he is probably wrong, so he eventually convinces himself to hate rap too.

• Conformity
• Denial
• Avoidance
• Confirmation Bias

Jeannette has an upcoming exam in anatomy and physiology. It will cover the four chapters read and discussed over the last month. Jeannette hasn’t studied. Though there are well over 200 terms she will be expected to remember, Jeannette knows that her memory is great. She will remember the terms just from having heard them mentioned in class. After all, because of her excellent memory, she got through high school without studying. Despite her faith in her memory, her lack of studying results in an F on the exam.

• Attribution Mistake
• Rationalizing
• Wishful Thinking
• Memory Error

Paul’s girlfriend goes out of town for the week with her friends. While she is away, Paul runs into Gina, a girl he has had a crush on for several years. Gina asks Paul to “hang-out” on Friday. Paul knows that if he does, his girlfriend will be upset. His girlfriend knows about Paul’s crush on Gina. Paul says yes to Gina; after all, if Paul’s girlfriend cared, she would have invited him on her vacation. Plus, Paul thinks, she was not nice to him before she left. So, according to Paul, it’s really his girlfriend’s fault. If his girlfriend had been a better girlfriend, he wouldn’t be tempted to hang-out with Gina.

• Conformity
• Avoidance
• Denial
• Rationalizing

Jeff finds himself in class with Jose, an acquaintance who knows some of Jeff’s friends. His friends don’t really like Jose, but Jeff has never met him before. While in class, he notes that Jose raises his hand and confidently answers a few questions. He doesn’t pay attention to all the times Jose doesn’t raise his head to answers questions. Jeff concludes that Jose is a know-it- all and so Jeff decides he doesn’t like Jose.

• Rationalization
• Attribution Mistake
• Conformity
• Confirmation Bias

Deondra is terrified (and secretly thrilled) by ghosts. Her friend Cherise tells her that if ghosts are immaterial (can’t be touched), then there is no way that they can hurt someone, and if they can be touched, then they can be hurt themselves. So Cherise tells Deondra not to be afraid of ghosts. Deondra tells her that she shouldn’t be such a closed-minded skeptic. From that point on, Deondra steers clear of Cherise.

• Avoidance
• Anger
• Denial
• Conformity

While at dinner, Mary began to tell the story about how her little sister threw a temper tantrum in Disney World when they were very young.  Mary blamed her little sister for ruining the day in Magic Kingdom and stated that the family was having a great time until her sister had a meltdown.  Mary’s little sister spoke up and defended herself, stating that she threw the tantrum because Mary had taken her ice cream cone and had thrown it on the ground for no reason.  Mary denied the charges.  The issue was resolved when their mother pulled out a picture of Mary snatching the ice cream cone from her sister and a subsequent picture of Mary laughing while her sister cried.  Mary is exhibiting:

• Anger
• Memory Errors
• Denial
• Rationalizing

Whenever Stephanie’s husband came to visit, he always steered the conversation to politics. Even though he knew her family were all staunch liberals, he would always bash the Democrats’ policies and laws.  During the most recent family dinner, Stephanie’s husband began his bashing once again.  Stephanie’s father got up and left the table.  Stephanie’s father is exhibiting:

• Anger
• Avoidance
• Confirmation Bias
• Attribution Mistake

Casey is an avid Yankees fan.  Joel is an avid Phillies fan.  The Phillies and Yankees both were chasing the same hotshot new pitcher.  Although the Yankees offered the pitcher more money, he decided to sign with the Phillies.  Joel and Casey began to argue about the transaction.  Joel claimed that there are other factors other than money and playing for an iconic team.  Casey would not hear Joel’s reasoning.  Instead, Casey began to turn red.  He clenched his fist and banged it on the table so hard that the glasses started to rattle.  Casey began shouting at Joel, yelling that Joel didn’t know what he was talking about. Casey is exhibiting:

• Avoidance
• Rationalizing
• Conformity
• Anger