Critical Thinking Tutorial: Learning Outcomes

As the Illusion of Truth video illustrates, repeated exposure to information (as in the information shared on social media) can make it feel more true and familiar, leading to a sense of cognitive ease. Consider the opposite of cognitive ease. Cognitive strain (or dissonance) refers to the mental effort or discomfort experienced when processing complex or contradictory information. While a desire for cognitive ease helps us feel comfortable in daily decision-making, the lack of effort can also lead to errors in reasoning, confirmation bias and logical fallacies.

This module aims to highlight the cognitive effort, attention, and concentration required to think critically, that is, when encountering unfamiliar concepts, engaging in challenging cognitive tasks, or processing complex or contradictory information.

  Learning Outcomes

At the end of this module, you should be able to

• Analyze how logical fallacies can influence reasoning
• Identify the improper use of statistics and their misleading effects
• Recognize instances of biased reasoning and assess their impact
• Acknowledge the cognitive effort required to prevent errors in reasoning