Written Assignment 1

From the first two modules of this course, we have learned that explicit strategies are crucial for us to solve problems, reach conclusion, and become generally stronger in critical thinking. In contrast, there is a wealth of research showing the human capacity of “thinking without explicitly thinking.” The Science article by Bechara, Damasio, Tranel, and Damasio (1997) was a seminal contribution to this line of work. In the paper, you will compare the approach of critical thinking (as learned so far in this course) with the idea proposed in Bechara et al. (1997) and then reconcile the two.

Bechara, A., Damasio, H., Tranel, D., & Damasio, A. R. (1997). Deciding advantageously before knowing the advantageous strategy. Science, 275(5304), 1293-1295.

Instruction:

1. Find the article cited above and read it.

2. Summarize the main idea proposed by the authors of that article.

3. Contrast the main idea of that article with the approaches we have learned to clarify and analyze information in the first two modules in this course.

4. How would you reconcile the two approaches in your quest to become a strong critical thinker?

5. At least one additional scholarly article should be cited along with Bechara et al. (1997) and the textbook (Facione & Gittens, 2016).

6. The paper should be between 800 to 1000 words, and meets the standards of APA style.