We have learned that there are three stages of cognitive development: Dualism, Relativism and Commitment.
How do these stages affect one’s development of critical thinking skills? You may describe these stages in relation to a new college student and how the underlying process of each stage may manifest or appear. Do these stages maintain this order of sequence or can they vary depending on situations? Give at least one example.
Ruth M.
ReplyDeletePhil-250
This is a very interesting topic. Dualism is the first stage. Dualistic thinkers often see things from outside the box and look to authority figures for answers. The second stage is the revalistics thinkers: they move to the extreme, aguring that all truth is relative and is mostly opioun. Commitment are when students finally begin to realize there are two sides of every thing. It is my opioun that that commitent is always the best way to go with things. When things get tough and you are having trouble to work through the problem, think about it, and make some time management. These stages may differ depending on situations. For example if your having some trouble in class and do not understand things the instructor can not read minds. Most of the time the instructor will take time to meet with you. I was getting frustrated about blooging because I was having trouble publishing articles for a long time and eventually it all worked out. I didn't fall behind. I find what I'm learning about interesting. I will take all this information with me into my future career feild.
Ashley G.
ReplyDeletePHIL 250-951
Dualistic thinkers view something as being either right or wrong. First and second year students usually look to authority figures for all the answers and are able to apply critical thinking skills within the classroom but tend to lack them in real life situations. Relativistic thinkers believe that stating your opinion is the right way of expression and tend to view others opinions as judgmental and disrespectful. Students at this stage believe that all truth is just a matter of opinion. The final stage of commitment entails maturity where the thinker now believes that authorities can be mistaken and not all thinking is equally valid. Once students mature they reach this stage and they are able to make decisions based on reason and the best evidence.
Angela N.
ReplyDeletePhil 250-951
According to chapter 1 in the textbook they refer to dualism as either a freshmen or sophmore who may look to authority figures and may lack the ability to apply critical thinking skills in real life situations.Relativism is refered to as going to the opposite extreme they think that the truth is relative or opinion based,as well as expecting their professors to support their opinions.Commitment is refered to as mature adults who realize thinking is not equal, they are open to challenges,be flexible, as well as willing to change position.According to the text this type or cognitive development often applies to older adults who have lived their life in the "real world."This stage also is accountable for thier actions.I think that these stages can vary depending on the situation the student is in. I have seen some students who where younger, but yet were able to use critical thinking skills just as an older college student.An example of this could be a mature college student in their twenties whom may of had a child at a young age and where forced to grow up quickly so they have lived life like they were grown so in high school they were more mature than other students their age.Yet as a college student they may end up feeling lost and refer to the professor for help but yet they question if it is the right answer they were given and may still even find themselves looking for the evidence to back up what the professor said.
PHIL 250-951
ReplyDeleteWe have learned that there are three stages of cognitive development: Dualism, Relativism and Commitment. Dualism is said to be the beginning stage of critical thinking. Dualism is defined in chapter one of our text book as; younger students that view things as either right or wrong and look at authority figures for the right answers. They may be able it apply critical-thinking in a classroom setting, but lack the ability to apply these skills in the real world. The second stage is Relativism, the book defines this stage as; when authorities don't have the right answer, everyone has the right to their opinions and there are no right or wrong answers. People at this wstage believe stating their opinion is the proper mode of expression. They still look at their professors to support their opinions. The third stage is when a student matures and comes to the realization that all thinking is not all equally valid. They may still experience uncertainties but now they are able to make decisions and commit to particular positions basis of reason an the evidence available. They are open to challenges, able to remain flexible, and willing to change their position should new evidence come to light. I agree with these three stages; however, I believe in different situations the order may very. For example I became a parent at a young age which made me grow up very fast. My critical thinking skills where more addvanced than most kids my age. I definetely had a lot of uncertainties but I remained open to the challenges brought on every day of being a young single mother doing what was best for myself as well as my daughter. Now 12 years later I found myself back in a school setting looking at others for help and the answers of where to go and how to get things done. Being out of the school setting for 16 plus years left me looking at others for the right answers of what paths I needed to take to reach my goals. Therefore I believe different cicumstances cause a person to think and react differently.
John H.
ReplyDeleteAccourding to the book there are three stages of cognitive development in college students. The first is dualism. In this stage students believe that teachers know all the answers. They also believe that every thing is either right or wrong.
The second stage is the relativism. In this stage they reject the dualism view and believe that the truth is is relative or just a matter of opinion.
The third stage, is the commitment stage. In this stage, the student does not believe that all thinkinking is equally valid. Teachers do not have all the answers, and there is in some circcumstances ambiguity.
Anastasia K
ReplyDeletePhil 250-951
I think that it is inevitable that we as students and as adults (or young adults) go these vital stages. Each one of these stages teaches us different lessons in life and how to react when encountering different types of real-world situations. Our Dualistic stage teaches us to ask the right answers when we may not be able to find our own, but also teaches us how to think for ourselves in terms of finding the right answers to our questions. This stage is important because it helps people learn how and when to ask the right questions and also that sometimes we should not always rely on others in order to progress through the many stages of life, and critical thinking. The relativism stage is the stage i like to refer to as either-or. This stage teaches us that we can form an opinion, rely on our opinions and that there may be many sides to things and to think openly. This stage is critical because it prepares us to weigh the importance of matters accordingly.Alos, during this stages students and adults learn or assume that the authority figure may not always be right, and at times that possibility can be very likely. The final stage of commitment occurs when a student or adult has reached a level of critical thinking that surpases the two stages and puts us in a position where we are able to mature, think critically in vital situations, form decisions based on evidence and fact while utilizing ones opinion openly but respectfully, and also make more concrete decisions while remaining open to change and felxibility. All of these stages bascially teach us how to go with the motions of life, and relfecting on these stages is a useful tool to determine how ones self thinks critically in the real world.
Dualism seems to be the most common stage, in my eyes, for my generation and the generation behind mine. Even though we come across as defiant at times and seem to go against suthority, we do look to others in authoritative positions to answers, and its easier to determine wrong from right when not sure or uneasy about what to choose to do.
ReplyDeleteThen there is relativism. I am encountering this more with the younger people in my life. They seem to think that their opionion counts more than the facts. If someone challanges their points of view they become distant and even aggitated.
I myself am trying to get to the stage of commitment. Understanding that everone has their own outlooks on diffrant situations, and that ambiguity is a good thing in life. It would be very boring, not to mention we would be so close minded that we would never be able to learn more than what we believe.
above was posted phil 250-951
ReplyDeleteJenny B
Sue S.
ReplyDeletePhil 250
This topic makes me think of raising children.
Dualism - when the children are small and their mom knows everything! A college student is similar in that the believe the authority figures knew the truth and what they say is the only possible answer.
In the next stage - Relativism, the child is now a teenager and questions everything mom says! The college student also comes to realize that te authority figure may not have all the answers. At this stage, the college student may decide to do some research and draw his/her own conclusions.
Finally - Commitment. When the child is a young adult and comes back to mom stating,"You were right. I now understand what you said and did when I was growing up!" The college student now feels comfortable making his/her own decisions based on research and well developed critical thinking skills.
I'm not sure these stages can vary in their order. I believe the college students must have the necessary critucal thinking skills to get to the 3rd stage and I think they must go through stages 1 and 2 first.
Abbey B.
ReplyDeletePHIL 250-902
The dualistic stage is most obvious when students confront a conflict; they see knowledge as existing outside themselves and look to authority figures for the answers. It is the younger students, such as freshman and sophomores who tend to assimilate knowledge and life experiences in a simplistic, "dualistic" way...viewing something as either right or wrong. They lack the critical thinking skills needed to resolve many real-life conflicts, and may also experience "problems with living" during this stage. There is right or wrong answers. Relativist students go to the opposite extreme; they reject a dualistic worldview and instead maintain that all truth is relative or just a matter of opinion. There is no right or wrong answers; everyone has a right to their own opinion. Commitment students are those who have matured and realize that not all thinking is equally valid. They are able to make decisions and commit to particular positions on the basis of reason and the best evidence available. They are open to challenge, able to remain flexible, and willing to change their position if new evidence comes about. They accept responsibility for their interactions with their environment and are more open to challenges and more accepting of ambiguity. The
The ability to think critically and to make effective life decisions is shaped by many factors, so the order of this sequence seems to be able to vary depending on situations.
Sasy C.
ReplyDeletePhil 250-951
Dualistic thinkers believe in the idea that there must be a right or wrong to everything.This effects many new to new situations such as work or school. This step of cognitive thinking affects critical thinking in the aspect that a person really doesn't allow themselves to think critically. It's either one way or the other, no in betweeen. Such a student believes that their teacher will always have the right answer and should not be questioned. Simply listen and do, don't ask questions. However, relativism is where a student or person begins to question authority and that maybe authority doesn't always have the right answer. As a result they begin think a bit more critically and question other ways of solving a problem or looking a completely different outcome. However, in the process of disagreeing with authority a person becomes judgemental, just a student may pass judgement on a grade they thought they did not deserve. Commitment is where a person begins to use all senses of critical thinking to come to a decision or thought. They realize that everything is not always black or white and even they don't have all the right answers. They become open minded and not so judgemental of others and other view points.
I don't think that in life theses cognitive developement steps always go in order. It depends on the situation in life. For example if you begin a new job, you may feel that you know everything about such as relativism, then you make a couple of mistakes and decide to be dualistic and do whatever your boss tells you and think there is always a right or wrong but then things don't always work out that way and then as you become more comfortable in your job, you begin to question authority and see things outside the box and become more flexible and think more critcally such as commitment.
Amy Schafer
ReplyDeletePhil 250-951
Dualism refers to the way of thinking that any authority figure knows all the right answers and does not question them. Any other answer if you’re not authority is wrong. This way of thinking is immature and mostly found in a student’s way of thinking. Relativism is moving forward to authority doesn’t always have the right answers and that everyone has their own way of thinking. Commitment is when a decision is based on actual factual evidence. This is a step even further for a student to actually back up ones opinions.
Within the three stages of cognitive development a person must be able to complete both the first and then the second stages before they are able to complete the development their cognitive thinking skills and have the ability to be a rational thinker. The first stage of cognitive development is dualism. This stage of dualism refers to thinking in a ‘dualistic’ way, or as viewing things as either right or wrong. This stage of development it common among freshman in college, student who look to authority figures for answers to questions they do not know, instead of trying to find the answer themselves. The second stage is known as relativism, which is completely opposite of a dualistic viewpoint. Within this stage people tend to think that all truth that they find is a matter of opinion and that stating your opinion is a proper form of communication. In this stage of development people will still look to authority figures in order to validate or confirm truths, or the opinions that they hear. The third stage of development is known as commitment, which can be considered a rational viewpoint in which the thought idea is that not all thinking is equal. People in this stage are open minded and very flexible in order to appease the ambiguity around them. Once a person has reached this stage of development they are able to make decisions and side on particular issues with the basis of reason and the best evidence.
ReplyDeleteAlex H.
Semika B
ReplyDeletePHIL 250-951
Dualism view something as either right or wrong Relativism reject a dualistic person world view and instead maintain that all truth is relative or just a matter of opinion and commitment realize that not all thinking is equally valid. I believe these ways of thinking vary from situation to situation.. Religion is one of those situations. You have some that think their chice is right some who think it can goe either way and yet some who dont believe.
The first stage is Dualism: Dualism thinkers are people that tend to turn towards people of authority for the answers to any problems, issues and questions while learning how to develop their own thinking skills. This stage is when the student is still trying to figure out and learn how to truly think for themselves. Second stage is Relativism: Relativism thinkers feel that there is not right or wrong answer and that expressing their opinion is the right way of expression also they feel that everyone has the right to their own opinion. This stage is more of the naïve person that hasn’t learned the not all people are good and trusting. Third stage is Commitment: Commitment thinkers that tend to be more mature and have learned that not all opinions are equal, learned how to really think for themselves and look forward to challenges. You can see the pattern in students starting with the ones need to have their hands held and then they start to do some of their own thinking but tend to be timid so they keep their minds open to all opinions and finally the older ones start thinking for themselves and need little to work out problems.
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