Can We Test Validly for Critical Thinking?

Abstract

This paper focuses first on two questions: (a) Is critical thinking generalizable? and (b) What is a critical thinking disposition? It is argued that the controversial nature of these questions limits the ability to judge the validity of critical thinking testing. Following this discussion, the paper outlines a series of procedures that can help increase the validity of one fundamental aspect of critical thinking testing–multiple-choice testing of credibility judgment. The procedures rely on verbal reports of examinees’ thinking on items to gain direct evidence on the reasons for their answer choices. It is recognized that multiple-choice tests cannot test all important aspects of critical thinking, but that improving multiple-choice tests where they are applicable can have important practical and scientific implications.