The comparison of critical thinking and problem solving disposition of athletes according to gender and sport type

Abstract

The terms “critical thinking and problem solving” are crucial for cognitive processes of athletes. It could also be said that these two concepts are likely to affect athletic performance of individuals. Therefore, the aim of this research is to investigate critical thinking and problem solving disposition of athletes. For this purpose 432 athletes (X age : 20.53±3.85; X sportexperience : 9.47±4.22) who comprise of 261 males (60.4%) and 171 females (39.6%) participated to the research. Problem Solving Inventory and California Scale of Disposition to Think Critically. The data was analysed by SPSS 17.0 by using descriptive statistics and t-test Level of significance was determined to be 0.05. Results showed that mean score for critical thinking was 3,82±,41 and the mean was 3,83±,46 for problem solving skill of the athletes. It was also found that there was not a significant difference between males and females according to critical thinking (p>0,05). However, males’ and females’ scores for problem solving significantly differed (p<0,05). Any significant difference was not obtained according to sport type. Overall, it could be said that gender can act as a determiner role among athletes in terms of problem solving disposition.