Can goals and context affect judgments, using critical thinking?

Abstract

In the present research, 3 studies examined whether situational factors such as purpose and context can affect metacognitive judgments related to critical thinking. In Studies 1 and 2, characteristics of 2 kinds of contexts related to thinking critically (effective and ineffective contexts) were collected, categorized, and examined. Study 3 examined effects of 2 kinds of purposes ("making correct judgments" and "enjoying things") on students' metacognitive judgments when exerting critical thinking in effective and ineffective contexts. The results showed that the students' metacognitive judgments when exerting critical thinking were higher when they had "making correct judgments" as their purpose, compared to when their purpose was "enjoying things." Moreover, even with the same purpose, the students' judgments changed according to the context in which they were made. The students could be classified into 3 types according to their use of critical thinking : (1) those who made judgments that exerted critical thinking in general, (2) those who made judgments that exerted critical thinking especially in the effective contexts, and (3) those who usually did not make judgments that exerted critical thinking.