Empirical examination of critical reading and critical thinking-overview

Abstract

This paper summarizes the results of a psychometric research program of two parallel series of fifth and twelfth grade statistical analyses of critical reading, critical thinking, reading, scholastic aptitude and scholastic achievement, test and subtest scores. Correlational and factor analysis, item analysis, reliability estimation, first and second order partial correlation, canonical correlation, and multiple regression and part correlation were used. It was concluded that critical reading and critical thinking have little or no unique variances; that both critical reading and critical thinking can be accounted for almost in entirety by language ability, particularly vocabulary; that critical reading and critical thinking, in so far as they exist, overlap slightly, sharing variance which is not clear but probably is common verbal ability variance. © 1972, SAGE Publications. All rights reserved.