Critical thinking skills

Critical thinking is the ability to think clearly and rationally about what to do or what to believe. This helps an individual actively:

• judge, assess and challenge their thoughts
• reflect on their attitudes and behaviours.  

Outcomes

This indicator supports an outcome of Resilience.

Ways to measure

Some ways to measure this indicator include:

• The Youth Life Skills Survey  
• Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal.

See the Countering Violent Extremism Evaluation Indicator Document [pages 10-29] for practical suggestions on ways to measure, such as:

• survey instruments
• example questions
• using administrative data.   

Evaluations that use this indicator

Evaluating interventions to disengage extremist offenders: A study of the proactive integrated support model (PRISM), Adrian Cherney, Behavioral Sciences of Terrorism and Political Aggression, DOI, 2018

Evaluation of the COMPACT Program, Wise, P., Roberts S. Formosa, J. and Chan, A., Urbis, 2018

Moral Disengagement and Building Resilience to Violent Extremism: An Education Intervention, Anne Aly, Elisabeth Taylor & Saul Karnovsky, Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 2014, 37:4, 369-385