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published_or_final_version / Mental Health / Master / Master of Social Sciences

American educators in large numbers now believe that school curricula must include direct instruction in thinking skills. At issue for many, however, is the question of what effect that instruction has on young people. This study was developed to provide an answer to that question within a particular high school setting and to suggest a model for assessing the effect of thinking skill programs in other settings. The inquiry was naturalistic in design, responding to current criticisms of traditional quantitative methods being applied to the complex processes of acquiring thinking strategies. Stimulating recall by means of videotape, this research used interviews of students and teachers from eight different classes to investigate perceptions and cognitive processes resulting from lessons in thinking skills. Results of the study indicate that most students were aware of teachers' purposes in the lessons. Further, they were able to articulate their perceptions, which frequently coincided with teacher intentions, as well as their thought processes while instruction was in progress. Some older high school students were also able to describe ways they have applied or might apply the thinking skills outside of the classroom setting. Data collected in this project were sufficiently detailed and convincing so that they were taken by the teacher participants as valid assessments of the teaching/learning situation they had created. They can use the information to adjust instructional strategies. Additionally, the fact that this research was successful in revealing in-depth information about the effects of instruction in thinking skills argues for the inclusion of such an assessment model within any program being developed to include those skills in a curriculum.

Though artificial intelligence scientists frequently use words such as "belief" and "desire" when describing the computational capacities of their programs and computers, they have completely ignored the philosophical and psychological theories of belief and desire. Hence, their explanations of computational capacities which use these terms are frequently little better than folk-psychological explanations. Conversely, though philosophers and psychologists attempt to couch their theories of belief and desire in computational terms, they have consistently misunderstood the notions of computation and computational semantics. Hence, their theories of such attitudes are frequently inadequate. A computational theory of propositional attitudes (belief and desire) is presented here. It is argued that the theory of propositional attitudes put forth by philosophers and psychologists entails that propositional attitudes are a kind of abstract data type. This refined computational view of propositional attitudes bridges the gap between artificial intelligence, philosophy and psychology. Lastly, it is argued that this theory of propositional attitudes has consequences for meta-processing and consciousness in computers.

The purposes of this study were: 1. To determine the effect of levels of questioning used on secondary public school students in social studies, as measured by (a) their achievement scores, and (b) their critical thinking ability; 2. To determine the effect of feedback to student teachers on their patterns of asking convergent and divergent questions, as measured by coding frequencies of each type on an Observation Schedule and Record form? 3. To draw conclusions from the findings--and develop implications concerning levels of questioning used by teachers and the use of feedback from college supervisors to student teachers.

The purpose of the study was to develop a theory and model for motivity of consciousness which would constitute a system of thought motivity. The major premises of currently prominent theories of motivation, including psychoanalysis, learning theory, self-actualization theory, and topological psychology, were surveyed. Related materials in the area of psychic research and energy systems related to mental function were surveyed. The primary activities and processes called thought motivity were identified along with some of the major forces on the individual. From the identified forces and processes a theory of thought motivity was developed. A conceptual model for motivity of consciousness based upon the theory was designed. The theory and the model considered together constituted the system of thought motivity. Brain processes and biological actions of the human organism were proposed to have a functional, interdependent relationship. Thought was considered to be a functional of brain processes. It was postulated that a certain minimal level of biological actions were continuous in the living organism; therefore, thought was continuous. It was postulated that at any given point in time and space a universe of events would exist which was capable of producing outcomes in the brain. Of that universe of events a field of events was likely to produce outcomes in the brain. Of those events likely to produce outcomes in the brain a region of events would produce outcomes. The net relationship between the universe of events, the field of events, and the region of events was one of decreasing quantity of stimuli. The universe of events was postulated to include stimuli which affected the brain through sensory organs and other receptors. Events which produced outcomes in the brain and were not received through sensory organs were proposed to operate through para-sensory receptors in the brain. As a functional of a universe of events and biological. actions, each of which had a nature of constancy and change, thought was postulated to be subject to constant motivity. Thought motivity was proposed to be a process of differentiation and integration of events as reflected by outcomes produced in the brain. At any given point in time and space, brain processes were theorized to be limited by experiential factors, the universe of events, and the functionals of brain processes.

Pseudoscience is a collection of nonfiction essays analyzing the origins and methodologies or various pseudoscientific practices against the backdrop of events from the narrator's life that mirror those practices in some way. Pseudoscience is unverifiable. Pseudoscience is unverifiable. / by Mike Shier. / Thesis (M.F.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2012. / Includes bibliography. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / System requirements: Adobe Reader.

The purpose of this quantitative research study was to compare Chinese and American students’ inclined level of critical thinking using the California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory (CCTDI) (Insight Assessment, 2013). The literature of Paul and Elder (1996, 2000, 2005, 2010), Facione and Facione (1992, 1996) and Brookfield (2005, 2010, 2013) and the conceptual framework in this study provided the foundation for the main research question of whether there are differences between Chinese and American students’ scores on the seven individual scales and their total score on the CCTDI. The Sample included 41 Chinese and 50 American undergraduate and graduate students at Florida Atlantic University, a regional research university located in southeast Florida. Independent t-tests concluded that there were no differences between the 41 Chinese students and the 50 American students regarding their critical thinking dispositions on each of seven scales on the CCTDI. A factorial analysis of variance measured moderator questions to determine whether there was a difference between Chinese and American students’ CCTDI scores based on student gender, discipline of study, undergraduate or graduate status, or enrollment as an undergraduate within the United States. There were significant differences between the critical thinking dispositions of Chinese and American undergraduate and graduate students when comparing the scale of open mindedness and gender. There were also significant differences for the scale of confidence in reasoning and discipline. For the remaining questions, there were no significant differences. A Pearson’s correlation determined that there was no relationship between the length of time students had been in the United States and their scores on the CCTDI. Educational implications include that when problem-solving skills are developed in the college setting, critical thinking can be cultivated to help prepare students for work in future employment settings. Social implications include the use of critical thinking when faced with decision making in adults’ lives, as well as in their daily work. This study may be the foundation for future studies. Finally, educators may find the CCTDI helpful in positioning students’ critical thinking dispositions prior to learning or training activities. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2014. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection