"Do you want to know a wonderful way to teach your students how to think critically? Would you like to have a paperback book with fewer than 300 pages that will explain it well, with engaging examples, and with easy, fun exercises to help them learn it? Would you like to have this all done for you in a simple and flexible format that you can adapt to your own teaching style? Would you be happy to see your students involved in critical thinking activities—and actually enjoying them? In his outstanding new text, David Levy provides us with an easy solution to all of these questions!" — Marie T. Smith, Psychology Teacher Network

"A welcome new edition of a much-praised, well-organized, readable teaching guide to critical thinking—perhaps the core unifying theme of the skeptical movement. Levy . . . agreeably puts together what any student of psychology or would-be wielder of the tools of critical thinking needs. The naturalistic fallacy, the Barnum effect, correlation-causation confusions, the spectacular explanation fallacy (extraordinary events do not require extraordinary causes), the assimilation bias, the confirmation bias, the belief perseverance effect, the hindsight bias, the availability bias, the insight fallacy—these and much more all discussed here in succinct and attractive form. — Kendrick Frazier, Skeptical Inquirer: The Magazine for Science and Reason

"Levy's style combines erudition with simplicity and earnestness with humor. . . . The result is a clear and compelling book, accessible to lay persons and mental health professionals alike." — Thomas Szasz, State University of New York at Syracuse

"A remarkable book that masterfully teaches how to make us better at solving problems, at understanding events, at making decisions, and even at being creative. Read, learn, and have a good time doing it." — Elizabeth F. Loftus, University of Washington

"David Levy has condensed both the wisdom of the ages and the findings of contemporary psychological science into a manageable set of principles (Metathoughts) that will notably improve the general quality of thought not only in clinical psychology and cognate areas but also across the broad expanse of scholarly and scientific endeavor." — Robert C. Carson, Duke University

"Educators have criticized today's students for their poor reasoning skills and faulty problem-solving abilities. Levy's book will go a considerable distance in closing these gaps by taking established scientific principles and making them accessible, useful, and entertaining!" — Shelley E. Taylor, University of California at Los Angeles

"David Levy's lucid and good-humored guide to thinking is impressive in its scope, practical in its applications, and involving in its pedagogy." — David G. Myers, Hope College

"Professors and teachers in psychology, philosophy, communication, and related fields should seriously consider adopting this text for their courses since today's students could definitely use a good dose of bias busting and fallacy fixing. A definite "tool" to add to one's toolbox of skepticism." — Michael Shermer, Skeptic

"This book is a wonderful addition to the bookshelf of anyone interested in thinking clearly. . . . Students, writers, and instructors alike will find this a gold mine of ideas about precise and clear thinking." — Linda Riebel, Saybrook Institute

"A beautifully written book and indispensable tool for a wide range of psychology courses, certain to appeal to readers of all levels and diverse backgrounds. Instructors will value its systematic approach, comprehensive scope, and the plethora of stimulating and engaging exercises. Students will enjoy its lively writing style, vivid examples, and practical applications to everyday life. . . . The finest book on critical thinking in the field." —L. Anne Peplau, University of California at Los Angeles

Foreword by Thomas Szasz

Introduction by Robert C. Carson

Part One: CONCEPTUALIZING PHENOMENA
1. The Evaluative Bias of Language: To Describe Is to Prescribe
2. The Reification Error: Comparing Apples and Existentialism
3. Multiple Levels of Description: The Simultaneity of Physical and Psychological Events
4. The Nominal Fallacy and Tautologous Reasoning: To Name Something Isn't to Explain It
5. Differentiating Dichotomous Variables and Continuous Variables: Black and White, or Shades of Grey?
6. Consider the Opposite: To Contrast Is to Define
7. The Similarity-Uniqueness Paradox: All Phenomena Are Both Similar and Different
8. The Naturalistic Fallacy: Blurring the Line between "Is" and "Should"
9. The Barnum Effect: "One-Size-Fits-All" Personality Interpretations

Part Two: EXPLAINING PHENOMENA
10. Correlation Does Not Prove Causation: Confusing "What" with "Why"
11. Bidirectional Causation: Causal Loops, Healthy Spirals, and Vicious Cycles
12. Multiple Causation: Not "Either/Or," but "Both/And"
13. Degrees of Causation: Not All Causes Are Created Equal
14. Multiple Pathways of Causation: Different Causes, Same Effect

Part Three: COMMON MISATTRIBUTIONS
15. The Fundamental Attribution Error: Underestimating the Impact of External Influences
16. The Intervention-Causation Fallacy: When the Cure Doesn't Prove the Cause
17. The Consequence-Intentionality Fallacy: The Effect Doesn't Prove the Intent
18. The "If I Feel It, It Must Be True" Fallacy: The Truth Hurts; But So Do Lies
19. The Spectacular Explanation Fallacy: Extraordinary Events Do Not Require Extraordinary Causes

Part Four: INVESTIGATING PHENOMENA
20. Deductive and Inductive Reasoning: Two Methods of Inference
21. Reactivity: To Observe Is to Disturb
22. The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: When Expectations Create Reality
23. The Assimilation Bias: Viewing the World through Schema-Colored Glasses
24. The Confirmation Bias: Ye Shall Find Only What Ye Shall Seek
25. The Belief Perseverance Effect: The Rat Is Always Right
26. The Hindsight Bias: Predicting a Winner after the Race Is Finished

Part Five: OTHER BIASES AND FALLACIES IN THINKING
27. The Representativeness Bias: Fits and Misfits of Categorization
28. The Availability Bias: The Persuasive Power of Vivid Events
29. The Insight Fallacy: To Understand It Isn't Necessarily to Change It

Part Six: CONCLUSIONS
30. Every Decision Is a Trade-Off: Take Stock of Pluses and Minuses

Epilogue: Concluding Meta-Metathoughts

Metathoughts Summary and Antidote Table
Appendix 1: A Proposed Category for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM): Pervasive Labeling Disorder
Appendix 2: The Emperor's Postmodern Clothes: A Brief Guide to Deconstructing Academically Fashionable Phrases for the Uninitiated
Appendix 3: Consider the Opposite (Metathought VI)
Appendix 4: Sociocultural Barnum Statements (Metathought IX)
Appendix 5: Selected Answers to Chapter Exercises
Glossary