Fostering Critical Thinking in Personality Psychology: The Trait Paper Assignment.

A personality trait-based term paper assignment that is appropriate for use in personality psychology courses and that is designed to foster critical thinking skills is introduced. The extent to which the trait questions correspond to generic critical thinking questions is considered, the specific thinking skills induced by each trait question are discussed, and potential limitations of the assignment are noted. Preliminary data are also presented which suggest that the trait-based term paper assignment stimulates critical thinking and enhances knowledge about personality traits. It is hoped that the ideas presented and issues discussed in the present article will encourage academic psychologists from all subdisciplines to develop writing assignments that foster critical thinking skills.

The purpose of this article is to introduce a personality trait-based term paper assignment for use in undergraduate personality psychology courses. The specific goal of the assignment is to stimulate critical thinking skills and as such the assignment's format was driven by current theory and research in the area of critical thinking. Although there is no one single ubiquitous definition of critical thinking, most experts in the area (e.g., Gray, 1993; Halpern, 1994; King, 1995; McPeck, 1981) agree that critical thinking involves (a) the process of reflecting upon thought provoking ideas and concepts, (b) actively generating hypotheses about those ideas and concepts, preferably in a way that has personal relevance, and (c) gathering pertinent information in an effort to either confirm or disconfirm the hypotheses generated. Questions that induce critical thinking also stimulate high-level cognitive processes such as inference, evaluation, analysis of ideas, and analysis of cause-effect relationships (King, 1995). Critical thinking is particularly likely to occur when questions are both thought provoking and personally challenging (Halpern, 1994; King, 1995).

Aside from being influenced by the above considerations, I was also guided by two additional points when conceptualizing the trait-based term paper assignment. First, my intent was to develop questions that asked about ideas rather than facts. According to Gray (1993), the search for facts alone represents too narrow of an endeavor and is often perceived by students as being unchallenging. Interestingly, when students are asked to formulate their own questions, they often generate ones that are factual rather than thought provoking and idea-based (Dillon, 1988; Kerry, 1987; King, 1990). Investigating questions about ideas, rather than facts, and generating original hypotheses about those ideas, is a much more effective strategy for stimulating critical thinking skills (Gray, 1993; King, 1995). The second additional influence on my thinking concerned the generic questions for guiding critical thinking developed by King (1992) and Halpern (1994), and reprinted in King (1995). In particular, my goal was to write trait- based questions that corresponded conceptually to one or more of the generic questions for guiding critical thinking. The actual term paper assignment is presented in Table 1 and the generic questions tapped and specific thinking skills induced by each trait-based question are presented in Table 2.

Table 1

The Trait-Based Term Paper Assignment.

Personality traits may be defined as "the characteristics or dimensions of personality on which people vary". Traits can be thought of as falling along a continuum that ranges from traits considered by many to be desirable (e.g., happy, self-confident, considerate) to traits that are often considered to be undesirable (e.g., aggressive, spiteful, crude). Presented below is a list of some common personality traits. The list is far from exhaustive and you should have no difficulty coming up with an additional list of traits (for help, see any unabridged dictionary).

Passive          Outgoing       Unsociable    Active
Careful          Talkative      Sober         Optimistic
Thoughtful       Responsive     Rigid         Impulsive
Peaceful         Easygoing      Moody         Changeable
Controlled       Lively         Anxious       Excitable
Reliable         Carefree       Reserved      Aggressive
Even-Tempered    Leaderly       Depressed     Restless
Calm             Quiet          Lonely        Touchy
Sociable         Pessimistic    Confident     Jealous

Successful completion of the term paper assignment requires that you select one personality trait and then review the relevant research literature in order to answer each of the following questions:

1) How does the personality trait develop in humans? Where does it appear to come from?

2) What purpose or function does the trait appear to serve?

3) How does the trait affect the individual's social behavior? How does the trait impact upon interpersonal relationships?

4) [answer either (a) or (b) depending upon which alternative is appropriate]

(a) If the trait that you selected is closer to the desirable end of the trait continuum, then what methods or techniques might be used to increase, or at least maintain at a high level, the quantity of the trait? (e.g., make a person more self-confident).

(b) If the trait that you selected is closer to the undesirable end of the trait continuum, then what methods or techniques might be used to decrease the quantity of the trait? (e.g., make a person less aggressive).

(Students are then provided with information regarding APA format, length of paper, minimum number of references required, due date, etc).

Table 2

Breakdown of Trait-Based Questions by Generic Critical Thinking Questions and Thinking Skills

Trait-Based Question                  Generic Question

How does the personality trait        Explain why ... (Explains
 develop humans?                       how ...)
Where does it appear to come from?
                                      What do you think
                                       causes ...?
                                      Why?
What purpose of function does the     What is the nature of ...?
 trait appear to serve?
                                      Why is ... important?
How does the trait affect the         What are the implications
 individual social behavior? How       of ...?
 does the trait impact upon
 interpersonal relationships?
                                      How does ... affect ..?
What methods or techniques might      What is a solution to the
 be used to increase (or decrease)     problem of ...?
 the quantity of the trait?

Trait-Based Question                  Specific Thinking Skills
                                       Induced

How does the personality trait        Analysis
 develop humans? Where does           Analysis of relationship
 it appear to come from?               (cause-effect)

What purpose of function does the     Analysis
 trait appear to serve?               Analysis of significance

How does the trait affect the         Analysis/inferencing
 individual social behavior?          Analysis of relationship
 How does the trait impact upon        (cause-effect)
 interpersonal relationships?

What methods or techniques might      Synthesis of ideas
 be used to increase (or decrease)
 the quantity of the trait?

Note. The generic questions and specific thinking skills induced are adapted from King (1995)

As the information in Table 2 indicates, the first trait-based question, "How does the personality trait develop in humans? Where does it appear to come from?", requires students to actively consider the origins of personality characteristics and to engage in an analysis of cause. The second term paper question, "What purpose or function does the trait appear to serve?", induces students to ponder the importance of the selected trait and thereby stimulates the critical thinking skill of analysis of significance. The third question, "How does the trait affect the individual's social behavior? How does the trait impact upon interpersonal relationships?", stimulates not only an analysis of cause but also requires students to employ their inference skills in an effort to generate, and subsequently confirm or disconfirm, their hypotheses regarding cause. The fourth and final question, "What methods or techniques might be used to increase (or decrease) the quantity of the trait?", induces students to consider psychotherapeutic models and specific interventions and stimulates the critical thinking skill known as synthesis of ideas. Given that the above questions were developed in light of current theory and research in critical thinking, it is likely that the proposed trait paper assignment will be more effective at stimulating critical thinking skills than are traditional term paper assignments in personality psychology (e.g., "Summarize the theoretical contributions of any personality psychologist not discussed in class", or "Review the research literature on any personality topic of your choosing"). As suggested by the work of King (1990) and others, when general questions are posed (by either the instructor or student), the tendency is for students to respond with general, fact-based answers. In contrast, when specific thought provoking questions are asked, especially when such questions are modeled after generic critical thinking questions (as is the case with the trait-based assignment), then students are much more inclined to engage in high-level cognitive processing.

What follows now are the results from a brief term paper evaluation form that was anonymously administered to all students approximately one week after completion of the trait-based paper. The results to be presented constitute responses from a total of 66 students across two consecutive semesters (Fall, 1996 and Spring, 1997). The findings, albeit preliminary, provide a first approximation of the assignment's effectiveness at stimulating critical thinking and enhancing trait-related knowledge. The evaluation form consisted of three separate questions. The first question, "How effective was the term paper assignment at stimulating you to think about personality traits in a broader, more comprehensive manner than you had done so previously?", was designed to assess the degree to which critical thinking was stimulated by the assignment. Students responded on a 7-point scale ranging from (1) "Not at all Effective" to (7) "Extremely Effective". The mean response (collapsing across two consecutive semesters) was 5.5 (sd=0.83). Furthermore, 90% of the students indicated response options of 5 or higher. These data suggest that the trait-based paper assignment was effective at stimulating some degree of critical thinking.

The second question, "Was your selection of a trait dictated by personal reasons? In other words, are you either relatively `high' or relatively `low' on the trait that you selected?", was designed to assess the self-relevance of the selected trait. As King (1995) and others have noted, when students engage in scholarly activities that have personal meaning they are more likely to process information in a way that facilitates later recall. Consistent with question number one, students again responded on a 7-point scale with response options this time ranging from (1) "Not at all Personal" to (7) "Extremely Personal". The mean response to this item was 3.75 (sd=2.34) and only 45% of the students indicated response options of 5 or higher. These data suggest that students tended to select personality traits that were only moderately self-relevant.

The third and final question, "To what degree has your knowledge about the selected personality trait increased as a result of completing the term paper assignment?", was designed to assess the perceived amount of knowledge gained as a result of completing the trait paper. Students again responded on a 7-point scale with response options now ranging from (1) "No Increase in Knowledge" to (7) "Large Increase in Knowledge". The mean response to this item was 5.8 (sd=0.89). Furthermore, 95% of the students indicated response options of 5 or higher. These data suggest that the assignment was effective at bolstering knowledge despite the fact that over half of the students reported selecting personality traits that were only moderately self-relevant at best.

The aforementioned breakdown of responses to the term paper evaluation form represents only a preliminary estimation of the assignment's effectiveness at stimulating critical thinking. The evaluation form is brief and the items have not been psychometrically validated. Furthermore, issues such as perceived demand characteristics and social desirability response bias could have influenced students' responses. These influences, however, were hopefully minimized by ensuring respondent anonymity and by encouraging students to respond as "openly and honestly as possible". Future evaluations of the trait-based term paper assignment will entail more comprehensive pre- and post- assessments of critical thinking skills and knowledge gained.

With regard to potential limitations of the trait paper assignment, one might argue, for example, that because students are encouraged to focus on only one trait, the assignment is too circumscribed and does not allow for the opportunity to consider multiple trait interactions and their impact upon behavioral functioning. While it may be the case that asking students to research multiple traits will stimulate broader questions concerning human behavior, the tradeoff might very well be one of quantity versus quality (or criticalness) of analysis. In other words, encouraging students to immerse themselves in a single topical literature (versus multiple literatures) is likely to result in greater mastery of content and a deeper level of analysis. The sheer number of articles that have been written about many personality traits, such as aggression, shyness, and neuroticism, would also appear to greatly impede one's ability to thoroughly analyze multiple traits in the context of a single term paper. Of course, the ultimate question as to which format (single trait or multiple trait) is more effective at stimulating critical thinking skills represents a topic that can be examined by empirical research.

In summary, the present article introduced a novel trait-based term paper assignment that is appropriate for use in personality psychology courses and that is designed to foster critical thinking skills. The degree to which the trait-based questions map onto generic critical thinking questions was discussed, the specific thinking skills induced by each trait question were delineated, and preliminary data bearing on the assignment's effectiveness were presented. It is hoped that the proposed term paper assignment and the issues discussed in this article will generalize beyond personality psychology and will ultimately encourage psychologists from other subdisciplines to develop writing assignments that foster critical thinking skills.

References

Dillon, J. T. (1988). Questioning and teaching: A manual of practice. New York: Teachers College Press.

Gray, P. (1993). Engaging Students' intellects: The immersion approach to critical thinking in psychology instruction. Teaching of Psychology, 20, 68-74.

Halpern, D. (Ed.). (1994). Changing college classrooms: New teaching and learning strategies for an increasingly complex world. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Kerry, T. (1987). Classroom questions in England. Questioning Exchange, 1, 32-33.

King, A. (1990). Enhancing peer interaction and learning in the classroom through reciprocal questioning. American Educational Research Journal, 27, 664-687.

King, A. (1992). Comparison of self-questioning, summarizing and notetaking-review as strategies for learning from lectures. American Educational Research Journal, 29, 303-323.

King, A. (1995). Inquiring minds really do want to know: Using questioning to teach critical thinking. Teaching of Psychology, 22, 13-17.

McPeck, J. E. (1981). Critical thinking and education. Oxford, England: Martin Robertson.

Author Notes

I am grateful to Drs. Charles Kaiser and Myles Faith for their helpful comments on an earlier version of this article.

James B. Hittner, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, College of Charleston. Correspondence concerning the article should be addressed to Dr. James B. Hittner, Department of Psychology, College of Charleston, 66 George Street, Charleston, South Carolina 29424, email:[e-mail].