1. Management and Law Department
(MLD)
Centre for Foundation Studies and Extension Education
(FOSEE)
PCR0025
Critical Thinking
All Foundation
ONLINE NOTES
FOSEE , MULTIMEDIA UNIVERSITY (436821-T)
MELAKA CAMPUS, JALAN AYER KEROH LAMA, 75450 MELAKA, MALAYSIA.
Tel 606 252 3594 Fax 606 231 8799
URL: http://fosee.mmu.edu.my/~asd/

2. PCR0015 Critical Thinking Topic 3
Topic 5: Cognition and Problem Solving
1. Definition of Cognition: The intellectual process through which
information is obtained, transformed, stored, retrieved, and used.
2. There are three primary facets of cognition:
a. cognition processes information, which is obtained, transformed,
stored and used.
b. cognition is active. In cognition, information is acquired through the
senses and transformed through the processes of perception and
thinking. In addition to this, information is stored and retrieved
through the processes of memory, and used in the processes of
problem solving and language.
c. cognition is useful and purposeful: we think because there is
something we do not understand.
3. Reasoning occurs when we try to cognitively process information to
reach specific conclusions.
4. There are two main types of reasoning: formal reasoning and everyday
reasoning.
5. In formal reasoning, all the pertinent information is supplied, the
problem to be solved is straightforward, there is typically only one
correct answer and reasoning typically follows a specific method.
6. Everyday reasoning refers to the thinking process we engage in daily
including planning and evaluating arguments. In everyday reasoning,
some of the information is unstated, there are several possible
answers, and the problem to be solved is often related to other issues
in daily life.
EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
1. One kind of intelligence that is quite distinct from that assessed by IQ
tests is emotional intelligence, a recent concept put forth by Daniel
Goleman (1995).
2. Goleman suggests that emotional intelligence consists of five major
parts: knowing our own emotions, managing our emotions, motivating
ourselves, recognizing the emotions of others, and handling relationships.
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3. PCR0015 Critical Thinking Topic 3
i. Knowing our own emotions is crucial because without this
knowledge, we cannot make intelligent choices such as whom
to marry, which jobs to take, which car and house to buy, and
so forth.
ii. Managing our emotions is important because with the ability,
we can counter negative moods such as melancholy or
depression that can affect our academic, professional, or
marital functioning.
iii. Motivating ourselves is important because it enables us to
work hard consistently and to remain enthusiastic and
optimistic about the final outcome.
iv. The abilities for recognizing emotions
v. Handling relationships lead to fulfilling personal and
professional relationships, and ultimately to personal
happiness.
Problem solving
1. Problem solving refers to a series of thinking processes we use to
reach a goal that is not readily attainable.
2. There are three steps in problem solving:
a) Identify the problem.
b) Understanding and organizing the elements of the problem.
c) Generating and evaluating alternative solutions.
Ways to generate solutions / hypothesis to problems
1. Trial and Error: A problem-solving strategy in which several solutions
are attempted until one is found that works.
2. Algorithm: A systematic problem-solving strategy that is guaranteed
to produce a solution.
3. Heuristics: A rule of thumb that allows one to make judgements that
are quick but often in error.
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4. PCR0015 Critical Thinking Topic 3
4. Insight: A form of problem solving in which the solution seems to pop
to mind all of a sudden.
Barriers to problem solving
1. Problem-Solving Set: A mental barrier to problem solving that occurs
when people apply only methods that have worked in the past rather
than trying innovative ones.
2. Functional Fixedness: A barrier to problem solving that occurs when
people are unable to recognize novel (new) uses for an object because
they are so familiar with its common use.
STEPHEN COVEY’S METHOD
HABIT #4:THINK WIN/WIN
• Win/Win is a total philosophy of human interaction. It is one of the six
paradigms of interaction. The six paradigms of interaction are:
~ Win/Win ~ Lose/Lose
~ Win/Lose ~ Win
~ Lose/Win ~ Win/Win or No Deal
Win/Win
• “Win/Win is a frame of mind and heart that constantly seeks mutual
benefit in all human interactions. It means that agreements or solutions
are mutually beneficial, mutually satisfying.
• “With a Win/Win solution, all parties feel good about the decision and
feel committed to the action plan.”
• “Win/win sees life as a cooperative, not competitive arena.”
Win/Lose
• “If I win, you lose.” Win/Lose sees life as a competitive arena.
• “ Win/Lose people are prone to use position or power to get their
way.”
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5. PCR0015 Critical Thinking Topic 3
• A lot of people have been molded in the Win/Lose mentality since
childhood, for instance, the treatment they received from parents often
provides scripting toward Win/Lose, and the academic world basically
says that you got an “A” because someone else got a “C”.
Lose/Win
• “I lose, you win.” “I’m a loser. I’ve always been a loser.” “I’m a
peacemaker. I’ll do anything to keep peace.”
• “Lose/Win is worse than Win/Lose because it has no standards – no
demands, no expectations, no vision. People who think Lose/Win are
usually quick to please or appease. They seek strength from popularity
or acceptance. They have little courage to express their own feelings
and convictions and are easily intimidated by the ego strength of
others.”
• Win/lose people love Lose/Win people because they can take
advantage of them.
• Lose/ Win people are constantly repressing their feelings that lead to
deep disappointment and resentment. This affects the quality of their
self-esteem and eventually the quality of their relationships with
others.
Lose/Lose
• “When two Win/Lose people get together – that is, when two
determined, stubborn, ego-invested individuals interact – the result will
be Lose/Lose. Both will lose.”
• “Lose/Lose is the philosophy of adversarial conflict, the philosophy of
war."
Win
• “People with the Win mentality don’t necessarily want someone else to
lose. What matters is that they get what they want.”
• There is no sense of competition. “Win is probably the most common
approach in everyday negotiation. A person with the Win mentality
thinks in terms of securing his own ends – and leaving it to others to
secure theirs.
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6. PCR0015 Critical Thinking Topic 3
Win/Win or No Deal
• “If people had not come up with a synergistic solution – one that was
agreeable to both – they could have gone for an even higher
expression of Win/Lose – Win/Win or No Deal.”
• This means that if we cannot work for a Win/Win, then let’s agree that
we won’t make a deal at all. No expectations have been created, no
performance contracts established. “It would be better not to deal than
to live with a decision that wasn’t right for us both. Then, maybe
another time we might be able to work together.”
• “This approach is most realistic at the beginning of a business
relationship or enterprise. In a continuing business relationship, No
Deal may not be appropriate which can create serious problems,
especially for family businesses or businesses that are begun initially
on the basis of friendship.”
Which Option is best?
• The answer is, “It depends.” In a game tournament
(competitive/independent arena), Lose/Win is appropriate. In a
company or situation where you need cooperation among people
(cooperative/interdependent arena), Win/Win is appropriate. If you
value a relationship and the issue isn’t really that important, you may
want to go for Lose/Win in some circumstances to genuinely affirm the
other person. There are circumstances where you want to Win, and
you wouldn’t be highly concerned with the relationship of that win to
others, such as when your child’s life is in danger, saving that life is
supremely important.
• Most situations, in fact, are part of interdependent reality, and Win/Win
is the best alternatives. “In the long-run, if it isn’t a win for both of us,
we both lose. That’s why Win/Win is the only real alternative in
interdependent realities.”
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