Beyer, B. K 1985 Critical thinking: What is it? Social Education, 49, 270-276. Browne, M. N., & Keeley, S. M. 1998 Asking the right questions: A guide to critical thinking (5th ed.). New Jersey : Prentice Hall. Clinchy, B. 1989 On critical thinking and connected knowing. Liberal Education, 75, 14-19. Denney, N. W. 1995 Critical thinking during the adult years: Has the developmental function changed over the last four decades? Experimental Aging Research, 21, 191-207. Ennis, R. H. 1985 A logical basis for measuring critical thinking skills. Educational Leadership, 43, 44-48. Ennis, R. H. 1987 A taxonomy of critical thinking dispositions and abilities. In J. B. Baron & R. J. Sternberg (Eds.), Teaching thinking skills: Theory and practice. New York: W. H. Freeman and Company, Pp.9-26. Glaser, E. M. 1941 An experiment in the development of critical thinking. New York : Teachers College of Columbia University, Bureau of Publications. Keeley, S. M., Browne, M. N., & Kreutzer, J. S. 1982 A comparison of freshmen and seniors on general and specific essay tests of critical thinking. Research in Higher Education, 17, 139-154. Kennedy, M., Fisher, M. B., & Ennis, R. H. 1991 Critical thinking: Literature review and needed research. In L. Idol & B. F. Jones (Eds.), Educational values and cognitive instruction: Implications for reform. New Jersey Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Pp.11-40. King, P., Wood, P., & Mines, R. 1990 Critical thinking among college and graduate students. Review of Higher Education, 13, 167-186. Lehmann, I. J. 1963 Changes in critical thinking, attitudes, and values from freshman to senior years. Journal of Educational Psychology, 54, 305-315. McMillan, J. H. 1987 Enhancing college students' critical thinking: A review of studies. Research in Higher Education, 26, 3-29. McPeck, J. E. 1990 Teaching critical thinking: Dialogue and dialectic. New York : Routledge. Pascarella, E. T., & Terenzini, P. T. 1991 How college affects students: Findings and insights from twenty years of research. San Francisco : Jossey-Bass Publishers. Siegel, H. 1986 Skills, attitudes, and education for critical thinking. In F. H. van Eemeren, R. Grootendorst, J. A. Blair, & C. A. Willard (Eds.), Argumentation: Analysis and practices. Netherlands: Foris Publication. Pp.358-365. Sternberg, R. J. 1985 Teaching critical thinking, Part1: Are we making critical mistakes? Phi Delta Kappan, 66, 194-198.

Critical Thinking of University Students in Reading Non-Academic Materials: Attitude and Ability Differences in Relation to Academic Level and Major YASUSHI MICHITA (FACULTY OF EDUCATION, UNITERSITY OF THE RYUKYUS) JAPANESE JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY, 2001 49, 41-49 The purposes of the present study were to examine the extent to which university students show critical thinking abilities and attitudes in reading non-academic materials, and to explore the possible correlation with academic level (freshman vs. senior) and major (scientific vs. non-scientific). 80 university students read 3 materials containing fallacious before-and-after arguments, and were asked to provide their comments and/or opinions. The data were used to determine their critical thinking attitudes. The students then commented again on the same materials after being instructed to point out any logical problems with them ; the results were analyzed to infer their critical thinking abilities. The results showed that (1) 88 of the 240 answers (36.7%) were categorized as displaying critical thinking abilities; (2) in the condition with no instruction to think critically, only a few (22.7%) of the 88 responses showed ciritical thinking attitudes; and (3) no consistent effects of academic level or major were discovered. The results suggest that the majority of the students did not read these non-academic materials from a logical point of view, but rather read them from a viewpoint of plausibility, or of what the students believed. These results should be considered by educators whose goal is to develop university students' critical thinking abilities and attitudes. students Key Words: critical thinking, attitude, non-academic materials, before-and-after argument, university