The initial stage of cognitive development, defined as dualism by Perry (1970), is defined by Thoma (1993) as: "characterized by a view that objective and immutable answers exist for most questions and that authorities or experts know or can discover the eternal truths. The dualism, students hold a black or white, right or wrong, view of the world and have little tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity. Knowledge is regarded as timeless and absolute. Learning is viewed as a process of the transmission of facts and truths from the teacher to the student."

Paul & Elder (2014) refer to habitual thinking as biased, distorted, partial, uninformed, and often downright prejudiced. Everyone is biased. Any one person's view is always partial, partisan, and problematic (Eisenberg, Goodall, & Tretheway, 2014).

Write response to the following:

• How can I retarget the mechanism I use to spot bias in others and to spot the bias in myself?
• What is the experience of switching perspectives like for me?
• How fully am I able to inhabit the perspective of another?
• What barriers prevent me from letting go of my own worldview?

References

• Eisenberg, E. M., Goodall, H. L., & Tretheway, A. (2014). Organizational communication: Balancing creativity and constraint (7th ed.). Bedford/St. Martin's.
• Paul, R. & Elder, L. (2014). Critical thinking: Tools for taking charge of your professional and personal life (2nd ed.). Pearson FT Press.
• Thoma, G. (1993). The Perry framework and tactics for teaching critical thinking in economics. Journal of Economic Education, 24(2), 128-136.