🧠Established Questionnaires for Critical Thinking Skills
1. California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory (CCTDI)
Developer: Facione, Facione, & Giancarlo (1998)
Purpose: Measures disposition toward critical thinking — how much a person tends to think critically.
Number of items: 75
Scale: 6-point Likert (from strongly agree to strongly disagree)
Main dimensions:
- Truth-seeking
- Open-mindedness
- Analyticity
- Systematicity
- Critical thinking self-confidence
- Inquisitiveness
- Maturity of judgment
Sample items:
- “I enjoy problems that require hard thinking.”
- “I am willing to reconsider my ideas when evidence suggests I should.”
- “I like to be orderly and disciplined when reasoning.”
2. California Critical Thinking Skills Test (CCTST)
Developer: Facione & Facione (1994)
Purpose: Measures skills rather than dispositions.
Format: Multiple-choice test (34–45 items)
Skills assessed:
- Analysis
- Inference
- Evaluation
- Inductive reasoning
- Deductive reasoning
Sample item (simplified):
A patient has symptoms A and B. Disease X causes both symptoms. Disease Y causes only symptom A.
Which is the stronger conclusion?
a) The patient has Disease X
b) The patient has Disease Y
c) The patient could have either disease
d) There is insufficient information
3. Watson–Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal (WGCTA)
Developer: Watson & Glaser (1980)
Purpose: Measures the ability to understand situations, evaluate arguments, and draw conclusions.
Number of items: 80
Skills tested:
- Inference
- Recognition of assumptions
- Deduction
- Interpretation
- Evaluation of arguments
Sample item:
Statement: "All teachers are patient. Some patient people are kind."
Conclusion: "Some teachers are kind."
Is the conclusion:
a) True
b) False
c) Cannot be determined
4. Cornell Critical Thinking Test (CCTT), Level X or Z
Developer: Ennis & Millman (1985)
Purpose: For students (Grades 4–14) and adults; measures reasoning, argument analysis, and induction.
Format: Multiple-choice (71 items)
Skills measured:
- Induction
- Deduction
- Credibility of sources
- Identification of assumptions
- Meaning and definition
Sample item:
Which of these statements gives the best evidence for believing that “studying improves grades”?
a) I study a lot.
b) Students who study more get higher scores.
c) My friend studies and gets good grades.
d) Grades depend only on luck.
5. Halpern Critical Thinking Assessment (HCTA)
Developer: Diane F. Halpern (2010)
Purpose: Combines open-ended and multiple-choice tasks measuring applied critical thinking.
Domains:
- Verbal reasoning
- Argument analysis
- Hypothesis testing
- Likelihood and uncertainty
- Decision making and problem solving
Format: Short scenarios requiring written reasoning and multiple-choice answers.
Sample item:
A study shows that people who eat breakfast every day have lower body weight. What conclusion is most appropriate?
a) Eating breakfast causes weight loss.
b) People who eat breakfast are more health-conscious.
c) Skipping breakfast reduces appetite.
d) The study proves nothing.
✅ If You Want to Develop a Short Questionnaire for Research
You can adapt dimensions from CCTDI (most common in education research) into a Likert-scale instrument like this:
Dimension | Example Item | Scale |
Truth-seeking | I am willing to question ideas even when they are widely accepted. | 1–5 |
Open-mindedness | I consider opinions different from mine before making a judgment. | 1–5 |
Analyticity | I look for reasons and evidence before believing something. | 1–5 |
Systematicity | I approach problems in an organized and logical way. | 1–5 |
Self-confidence | I trust my ability to draw sound conclusions. | 1–5 |
Inquisitiveness | I enjoy learning new things even without an immediate reason. | 1–5 |
Maturity | I realize that many problems have more than one right answer. | 1–5 |
