What is Critical thinking?
Critical thinking is the thought process that helps us to make decisions. This thought process can occur in any area - arts, religion, science, math, ethics, business, engineering, law, etc.
Critical thinking skills are sometimes referred to as "higher order thinking skills" and "21st century skills".
The Critical thinking thought process/skills involve analysis, synthesis, and deduction of available information to make decisions/conclusions.
Logic is a very valuable tool that assists in the thought process. Trying to acquire Critical thinking skills without proper grounding in Logic will not help you to solve complex problems. We have incorporated the fundamental principles of Logic in the Gift Of Logic™ Critical thinking & Logical reasoning series, so that you will find all the relevant materials in one place.
Since Critical thinking skills can be applied in any field, we have divided the materials into Verbal reasoning, Analytic reasoning and Pictorial/Figural reasoning in all the workbooks to help you focus on these strands.
What is the GIFT OF LOGIC™-Critical Thinking & Logical Reasoning book series?
The series consists of 12-workbooks that help you to develop Critical Thinking and Logical Reasoning skills in three areas - Verbal, Analytical and Pictorial. These skills are cognitive skills. Cognition is the process of gaining knowledge using reasoning, analysis and perception. Developing skills in these areas gradually, year after year is important to cultivate raw intelligence that is required for problem solving in any subject. These books will help you become sharp in reading, writing, speaking, critical thinking, analyzing, synthesizing. perceiving, inferencing and solving problems in any area of life. These books are a very valuable resource for people of all ages.
How is the content presented?
There are 12 books in this series, 11 workbooks and one Primer. Each workbook has three sections: Verbal Reasoning, Analytic Reasoning and Pictorial Reasoning. Answers are provided at the end of each book. To gain maximum advantage, it is necessary to follow the recommended reading plan and do the exercises in each book. Several concepts in Logical Reasoning are spread out in these workbooks.
What do these workbooks contain?
There are three sections in each workbook - Verbal, Analytical and Pictorial.
The Verbal Reasoning section in workbooks 0-2 get you started quickly in Critical Reading/Thinking and Logical Reasoning through examples and exercises in finding the truth of statements, word and sentence analogies, inferences etc.
The Verbal Reasoning section in workbooks 3-5 introduce concepts of Logic such as conditional statements, categorical statements, causal statements, and inferencing (deduction). You become a critical reader by keeping a watchful eye on certain keywords that have a bearing on the logic in the statements. You become a critical thinker by knowing how to infer (deduce) the unstated.
The Verbal Reasoning section in the Primer book is a prerequisite for workbooks 6-10. It introduces argument structure, different types of arguments, deductive and inductive reasoning, and finding flaws in reasoning. The content in this book will help you be a critical reader and thinker. This book lays out the essential foundation for workbooks 6,7,8,9 and 10.
Verbal Reasoning in workbooks 6-10 present different types of exercises involving various types of arguments with the goal of making you a critical reader, writer, thinker and speaker.
The Analytic Reasoning section in workbooks 0-2 help you develop the ability to solve problems that require thinking about possibilities, positioning and grouping. Workbooks 3-5 introduce List Processing, Scheduling, Sequencing, Correlation, Venn diagrams, Graph Logic etc. Analytical Reasoning in workbooks 6-10 present more complex positioning and grouping problems. Sudoku exercises are a great way to tune your analytical mind and are included in the analytical reasoning sections in all the ten workbooks.
The Pictorial Reasoning section develops your visual reasoning skills by looking at pictures and understanding their contents and relation to other pictures. In workbooks 0-2, exercises to spot the difference between pictures, to find the next picture from a sequence of pictures and to spot the odd picture from a set of pictures are introduced. In workbooks 3-5, pictorial analogy and pattern matching are introduced. In workbooks 6-10, advanced pictorial reasoning exercises involving pattern perception, paper folding and cutting, figure formation, figure matrix, figure analogy and rule detection, etc are introduced.
Is any Math required ?
These books are not about math. They are about developing your thinking skills in the verbal, analytical and pictorial reasoning areas. Most of the material do not involve math at all. Basic addition, substraction, multiplication and division is all that is necessary in some sections of these books.
Why should I read these books?
The goal of the Gift Of Logic™ series of workbooks is to help you develop cognitive skills by introducing various topics in Critical Thinking and Logical Reasoning in an easy to understand format. Developing cognitive skills continuously in three areas - Verbal, Analytic and Pictorial is essential to maintain an active brain. You will find these skills useful in any subject that you study or any task that you work on. The following table shows that almost all major exams test your Critical reading/thinking skills in some form or other. These Gift Of Logic (tm) books provide the foundation for you to strengthen your cognitive abilities and take on these exams and others with natural confidence.
Exam
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Target
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Critical Thinking and Logical Reasoning Skills
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CogAT
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School performance
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Verbal, Non Verbal tests
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SAT
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College
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Critical reading
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LSAT
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Law School
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Logical reasoning, Analytical Reasoning, Reading Comprehension
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PCAT
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Pharmacy School
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Verbal Ability, Reading Comprehension
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MCAT
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Medical School
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Verbal Reasoning, Writing
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GRE
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Engineering School
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Verbal Reasoning, Analytical Writing
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GMAT
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Management School
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Reading Comprehension, Critical reasoning, Analytical Writing
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What is the recommended reading plan?
These workbooks can be used by school students, college and university students, parents, teachers, retired persons etc - anyone who wants to keep their brain fit and sharp. Read these books in a relaxed setting without pressure of time or exams. Maximum benefit can be realized if the following reading plan is followed in the mentioned order.
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Grades
K-2
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RED SET (Workbooks 0,1,2) to be administered as follows:
Grade K - Workbook 0
Grade 1 - Workbook 0, Workbook 1
Grade 2 - Workbook 0, Workbook 1, Workbook 2
OR
Grades K-2 (all students) -Workbook 0, Workbook 1, and Workbook 2 in sequence, based on their ability.
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Grades
3-5
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GREEN SET (Workbooks 3,4,5) to be administered as follows:
Grade 3 - Workbook 3
Grade 4 - Workbook 3, Workbook 4
Grade 5 - Workbook 3, Workbook 4, Workbook 5
OR
Grades 3,4,5 (all students) - Workbook 3, Workbook 4, and Workbook 5 in sequence based on their ability.
RED SET (Workbooks 0,1,2)-optional, highly recommended
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Grades
6-12
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BLUE SET (Primer and Workbooks 6,7,8,9,10) to be administered as follows:
Grades 6-12 (all students) - Read Primer first and then do Workbooks 6,7,8,9,10 in sequence.
(Primer is a prerequisite for Workbooks 6,7,8,9,10)
GREEN SET (Workbooks 3,4,5) - optional, highly recommended
RED SET (Workbooks 0,1,2) - optional, recommended
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Adults (undergrad & grad students, working professionals,
others)
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BLUE SET (Primer, Workbooks 6,7,8,9,10)
Read Primer first and then Workbooks 6,7,8,9,10 preferably in sequence.
(Primer is a prerequisite for Workbooks 6,7,8,9,10)
GREEN SET (Workbooks 3,4,5) - optional, highly recommended
RED SET (Workbooks 0,1,2) - optional, recommended
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