Trying to solve a difficult problem? Imagine a dialogue between people with various viewpoints on the issue to be resolved; that fantasy conversation will dramatically increase your understanding of relevant topics (Zavala and Kuhn, in press).
An Association for Psychological Science press release related to Zavala and Kuhn’s article shares that “Examining an issue as a debate or dialogue between two sides helps people apply deeper, more sophisticated reasoning…‘Envisioning opposing views leads to a more comprehensive examination of the issue,’ says psychology researcher Julia Zavala…‘the dialogic task…lead to deeper, more comprehensive processing of the two positions and hence a richer representation of each and the differences between them,’ says Kuhn. Constructing a dialogue thus helped to expand and sharpen…thinking.”
“Imagining Dialogue Can Boost Critical Thinking.” 2017. Press release, Association for Psychological Science, https://www.psychologicalscience.org/news/releases/imagining-dialogue-can-boost-critical-thinking.html#.WN2bblKZO1t
Julia Zavala and Deanna Kuhn. “Solitary Discourse Is a Productive Activity.” Psychological Science, in press.
Sally Augustin, PhD, a cognitive scientist, is the editor of Research Design Connections (www.researchdesignconnections.com), a monthly subscription newsletter and free daily blog, where recent and classic research in the social, design, and physical sciences that can inform designers’ work are presented in straightforward language. Readers learn about the latest research findings immediately, before they’re available elsewhere. Sally, who is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, is also the author of Place Advantage: Applied Psychology for Interior Architecture (Wiley, 2009) and, with Cindy Coleman, The Designer’s Guide to Doing Research: Applying Knowledge to Inform Design (Wiley, 2012). She is a principal at Design With Science (www.designwithscience.com) and can be reached at sallyaugustin@designwithscience.com.