An adaptation of the Critical Thinking Disposition Scale in Spanish youth

• Published in: Thinking skills and creativity Vol. 38; p. 100748
• Main Authors: Bravo, Maria Jesús, Galiana, Laura, Rodrigo, Maria F., Navarro-Pérez, José J., Oliver, Amparo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.12.2020
• Subjects: Critical thinking; Critical Thinking Disposition Scale; Gender differences; Multigroup confirmatory factor analysis; Psychometric validation; Thinking styles; Thinking styles; Gender differences; Critical Thinking Disposition Scale; Multigroup confirmatory factor analysis; Critical thinking; Psychometric validation
• ISSN: 1871-1871; 1878-0423
• DOI: 10.1016/j.tsc.2020.100748

•Critical thinking is key to coping with the amount of information received, and the lack of accuracy of the so-called ‘fake news’.•Psychometric properties of the Critical Thinking Disposition Scale (CTDS) in Spanish youth are tested.•CTDS is a valid and reliable measurement of critical thinking disposition in high school and university students.•Confirmatory analysis supports unidimensionality and gender invariance.•The CTDS correlates with rational thinking style. Enhancing students’ critical thinking (CT) is an essential goal of higher education. Although there are many instruments to assess its cognitive dimension, this is not so in the case of dispositional thinking. Our aim is to examine the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the Critical Thinking Disposition Scale (CTDS; Sosu, 2013). Data come from 1064 students in their final years at high school and university in Spain. We report validity evidence based on its internal structure by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and an estimation of reliability and measurement invariance by gender. Additionally, nomological validity study with a multiple-indicator multiple-causes, MIMIC model, for the university students is provided. Three CFAs are reported, with evidence supporting the one-factor structure as the best representation of the data: χ2(44) = 413.556 (p < .001); CFI = .976; RMSEA = .089[.081,.097]; SRMR = .031; ECV = .889. With this structure, measurement invariance between boys and girls is tested and the scalar model is retained. Differences in latent means are found, favoring girls (d = 0.449; se = .065; p < .001). The reliability of CTDS is adequate, with a Cronbach’s alpha of .777 and a CRI value of .925. When tested in university students, the MIMIC model offers evidence for nomological validity: higher levels are found for women (β =.111, p < .050) and also for those with higher levels of rational thinking (β = .577, p < .010). The Spanish version of the CTDS has good psychometric properties (including gender measurement invariance not yet reported in literature), and is suitable for being used to measure the disposition to critical thinking in youth. The relevance and implications of these results are further discussed.