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Critical thinking is vital for personal and professional success. For the purposes of this essay, Critical thinking is defined as the identification of key aspects of a question or problem, the process of discovering the relevant components of the solution or answers to the problem, and the piecing together of facts, resulting in a conclusion. For a Media psychologist, critical thinking is a skill that enables him to be effective. For an educator, it enhances his ability to instruct his students.

Theoretical and Practical Application

 Critical thinking provides a theoretical framework, a perspective that allows a researcher to function. Critical thinking eliminates passive consumption of information. No longer does the researcher merely watch/read material, he now observes it.  Evidence through observation of facts, is one of the tenets of critical thinking (Wikipedia, 2013). As a skill, knowing what questions to ask is important for a researcher. Critical thinking leads an analyst to ask relevant questions, such as who is creating the media? What was the purpose of this submission? When was it created? Why was it created? In addition to knowing what to ask, critical thinking allows a media psychologist to connect the findings of those questions into actionable information. Being able to conclude the affect of media is another benefit of critical thinking.

While the theoretical side of critical thinking involves relevant questions, the practical aspect of critical thinking consists of processing the resulting answers. The answers are key. Once the researcher is able to identify the consequences of the media, he can access results of the actions, and make audiences aware of the result. This leads to understanding. Once understanding has occurred the actions of those affected by the media become voluntary, because now they have a choice to continue or halt their behavior. An example of this is smoking.

 Millions of people smoked until the late 1960’s without really knowing that cigarettes were addictive and posed significant health risks. While it is likely smokers had some inkling to the health risks, and a limited number of people with access to the information may have known, millions of people were addicted without knowing they were. They didn’t know that they were being compelled to smoke the cigarettes. Much of the public was unaware that lung cancer, heart disease, and other life-threatening illnesses were a result of their cigarettes. Then the researchers began to disseminate the information to the public. Once the public was made aware that the nicotine was not only poisonous but addictive, the act of smoking became voluntary. It was a choice now that they were made aware of all the risks, all the consequences, all of the history behind smoking. Therefore, they had the ability to seek help, treatment, or attempt to quit cold turkey. Before, they were smoking unaware of the risk and habit forming nature of their product of leisure, therefore they were unwitting participants. Comparing media to nicotine may seem extreme, but the average person checks their facebook on their phone 14 times a day (IDC, 2013). That is on top of their computer usage of facebook. Social media has addictive properties. If there is an effect on society’s behavior, users should be made aware so they can choose to continue to use or change based on having the information. Knowing to ask if there are affects of using social media is a result of critical thinking in practice. Practically, critical thinking is a skill that creates competency for the media psychologist. The perspective of analyzing the impact leads to the skills to address the impact.

Critical Thinking in Personal and Professional Aspects

The role of a media psychologist is to determine the impact of media on society. Without critical thinking, it is impossible to be a media psychologist. The affects of media are not always obvious. The affects of media are not concrete. They’re subtle in some cases, filled with nuances that require a close examination. They are obvious at times, but only if the researcher knows what to look for.

Critical thinking in the workplace, as an educator, critical thinking provides balance and perspective.  Critical thinking causes the recipient/observer to transform from a recipient, to an observer. An observer investigates why the information was created. The observer ask who created the information, who commissioned the information, who was intended to access the information, and who in fact was the recipient of information. Students will be taught to observe, whether it is in business, where the goal is to induce the public to spend money. In Communications, where the goal is to sway others into understanding the speaker’s intent, the student will be taught to look for intent and to act accordingly.

When it comes to Media Psychology, critical thinking provides a theoretical framework for the psychologist to use. This framework provides a perspective.  From this perspective the researcher asks two questions: what is the purpose of a piece or pieces of media? And what affect is the media having on individuals within society. As a skill, critical thinking allows him to analyze and more importantly, identify the effect of the media. In practice, this creates an effective psychologist. A psychologist who can identify affects on behavior is one that can assist the field as a whole. For a professor, critical thinking allows him to be a skilled instructor, to provide students with independent thought and adaptability in their future endeavors. Critical thinking is a tool with many uses in a varied aspects of life, professional and personal aspects included.