Thinking and Decision Making When it comes to reasoning and solving any problem, there are various ways to reach a decision; thinking is the mental process that allows people in the world to deal with it effectively, according to established goals, plans, ideas and desires. Thinking involves gathering information that forms concepts and engaging in problem solving, reasoning, and making precise decisions for the benefit of those concerned. Thinking according to Kirby and Goodpaster (2007), “is an internal mental process that uses information as input, integrates that information into previously learned material, and the result may be knowledge or may be nothing.” Creative thinking, logical thinking and persuasive thinking are three types of thinking. Each of these types of thinking influences the critical thinking process in various ways. The three types of thinking will be compared and contrasted, as well as applied to the effects they have on the critical thinking process. Each person has a primary thinking style that is mostly used to help them in their decisions. Finally, critical thinking will be applied to decision making using workplace examples. Creative thinking This is one of the types of thinking styles. Creative thinking involves creating something new or original. It involves the skills of flexibility, originality, fluency, elaboration, brainstorming, modification, imagination, associative thinking, attribute listing, metaphorical thinking, and forced relationships. The purpose of creative thinking is to stimulate curiosity and promote divergence. When an individual learns to expand their thinking to incorporate metaphorical ideas, they will unleash the creative thinking process… middle of the paper… way. The important thing is that we become more aware of what learning and thinking style works best for us. Once we know our own style, we can analyze others. This will help us understand other people better. It will make us more flexible. And perhaps we can all pick up tips from each other on how to be more effective. References Kirby, G. R. and Goodpaster, J. R. (2007) Creative thinking. Thought of the fourth edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.Albrecht, K. (1984) Brain Building: Easy Games to Develop Your Problem Solving Skills. Prentice Hall.Audiblox. (n.d.). Logical Thinking: Helping Children Become Smarter. Network. March 23, 2015. http://www.audiblox.com/logical_thinking.htmSchafersman, S. D. (1991). Critical thinking: Introduction to critical thinking. Network. March 23, 2015.http://www.freeinquiry.com/critical-thinking.html