Passions, attitudes, values, and habits of mind all play key roles in thinking, and, in large part, it is these elements that determine whether learners use their thinking skills when it counts. The Patterns of Thinking project has investigated several key thinking dispositions that support high-level thinking in and across subject matters. A thinking disposition is a tendency toward a particular pattern of intellectual behavior. For example, good thinkers have the tendency to identify and investigate problems, to probe assumptions, to seek reasons, and to be reflective. However, research has revealed that often learners possess thinking abilities in these areas, but aren't disposed to use them.
Ability concerns the basic capacity to carry out a behavior.
Inclination concerns the motivation or impulse to engage in the behavior. Sensitivity concerns likelihood of noticing occasions to engage in the behavior. As an example, consider open-mindedness. Research has shown that inclination and sensitivity make unique contributions to intellectual behavior that are empirically separable from the contribution of ability. Interestingly, findings revealed that the contribution of sensitivity is larger than would have been predicted, and that it is sensitivity, rather than inclination, that appears to be the chief bottleneck in effective intellectual performance.