THE HONG KONG POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY

DEPARTMENT OF APPLIED SOCIAL SCIENCES

APSS1L01 Tomorrow’s Leaders

Lecture Outline

Subject Code: APSS1L01

Subject Title: Tomorrow’s Leaders
Lecture Three: Cognitive Competence (Critical Thinking)

Rationale
Cognitive competence has attracted much research attention in the past decades.
According to Catalano et al. (2002), cognitive competence constitutes the ability to
develop and apply the cognitive skills of self-talk, the reading, and interpretation of
social cues, using steps for problem-solving and decision-making, understanding the
perspective of others, understanding behavioral norms, a positive attitude toward life,
and self-awareness. Cognitive competence has been related to a variety of
developmental outcomes, including academic performance, career achievement,
different youth risk behaviors, and psychological health. Studies have also shown that
cognitive ability was the best predictor of leadership effectiveness (Mann, 1959).
Therefore, it is important for university students to have an in-depth and critical
understanding of cognitive competence and its relationship with effective leadership.

The objectives of this lecture are

1. To enable students to learn the concepts and theories related to cognitive
competence and critical thinking;
2. To introduce the concepts of misinformation, disinformation, and propaganda;
3. To enable students to learn tips on how to discern disinformation from true
information critically;
4. To enable students to apply tips on how to discern disinformation from true
information in daily lives as university students and future professions.

The Intended Learning Outcomes of this lecture are:

Upon completion of this lecture, students will be able:

1
© Copyright 2025 APSS. All Rights Reserved.
1. To understand the concepts of misinformation, disinformation, and propaganda;
2. To understand the strategies about how to discern disinformation from true
information;
3. To apply strategies on how to discern disinformation from true information in daily
lives as university students and future professions.

Required readings:

Sun, R. C. F., & Hui, E. K. P. (2012). Cognitive Competence as a Positive Youth

Development Construct: A Conceptual Review. TheScientificWorld, 2012,
210953–210959. https://doi.org/10.1100/2012/210953

Reference:

Catalano, R. F., Berglund, M. L., Ryan, J. A. M., Lonczak, H. S., & Hawkins, J. D.
(2002). Positive Youth Development in the United States: Research Findings on
Evaluations of Positive Youth Development Programs. Prevention & Treatment,
5(1), No Pagination Specified–No Pagination Specified.
https://doi.org/10.1037/1522-3736.5.1.515a
Connelly, M.S., Gilbert, J.A., Zaccaro, S.J., Threlfall, K.V., Marks, M.A. & Mumford,
M.D. (2000). Exploring the Relationship of Leadership Skills and Knowledge to
Leader Performance. Leadership Quarterly 11(1), 65-86.
https://doi.org/10.1016/S1048-9843(99)00043-0
Dotdotnews (2023, May 23). Click to speak | Mainland students were defrauded of
nearly one million Hong Kong dollars for renting an apartment before they even
came to Hong Kong? https://www-dotdotnews-
com.translate.goog/a/202305/25/AP646e131ae4b08eeabfd4a53e.html?_x_tr_sl=
zh-TW&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=sc
Guess, A. M., & Lyons, B. A. (2020). Misinformation, Disinformation, and Online
Propaganda. In Social Media and Democracy (pp. 10–33). Cambridge University
Press.
Haber, J. (2020). It’s time to get serious about teaching critical thinking. The MIT Press
Essential Knowledge series
2
© Copyright 2025 APSS. All Rights Reserved.
Halpern, D. F. (2014). Thought and knowledge: An introduction to critical thinking (5th
ed.). Psychology Press.
Kumar, K. P. K., & Geethakumari, G. (2014). Detecting misinformation in online social
networks using cognitive psychology. Human-Centric Computing and
Information Sciences, 4(1), 1-22. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13673-014-0014-x
Lee, E.-J., & Shin, S. Y. (2021). Mediated Misinformation: Questions Answered, More
Questions to Ask. The American Behavioral Scientist (Beverly Hills), 65(2), 259–
276. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764219869403
Mann, R. D. (1959). A Review of the Relationship between Personality and
Performance in Small Groups. Psychological Bulletin, 56(4), 241-270.
https://doi.org/10.1037/h0044587
Metzger, M. J., Flanagin, A. J., Mena, P., Jiang, S., & Wilson, C. (2021). From dark to
light: The many shades of sharing misinformation online. Media and
Communication (Lisboa), 9(1), 134–143. https://doi.org/10.17645/mac.v9i1.3409
Miller, R. J. (2017, June 21). ‘Breatharian’ couple: We eat — just not like you. The
New York Post. https://nypost.com/2017/06/21/breatharian-couple-we-eat-just-
not-like-you/
Ming Pao (2024, July 30). Editorial: Hong Kong’s rented houses fall into another trap
and plug loopholes to strengthen fraud prevention.
https://news.mingpao.com/pns/%E7%A4%BE%E8%A9%95/article/20240730/s
00003/1722278560845/%E7%A4%BE%E8%A9%95-
%E6%B8%AF%E6%BC%82%E7%A7%9F%E5%B1%8B%E5%8F%88%E5%
A2%AE%E9%99%B7%E9%98%B1-
%E5%A0%B5%E5%A1%9E%E6%BC%8F%E6%B4%9E%E5%8A%A0%E5
%BC%B7%E9%98%B2%E9%A8%99
Scherer, L. D., McPhetres, J., Pennycook, G., Kempe, A., Allen, L. A., Knoepke, C. E.,
Tate, C. E., & Matlock, D. D. (2021). Who is susceptible to online health
misinformation? A test of four psychosocial hypotheses. Health Psychology, 40(4),
274–284. https://doi.org/10.1037/hea0000978
Scriven, M., & Paul, R. (1987). Critical thinking. In The 8th Annual International
Conference on Critical Thinking and Education Reform, CA (Vol. 7, No. 9).

3
© Copyright 2025 APSS. All Rights Reserved.
 Southwell, B. G., Thorson, E. A., & Sheble, L. (2017). The Persistence and Peril of
Misinformation. American Scientist, 105(6), 372–375.
https://doi.org/10.1511/2017.105.6.372
Stogdill, R. M. (1984). Handbook of Leadership: A Survey of the Literature. Free Press.
Teunisse, A. K., Case, T. I., Fitness, J., & Sweller, N. (2020). I Should Have Known
Better: Development of a Self-Report Measure of Gullibility. Personality & Social
Psychology Bulletin, 46(3), 408–423. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167219858641
Van Bavel, J. J., Harris, E. A., Pärnamets, P., Rathje, S., Doell, K. C., & Tucker, J. A.
(2021). Political Psychology in the Digital (mis)Information age: A Model of
News Belief and Sharing. Social Issues and Policy Review, 15(1), 84–113.
https://doi.org/10.1111/sipr.12077
Wardle, C., & Derakhshan, H. (2018). Thinking about ‘information disorder’: formats
of misinformation, disinformation, and mal-information. In C. Ireton & J. Posetti
(Eds.), Journalism, ‘fake news’& disinformation (pp. 43–54). UNESCO.
Windle, L. (2017, June 15). ‘Breatharian’ couple survives on ‘the universe’s energy’
instead of food. The New York Post.
https://nypost.com/2017/06/15/breatharian-couple-survives-on-the-universes-
energy-instead-of-food/

***** Mottos & Quotes *****

“An intellectual is someone whose mind watches itself.”

~ Albert Camus
1913 - 1960
(A French author, journalist, and key philosopher of the 20th-century)

Source:
Albert Camus quotes. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=an+intellectual%2C+albert+ca
mus&commit=Search

4
© Copyright 2025 APSS. All Rights Reserved.
 “The use of our intelligence quite properly gives us pleasure. In this respect the
brain is like a muscle. When we think well, we feel good. Understanding is a kind
of ecstasy.”
~ Carl Edward Saga
1934 - 1996
(An American astronomer, astrophysicist, cosmologist, author, science
popularizer, and science communicator in the space and natural sciences)

Source:
Carl Edward Sagan quotes. (n.d.).
Sagan, C. (1979). Broca’s Brain: Reflections on the Romance of Science. Random House.

5
© Copyright 2025 APSS. All Rights Reserved.