Context is the situation in which you face critical thinking challenges and how those situations affect your ability to make proper evaluations. Situations can obscure your ability to focus on the critical event or create a false reliance on an untrue condition. For instance, if you were in a classroom, discussing the dangers of drunken driving, you would feel safe to fully evaluate the situation and make a clear choice. When you are at a party and surrounded by your friends, peer pressure from your friends and your desire for social acceptance clouds your ability to make the same decision.
Metacognition is your ability to think about the way you think, such as when you consider why you make certain decisions or question the rationale of your own opinions. People who prefer to base their decisions on momentary feelings or other kinds of whimsy are ignoring their own metacognition. This can lead to failures in critical thinking. As an example, while at the party and presented with the chance to drink with your friends, you could use your metacognition to remind yourself about your prior thought processes from before the party experience. You would remind yourself that you want to avoid the hazards of drinking and driving, and evaluate your current situation based on your understanding of your previous thought process.
Comprehension is your ability to get information from a situation. The information you receive is integral in your critical thinking process and helps you evaluate the situation that you are involved in. You rely on accurate information-gathering to focus your critical thinking process. For instance, while at the party, you may watch your friends and comprehend that the real reason they want you to drink is because they're looking at you as their moral guide, giving them permission to do the same. This information is invaluable to the critical thinking process that occurs after you learn this.
Creativity is your ability to develop a solution to a critical event and connect unrelated ideas. In the critical thinking process, creativity becomes part of your ability to develop critical evaluations and your ability to carry them out. As an example, after evaluating your party situation, you may decide to take an alternate approach to the situation. You refuse to drink and instead offer to drive your friends home after the party, allowing them to make their own decision and facilitating a safe evening for everyone.