Relationship between cognitive style and cognitive development: A 2-year longitudinal study.

Examined developmental changes in the relationship between reflection–impulsivity, spatial perspective taking, and conservation behavior in 40 4–8 yr olds. Ss were administered the Matching Familiar Figures Test. Results indicate no relationship between these variables for 4-yr-olds. At 6 and 8 yrs of age, however, moderately strong negative correlations were found between impulsivity and the expression of operative knowledge. Structural regression analyses suggested that the expression of a reflective cognitive style at 6 yrs of age was causally linked to the emergence of operativity at 8 yrs of age. Longitudinal data confirmed a developmental shift from what is seen in perspective-taking tasks to how it is seen. Discussion focuses on the role of cognitive styles in the development and use of cognitive structures and on the nature of perspective-taking development. (36 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cultural differences in cognitive style development.

Children in several cultures seem to develop a similar cognitive style on the Matching Familiar Figures Test (MFFT). At first, they become more reflective (slow-accurate), then more fast-accurate. However, there are two impressions that qualify this account. First, the early MFFT development of Japanese children seems distinctive in that they become far more accurate on the MFFT, with small increases in latency. Second, in several cultures, error decreases may dominate latency increases in early development, implying that the MFFT measures cognitive competence as well as cognitive style. Evaluating either impression requires some way of quantifying speed and accuracy on the MFFT so that they can be directly compared across age and culture groups. We illustrate such an analysis with the MFFT records of 100 Chinese-American children, ages 6–10, and then reanalyze existing data to compare MFFT performance across four cultures. In all four cultures, error rates decrease more than latency increases. However, Japanese children"s unique development on the MFFT is supported. Although similar results have led some researchers to dismiss the MFFT as a style measure, we discuss why such a strong conclusion seems premature. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive development and cognitive style as factors in mathematics achievement.

Sought to provide a theoretical framework for the learning of mathematics from Piaget's theory about the development of the number concept and the theory of field dependence–independence advanced by H. A. Witkin et al (1977). The relationship between operativity on Piagetian tasks of number, classification, seriation, field dependence–independence, and mathematics achievement on concepts, computations, and applications was investigated, using 102 Ss from Grades 2–4. Results were analyzed separately within each grade for the total mathematics achievement test score, as well as for the 3 subtests consisting of mathematics concepts, computations, and applications. In all grades, field independence was related to high mathematics achievement, especially for the concepts and applications subtests. High operativity was related to high achievement in mathematics concepts only in Grade 2. (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Developmental and individual differences in conditional reasoning: The role of contradiction training and cognitive style.

Examined the development of conditional reasoning from the perspective of the competence-moderator-performance approach discussed by W. F. Overton (1985) and Overton and J. L. Newman (1982). The effects of task interpretation and cognitive style as moderator variables for conditional reasoning were examined, using 36 8th-, 36 10th-, and 36 12th-grade male students as Ss. Ss were given an inference task, and half the Ss at each grade level received training with contradictory evidence to alert them to faulty task interpretations. Generalization of training was assessed with a 2nd conditional reasoning task, and cognitive style was assessed with the Matching Familiar Figures Test. Results indicate that only the 12th graders benefited from contradiction training, and this training generalized to the subsequent task. A reflective style enhanced performance at each grade level for the initial task. However, the beneficial effects of a reflective style were restricted on the generalization task to 12th graders who had received contradiction training. (26 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Childhood personality influences on social–cognitive development: A longitudinal study.

The relation of childhood personality to the development of friendship understanding and moral judgment in adolescence was considered in a longitudinal study. Personality at age 7, assessed with the California Child Q-Set, was characterized in terms of ego-resiliency and ego-control. IQ and social class were also measured. Friendship understanding was assessed when the participants were ages 7, 9, 12, 15, and 19, and moral judgment was elicited when the participants were 12, 15, and 19. Ego-resiliency was found to predict social–cognitive development in adolescence, even after the effects of IQ and childhood measures of social–cognitive development were controlled for. Analyses indicate that the effects of ego-resiliency on social–cognitive development are largely unmediated by the ability to focus attention or by social participation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Depression and cognitive style: Comparisons between measures.

Discusses 4 devices developed recently to measure cognitive styles associated with depression that appear to have an underlying similarity—an attributional style questionnaire developed by M. F. Seligman et al (see PA, Vol 88:6218); a model of characterological self-blame developed by R. Janoff-Bulman (see record 1981-01320-001); a cognitive-bias questionnaire developed by C. Hammen (1981); and an attitudes-toward-self (ATS) scale developed by C. S. Carver and R. J. Ganellen (see record 1983-32781-001). Each measure appears to reflect a tendency for respondents to infer a general lack of self-worth (or a continued likelihood of bad events) on the basis of a single discrete failure. The present research was a comparative test of one of these scales against the other 3 in terms of associations with Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) scores. Though all instruments were significantly correlated with the BDI, partial correlations revealed that the generalization (ATS) scale was a more robust predictor of BDI than were the measures of characterological self-blame, cognitive bias, and attributional style. (28 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Education and cognitive development: A natural experiment.

Using an arbitrary cutoff date, school districts regulate which children will begin school. This "natural experiment" was used to examine effects of age- and schooling-related influences on memory and 3 levels of phonological segmentation in children who just made vs. missed the cutoff. Group comparisons over time permitted assessment of schooling influences and Age × Experience interactions. Short-term memory was enhanced by Grade 1 schooling, with no evidence of an Age × Schooling interaction. For phonological segmentation, both schooling- and age-related influences appeared, with unique patterns for each level of segmentation. The cutoff method proved sensitive to important changes in cognitive skills during this age period. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reality closeness, phantasy, and autokinesis: A dimension of cognitive style.

Hypothesizes that in the autokinetic situation, some people maintain a reality-close life style, while others allow attention to drift toward more subjective endopsychic experiences. The relationship between reality closeness, fantasy proneness, and autokinesis is examined in a pilot study with 48 in- and outpatient Ss and 2 replication studies. The relevance of findings to the psychoanalytic theory of ego functioning is discussed. (18 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of cognitive style and learning passage organization on study technique effectiveness.

129 field-independent and field-dependent undergraduates (as assessed by the Group Embedded Figures Test) read only or took notes on a logically organized or scrambled 80-sentence article. Field-independent Ss scored better than field-dependent Ss on completion items of high structural importance to the meaning of the entire learning passage. However, the effect of cognitive style on material of low structural importance was not significant. An analysis of notes taken by Ss in the low structural importance treatment condition indicated that notes taken on an organized learning passage were of higher average structural importance than notes taken on an unorganized learning passage. The results are discussed in terms of relationships between cognitive style and study technique effectiveness research. (7 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Role of cognitive style in a cognitive task: A case favoring the impulsive approach to problem solving.

A task that favored the impulsive approach to problem solving was given to impulsive, reflective, fast/accurate, and slow/inaccurate male 3rd and 4th graders. Ss learned to choose 1 of a pair of multidimensional stimuli based upon a single cue. In 1 condition, the stimuli were composed of many dimensions; in the 2nd condition, the stimuli were composed of few dimensions. Reflective Ss solved the task with few dimensions more quickly than impulsive Ss, whereas impulsive Ss solved the task with many dimensions in fewer trials. Fast/accurate and slow/inaccurate Ss solved problems in an intermediate number of trials but also reversed positions as a function of the number of dimensions. Both speed and accuracy components of cognitive style contributed to performance in the cognitive task. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Hypothesis testing and cognitive style in children.

Performed 2 experiments with 109 3rd graders. The 1st experiment investigated the relationship between cognitive style and the hypothesis-testing behavior children use in solving concept attainment problems. Field-independent (FI) and field-dependent (FD) Ss, as assessed by the Children's Embedded Figures Test, were administered concept attainment problems using a blank-trial methodology that closely examines how clearing proceeds. While both groups adopted a hypothesis-testing approach, only the performance of FI Ss coincided with a perfect focusing model. FD Ss did not process information efficiently; there were significant differences in coding, recoding, and retention of information. The 2nd experiment was designed to enhance the information processing of FD Ss by providing various stimulus aids. Consistent focusing was obtained in a treatment condition in which compound stimuli were disembedded into their component parts. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Heterogeneity of cognitive style among depressed inpatients.

An inference from the cognitive theories of depression is that only a subset of depressed individuals should exhibit distinctively negative cognitive styles. Although this inference has been supported by previous research, attempts to characterize these depressives have yielded few identifying variables. This study of psychiatric inpatients and normal control subjects identified several characteristics of depressives with very negative cognitive styles by (a) examining traditional depression subtypes, (b) grouping depressives on the basis of clinical observations, and (c) asking whether sex, developmental events, and history and severity of depression predict cognitive styles. We found that borderline personality disorder, negative family dynamics during childhood, a history of sexual abuse, and severity of depression predict cognitive styles. We speculate that aversive developmental events may contribute to cognitive vulnerability to depression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Handedness and "automatization" cognitive style.

Evaluated the relation between "automatization" cognitive style and handedness, or degree of preferred-nonpreferred hand differentiation. 58 male undergraduates were tested on 8 cognitive tasks representing both automatized and nonautomatized abilities. After ipsatization of scores, 14 Ss were chosen as representing "strong automatization," and 14 Ss as "weak automatizers." All Ss were given 6 tests of manual performance using both preferred and nonpreferred hands. No differences were found between strong and weak automatizers in the degree of differentiation between overall preferred and nonpreferred hand performance. Explanations for these findings and the possible role of automatization cognitive style in hand differentiation in young children are discussed. (French summary) (15 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationships among leadership dimensions and cognitive style.

Witkin's differentiation hypothesis served as a basis for the investigation of 3 propositions: (1) field-dependent supervisors will show the highest "esteem for the least preferred co-worker," (2) field-dependent supervisors will be more "considerate," and (3) field-independent supervisors will be more "structure" oriented. Witkin's Embedded Figures Test (EFT), Fiedler's Esteem for the Least Preferred Co-worker (LPC) instrument, and Fleishman's Leadership Opinion Questionnaire were administered to 73 civil service supervisors. The results establish the existence of significant curvilinear relationships between EFT and LPC (p     

Responsiveness to conservation training as a function of induced subjective uncertainty, M-space, and cognitive style.

According to M. Lefebvre and A. Pinard (1972), conflict training can be successful in inducing conservation, but only if children's habitual subjective certainty is disturbed first. To test this notion, 54 low-socioeconomic-status nonconservers, aged 5-8 yrs, were trained with Lefebvre and Pinard's conflict procedure, preceded by activities which induced either high, neutral, or low subjective uncertainty. A comparable group of 9 Ss served as controls. Tests of M-space, field dependence, and impulsivity (backward digit span, portable rod-and-frame test, and Matching Familiar Figures Test, respectively) were administered as covariates. None of the control Ss showed any improvement from pretest to posttest, whereas 50% of the treatment Ss did. However, while improvement was strongly related to M-space ( r = .52), there was no effect due to the preliminary activities or to cognitive style. Results suggest that sensitivity to conflict is not a function of the S's initial degree of subjective uncertainty, but rather of his capacity to coordinate cues and to perceive conflict. To account for the relationship between conflict and M-space, the neo-Piagetian model of conservation proposed by J. Pascual-Leone (1970) is presented and expanded to include a preliminary stage where the resolution of cue conflict in quantification tasks leads to the creation of an executive scheme appropriate for solving the conservation problem. (French summary) (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Disinhibition of communicated thought: Generality and role of cognitive style.

Studied the effects on thought functioning in 80 male and 80 female adults of vocal occlusion by white noise masking (WNM). The interruption of vocal feedback did not change performance on either a cognitive task (a reading test) or on a visual-motor test (digit substitution) when no vocal activity was involved. For men there was a slight but significant performance decrement on the reading test when oral reading was involved. For all Ss, WNM produced an increase in impulse-related themes and a decrease in defensive themes on the TAT. Findings suggest that (a) hearing oneself as one speaks is necessary for modulating impulse and affect and for smooth reality testing in general; and (b) for men, the disinhibition effects of WNM tend to occur in the setting of a leveling cognitive style. Results are discussed in terms of their relevance to defensive organization and the need for vocal feedback in maintaining the stability of defense. (38 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A cognitive–social learning model of social-skill training.

Explores the purposes, methods, major findings, and future directions of social-skill training research with children from the perspective of a cognitive–social learning explanation of behavior change. Social-learning principles are used to provide both an explanatory framework and a potential technology for social-skill training methodology. Attention is devoted to conceptualizing skill-training methods in terms of theoretically derived variables and components as well as formal properties of training. Findings from empirical research are reviewed with respect to important or promising variables, their hypothesized function in behavior change, and their demonstrated effects on children's social behavior. Current and future research trends are discussed in light of the proposed model and available empirical evidence. (3 p ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Semiotic aspects of cognitive development: Illustrations from early mathematical cognition.

The premise of this article is that cognitive development involves both conceptual and semiotic achievements. From this perspective, the authors emphasize the distinctness of the semiotic issues and develop a differentiated appreciation of semiotic aspects of cognition, particularly in the field of elementary mathematical cognition. The authors provide semiotic analyses of the differences between counting, adding, and multiplying and of the conventional place-value sign system. The authors introduce the concept of the field of reference of a sign, the differentiation of the field into foreground and background, and the dynamics within the field of reference. Finally, the authors relate these ideas to the dynamics between 2 dimensions of semiotic relations: the sign–referent dimension and the sign–sign dimension. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The cognitive and linguistic foundations of early reading development: A Norwegian latent variable longitudinal study.

The authors present the results of a 2-year longitudinal study of 228 Norwegian children beginning some 12 months before formal reading instruction began. The relationships between a range of cognitive and linguistic skills (letter knowledge, phoneme manipulation, visual–verbal paired-associate learning, rapid automatized naming (RAN), short-term memory, and verbal and nonverbal ability) were investigated and related to later measures of word recognition in reading. Letter knowledge, phoneme manipulation, and RAN were independent longitudinal predictors of early reading (word recognition) skills in the regular Norwegian orthography. Early reading skills initially appeared well described as a unitary construct that then showed rapid differentiation into correlated subskills (word decoding, orthographic choice, text reading, and nonword reading) that showed very high levels of longitudinal stability. The results are related to current ideas about the cognitive foundations of early reading skills. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)