CHAPTER 5

Cognitive style and other

individual difference dimensions
 Chapter Overview

This chapter will consider two related groups of

questions concerning the basis of cognitive style,
the context of other individual difference
dimensions such as intelligence and personality
 Studies using the Congnitive Styles Analysis
approach with a view to examining evidence for this
construct of cognitive style and also its relationship to
other construct.
The independence of the style dimensions
and their physiological bases

• The findings of a large number of studies using

the Cognitive Styles Analysis suggest that the
two cognitive style dimensions are independent
of one another.
• The correlation between the two dimensions has
been found to be consistently low and typically r
= ±0.1
 Style and physiological mechanisms

The evidence will be psychological where it can be

shown that a measure is related to other observed
behaviours and physiological where a construct is
shown to be related to a physiological measure.
 Brain activity

• Since the brain generates electrical activity, one of the

methods of assessing whether and where processing is
taking place at the surface of the cerebral cortex is to place
sensitive detectors (electrodes) at various positions on the
surface
• This approach produces an electroencephalogram (EEG)
amplifying and recording the electrical activity of the brain,
 Hemispheric specialisation

• The two hemispheres of the cerebrum are the left

and right upper halves of the brain
• Such hemispheric specialisation has long been
associated with the left hemisphere being the
location of the verbal function and the right with
imagery processing.
 Style and EEG

• EEG alpha suppression during information processing would occur

over the left hemisphere for verbalisers and over the right for
imagers.
• There were eight trials at each rate
• This study showed a significant effect along the Midline.
• There was an interaction between the wholist-analytic dimension
and electrode location, with alpha suppression being greater for the
analytics and fairly uniform along the line.
 Further considerations

• In coclusion, the finding of significant style effects on

EEG is important as providing physiological evidence
for the existence of style.
• Further, the small amount of available evidence on
development stages and style suggests that they are
unrelated.
 Style in the context of other individual
difference dimensions

The preceding sections of this chapter have established

that the two fundamental style dimensions are
independent of one another, and some EEG evidence
for the physiological reality of both style dimensions.
 Style and intelligence

In the present context, where it is intended to compare

intelligence with cognitive styles in order to identify
similarities and differences, the all embracing
approach is inappropriate, since it assumes that
intelligence subsumes all abilities.
 Types of intelligence

• The former is related to processing speed and capacity

of the brain, while the latter is affected by learning and
experience.
• No tests assess only fluid intelligence, and crystallised
intelligence will be influenced by the quality of the
strategies.
 The relationship between
style and intelligence

• Riding and Pearson (1994), with a sample of 119 12-13 year old
pupils, found that intelligence as measured by sub tests of the
British Abilities Scale Short From (Elliot 1983) was not related
to cognitive style. The sub-tests were as follows.
1. Speed of Information Processing
2. Matrices (Test F)
3. Similarities
4. Recall of Digits (Test B)
 Further considerations
• Style and intelligence in interaction
The evidence points to the independence of style and fluid
intelligence in performing tasks.

• Crystallised intelligence, style and variation in performance

Which include measures of both intelligence and style, intelligence
usually accounts for more varience than style. These are likely to
include more than just processing capacity and facility also assess
learned knowledge and the application of acquired skills.
 The distinction between style and ability

• Considering the nature of cognitive style as distinct from

ability highlihted four distinguishing characteristic :
1. Ability is more concerned with level of performence
2. Ability is unipolar while style is bipolar
3. Ability has values attached to it such that one end of an
ability dimension
4. Ability has a narrower range of applications than style.
Intelligence and test of embedded shapes

Riding and Pearson (1994) : also found that a Test of

Embedded Hapes (TES) didn’t correlate significantly with
wholist-analytic style (r=0.04), but it did correlate with IQ
(r = 0.47). The TES comprised a Worked Example Section,
a Practice and a Response Section, containing four, four
and thirty-two items, respectively.
 Personality and Style
• Personality dimensions
Compare cognitive style and personality it would be convenient if the personality
dimensions and their underlying physiological mechanisms.

• Style and personality

Riding and Dyer (1980) : found a correlation of -0.67 for boys and -0.76 for girls
between an earlier measure of verbal imagery style.
Riding and Wigley (1997) : in a study of 340 College of Further Education students
aged 17-18 years used range of questionnaire measures of personality and attitude.

• Further considerations
Finding of significant interactions between the style dimensions in their effects on
neuroticism and impulsiveness and of a non-linier relationship between wholist-
analytic style and psychoticism.
 Gender differences and style

There don’t appear to be overall gender differences

with respect to cognitive style. Differences are usually
small and non-significant on both dimensions
(P>0.05) (e.g Riding et al. 1995)
 Informations Processing and gender

Studies have shown sex differences in the performance

on information processing tasks. These could be
interpreted as caused by fundamental differences in
the ways in which females and males process
information.
 The cognitive control model
• The consideration of intelligence, personality and gender has
suggested that they have effects that are independent of those
of style, and that they are therefore different sources of
influence.
• The next level is that of cognitive control this comprises the
two dimensions of styles the wholist-analytic and the verbal
imagery.