Cognitive Styles and Learning Strategies

Understanding Style Differences in Learning and Behavior

Richard Riding, Stephen Rayner

• Publisher: David Fulton Publishers
• Year: 2013
• ISBN:
  9781134096411
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Didattica
• Subtopic: Didattica generale

First Published in 1998. This book deals with what may well turn out to be the missing element in the study of individual differences - cognitive style. Its intention is to distinguish between, and integrate, the research attempts, particularly over the past half century, to make sense of style differences. In several respects this book is unique in that it contains material that is not covered in any other and draws together the various aspects of psychology relevant to the study of individual differences. It is in this sense both a textbook and a source of reference for many professionals working in a range of contexts. The content of the book has relevance for a wide audience.

Chapter 1
Introduction

Chapter overview

The purpose of this chapter is to provide an introduction to the key concepts of the book and to give an overview of its argument and conclusions.

Individual differences

People differ in many respects. We are probably more aware of physical differences in appearance than we are of different styles of thinking and representing information. Yet such differences in style greatly affect the way people are and the manner in which they behave.

The notion of style

The concept of style is an idea used frequently in everyday language. The concept has been used more technically in the psychological study of individual differences in learning and behaviour. In this respect it is used as a 'construct'. A construct is a psychological idea or notion. Examples of constructs are intelligence, extraversion and neuroticism.

The thesis of the book

This book will review work on cognitive style and learning strategy and concludes that there are two fundamental dimensions of cognitive style - the wholist-analytic and the verbal-imagery. It is argued that currently the most efficient way of assessing an individual's style is by means of a computer-presented assessment - the Cognitive Styles Analysis. The validity of this approach comes from evidence of a physiological basis for style, the independence of style from other constructs such as intelligence, personality and gender, and the relationship of style to a range of behaviours. These behaviours include learning performance, social responses and occupational stress.

Individual differences

Since at the heart of this book is an interest in the differences between people in the ways in which they think, feel, learn and behave, this chapter will begin by considering variation between individuals.

Recognising differences

It is very noticeable that people differ from one another. The physical differences are the most obvious, such as height, facial characteristics and tone of voice. However, there are other differences that are apparent, particularly in other people. For example

• some are organised, while others are untidy
• some are balanced in their views, while others tend to extremes
• some are cautious, while others are impulsive
• some are very fluent, while others are hesitant of speech
• some 'see' what they read in mental pictures, while others do not
• some are quiet, while others are noisy
• some are social, while others are reserved
• some are placid, while others are reactive
• some are tense, while others are relaxed
• some are intelligent, while others seem less able.

Readers may wish to rate themselves on these characteristics as a way of focusing attention on individual attributes.

It is a matter of both personal and practical interest to understand why people differ; personal since it helps them to understand themselves better, and practical because with such understanding individuals can be helped to their full potential and more appropriately guided into particular occupations.

Among possible contributors to individual difference are intelligence and personality. It is the argument of this book that a further significant contributor is what we shall term 'cognitive style'.

Figure 1.1 (adapted from Riding and Rayner 1995) gives brief descriptions of four fictitious people. Readers are invited to consider which of the four is most like themselves or perhaps a friend or colleague.

In terms of the approach of this book cognitive style labels can be applied to the people described above, as shown in Figure 1.2.

Figure 1.1 Descriptions of four individuals

Figure 1.2 Cognitive style labels

Although it is not intended that these labels should be meaningful at this stage, if readers did identify themselves or a friend in one particular person then they may like to remember the style description as they read through the book.

Assessing differences

Although differences in behaviour between people are obvious when considered, easy and efficient ways of assessing them are more elusive. If we take John as an example, suppose you are an employer and that John has applied to you for a job. How would you assess what he is like? You would probably ask him to say what he thinks he is like, as in an interview situation, or by filling in a questionnaire. However, this approach is difficult because even if John were honest, and there is the problem that he may say what he thinks you want to hear, rather than what he believes to be the case, he may not actually know what he is like.

At first sight this would appear strange, since in some respects no one knows John better than John. However, people are often not good at seeing themselves as others see them. Further, what they say they think they would do in a particular situation is not necessarily what they would actually do. For instance, the test of whether individuals are racially biased is not what they say about themselves, but how they actually behave in a situation that involves someone of another racial group.

In assessing differences, the direct method of observing actual behaviour is preferable to introspective self-report. While this may not be practicable in the case of someone applying for employment, in psychological research it is very important for objective assessment to take place.

Having had a snapshot of the differences, the obvious next step is to enquire into the ways in which style operates. A real challenge for psychology is to identify the dimensions which underlie these behaviours, and to determine their bases.

The notion of style

Several researchers, and the title of this book, have used the word 'style' in describing differences between people. 'Style' is used as a term both in popular usage and in a more restricted technical sense.

A matter of style

The concept

The concept 'style' is used in a variety of contexts: in high street fashion, the sports arena, the arts, the media, and in many academic disciplines including psychology. It has a wide appeal which reflects an enduring versatility, but this same appeal can lead to overuse which unsurprisingly creates a difficulty for definition and understanding. Yet, the notion of style remains an important and popular expression of individuality. It is used, time and again, to describe a set of individual qualities, activities or behaviour sustained over a period of time.

Style awareness

The term style maybe used, for example, to describe the grace of a gymnast, or the game of a football team, the manner and cut of a new fashion on the modelling catwalk, the shape and form of a building, the approach used by a commercial company to organise itself, or the way a person may think, learn, teach or even talk! Tannen (1995) observed, for example, that conversational style can be identified as a key feature in human relations. She suggested that conversational style 'makes or breaks your relations with others', since frustration or misunderstanding can be created by a clash of style. She argued that

Clashing conversational styles can wreak havoc at the conference table as well as at the breakfast table, with consequences as frustrating and even more dangerous, since people's welfare and even lives can be at stake. Everyone's frustration will be reduced, and companies as well as individuals will benefit, if we all begin to understand and accept each other's styles.

(Tannen 1995:17)

The significance of an awareness of style is its potential for enhancing and improving human performance in a variety of contexts. The fascinating and enduring appeal of style lies in its use as a 'conceptual framework' for individuality It may be quite possible that the continuing interest in the idea of style in so many different contexts reflects a basic human need to create a sense of identity, which is after all, the essence of individuality. In other words, we all perhaps need to know we matter, that we make a difference in our own life, and making this difference is quite simply, a matter of style!

The ‘style’ construct and the individual

The style construct

The term 'construct' refers to a psychological idea or notion. Examples of constructs are intelligence, extraversion and neuroticism.

A 'style construct' appears in a number of academic disciplines - in psychology it has been developed in a number of different areas such as: personality, cognition, communication, motivation, perception, learning and behaviour. Its emergence in psychology as a theory entails separate and related developments, reflecting both philosophical and psychological concerns for individuality. Unfortunately, the widespread use of the term 'style' has led to workers in the field often adopting different definitions and terminology. Consequently, those workers interested in reaching agreement, in terms of definition or use of an accepted nomenclature for a theory of style, have faced considerable difficulty.

Style in educational psychology has nevertheless been recognised as a key construct in the area of individual differences in the learning context. Riding (1997), for example, suggested that cognitive style reflected the fundamental make-up of a person. He argued that style has a physical basis and can and does control the way in which individuals respond to the events and ideas they experience. Importantly, he identified the 'temporal stability' of style, suggesting that it is a constant aspect of a person's psychology which does not appear to change. It is therefore impossible, according to Riding, for a person to 'switch off' their style.

Style and the individual

Cognitive style as a subject includes several aspects of 'differential psychology' associated with individual differences in the learner and the learning environment (Jonassen and Grabowski 1993). The key elements in this construct are formed from the basic aspects of an individual's psychology; namely affect or feeling, behaviour or doing and cognition or knowing. These 'primary elements' in an individual's personal psychology are structured and organised by an individual's cognitive style. This psychological process, in turn, is reflected in the way that the person builds a generalised approach to learning.

It is this dynamic which involves the individual in a life-long process - the building up of a repertoire of learning strategies which combine with cognitive style - to contribute to an individual's personal learning style. As part of this process, these 'primary elements' of personal psychology interact with cognitive style to influence the formation of attitudes, skills, understanding and a general level of competence realised in the learning process.

Cognitive style and learning strategy

Personal style describes the way in which a person habitually approaches or responds to the learning task. It comprises two fundamental aspects: first, cognitive style, which reflects the way in which the individual person thinks; second, learning strategy, which reflects those processes which are used by the learner to respond to the demands of a learning activity.

A person's cognitive style is probably an in-built and automatic way of responding to information and situations. It is probably present at birth or at any rate is fixed early on in life and is thought to be deeply pervasive, affecting a wide range of individual functioning. A person's cognitive style is a relatively fixed aspect of learning performance and influences a person's general attainment or achievement in learning situations.

Style and education — a practical example

The implications of cognitive style for the educator and trainer are far-reaching, but to date conspicuously underdeveloped in working practice. Hamblin (1981) commented that constructive teaching of 'study skills', with the aim of raising the level of achievement, should not be regarded as a search for a single correct 'way to do it'. Nor should 'study skills' or 'learning how to learn' be left to random chance, individual adaptiveness, or a haphazard management of pedagogy. Hamblin advised that teachers' work is about

encouraging pupils to engage in a long-term process of building a style of learning which is meaningful and productive. Pastoral care embodies the ethic of ...