An Exploratory Study Using Repertory Grid Approach for Measurement of Cognitive Complexity

Abstract

A pilot study is described to determine the usefulness of Bieri's modified version of the Role Construct Repertory Test as a measure of cognitive complexity and as a means of testing relationships between complexity and factors of sex, age, individual response style and the effects of prolonged social interaction. Repertory grids from 5 male and 5 female subjects were first evaluated for degree of matching of construct rows, using a metric devised by Bieri to obtain a measure of cognitive complexity. There was a strong tendency for females to be more complex than males. There was also a tendency for mean cognitive complexity to increase from the youngest to the middle range of ages in the sample and decrease again for the older subjects. Although females were more cognitively complex than males, there was no appreciable difference in their use of extreme scores. Finally, subjects tended to perceive intimates as more similar to themselves than people with whom they had less social contact. The small sample size precluded the use of tests of significance but the trends apparent in the data generally agree with other published results, suggesting that Bieri's method could be appropriate and useful to measure cognitive complexity.