Learning Style or 'Intelligence'?

Abstract

The concept of 'intelligence' is challenged as a means of explaining learning failure. Hypothetical scientists set out to observe why children fail, and meet children who avoid learning from fear, whose life-style ill equips them to give attention to academic detail, who are headstrong and over-dependent, who assume dullness as a strategy, whose impulsivity causes them to bypass mentation by guessing. Therapy should aim at revealing and developing mental capabilities by improving the style of learning. Systematic means are needed for the assessment of learning style. Empirical studies validating the concept as a predictor of attainment are described and their results compared with the predictive value of IQ. An invitation is issued to participate in an international study of cultural differences in children's learning styles.