Personality Cognitive Styles Research Articles

Comprehending geometry proofs: A study on prospective mathematics teachers' perceptions and preferences of proof formats

The explicative aim of this research is to investigate the optics of proof format preferences held by prospective mathematics teachers (PMTs), in an effort to assess the effect that such preferences may have on their understanding of geometric proofs. The researchers employed a qualitative case study approach, in which six PMTs participated in Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) on the three styles of proof: paragraph proof, two-column proof and flow-chart proof. The methodology employed also focused on the formatting models by exploring the participants’ suggestions regarding each format in order to determine their cognitive responses as well as their preferences. The study exposes different preferences among PMTs which are a result of their personal cognitive style and experience with proofs. Some of the PMTs preferred the two-column format due to its systematic and logical nature, other PMTs preferred the storytelling nature of the paragraph proof format sponsored also flow-chart representation. These preferences bring out the requirement for the development of pedagogical strategies that employ different proof formats in order to meet the needs of different types of learners for effective understanding. In summary, this research demonstrates the need for customizing proof instruction to different students’ needs which can hopefully enhance PMTs’ responses and interactions with the concept of mathematical proofs. The practical outcomes show that teachers should not be afraid to think in more flexible witnessing forms of proof in order to aid students learning while minimizing the cognitive load in line with the principles of constructivist learning. It would be worthwhile however to extend this research and examine what these preferences would mean for the future and how those would fit within the context of online education with the overall aim of creating a better mathematics curriculum that is more effective and has a wider reach.

Come si intrecciano la realtà virtuale e i processi di inibizione creatrice in didattica

Over the years, the environment has always been an important educational and research element, a space in which the child becomes capable of acquiring not only basic skills, but also life skills. Virtual environment is an alternative system for educating younger people, requiring them to play an active role in the educational process and not just as a mere user of knowledge. Virtual reality is a useful tool, moreover, to practice the capacity for orientation or perspective taking ability, through the activation of specific brain areas and the inhibition of others. This contribution has the aim to analyze the possible relationship between VR and the executive functions including inhibition, to foster creativity and respect personal cognitive style of students, especially with SNE.

Cognitive style of a future IT specialist in a teamwork process

Introduction. Training future specialists in information technology to work in a team has a great potential both for solving educational problems in the higher education and for further development of graduates as professionals in the labour market. The efficiency of the teamwork is largely determined by the effectiveness of the distribution of roles in the team. The distribution of roles depends on the individual cognitive characteristics of each team member. Individual enlightening characteristics of the ways of perception and processing of information, the choice of ways to solve problems are associated with the cognitive style of the individual.Aim. The present research aims to analyse the nature of the influence of the cognitive style of the personality of each member of the team on the results of solving a practice-oriented task in the field of information and communication technologies.Methodology and research methods. The work used a systematic approach (N. A. Astashova, S. L. Melnikova, A. P. Tonkikh, L. N. Shilenkova, A. Burger, L. Naude, F. D. Fernandez, J. L. Arco-Tirado, M. Hervas-Torres); practice-oriented approach (E. F. Fefilova, D. Bednarek, M. Krulis, J. Yaghob); project approach (L. I. Savva, E. A. Gasanenko, K. E. Shakhmaeva); cognitive approach (J. B. Watson, G. A. Kimble, J. Anderson, B. M. Velichkovsky, J. Kelly, J. Bruner, J. J. Goodnow, G. A. Austin, M. A. Kholodnaya), in the frames of which general scientific and statistical methods were used. The works by M. A. Kholodnaya, J. Parker, J. D. Bain, H. A. Witkin, S. A. Moore, D. R. Goodenough, P. W. Cox constituted the theoretical and methodological basis of the study, on the basis of which the characteristics of students with different cognitive styles were studied. The analysis of the dependence of the success rate of solving practice-oriented tasks by a team of students on the cognitive style of each member of this team was carried out. The success rate was calculated as the sum of the normalised values for each type of work. 250 undergraduate students of Nizhny Tagil State Socio-Pedagogical Institute (branch) of Russian State Vocational Pedagogical University and Nizhny Tagil Institute of Technology (branch) of Ural Federal University took part in the study. The used research methods: questionnaires, testing, the method of expert assessments, ranking, scaling, rationing, content analysis of documents, methods of mathematical statistics in data processing, methods of analysis, synthesis, generalisation, comparison, abstraction when interpreting research results. The “Included Figures” test was used to determine the field dependence / field independence of the subjects. The main statistical calculations were performed using the nonparametric statistical method “Mann-Whitney U-test”. To confirm the reliable difference in the proportion of teams that successfully coped with the task, the Fisher criterion was applied. The data sources are open source databases (websites of international and Russian government bodies), regulatory documents regulating the basics of training IT specialists, research by leading scientists in the field of cognitive personality style, statistical information.Results. The authors developed the criteria to evaluate the results of solving a practiceoriented task by a team of future IT specialists and defined the concept of a success indicator. The authors demonstrated the importance of taking into account cognitive personality styles when forming a team of IT specialists. The dependence of the success rate of solving a practice-oriented task on the type of cognitive style of the participants of the task was revealed. It is established that the highest results of the success rate in solving a practice-oriented task were noted in those teams that included students with different cognitive personality styles of field dependence / field independence, with a predominant number of participants with a field-independent personality style. The findings indicate the need to take into account the cognitive styles of individuals when forming the composition of teams for IT projects.Scientific novelty. The results of the study expand the scientific facts that cognitive styles are predictors of students’ achievements in solving practical tasks in teamwork.Practical significance. The data obtained can be used to develop a strategy for training future IT specialists aimed at improving the effectiveness of teamwork in higher education institutions. The proposed calculations of the success rate of solving practice-oriented tasks can be employed to evaluate the results of educational practices and final qualifying works.

Thinking abilities and cognitive-personality styles

The article presents the results of the empirical study devoted to the analysis of the relations between the variables of thinking abilities and personality-cognitive styles. The study involved 292 students of sociohumanitarian and economic faculties of the cities of Moscow and Kaluga aged 17 to 25 (19.44 ± 1.48), among which 62% were girls. Statistical data processing was carried out on the basis of the IBM SPSS software package. The obtained results indicate relationships among the ability to classify objects, categorical and generative abilities with variables of personality-cognitive styles. However, thinking abilities relate in different ways to personality-cognitive styles. The strongest conjugation of personality-cognitive styles is revealed with generative abilities. This fact manifests the organic involvement of personality-cognitive styles in the construction of a new reality – the creation of fundamentally new mental spaces and patterns of behaviour.

Approaches to taking into account cognitive styles in the process of professional training of future software engineers

The article presents the results of a study aimed at analyzing the psychological phenomenon of «cognitive personality style». The research goal is to determine approaches to taking into account the cognitive styles of future software engineers in the process of professional training in educational programs of master's level. Methods. Basic research methods used were search and selection of relevant articles on the research problem in the Google Scholar search engine and bibliographic abstract database Scopus; analysis and generalization of scientific publications; study of the educational process. The results. The scientific publications on the problem of cognitive personality styles are analyzed. The modern interpretations of this concept and its characteristics are considered. In particular, it is established that cognitive style is a well-established individual ways of intellectual behavior of the individual. It is shown that the consideration of cognitive styles is important for achieving the goals of training future software engineers in master's degree programs, as one of the requirements for them is the ability to work in conditions of uncertainty. Methods of pedagogical design taking into account cognitive styles of personality in the process of professional training of future software engineers are offered. Conclusions. Professional training of future software engineers in a modern student-centered educational environment is based on individual qualities and cognitive processes of the individual. In addition, attention to cognitive styles of personality is increased as the sustainable ways of handling information are essential for successful activities in the information society. The relationship between the cognitive styles of the individual and the effectiveness of its activities is currently insufficiently studied, so there are a number of problems in the educational process that need to be addressed to achieve the goals of quality training of future software engineers. Based on the analysis of scientific publications and our own experience, we can offer the following approaches to taking into account the cognitive styles of higher education: building an educational process based on the formed cognitive styles for the formation of new knowledge; grouping students with different styles to work together; creating situations for the manifestation of atypical for the individual models of intellectual behavior.

CORRELATION OF SPEECHOLOGY AND FUNCTIONAL STYLISTICS OF AN ACADEMIC TEXT

This article represents the research of interpretative (subjective) approach to the correlation of adjacent linguistic branches — speechology and stylistics of an academic text. The explanatory cognitive-discursive and stylistic approach to solving the problem relies on the principles of the functional style concept developed by the Perm Scientific School led by Prof. M. N. Kozhina, in particular, on the unity of two sides of text — the linguistic one (that is its meaning structure) and the extralinguistic one (its meaning as a given). The unlimited variety of particular texts (even only in the academic and cognitive sphere of human activities) is one of significant reasons for applying a “soft” interpretative approach for the object analysis in speechology and functional stylistics (this approach always depends on the subject of analysis and is therefore subjective). The meaning text structure has a categorical and gradual character and that is why it correlates with the issue of the model academic text. Through the imposition of categories/parameters of this “categorical thermometer”, the speech phenomena are qualified as style-forming (that is significant for stylistics of academic speech) and non-style-forming (or discursive) which are significant for speechology. The extralinguistic base correlates with the factors which are located on the scale “farther — closer” against the subject of cognitive activity. “Farther” is a form of public conscience (corresponding type of activity and thinking), “closer” is a style of academic thinking, a personal cognitive style, an individual speech style of an academic, a language personality. The dominant and style-forming factors strongly influence the selection and appropriate use of language units, creation of a text by an author and perception of a text by a reader, as well as the interpretation of a text by a researcher in the field of functional stylistics. The academic text is being formed under the influence of differently orientated factors (towards the object and the subject), which are discursive and non-style-forming in the framework of one style. The discursive factors can operate as strong ones and weak ones (peripheral, optional) in the framework of one style. Their impact is comprehensive and appropriate as well as implicit and diverse — that is why their further differentiation is interpretative (subjective). The focus of speechology is just the research of non-style-forming extralinguistic factors.

The affective facial recognition task: The influence of cognitive styles and exposure times

The main task of emotional facial recognition is to understand human emotion expression through the recognition of facial expressions, so as to achieve more effective communication and interpersonal communication. Therefore, facial recognition plays an important role in people's daily lives. In addition, the research of facial recognition is also helpful to understand the human perception processing mode, and promote the development of pattern recognition, cognitive science, neural network and other fields. With the development of cognitive science, facial recognition technology has been continuously improved, and emotional facial recognition tasks have received attention in the fields of pattern recognition and artificial intelligence, and have become a research hotspot. Among them, pattern recognition is a cognitive system applied to many fields. For the first time, we confirmed the effects of facial memory time, personal cognitive style, and emotions associated with the target face on facial recognition patterns. This study measured the impact of time, cognitive style, and emotional type of 62 qualified college students. The research results show that cognitive style and facial emotional content are of great significance for face pattern recognition. Specifically, students classified as “dependent” have achieved good results in face pattern recognition, and positive and negative strong emotional faces have left behind those who show neutral emotions. A deeper impression. Finally, an unusual phenomenon was discovered, which indicates that the shorter the time spent on the face of the memory, the higher the recognition score.

ХАРАКТЕРИСТИКИ ПОЗНАВАТЕЛЬНОЙ СФЕРЫ ПОДРОСТКОВ С РАЗНЫМИ ПРИЗНАКАМИ ОДАРЕННОСТИ В ОБЛАСТИ ИЗОБРАЗИТЕЛЬНОГО ИСКУССТВА

Introduction. Insufficient attention is paid to the study of the peculiarities of cognitive processes, individual strategies and methods of cognitive activity. The article presents the problem of correlation between the characteristics of the motivational and operational components of the cognitive sphere highlighting the aptitude for fine arts. The purpose of the article is to reveal the qualitatively singular manifestations of giftedness in the cognitive sphere of adolescents who possess quite definite signs of penchant for arts. Theoretical analysis revealed the characteristics of the cognitive sphere which can be associated with artistic giftedness: cognitive activity, the ability to convey the idea, to build a composition, to analyze and synthesize, to possess a personal cognitive style. Materials and Methods. The features of creative activity are analyzed by the method of expert assessments. On the basis of expert estimates, groups of adolescents with different degrees of manifestation of giftedness in the sphere of visual arts were identified. Comparative analysis revealed significant differences in the characteristics of the cognitive sphere. Results. А tendency in the development of various ways of implementing creative efforts was revealed: from structuring separate details to building expressive compositional complexes. The authors managed to demonstrate a correlation between the level of giftedness and cognitive activity, the sense of symmetry, the maturity of cognitive styles, the ability to operate abstract symbols, the originality of artistic items. Qualitative changes in visual-figurative and abstract-symbolic thinking are noted.  Conclusions. Actualization and support of a gifted child,s cognitive activity in combination with the development of operational components in his cognitive sphere, in the process of psycho-pedagogical support, can help to reveal the potential of a teenager gifted in the sphere of visual arts

Cognitive styles and personality

This paper investigates the relationship between cognitive styles and Eysenck personality dimensions. To measure cognitive styles, we developed a special twelve-scale questionnaire based on self-report (Field Dependence/Independence, Narrow/Wide Range of Equivalence, Flexibility/Rigidity of Cognitive Control, Impulsivity/Reflectivity, Concrete/Abstract Conceptualization, Tolerance/Intolerance of Unrealistic Experience). Two hundred and twenty eight second-year students (psychologists and teachers) took part in the study. We revealed four significant factors, one of which covered five cognitive styles and the other three included both cognitive and fundamental personality dimensions which we called “cognitive-personality complexes”. The first complex included personality trait Extraversion/Introversion and two cognitive styles Field Dependence and Impulsivity. The second complex covered Psychotic trait and such cognitive styles as Field Independence and Wide Range of Equivalence. The third complex contained Neurotic traits and one cognitive style Intolerance. Thus, we showed the existence of the factor of “authentic” cognitive styles, on the one hand, and three mixed cognitive-personality styles, on the other, in the structure of individual behavior. The data obtained are useful for understanding the nature of the cognitive styles and the sources of human individual differences.

How the cognitive features testing can assist in evaluating collective ontology engineering

The paper is devoted to the interplay issues between ontology engineering and cognitive psychology. It describes the study targeted at new visual structuring paradigm of ontology development. Such approach is formed with regard to personal cognitive features. The research was performed within the KOMET (knowledge and content structuring via methods of collaborative ontology design) project. Two phases of research have been done within the project. First was devoted to study of correlations between the expert's personal cognitive style features and the peculiarities of expert's subject domain ontology development procedure. The second deals with research on the relationship between the expert's individual cognitive style and the collective ontology design (including the design performed in groups consisting of experts either of similar or of different cognitive styles). The results of this research project can be applied to organising the collaborative ontology design, data and content structuring and other group analytical work.

Leadership in Innovators and Defenders: The Role of Cognitive Personality Styles

This research is based on a mixed strategic typology, combining innovators of Miller and Roth (1994, “A Taxonomy of Manufacturing Strategies,” Management Science, 40 (3), 285–304) and defenders of Miles et al. (1978, “Organizational Strategy, Structure and Process,” Academy of Management Review, 3, 546–562) and supported by the perception–evaluation personality model of Jung (1923, Psychological Types, London, Routledge & Kegan). Leadership model having five underlying constructs—group cohesion, intellectual flexibility, leader cognitive styles, leadership styles and leadership roles—is identified and studied. At first, respondent firms from various sectors are classified as innovators and defenders. Second, the constructs are empirically tested on them. Important findings suggest that innovators have intuitive-feeling leaders and defenders have sensing-thinking leaders, two of the four personality types proposed by Jung (1923). It has also been found that innovators are higher in the degree of intellectual adjustment; in the idea generation and nurturant phase leaders exhibit intuitive-feeling personality style; concept creators also exhibit the same. These findings may be used in organizations for leadership building, finding out best candidate job-fit and organization-fit during recruitment, and also for training and development of the leaders.

Structure and freedom in creativity: The interplay between externally imposed structure and personal cognitive style

AbstractThis research investigates how creativity is influenced by externally imposed structure (how structured the task is), internal, cognitively produced, structure (how structured the individuals' cognitive style is), and the interaction between these two factors. Reviewing past literature, we find a contradiction. Studies that focused on the situational perspective found that externally imposed structure increases creativity. In contrast, studies that focused on the individual found that systematic (structured) cognitive style decreases creativity. In two empirical studies we investigated this seeming contradiction. We focused on two aspects of externally imposed structure: The construction of the task (Study 1) and the instructions provided (Study 2). The findings of both studies revealed that creativity was higher under structured conditions. We also show that intuitive individuals are more creative than systematic individuals, but mainly under free conditions, where structure is not externally imposed. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Cognitive-Personality Style as Vulnerability to Depression in Patients With Coronary Artery Disease: Roles of Sociotropy and Autonomy

To investigate whether the cognitive-personality styles of sociotropy and autonomy and their component subscales are useful for explaining depressogenic vulnerability in a population of individuals with coronary artery disease (CAD) and to better understand the psychosocial etiology of depression in CAD. Depression occurs commonly in patients with CAD and is associated with substantial disability. A prospective study of 193 recently hospitalized CAD patients was conducted. Data were collected from medical records and by self-report at 3 (Time 1, T1) and 9 (Time 2, T2) months post discharge. The association between cognitive-personality styles and depression was tested in hierarchical linear regression equations controlling for clinical and demographic confounders. High levels of autonomy were significantly associated with increased depressive symptomatology at T1 (p < .001) and T2 (p < .001). The association between autonomy and change in depression approached significance (p = .07). Sociotropy was not a significant predictor of depression at any time. The component subscales of the sociotropy and autonomy measures explained more variance in depressive symptomatology at T1 and T2 as well as change in depression than did the composite measures. The perfectionism subscale of autonomy was the most important predictor of depression at T1 and T2 contributing 5.3% and 5.1% of unique variance in depression, respectively. There was a trend for the association between perfectionism and change in depression (p = .06). Cognitive-personality characteristics are an important predictor of depression in recently hospitalized patients with CAD. The findings suggest a clinical benefit in early detection of highly autonomous patients, particularly those who exhibit perfectionism, coupled with appropriate cognitive intervention and collaborative treatment planning.

Depressive Personality Styles and Social Anxiety in Young Adults

We examined the role of three depression-related cognitive personality styles in young adults’ social anxiety: evaluation concerns, positive achievement striving, and dependency. Sixty-nine undergraduates were administered measures of the aforementioned personality variables, depressive symptoms, and social anxiety. Controlling for participants’ depressive symptoms, we found that evaluation concerns, particularly self-criticism, predicted elevated levels of social anxiety. Dependency also predicted elevated social anxiety, but this effect was small and marginally significant (p = .05). Finally, positive achievement striving predicted low levels of social anxiety but only in the presence of evaluation concerns. Findings are consistent with earlier theoretical conceptualizations of social anxiety as reflecting low self-worth.

Phenomenology

Investigators who use phenomenological approaches to understand experiences of human healing, caring, and wholeness need to consider the differences that exist between descriptive and hermeneutic phenomenology. In this article, these two approaches are compared and contrasted with respect to roots, similarities, and differences. Guidelines are offered to assist prospective investigators in selecting the approach most suitable to personal cognitive style and beliefs about the ways humans experience and find meanings during transitions through wellness and illness to advance nursing knowledge in a holistic view.

Presence and task performance: an approach in the light of cognitive style

The paper highlights the relationship between each of four bi-polar dimensions of personality cognitive style, such as extraversion–introversion, sensing–intuition, thinking–feeling and judging–perceiving, and the level of sense of presence experienced. Findings indicate that individuals who are more sensitive, more feeling or more introverted experience a higher level of presence. While not reaching statistical significance, differing cognitive styles appear to impact on task performance. The apparent negative relationship discovered between sense of presence and task performance should be considered in the light of task characteristics. We discuss the implications of these findings and how they contribute to an understanding of the complex relationship that exists between presence and task performance and how this subsequently ought to influence the design of virtual environments.

Behind the mind of the strategist

Delves into the mind of the strategic thinker. The aim of this examination is to establish the conceptual foundations for a new theory of strategic thinking that looks at this process from an individual perspective. This will be accomplished by merging two separate strains of strategy research into a single strategic thinking philosophy. The two strains of strategy research that will be utilized include cognitive simplification tools and personal cognitive style. This foundational work opens the door to a new perspective on how strategic thinking is conducted and creates avenues for future empirical investigation into the mind of the strategist.

Cognitive-personality characteristics as direct predictors of unipolar major depression

Increasing evidence indicates that multiple risk factors can contribute directly to depression. The current work explores the direct relationships between the cognitive–personality characteristics of sociotropy–autonomy and depression in a sample of 43 patients with DSM-IV unipolar major depression and 43 nondepressed community controls. Controls were matched to cases on age, race, and sex, and all analyses controlled for the effects of adverse life events and socioeconomic status. Specific subscales of sociotropy (i.e., concern about disapproval) and autonomy (i.e., need for control) were strong predictors of depressive status independent of the occurrence of stressful life events. Findings indicate that it remains useful to examine cognitive–personality characteristics as direct predictors of depression, and that core features of these cognitive–personality styles are likely to provide a better measure of depressive vulnerability than are global indices.

COGNITIVE PERSONALITY STYLES ASSOCIATED WITH DEPRESSIVE AND OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE PHENOMENA IN A NON-CLINICAL SAMPLE

This study explored whether obsessive-compulsive (OC) and depressive phenomena share common cognitive personality vulnerabilities. Specifically, the study examined the relationship of OC phenomena to sociotropy, autonomy and aspects of perfectionism, which traditionally have been associated with depression. A non-clinical sample of 152 subjects, mostly undergraduate university students, completed four questionnaires. Results indicated a significant relationship between depression and OC variables, with both relating significantly to autonomy, sociotropy and socially prescribed perfectionism. Correlations between OC phenomena and these cognitive personality styles were still significant after controlling for depression. Sociotropy and socially prescribed perfectionism predicted unique OC variance. Depression also predicted unique OC variance, controlling for the cognitive personality styles. It was concluded that OC and depressive phenomena share vulnerability centred on desires for approval. It was also recognized that depression-specific processes account for some of the covariability between depression and OC phenomena. Therefore, it was suggested that treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder may improve by attending to the reduction of depressive phenomena and to the modification of beliefs related to social-approval.

Sociotropy, autonomy, and bulimic symptomatology

The cognitive-behavioral model of bulimia nervosa suggests that maladaptive cognitions are associated with the development and maintenance of bulimia nervosa. This study was conducted to evaluate (a) the relation between bulimic symptomatology and the cognitive-personality styles of sociotropy (reflecting themes of acceptance and approval) and autonomy (reflecting themes of independence and achievement), and (b) the specificity of the relation between these two cognitive-personality styles and bulimic versus depressive symptoms. 105 undergraduate women were administered self-report measures of sociotropy and autonomy, as well as bulimic and depressive symptomatology. Whereas both sociotropy and autonomy were related to bulimic symptomatology, only sociotropy was uniquely associated with symptoms of bulimia when controlling for the effects of depressive symptoms. Themes of acceptance and approval may be important cognitive-personality features of bulimia nervosa.