Theory Of Mental Self-government Research Articles

Predictive values of the structure of the self-regulatory construct in L2 learning of the gifted

The aim of this meta-analysis is to take a small step forward from the separate observation of the self-regulatory construct and the relationship of variables that seek to explain it, define its structure more clearly and make it available in practice. For this purpose, the question arises regarding the relationship between personality traits and motivation as variables, which are shown in a number of studies as important for self-regulation in terms of its contribution to success in mastering a foreign language (L2). As mentioned, metaanalysis was used as a method. The selection of studies included in the metaanalysis is as follows: Out of 175 research papers dealing with the topic of selfregulation in learning L2 that covered 49.821 students, 17 papers were selected in the second round, which covered 4.263 students who were academically gifted and learned L2. In the third step of selection, only three papers remained, which could be compared by characteristics (goals, sample, variables, respondents...), and which examined issues relevant to this paper, i.e. the relationship between personality traits, motivation to learn L2 and achievements in a language for specific purposes. The total number of respondents was 1.263, with 711 of them being academically gifted students who were learning a Language for Specific Purposes (LSP). The theoretical context of the research is the Self-Determination Theory, i.e., an understanding of the spontaneous development of the individual's predispositions (intrinsic motivation and internalization) when basic psychological needs are met in the function of interpersonal dynamics and social settings (Deci & Ryan, 1985) and Sternberg's Theory of Mental Self-Government. Previous reflections and comparisons with theoretical assumptions and research findings are partly the basis for answering the questions posed in this analysis, as they provide a framework for understanding the structure of the self-regulatory construct. Thus, the quest for the state of relations between the observed variables, which are important for self-regulation and sufficient to formulate a model of self-regulation, did not provide sufficient indications that they could be considered safe in assessing the effects of defining self-regulation constructs. Also, the relationships between the gifted and others were researched, starting from the observation of the relationship between personality traits and motivation. The intention was to determine how many personality traits have proven to be good predictors for self-regulation of learning (success - average and in L2) of gifted and other students. Related to the above is the observation of the issue of their mutual relationship and scope in terms of their predictive value for opportunities to encourage the gifted and other students to realize achievements in learning a language for specific purposes. Thus, it could be concluded, that the dimensions of motivation generally achieve correlations of the highest intensity with Intellect and Agreeableness, while relations with other dimensions are somewhat weaker. This supports the conclusion that Intellect and Agreeableness as personality traits are important for the construct of self-regulation, and supports the aforementioned theoretical positions of Sternberg within the Theory of Mental Self-Government, for which these findings are only the initial step, indicating that it would be worth going in that direction.

Strategije učenja darovitih kao faktor uspeha u učenju stranog jezika struke

Theoretical context of the paper refers to Sternberg's Theory of Mental Self-Government and Deci's Theory of Self-Regulation. The method of systematic non-experimental observation was used. The research aim was to find out which learning strategies are used by gifted students and what their impact is on learning outcomes in order to address the demands imposed upon the students to develop a whole range of foreign language learning strategies facilitating their independence in learning, i.e., allowing them to self-regulate their own language learning. The research is of exploratory character and quantitative approach was applied. Convenience sampling was used and the sample consisted of 200 students from universities in Novi Sad and Belgrade. The students with average mark above 9,70 are considered academically gifted (N=19). The following instruments were used: The test of knowledge of foreign languages for specific purposes designed for the purpose of the research; the Questionnaire GD - General data, the Inventory of strategies for foreign language learning (SILL) - modified version (German, English). The basic findings are as follows: 1) The differences found between the academically gifted and the rest of the students at the scales of different strategies do not suggest statistical significance, but the differences within proactive and experiential strategies are rather close to significant and point to the tendency of the gifted students to use these strategies to a greater extent than the rest of the students. 2) The level of foreign language acquisition correlates with the choice of learning strategies used by the gifted students, but the analysis of the latent groups and the analysis of the variance has confirmed the existence of the statistically significant differences between certain groups, suggesting that the latent profile (high application of proactive and experiential strategies) is associated with significantly higher test results, differentiating these students from others. In other words, the success in foreign language for specific purposes learning is related to the choice of employed learning strategies.

Thinking Styles Inventory: Psychometric features in college students from Buenos Aires

Background: Thinking styles lead to describe how people use their abilities when they have to deal with problem solving situations. The Thinking Styles Inventory –TSI- is one of the most worldwide employed scales, developed to assess 13 thinking styles posed in the Theory of Mental Self-government -Legislative, Executive, Judicial, Monarchic, Hierarchic, Oligarchic, Anarchic, Global, Local, Internal, External, Liberal, Conservative. Method: Aiming at the adaptation of the scale to local college students’ population, linguistic aspects were reviewed as well as the response scale. After a pilot study, a sample composed of 361 college students from Buenos Aires responded the inventory in order to perform exploratory and confirmatory factorial analyzes on the one hand, and an internal consistency on the other. Result: A 7-factor structure -Judicial/Liberal, Executive/Conservative, External, Monarchic, Global, Hierarchic, Legislative-, was obtained. Conclusion: Such a version maintained 45 of the 104 tested items. Internal consistency of the extracted dimensions reached adequate values. Results are examined considering the theoretical model and further research lines.

• Thinking Styles and Professional Skepticism in Auditing (Theory of Mental Self-Government)

• Thinking Styles and Professional Skepticism in Auditing (Theory of Mental Self-Government)

Thinking styles and academic stress coping among Chinese secondary school students

This study investigated the predictive power of thinking styles for academic stress coping. Participants were 563 (280 males, 275 females, 8 gender unspecified) secondary school students in grades 7 through 12 from mainland China. Thinking styles were measured using the Thinking Styles Inventory-Revised II which was based on the theory of mental self-government. Coping strategies were measured by the COPE-Revised, which was derived from Carver’s COPE (1989). Results showed that thinking styles had statistically significant predictive power for academic stress-coping strategies beyond age and gender, largely in the expected directions. Theoretical implications for research on intellectual styles and coping are discussed; and some practical implications for school teachers and students are proposed.

Stylistic Preference of Scientifically Gifted Students

This study aims to show how scientifically gifted students think in terms of Thinking Style Inventory based on Sternberg’s theory of mental self-government. Two hundred and fifty-six middle school students who enrolled in a gifted education program participated in this study. Results indicated that scientifically gifted students prefer legislative, liberal, judicial thinking styles, in comparison to general students, known to be related to creative and critical thinking rather than executive and conventional styles. Implications for gifted education based on the findings are discussed.

Course evaluation for the purpose of development: What can learning styles contribute?

The purpose was to investigate whether it would be useful for development purposes to include a survey of learning styles among student and teachers as part of the evaluation of a graduate course in statistics in a Public Health Programme, and to compare the learning styles of students and lecturers. A qualitative analysis was conducted to identify the implicit styles embedded in course descriptions. The D-SA-LSI based on Sternberg’s theory of mental self-government was used to measure learning styles. The 14 learning style scales has good psychometric properties, and measure qualitatively different styles. Results showed differences between the learning styles of teachers and students, and identified two areas for course development: the design of exercises with regard to the level of abstraction and concreteness; the incompatibility of the relatively complex ways of thinking embedded in course objectives and the students’ preferences for thinking at a cognitively simpler level while learning.

Cognitive styles and the effects of stress from cognitive load and time pressures on judgemental decision making with learning simulations: Implications for HRD

With the theory of mental self-government and cognitive styles to ground our study, we explored whether cognitive styles and stress affected decisions requiring subjective judgement. To carry out our study, we employed simulations in a dual task test under two conditions, the first condition was timed and cognitive-load induced, and the other was with the leisure of time without cognitive load. The novelty in our approach is that we used observations of decisions made from scenarios presented in the simulations, and we found that cognitive styles influenced decisions differently depending on condition. Our results have implications for human resource development, recruitment and placement, as well as for job-task assignment, assessment, and performance.

Reliability and validity of the Japanese version of the Thinking Style Inventory

This study examined the internal and external validity of the Japanese version of the Thinking Styles Inventory (TSI: Hiruma, 2000), which was originally developed by Sternberg and Wagner (1991) based on the framework of Sternberg's (1988) theory of mental self-government. The term "thinking style" refers to the concept that individuals differ in how they organize, direct, and manage their own thinking activities. We administered the Japanese version of the TSI to Japanese participants (N = 655: Age range 20-84 years). The results of item analysis, reliability analysis, and factor analysis, were consistent with the general ideas of the theory. In addition, there were significant relationships between certain thinking styles and 3 participant characteristics: age, gender, and working arrangement. Furthermore, some thinking styles were positively correlated with social skill. Implications of these results for the nature of Japanese thinking styles are discussed.

Thinking style preferences among librarians in public and special libraries in the Ljubljana region

ABSTRACTThe paper presents Sternberg’s theory of mental self-government that makes an unique contribution to the understanding of human individual differences. In order to investigate individual differences of librarians in public and special libraries in the Ljubljana region, the Thinking Styles Inventory was applied to determine the styles of thinking according to Sternberg’s theory of mental self-government. Building on the acquired data, some differences in styles of thinking in regard to demographic variable are highlighted. The results point out that the profile of thinking styles of librarians shows high levels for the external and liberal thinking styles, and modest levels for internal, conservative, global and local thinking styles. Some comparisons with other studies are drawn, and a few proposals for further research on the individual differences are suggested.

Changes in BSc Business Administration and Psychology students’ learning styles over one, two and three years of study

Knowledge on general or discipline-specific changes in the learning styles of university students can be utilised in the design and execution of courses, but little is known of such changes. The study examined the changes in the learning styles of three year groups of BSc Business Administration and Psychology students from admittance to one, two and three years later for the three year groups respectively. Learning styles were measured using the Danish Self-Assessment Learning Styles Inventory, which is an adaptation of Sternberg's MSG Thinking Styles Inventory within the theory of mental self-government. The Hierarchic and Oligarchic learning styles decreased significantly for all three year groups. The Judicial learning style increased significantly for the year groups who had studied for two and three years. The Global learning style increased significantly for the year group who had studied for one year. The findings are discussed in relation to comparable research.

Gelotophobia and Thinking Styles in Sternberg's Theory

A hypothesis was examined, that gelotophobia (the fear of being laughed at) was negatively related to Type I thinking styles and positively related to Type II thinking styles as defined in Sternberg's theory of mental self-government. 431 university students (250 women, 181 men; M age = 20.4 yr., SD = 1.2) completed self-report measures of gelotophobia (GELOPH <15>) and thinking styles (Thinking Styles Inventory-Revised). Correlation and regression analyses were conducted. The results indicated that gelotophobia was negatively and significantly related to four Type I thinking styles (legislative, judicial, liberal, and hierarchical thinking styles) and a Type III thinking style (external), while it was positively and significantly related to a Type II thinking style (conservative). Thinking styles uniquely explained 18% of the total variance in gelotophobia scores. Possible interventions from the perspective of thinking styles in the treatment of gelotophobia were discussed.

과학영재들의 사고양식과 자기조절학습능력 및 과학탐구능력간의 관계 분석

This study examined the thinking styles of scientifically gifted students on the basis of Sternberg`s theory of mental self-government, and the relationship between thinking styles and self-regulated learning ability of the students and their scientific inquiry ability by the different types of thinking styles. 110 middle school students who belonging to the university science-gifted education center participated in this study. 13 thinking styles were postulated that fall along 5 dimensions which are functions, forms, levels, scopes and leanings of the mental self-government. Scientifically gifted students responded to the Thinking Style Inventory (TSI) that standardized Korean version, Self-regulated Ability Inventory and Test of Science Inquiry Skills Inventory (TSIS). The results indicated that scientifically gifted students prefer legislative, liberal, external, hierarchical and judical thinking styles, rather than conservative style. This result also showed that subscales of thinking styles were significantly correlated with self-regulated learning ability and scientific inquiry ability. The legislative style, hierarchical style, local style and liberal style were significant predictors of self-regulation learning ability. The legislative style was significant predictor, whereas oligarchic style was negative predictor of scientific inquiry ability. The results of k-means clustering analysis and MANOVA showed that the self-regulated learning ability and scientific inquiry ability were significantly correlated with the pattern and level of thinking style.

Thinking Styles and Academic Performance Among Tribal and Non-tribal Students

This study examines differences in thinking styles among tribal (n = 272) and non-tribal (n = 229) secondary school students, and their relationship with academic performance. Based on Sternberg’s (1997) theory of mental self government, MANOVA results indicated that thinking style of tribal and non-tribal students differed. Regression results revealed that hierarchic and local thinking styles contributed positively while legislative, monarchic, anarchic and global thinking styles contributed negatively to academic achievement of the students.

The developing field of intellectual styles: Four recent endeavours

The field of intellectual styles is one that has been constantly searching for its identity within the larger context of literatures such as education, psychology, and business and the levels of interest in the notion of styles have waxed and waned in the past seven decades. There has been, however, a steady growth in the amount of styles research in the past two decades. This article focuses on major endeavours that have emerged in the past two decades by highlighting four key areas of research development. First, it introduces six integrative models of styles. Second, it discusses two approaches to linking the styles literature to the larger context of psychological, educational, and business literatures. Third, it introduces Sternberg's theory of mental self-government—the most recent and the most general theoretical individual model of styles. Finally, this article presents empirical work that has captured the essence of all three preceding types of work. The article concludes with a deliberation on the value of these research activities for the advancement of the field and also makes recommendations for future research.

Mental Health and Thinking Styles in Sternberg's Theory: An Exploratory Study

The relationship between thinking styles, as defined in Sternberg's theory of mental self-government, and mental health was investigated. 583 university students (362 women, 221 men; M age = 21.4 yr., SD = 0.9) in Guangzhou, P. R. China, were invited to fill out the Thinking Styles Inventory-Revised and the Symptom Checklist-90 on a voluntary basis. Results indicated that scores on six of Sternberg's 13 thinking styles were significantly correlated with the Mental Health Index. The hierarchical style (one Type I style) negatively predicted the General Severity Index beyond sex and age, whereas the judicial, anarchic, and internal styles did so positively. The specific ways in which the thinking styles and mental health scales were related to one another supported Zhang and Sternberg's (2006) claim that thinking styles are value-laden. Applications of thinking styles in enhancing mental health are discussed.

Further investigating thinking styles and psychosocial development in the Chinese higher education context

Much theorization and research have been done independently on thinking styles and psychosocial development. The primary objective of this research was to further investigate the predictive power of thinking styles for psychosocial development through replicating Zhang and He's (in press) study of Chinese university students in Shanghai, mainland China. Data were collected from two Chinese contexts: Nanjing ( N = 362) in mainland China and Hong Kong ( N = 117). All participants responded to the Thinking Styles Inventory-Revised II (TSI-R2, Sternberg, Wagner, & Zhang, 2007) and to the Measures of Psychosocial Development (MPD, Hawley, 1988). The TSI-R2 is grounded in Sternberg's (1997) theory of mental self-government, while the MPD is rooted in Erikson's (1968) theory of psychosocial development. Hierarchical multiple regression results confirmed Zhang and He's finding that Type I styles (typified by their creativity-generating characteristics) positively contributed to psychosocial development, whereas Type II styles (noted for their norm-favoring features), especially the monarchic and conservative styles, negatively contributed to psychosocial development. Two of the Type III styles (Type III styles may display the characteristics of either Type I or Type II styles, depending on the specific situation) consistently predicted psychosocial development: the external style positively contributed to psychosocial development, whereas the anarchic style did so negatively. Implications of these results are discussed for university students, faculty members, and for university student development educators.

Thinking Styles and the Eriksonian Stages

The primary objective of this study was to investigate the predictive power of thinking styles for psychosocial development. Four hundred and twenty-six (212 men and 214 women) students from a large comprehensive university in Shanghai, the People’s Republic of China, responded to the Thinking Styles Inventory-Revised II (TSI-R2, Sternberg, Wagner, and Zhang 2007) and the Measures of Psychosocial Development (MPD, Hawley 1988). The TSI-R2 is based on Thinking styles, Cambridge University, Press, New York, (1997) theory of mental self-government, while the MPD is based on Identity: Youth and crisis, W.W. Norton, New York, (1968) theory of psychosocial development. Results suggested that after the variables gender and academic discipline were controlled for, creativity-generating styles positively contributed to psychosocial development and that norm-favoring styles negatively contributed to psychosocial development. Implications of these findings are discussed for university students, faculty members, and for university student development educators.

The Recognition Characteristics of Science Gifted Students on the Earth System based on their Thinking Style

The purpose of this study was to analyze recognition characteristics of science gifted students on the earth system based on their thinking style. The subjects were 24 science gifted students at the Science Institute for Gifted Students of a university located in metropolitan city in Korea. The students' thinking styles were firstly examined on the basis of the Sternberg's theory of mental self-government. And then, the students were divided into two groups: Type I group(legislative, judicial, global, liberal) and Type II group(executive, local, conservative) based on Sternberg's theory. Data was collected from three different type of questionnaires(A, B, C types), interview, word association method, drawing analyses, concept map, hidden dimension inventory, and in-depth interviews. The findings of analysis indicated that their thinking styles were characterized by ‘Legislative’, ‘Executive’, ‘Anarchic’, ‘Global’, ‘External’, ‘Liberal’ styles. Their preference were conducting new projects and using creative problem solving processes. The results of students' recognition characteristics on earth system were as follows: First, though the two groups' quantitative value on ‘System Understanding’ was very similar, there were considerable distinctions in details. Second, ‘Understanding the Relationship in the System’ was closely connected to thinking styles. Type I group was more advantageous with multiple, dynamic, and recursive approach. Third, in the relation to ‘System Generalization’ both of the groups had similar simple interpretational ability of the system, but Type I group was better on generalization when ‘hidden dimension inventory’ factor was added. On the system prediction factor, however, students' ability was weak regardless of the type. Consequently, more specific development strategies on various objects are needed for the development and application of the system learning program. Furthermore, it is expected that this study could be practically and effectively used on various fields related to system recognition.

Thinking Styles and Identity Development among Chinese University Students

This study investigates the relationship between thinking styles and identity development among Chinese students. Students from Shanghai responded to the Thinking Styles Inventory-Revised, based on Sternberg's theory of mental self-government, and to the Erwin Identity Scale-III, grounded in Chickering's theory of psychosocial development. Not only were thinking styles strongly associated with identity development, but also the former had predictive power for the latter. Along with findings in the existing literature, results of this study call for a collaborative effort between teaching faculty and student development educators in fostering holistic student development.