An Empirical Investigation of the Relationships Among Cognitive Abilities, Cognitive Style, and Learning Preferences in Students Enrolled in Specialized Degree Courses at a Canadian College

Abstract

Although specific cognitive abilities, cognitive style, and learning preferences are assumed to be inter-related, the empirical evidence supporting this assumption is mixed. Cognitive style refers to how individuals represent information, and learning preference refers to how individuals prefer the presentation of information (Mayer & Massa, 2003). Both cognitive style and learning preferences have been linked to specific cognitive abilities, such as verbal abilities, visual imagery and spatial abilities, though the nature of the inter-relationships remains tenuous in the literature. The present study addressed the roles of specific cognitive abilities in the relationship between learning preferences and the visualizer-verbalizer dimension of cognitive style, using a unique sample of students enrolled in specialized post-secondary programs. A battery of cognitive tests and questionnaires was administered. It was found that spatial abilities predicted visual cognitive style, which in turn, predicted visual learning preferences. Vocabulary knowledge predicted verbal cognitive style, but not verbal learning preferences. These results suggest that specific cognitive abilities predict visual-verbal cognitive styles, though the distinction between visual-verbal cognitive styles does not have clear associations with learning preferences.Bien que l’on suppose que les habiletés cognitives, le style cognitif et les préférences en matière d’apprentissage soient interreliés, les preuves empiriques étayant cette supposition sont partagées. Le style cognitif renvoie à la façon dont les individus perçoivent l’information et les préférences en matière d’apprentissage concernent la présentation de l’information (Mayer & Massa, 2003). Les chercheurs ont établi un lien entre, d’une part, le style cognitif et les préférences d’apprentissage et, d’autre part, des capacités cognitives spécifiques comme les habiletés verbales, l’imagination visuelle et les capacités spatiales; quoique la nature des interrelations reste fragile dans les écrits. La présente étude a considéré le rôle des habiletés cognitives spécifiques dans la relation entre les préférences d’apprentissage et la dimension visualisation-verbalisation des styles cognitifs à partir d’un échantillon d’étudiants inscrits à des programmes postsecondaires spécialisés. Les chercheurs ont administré une batterie de tests cognitifs et de questionnaires. Ils ont découvert que les habiletés spatiales permettaient de prédire le style cognitif, qui à son tour, permettait de prédire les préférences d’apprentissage visuel. La connaissance du vocabulaire prédisait le style cognitif verbal, mais pas les préférences en matière d’apprentissage verbal. Ces résultats suggèrent que des habiletés spécifiques permettent de prédire les styles cognitifs verbaux et visuels, même s’il n’y a pas de lien clair entre les préférences d’apprentissage et la distinction entre ces styles

An empirical examination of the relationships among creativity, the evaluation of creative products, and cognitive style among Chinese undergraduates

“…Overall, our findings suggest that individuals' cognitive style, not their creative potential, was related to their assessment of creative products. Our results are consistent with other studies that suggested that individual differences in visual-verbal cognitive style are valid (Choi and Sardar, 2011) and have an impact on the ability to assess creative products. In the SEM model, we found that in cognitive style, visual style is more important than verbal style and in the CPSS, novelty is the most influential variable.…”

Investigating cognitive style differences in the perception of biological motion associated with visuospatial processing

“…The construct of cognitive style represents a specifi c approach to the processing of information by an individual regarding their environment across a range of levels from the perceptual to the metacognitive (Kozhevnikov, 2007). Choi and Sardar (2011) proposed that cognitive style can be linked to specifi c cognitive abilities, such as verbal abilities, visual imagery and spatial abilities, but highlighted that the nature of the associations remains unclear in the literature. Irrespective of this lack of clarity on the relationships they further suggested that "there is a general consensus that specifi c cognitive abilities, particularly spatial abilities, play key roles in cognitive styles" (p. 4).…”

“…Researchers examining perception of biological motion have used this methodology to highlight variations in an individual's cognitive abilities to determine characteristics such as directions of motion (Bertenthal & Pinto, 1994), the type of motor action (Dittrich, 1993;Vanrie & Verfaillie, 2004), and styles of movement (Pollick, Fidopiastis, & Braden, 2001). Choi and Sardar (2011) proposed that spatial abilities may predispose individuals towards developing a particular cognitive style. Individuals with well-developed spatial abilities tend to prefer processing and representing information visually, leading to the development of a visual cognitive style.…”

The Kansei Design Characteristics towards Learning Style

“…Based on this reason, according to the perspectives of learning behavior, Choi and Sardar [11] argued that the individuals are, in fact, different. They were constructed and associated with the preferences of verbal or visual information forms as the picture of the perceptual abilities of how the individuals obtain the information [12].…”