Information processing in the child: Significance of analytic and reflective attitudes.

Abstract

A series of studies with children in Grades 1-4 inquired into the immediate and historical determinants of a preference for analytic conceptual groupings. An analytic concept is based upon shared similarity in a particular objective component among a set of stimuli (e.g., animals with 1 car, people with hats on). Results revealed that 2 more fundamental cognitive dispositions each contributed variance to the production of analytic concepts: the tendency to reflect over alternative solutions or classifications in situations in which several response alternatives arc available simultaneously, and the tendency to analyze visual arrays into their component parts. These 2 dispositions are relatively independent of each other, orthogonal to verbal skills; and each influences the frequency of errors in perceptual recognition tasks. Degree of reflection over alternative solution hypotheses (as measured by response time) displayed remarkable generality across a variety of tasks and marked intraindividual stability over a 1-yr. period. There was an inverse relation between the production of analytic concepts and extreme degrees of hyperactivity and distractibility contemporaneously as well as during the 1st 8 yr. of life.Problem solving involves at least three distinct processes that occur in the following sequence: the initial categorization of information, storage of the encoded information, and the imposing of transformations or mediational elaborations upon the encoded material. The form of the initial categorization, transformation, or mediation is governed, of course, by the nature of the problem. Students of cognitive development have generally assumed that the striking differences between the cognitive products of children of different ages (or among children of the same age) were due primarily to differences in the availability of a classification vocabulary, transformation rules, and mediational diversity. In ellect, the superior problem solving performance of older, in contrast to younger, children has

Recreational Use of “Ecstasy” (MDMA) Is Associated with Elevated Impulsivity

“…A pattern of white squares was shown on the touch-screen. Some (Kagan et al 1964), by Cairns and Cammock (1978). The test format of the MFF20, involves simultaneous presentation of a stimulus figure and an array of six alternatives, all except one of which differ one or more details.…”

Do Multiple Representations Need Explanations? The Role of Verbal Guidance and Individual Differences in Multimedia Mathematics Learning.

“…The instrument most often used to measure cognitive tempo is the Matching Familiar Figures Test (MFFT; Kagan, Rosman, Day, Albert, & Phillips, 1964). In this test, time to the first response (latency) and number of overall errors are computed.…”

“…For each participant, the paper-and-pencil materials consisted of a computer experience questionnaire, an arithmetic pretest and posttest, and the MFFT for children (Kagan et al, 1964). Computer experience was assessed by using a 10-item knowledge checklist.…”

The Role of Cognitive Style in Academic Performance and in Teacher‐student Relations12

“…As mentioned, a number of other cognitive styles have been described in literature. Among these are the styles of leveling-sharpening, constricted-flexible, reflective-impulsive, tolerance-intolerance for unrealistic experience, ana1ytical-relational-inferential, and automatization (Broverman, 1960;Gardner, Holzman, Klein, Linton & Spence, 1959;Gardner, Jackson & Messick, 1960;Kagan, Moss & Sigel, 1963;Kagan, Rosman, Day, Albert & Phillips, 1964). These styles have not been investigated as extensively as the field-dependence-independence dimension, and most have not yet been examined in their implications for educational problems.…”