COGNITIVE STYLE

COURSE: INDIVIDUAL FACTORS IN THE LEARNERS DEVELOPMENT Enrique Rojas Olenka Nunura Karen Meza

WHAT IS COGNITIVE STYLE?

It refers to the matter in which the learner:
Perceives Monitors Conceptualises; and Recalls linguistic information

VARIABLES
Reflective impulsive thinking Broad narrow categorising Skeletonising embroidering Belief congruence- contradiction

Witkin and the GET

Born: 2 August 1916 Died: 8 July 1979) American psychologist, specialized in the spheres of cognitive psychology and learning psychology. Pioneer of the theory of cognitive styles and learning styles. GET stands for Group Embedded Test

Are you field dependent or field independent?

1. Do you spend less than three seconds watching yourself in a mirror? YES NO 2. On your birthday, do you like having a party with all your friends? YES NO 3. When you read a text or article do you like to comment about it with others? YES NO 4. Are you concerned if you dont have any likes on a picture youve posted in your facebook account ? YES- NO 5. Do you feel you learn better when working in groups? YES -NO

ANSWERS
More than 3 Yes: You are field dependent More than 3 No: You are field independent Only Yes: Extremely dependent. Only No: Extremely independent.

SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE FIELD DEPENDENT

SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE FIELD INDEPENDENT

Person oriented Interested in other people Sensitive to other people Gregarious

More impersonal Detached Less sensitive More aloof Cerebral and object oriented

Field dependent Field independent

Personal Orientation Impersonal orientation Analytic Holistic Socially sensitive Not so socially aware FD FI FI FD FD FI

Criticism
William and Burden (1997):

There is no such thing as intelligence or field dependence or motivation but it can sometimes be convenient to treat such entities as if they do exist so that we can construct tests to measure them

Visual learning

Kinaesthetic learning

LEARNING TENDENCIES
Auditory learning
Tactile learning

Concrete

Analytic

LEARNING STYLES IN AUSTRALIA Authority orientated

Communicative

To what extent cognitive style of learning style affects the success (or otherwise) of learning a foreign language?
The studies are not conclusive

CONCLUSIONS
There is no relation between cognitive styles and academic achievement. Teachers should be aware of the different cognitive styles to guide students better. Teachers should try to accomodate the cognitive styles through varying ways of instructions. Factors such as cultural background, age, sex and level of education seem to influence the style the learner develops.