Teasing Out Cognitive Development From Cognitive Style. A Training Study

The main purpose of the present study is to test whether or not cognitive development and cognitive style are different dimensions. The study was conducted within the context of Pascual-Leone's model of cognitive development, in which an important aspect of cognitive development is delineated by mental capacity, and an important dimension of cognitive style is field-dependence/independence. The data show that these are distinctly different dimensions in spite of their commonly found correlation because (a) under training conditions that were suited to the subject's cognitive style, field-dependent 8-year-old children were able to perform developmentally appropriate "control-of-variables" tasks at the same level as their field-independent age peers, and (b) both groups outperformed 6-year-old field-independent children. The results are discussed with regard to the theoretical model, their relevance to the stylistic dimension of reflection/impulsivity, and their educational implications.