The Relationship of Cognitive Style and Method of Instruction to Performance in Ninth Grade Geography

Aim of the study. The first goal of the study is to determine the relationship of the cognitive style "rigidity-flexibility of cognitive control" with the level indicators of intelligence. The second goal of this study is to identify possible relationships between "rigidity-flexibility of cognitive control" and the properties of temperament. Materials and Methods. In this work the authors used the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS), the Stroop color–word-interference task, the Questionnaire of the formal-dynamic properties of individuality (QFDPI, designed by Rusalov V.M.), and 15 heuristic tasks, 5 tasks each in figurative, logical and figurative-logical form (designed by Kulyutkin Y.N., KrutetskiyV.A., Smallian R.). Results. The general success of solving heuristic tasks is determined by a complex of factors, which includes indicators of the flexibility of thinking, intelligence and “intellectual” temperamental properties. The flexibility of thinking is correlated with the level characteristics of intelligence in such a way that high levels of verbal, non-verbal and general intelligence correspond to the flexibility of cognitive control, low values of indicators of intelligence correspond to the pole of rigidity of this cognitive style; intellectually developed subjects are more flexible. Conclusions. The cognitive style of “rigidity-flexibility of cognitive control” can be considered as a meta-ability. This cognitive style correlates with indicators of temperament and intelligence, and to a certain extent determines the success of solving heuristic tasks.

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Students as Literary Critics: The Interpretive Experiences, Beliefs, and Processes of Ninth-Grade Students

Journal of Reading Behavior ◽

10.1080/10862969109547751 ◽

1991 ◽

Vol 23 (4) ◽

pp. 391-423 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Theresa Rogers

Keyword(s):

Ninth Grade ◽

Instructional Unit ◽

Alternative Response ◽

Literary Works ◽

Observational Analysis ◽

English Classes ◽

Ninth Grade Students ◽

Relationship Of ◽

The Relationship ◽

Interpretive Process

The interpretive beliefs, processes, and instructional experiences of 8 ninth-grade students were studied as they participated in instructional subcommunities within their existing English classes. An observational analysis of the instructional communities was undertaken, and the students' interpretive processes were analyzed as intertextual transactions, which include reasoning operations and inference sources. Overall results revealed that students reasoned about literary works at an interpretive level, and that their inferences were largely textual focussing on characters and events, reflecting the type of literary instruction they receive. After participating in an alternative response-centered instructional unit, students were more intertextual in terms of their preferences related to the interpretive process and more interpretive in their reasoning about literary works. The shift in the range of inference sources students drew on—the intertextuality of their transactions—varied by individual. Individual students were profiled to reveal the relationship of beliefs, experiences, and processes that form their critical interpretive stances toward literary works.

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