Only a longitudinal study, in which retrospective reports can be verified against data collected earlier, can determine what topics tend to be reported accurately and whether certain types of individuals are more likely to be accurate reporters. A representative group of adults who became parents 50 years ago are now part of the oldest and longest…

The questions of whether undergraduate students use different processes in evaluating their own learning in a course, and whether such differences are related to differences in personality development or cognitive development were studied. It was predicted that students possessing well developed abstract conceptual structures would show a more…

Fifty-five recent studies of individual differences (IDs) in elementary cognitive tasks (ECTs) are reviewed. Twenty-five data sets are examined, analyzed, or reanalyzed by factor analysis. The following promising dimensions are identified: basic perceptual processes, reaction and movement times, mental comparison and recognition tasks, retrieval…

In order to investigate learning theories, media researchers need to explore three variables: (1) the psychological requirements of a given learning task, (2) individual differences in cognitive style, and (3) specific media characteristics. It is necessary to identify the psychological processes which underlie any specific learning task in order…

Any theory of information processing must address both what is processed and how that processing takes place. Most studies investigating variables which alter physical dimension utilization have ignored the large individual differences in selective attention or cue utilization. A paradigm was developed using an individual focus on information…

The introductory portion of this document reviews the definitions of cognitive style and presents the models of cognitive style developed by James McKenney, Samuel Messick, and Joseph Hill. It also discusses the application of these models to education. The annotated bibliography is designed as a review of selected materials that provide an…

A method for assessing the structure of organization was developed on the basis of the ordinal separation, or proximity, between pairs ot items in recall protocols over a series of trials. The proximity measure is based on the assumption, common to all indices of organization, that items which are coded together in subjective memory units will…

THE CONCEPT OF PERSERVATION WAS EXTENDED TO A MORE NEURAL LEVEL TO INCLUDE PERSISTENCE OF TRACE ACTIVITY, AND A STUDY WAS MADE TO SEARCH FOR THE DIMENSIONS OF TRACE PERSISTENCE. THE STUDY WAS CONDUCTED TO IDENTIFY BEHAVIORAL DIFFERENCES OF INDIVIDUAL LEARNING PROCESSES AMONG STUDENTS. THE STUDY DID NOT TAKE THE TRADITIONAL PERSONALITY-MOTIVATION…

Examines questions related to whether children with severe learning disabilities go through the same developmental stages as children without such problems, or whether they develop along different lines. Explores the "delay" versus "deviance" issue in relation to linguistic development in children with Down's syndrome. Looks…

A number of theories have been developed to explain individual differences in cognition. This paper explicates the Psychological Differentiation theory of Herbert Witkin and relates behaviors characteristic of his field-independent and field-dependent dimensions to artistic behaviors. Implications for research on artistic development are derived…

Cognitive control over impulsive behavior on a Luria-type task was examined for 165 middle- and lower-socioeconomic status (SES) children in nursery school and first grade. Specific impulse control problems were found for both middle- and lower-SES children in nursery school. By first grade, only the lower-SES children continued to exhibit this…

Investigated the effects of individual difference variables of field dependence/independence and spatial visualization ability on the performance of college students in three modes. The extent to which four variables account for variability in retention test performance on certain tasks was also viewed. (MP)

Intended as a nontechnical review of current scientific knowledge in the field, this essay considers the nature of primary and secondary intellectual abilities, plus the major features of, and the development of individual differences in, the skills and capacities constituting intelligence. Part of a theme issue on intelligence. (Author/SJL)

Explores developmental issues regarding domain theory, a theory explaining moral development. Concludes that this theory does not explain how domains of moral reasoning and behavior evolve, neglects social and historical aspects of domain development, and does not recognize the effects of individual differences on domains. (JW)

Compared the "on-line" (real time, ongoing internal representation) understanding of ongoing social events of boys with and without attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Found that younger children and those with ADHD showed less integrated on-line representations, accounting for poor recall and reasoning. (Author/KB)