The present study investigated the cognitive styles of Indian, Metis, Inuit and non-native adults and adolescents of northern Canada and Alaska. The study identified three relational and two analytical cognitive styles. The styles differed significantly from each other in relation to cultural background, language facility, level of post-secondary education, sex and age of the respondents. Cultural background was found to be the most significant discriminator of those under investigation.<p> Procedure of the study involved the collection of verbalized responses to five open-ended questions concerning education from one hundred northern residents. A total of 528 minutes 32 seconds of taperecorded responses was available from twenty treaty and status Indians, twenty Metis, twenty Inuit and forty non-natives. Subjects included parents, university students, high school students, teacher trainees, teachers, education administrators, native politicians and general community members. The data were submitted to content analysis procedures with items coded according to the Data Analysis of Cognitive Style (DACS) Scale which had been adapted for use in the present study from the work of E. S. Schneidman (1966). Scale item frequencies for each respondent were tabulated and submitted for statistical analyses to the SPSS program discriminant analysis. This analysis identified significantly different functions which translated into patterns of thinking or cognitive styles. In addition this analysis identified the relative importance of functions as discriminators among groups and computed predictability scores which showed the percentage of respondents who were correctly classified according to cognitive styles. and demographic variables.<p>Findings of this study must be considered in relation to the following limitations: the size and nature of the stratified random sample; the reliability of the coders; the use of the unvalidated DACS scale; the ability of the analytical procedures to correctly discriminate among the study groups.<p> The study found that the groups which tended to think in relational styles were: Natives (Indian, Metis, Inuit), people with no university education or with less than one year at university; bilinguals (English and a native language); males; people under twenty years and over forty years of age. The terms Conflict-relational, Moral-relational and Inexactrelational were used to more precisely identify differing cognitive behaviors within the overall relational category. The groups which were found to exhibit analytical cognitive style behaviors included: the nonnative group; those respondents with two to four years of university education; and respondents between thirty and forty years of age. Subcategories within analytical styles were Conflict-analytical and Inexactanalytical.<p>When the Indian, Metis and Inuit respondents were combined into a "native" cultural group they strongly identified with the Moral-relational cognitive style (people-oriented, subjective, holistic, concerned with morals and ethics). The non-native group showed a strong negative relationship to this style. However, when each cultural group was analyzed separately, it was found that the Indian and Inuit subjects were somewhat more analytical (objective, linear, field-independent) than the Metis but less so than the non-natives. On the analysis of four groups, the nonnatives were found to relate to both relational and analytical styles of thinking, indicating a wide range of differences within the group.<p>It was concluded that significant differences existed in the cognitive styles preferred by respondents of different cultural, language, education, sex and age groups in this study. Cultural background was found to be the strongest discriminator in relation to cognitive style differences. It was further concluded that according to extrapolation of findings to the theoretical model it may be possible and desirable to modify curricula content and teaching techniques to achieve a closer match between teaching styles and cognitive and learning styles of. students of indigenous cultural backgrounds.

As the Web is fast becoming an integral feature in many of our daily lives, designers are faced with the challenge of designing Web-based applications for an increasingly diverse user group. In order to develop applications that successfully meet the needs of this user group, designers have to understand the influence of human factors upon users‘ needs and preferences. To address this issue, this thesis presents an investigation that analyses the influence of three human factors, including cognitive style, prior knowledge and gender differences, on users‘ preferences for Web-based applications. In particular, two applications are studied: Web search tools and Web-based instruction tools. Previous research has suggested a number of relationships between these three human factors, so this thesis was driven by three research questions. Firstly, to what extent is the similarity between the two cognitive style dimensions of Witkin‘s Field Dependence/Independence and Pask‘s Holism/Serialism? Secondly, to what extent do computer experts have the same preferences as Internet experts and computer novices have the same preferences as Internet novices? Finally, to what extent are Field Independent users, experts and males alike, and Field Dependent users, novices and females alike? As traditional statistical analysis methods would struggle to effectively capture such relationships, this thesis proposes an integrated data mining approach that combines feature selection and decision trees to effectively capture users‘ preferences. From this, a framework is developed that integrates the combined effect of the three human factors and can be used to inform system designers. The findings suggest that firstly, there are links between these three human factors. In terms of cognitive style, the relationship between Field Dependent users and Holists can be seen more clearly than the relationship between Field Independent users and Serialists. In terms of prior knowledge, although it is shown that there is a link between computer experience and Internet experience, computer experts are shown to have similar preferences to Internet novices. In terms of the relationship between all three human factors, the results of this study highlighted that the links between cognitive style and gender and between cognitive style and system experience were found to be stronger than the relationship between system experience and gender. This work contributes both theory and methodology to multiple academic communities, including human-computer interaction, information retrieval and data mining. In terms of theory, it has helped to deepen the understanding of the effects of single and multiple human factors on users‘ preferences for Web-based applications. In terms of methodology, an integrated data mining analysis approach was proposed and was shown that is able to capture users‘ preferences.

The main purposes of this study were to inquire into the effects of teaching of self-regulated learning and cognitive styles on learning achievement and attirude of science of elementary school students . Quasi-experimental design was used. Two classes of fifth-grade students from an elementary school in Kaohsiung County were randomly assigned to either the experimental or the control group. After the Science Achievement Test, the Scale of Attitude for Learning Science, and the Scale of Cognitive Styles were administered on the two groups, the self-regulated learning instructtion was implemented in the Science class of the experimental group, while the control group was taught in the general way. After 8 weeks of instruction, the posttest and delayed test of the Science Achievement Test and the Scale of Attitude for Learning Science were administered on the two groups. The major findings of the study were as follows. (1) The experimental group got higher score than the control group in the learning achievement of science. (2) The learning achievement of science of different cognitive styles were promoted on the experimental group. (3) A significant difference was found on the interaction between the two groups and cognitive styles in the posttest scores of the learning achievement of science. (4) The experimental group got higher score than the control group in the learning attitude of science. (5) No significant difference was found between different cognitive styles in the learning attitude of science. (6) No significant difference was found on the interaction between the two groups and cognitive styles in the learning attitude of science. Based on the findings, some suggestions for science teaching practice and future research were proposed.

There are two important trends in organizations today: 1) the increasing use of teams and 2) the increasing diversity in the workforce. The literature is in tune with these organizational trends, evidenced by a dramatic increase in research on team performance and the effects of diversity. However, there are still contradictory findings of the effects of team diversity on team processes and outcomes. To shed light on these inconsistencies, the cognitive construct of team mental model is introduced as a mediator of the relationship between team cognitive diversity and team performance. Team mental model is an emergent cognitive state that represents team members' organized understanding of their task environment (e.g., Klimoski&Mohammed, 1994) and has been shown to improve team performance (e.g., Edwards, Day, Arthur,&Bell, 2006; Mathieu, Heffner, Goodwin, Salas,&Cannon-Bowers, 2000). Specifically, with a sample of 94 student teams I investigated how team cognitive diversity affects team mental model similarity and accuracy, and through them, team performance. In addition, I examined team information processing mechanisms as moderators of the relationships between team cognitive diversity and team mental model similarity and accuracy. The results suggest that cognition at the team level plays an important role in the effective functioning of decision making teams. Specifically, the combination of team mental model similarity and accuracy predicts levels of team performance and information integration is an important moderator linking cognitive style diversity to task mental models, team processes, and team performance. The research model developed and tested seeks to advance understanding of the "black box" linking team diversity to team outcomes (Lawrence, 1997) and to provide guidance to managers leading cognitively diverse teams.

Bipolar disorder is characterised by intense fluctuations in mood, including the experience of severe episodes of depression, mania and hypomania. The experience of bipolar disorder can also be associated with biases in various cognitive processes, including rumination in response to positive and negative mood states and tendencies to make dysfunctional self-appraisals. Preliminary research has also suggested that bipolar disorder may be associated with deficits in the recall of specifically detailed autobiographical memories. The lack of specificity in the recall of autobiographical memories, known as the 'overgeneral' recall bias, refers to tendencies to generate generalised memory representations as the memory recall process is terminated prior to the activation of specifically detailed memories. This overgeneral recall of autobiographical memories can also contribute to ruminative thought patterns, impair the generation of effective solutions to problems, and is associated with poor illness outcomes. The overgeneral bias has been extensively researched within major depressive disorder and suicidality, but has been comparatively under-researched in bipolar disorder and in vulnerable individuals. A series of eight studies were designed to: (i) investigate the cross-sectional associations across measures of positive and negative rumination and self-appraisal with the vulnerability to hypomania, and investigate the associations of these cognitive styles with prospective mood symptoms in an at-risk sample; (ii) investigate the cognitive vulnerability to hypomania in relation to rumination, problem-solving and autobiographical memory specificity; (iii) conduct a preliminary investigation into the associations between goal-related memory processes and extreme goal-pursuit in relation to hypomania vulnerability; (iv) investigate whether the vulnerability to hypomania and future bipolar disorders is associated with similar patterns of overgeneral memory recall on a standardised cue memory task; and (v) investigate the patterns of autobiographical memory specificity within a remitted bipolar sample. The heightened vulnerability to future bipolar disorders was associated with tendencies to engage in both positive and negative forms of ruminative thought processes, and with poorer psychosocial problem-solving, however, this relationship with problem-solving was not independent of current mood symptoms. The results of two studies indicated that the heightened vulnerability to hypomania was associated with an overgeneral memory bias across two different assessments of memory specificity, in direct contrast to previous research. Individuals diagnosed with bipolar disorder also reported more extreme overgenerality during memory recall than a sample of age and gender-matched healthy controls, but were able to recall some specifically detailed negative memories in short response latencies compared to non-bipolar control participants. The research presented within this thesis supports the notion of a continuum of increasing overgenerality in the bipolar disorder spectrum, inclusive of at-risk individuals to people formally diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Although bipolar disorder appears to be associated with a trait-based overgeneral memory bias, bipolar individuals appear to have ready access to some specific negative memories even during remission from symptoms. The clinical implications of this research, methodological considerations in the assessment of memory specificity, and directions for further investigations into the nature of autobiographical memory recall in bipolar spectrum disorders are discussed.

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Research on the cognitive style field dependence-independence establishes its influence on learning and students' outcomes across academic disciplines and at all levels of schooling. Field dependent learners generally perform less well than field independent individuals in most instructional environments. The consequences of cognitive style differences have not been thoroughly pursued by geography educators, and field dependent learners are generally disadvantaged. Review of literature suggests that field dependent learners may perform well in hypermedia-based environments configured to support their learning needs. This study presented geography students with a computer program that contained jigsaw puzzles made from maps and randomly varied the type of interactivity available to learners when solving the puzzles. Field dependent learners were expected to solve the puzzles more quickly and accurately when they were able to interact with the jigsaw puzzle. The interactive treatments provided by the program did not improve the performance of field dependent individuals as expected. / Ph. D.

Virtual environments are visually dominant systems. It seems that individuals" visual perception abilities would have an effect on their performance in a virtual environment. One such visual perception ability that seems a logical fit for study in virtual environments is that of disembedding ability. Disembedding ability is one part of a greater psychological construct known as field dependence. This research investigates how the learner characteristic of field dependence affects learning outcomes in virtual environments In order to examine the effect of virtual environments on recall among learners of differing levels of field dependence, the following specific questions and hypotheses were formed: 1) Does the use of virtual environments affect participants" performance in a task of recall? 2) Do participants of different levels of field dependence perform differently on a task of recall when presented with virtual environments versus static images? 3) Do field-dependent participants score higher on a test of recall when presented with a virtual environment? An experimental design using a sample of Virginia Tech students was employed in this study. The analysis consisted of a 2 X 2 factorial design with main effects for two levels of field dependence (field dependent and field independent), two levels of image representation (virtual environment versus static images), and interaction effects between the two factors. The factorial analysis showed no significant difference in recall test scores for the two treatments. Likewise, there was no significant difference in test scores for field dependent participants who received the virtual-environment treatment versus the static-image treatment. However, a significant interaction existed between field dependence and treatment type, favoring the field-independent participants who received the virtual-environment treatment. It can be concluded from this study that virtual environments have no effect on the recall ability of field-dependent learners. Further research might focus on other individual differences, such as spatial ability, that may have an effect on field-dependent learners" strategies for working in a virtual environment. / Ph. D.

The purpose of this study was to examine whether cueing strategies embedded in computer delivered text messages affected the recall and comprehension of students who differed in their field dependent-independent cognitive style orientations. Two hundred thirty-eight undergraduate students of Virginia Tech participated the study, and 219 sets of valid data were used for the statistical analyses. All participants were given the Group Embedded Figures Test to determine their level of field dependence-independence. They were then randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups that varied in their use of cueing strategy. The first treatment group featured computer delivered text messages with color-highlighted-keywords, the second group featured the same textual content with color-highlighted-key-phrases, and the third group was a control group that featured the same content and employed no cueing strategy. Participants were administered two tests following the treatments, one that assessed knowledge of terminology and another that assessed comprehension. A 3 x 3 Analysis of Variance was conducted to explore the main effects for field dependency and cueing strategy and any interaction effect between the two factors. The results showed that field independents outperformed field dependents in all tests. There were no significant differences for the three treatments; the cueing strategies employed in this study had no effect on participants' learning. A significant interaction was seen between field dependency and cueing strategy. However, the results of a one-way ANOVA are unexpected: the cueing strategies employed did not improve field dependents' performance on the assessments and actually hindered the performance of field independents. / Ph. D.