The long-held notion that gifted students prefer to work alone is reported in several general textbooks on gifted children. However, studies addressing this issue are mixed and certainly not conclusive. Earlier studies disagree on whether those gifted children who claim a preference for working alone do so as a function of grade and maturational stage, sex, or personality characteristics commensurate with increasingly higher IQs. The current study re-examines this notion through the lens of motivation through social-constructivist theory. Two hundred and forty-seven American school-identified gifted, high achieving, and non-identified (i.e., non-gifted, regular education) students in grades 4 through 12 participated. The measure used in this study was a survey comprising items used in past learning style-related research, items adapted from a personality index and an interest profile, as well as locally-developed open-ended questions regarding preferred learning conditions, learning-related personality characteristics, and perceptions of support in their learning. Participants also had the opportunity to offer ideas about ideal learning situations, and their beliefs on why some children versus others might prefer to work alone. Finally, this study attempted to confirm the hypothesis that those gifted students who feel adequately supported by those in their environment will be less likely to indicate a preference for working alone, compared to those who do not feel supported. Although some indication of a preference of gifted students to work alone was present, this preference was not strong because it varied based on how the question was posed. Moreover, sex and grade-related differences were noted. Perhaps most interestingly, in support of the hypothesis of the study, those participants who reported feeling least supported by others reported the strongest preference to work alone. Implications of these findings on classroom curriculum, future career functioning, and mental health are discussed.

Thesis (M.Tech.: Information technology)- Dept. of Information Technology, Durban University of Technology, 2008. vii, 131 leaves. / This study aimed to explore the impact of cognitive ability on the understanding of computer programming by students enrolled for a programming course at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. The rationale for this study is provided by the general perception held by the academic community that computer programming is a difficult faculty to master. This assertion is corroborated by reports of high failure rates in computer programming courses at tertiary institutes. A literature review was undertaken to investigate the contribution of other factors on the ability to achieve competence in computer programmer. Based on the outcome of the literature review, this study argues that cognitive ability warrants a higher priority relative to the other factors. As a strategy, cognitive science theory was consulted to establish a framework to quantify competency in computer programming. On the basis of this endeavour, two protocols were identified to facilitate the quantification process. The first was the “deep and surface” protocol used in previous studies to ascertain students’ cognitive style of understanding for computer programming. The second was an error analysis framework which was developed as part of the current study. These protocols were used as frameworks to underpin the data collection phase of the study. This study found that at least 50% of the students enrolled in a computer programming course adopt a superficial approach to the understanding of computer programming. In order to explain this phenomenon, a cognitive ability test was administered. Here it was established that at least 39% of these students have not reached a level of cognitive development that will enable the invocation of abstract thought. The study also found that this inability to handle abstractionism, an essential requirement for success in computer programming, is reflected in the severity of errors made in computer programming assessment tasks.

This study explored the effects of cognitive style and expected evaluation on creativity. Past research has shown that an expectation of evaluation can have a negative impact on creativity, and those individuals classified as field-independent rather than field-dependent are more likely to have higher creativity scores. An interaction between expected evaluation and cognitive style was hypothesized. Participants created a collage to measure creativity, either with or without an expectation of evaluation, and then cognitive style was measured. The hypothesis was partially supported. The more field-independent an individual, the higher the creativity score. Those in the evaluation condition scored higher in creativity than those in the non-evaluation condition, but this effect disappeared when controlling for time and previous art experience. The effect of expected evaluation is discussed in terms of the experimental situation and the conceptualization of motivation. Further investigations of cognitive style and motivational conditions are suggested. / Department of Educational Psychology

The present study examined the relationship between fundamentalism and cognitive complexity. Fundamentalism was viewed from a single dimension as well as multivariately, in order to compare predictive ability. Fundamentalism was analyzed as a single dimension by using the revised Fundamentalism Scale (Martin & Westie, 19595 revised by Edgington, 1987) under the heading "fundamentalism/orthodoxy," due to the fact that the orthodoxy component is that which is measured by the scale. Fundamentalism was also analyzed multivariately, combining fundamentalism/orthodoxy, religiosity, authoritarianism, and dogmatism into a composite variable to give a "richer" definition of "fundamentalism," and to enhance predictive ability in regard to cognitive complexity.This study also sought to confirm findings reported among more diverse populations in the more restrictive population of fundamentalist seminarians. Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients were used.There were 98 fundamentalist seminary students from a midwestern seminary who participated in the study. Each one completed the revised Fundamentalism Scale (Martin & Westie,1959; Edgington, 1987), the Religiosity Scales (Faulkner & DeJong, 1965), the F- (Authoritarianism) Scale (Adorno, FrenkelBrunsivick Levinson, & Sanford, 1950), the D- (Dogmatism) Scale (Rokeach, 1960), and the Paragraph Completion Test (PCT) by Hunt and Dopyera (1966) using the coding system developed by Schroder, Driver and Streufert (1967).The findings of this study indicated that the fundamentalism/orthodoxy construct (revised Fundamentalism Scale) was an effective predictor of cognitive complexity, accounting for 17% of the variation (p < .01). The correlation coefficient between fundamentalism/orthodoxy and cognitive complexity was -.41, revealing that higher levels of fundamentalism/orthodoxy correlated significantly (p < .01) with lower levels of cognitive complexity.Viewed multivariately, "fundamentalism" accounted for 23% of the variation on cognitive complexity, significant at the .01 level. This composite or synthetic variable labeled "fundamentalism" consisted of the fundamentalism/orthodoxy component and the authoritarianism (F-Scale) component. These two variables could be "trusted" to add something unique in predicting level of cognitive complexity. Dogmatism and religiosity could not; therefore, they were not added to the regression equation. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

This study replicated and extended some aspects of a project done by Handley (1980). The primary purpose of this study was to test whether satisfaction with the counseling supervisory relationship was related to the degree of personality similarity between counselor trainees and their supervisors. The degree of personality match was measured by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. Satisfaction was assessed using the Barrett-Lennard Relationship Inventory, the Counselor Evaluation Rating Scale, and two general satisfaction questions.The sample was comprised of 42 counselors-in-training at the master's level and 15 superisors at the doctoral level. Supervisors and trainees were paired to make 42 counselor-supervisor dyads. All participants were graduate students at a Midwestern state university counseling psychology program. Twenty six of the trainees were female and 16 were male. Seven of the supervisors were female and 16 were male.In the primary analyses, one-way MANOVAs revealed no relationship between personality match and trainees' and supervisors'satisfaction with supervision. However, several supplementary one-way MANOVAs indicated that there .was a difference in satisfaction with supervision when trainees were matched to same-sex as compared to opposite-sex supervisors. Female trainees were less satisfied with supervision when they were matched with female supervisors. Male trainees were satisfied with both female and male supervisors.Implications of the findings and suggestions for further research were offered. Limitations of the project were also discussed in terms of the type of training program studied and the homogeneity of the participant pool. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

This study examined traditional instruction and problem-based learning (PBL) approaches to teaching and the extent to which they foster the development of desirable cognitive processes, including metacognition, critical thinking, physical intuition, and problem solving among undergraduate physics students. The study also examined students' approaches to learning and their perceived role as physics students. The research took place in the context of advanced courses of electromagnetism at a Canadian research university. The cognitive science, expertise, physics and science education, instructional psychology, and discourse processes literature provided the framework and background to conceptualize and structure this study. A within-stage mixed-model design was used and a number of instruments, including a survey, observation grids, and problem sets were developed specifically for this study. A special one-week long problem-based learning (PBL) intervention was also designed. Interviews with the instructors participating in the study provided complementary data. / Findings include evidence that students in general engage in metacognitive processes in the organization of their personal study time. However, this potential, including the development of other cognitive processes, might not be stimulated as much as it could in the traditional lecture instructional context. The PBL approach was deemed as more empowering for the students. An unexpected finding came from the realisation that a simple exposure to a structured exercise of problem-solving (pre-test) was sufficient to produce superior planning and solving strategies on a second exposure (post-test) even for the students who had not been exposed to any special treatment. Maturation was ruled out as a potential threat to the validity of this finding. Another promising finding appears to be that the problem-based learning (PBL) intervention tends to foster the development of cognitive competencies, particularly physical intuition, even if it was only implemented for a short period of time. Other findings relate to the nature of the cognitive actions and activities that the students engage in when learning to solve electromagnetism problems in a PBL environment for the first time and the tutoring actions that guide students in this context.

Typescript. / Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1985. / Bibliography: leaves 232-248. / Photocopy. / Microfilm. / xv, 248 leaves, bound ill. 29 cm

Thesis (Ph.D.)--George Mason University, 2008. / Vita: p. 125. Thesis director: Frederick J. Brigham. Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Education. Title from PDF t.p. (viewed July 3, 2008). Includes bibliographical references (p. 118-124). Also issued in print.

Thesis, PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1997. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 178-196). Also available on the Internet.