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Attention and Cognitive Style in Children

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Attention and Cognitive Development

Abstract

Invariably, whether growing out of the psychoanalytic concept of ego functions (Klein, 1958; Gardner, Holtzman, Klein, Linton, & Spence, 1959), the Wernerian construct of psychological differentiation (Witkin, Dyk, Faterson, Goodenough, & Karp, 1962), or Kagan’s notion of conceptual tempo (Kagan, Rosman, Day, Albert, & Phillips, 1964), research on cognitive styles is based on perceptual tasks that reflect individual differences in some aspect of perceptual selectivity. Most influential in determining the direction of current research were Kagan (Kagan, Moss, & Sigel, 1963; Kagan et al, 1964) and Witkin (Witkin et al., 1962). Initially, Kagan and his colleagues were concerned primarily with the development of children’s categorizing behavior, and this work led to the Conceptuad Style Test. It is probably not too unfair to say that this test has not proved as useful as might have been expected given its intuitive appeal.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv, Israel

    Tamar Zelniker

  2. University of California, Los Angeles, California, 90024, USA

    Wendell E. Jeffrey

Authors
  1. Tamar Zelniker
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  2. Wendell E. Jeffrey
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Psychological Development Research Division, Educational Testing Service, Princeton, New Jersey, USA

    Gordon A. Hale

  2. Institute for the Study of Exceptional Children, Educational Testing Service, Princeton, New Jersey, USA

    Michael Lewis

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© 1979 Plenum Press, New York

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Zelniker, T., Jeffrey, W.E. (1979). Attention and Cognitive Style in Children. In: Hale, G.A., Lewis, M. (eds) Attention and Cognitive Development. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-2985-5_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-2985-5_10

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-2987-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4613-2985-5

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