Cognitive Styles: What Are They?

An attempt was made to determine whether the traits known as cognitive styles, which have been variously interpreted, could be brought under a single broad concept. An examination of the evidence showed that most of those traits could be related to the writer's structure of intellect, in one way or another. It is not yet clear whether they should be recognized as intellectual abilities or intellectual controls, or both. A few seem more identifiable with traits of interest or of temperament. It was suggested that the structure-of-intellect model could serve as a frame of reference for future research in this area.