Individual Differences: Changing Conceptions in Research and Practice

This article discusses some of the ways in which the assumptions and general conceptions underlying recent research on individual differences differ from those guiding earlier research. It is suggested that certain social-philosophical changes that have occurred since World War II (e. g., the cognitive revolution evident in psychology and education and the more egalitarian conceptions of individual differences apparent in many spheres of society) have had a substantial influence on current research. A framework for relating various aspects of current research on individual differences is suggested, and examples of research on both knowledge-based differences (e. g., expert/novice differences in problem solving) and process-related differences associated with intelligence and various types of learning tasks are presented and discussed.