Cognitive Development and Cognitive Style

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Abstract
This study was designed to examine (a) whether the process of formulating transitive inferences is either a spatial or a linguistic process, but not both, (b) whether transitivity develops from a spatial to a linguistic process as a function of cognitive growth, (c) whether the transitivity process varies according to individual preferences for and abilities or disabilities with spatial as opposed to linguistic reasoning, and (d) the effect of specific task characteristics on the processing of a transitivity problem. Subjects were learning disabled children aged 7, 9, 11, and 13. All subjects, regardless of age, received highest scores on tasks involving linguistic input. There was no evidence of a developmental shift from spatial into linguistic reasoning. At ages 7, 9, and 11 there was no evidence of process preferences. At age 13 some evidence was found for the influence of cognitive style preference. Implications for the relationship between cognitive development and cognitive style are discussed.

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