Academic Performance as a Function of Task Requirements and Cognitive Style

Abstract

In a study of the relation between cognitive style and academic performance in 4 departments (Engineering, Natural Science, Social Science, Humanities) 150 Princeton upperclassmen completed the Schroder Paragraph Completion Test which was used to measure cognitive style. Scores on the PCT, together with scores on verbal and mathematical aptitude tests, were related to performance in each of the four departments. A relationship was found between the cognitively concrete style and good performance in Engineering, and the cognitively abstract style and performance in the Social Sciences and Humanities. There was no significant relationship between cognitive style and performance in the Natural Sciences. The data support the view that performance can best be understood as the result of an interaction between personality (cognitive style) and environment (task requirements).