A Study of the Relationship of Iq and Cognitive and Personality Rigidity To Performance On Concept Learning Tasks

Abstract

The present study is an attempt to objectively measure individual differences in concept in learning ability, and to study some personality and cognitive variables which may identify the successful concept learner when learning tasks are varied and require flexibility in approach. A concept learning test was administered to 113 college sophomores with an average to superior IQ range, who had been tested previously on two measures of cognitive rigidity, a measure of personality rigidity and the WAIS. The concept learning test included simple, disjunctive, and relational types of problems which were randomly presented and required subjects to vary their approach from task to task. Scores on the Alternate Uses Test of cognitive flexibility were significantly related to concept learning scores. The figural Adaptive Flexibility Test of cognitive flexibility, Rokeach Dogmatism Scale, and WAIS scores showed no significant relationship to concept learning on these tasks. It was hypothesized that cognitive flexibility, as measured by the Alternate Uses Test, may represent an important dimension of learning behavior which is not measured by a standardized IQ test composed of items emphasizing convergent thinking.