An Exploration of the Interaction between Speech Rate, Gender, and Cognitive Style in their Effect on Recall

Abstract

This paper explores how the interaction between cognitive style, gender and type of task predict task outcome, particularly when presentation speed is varied. A sample of 91 11-yearold pupils the Cognitive Style Analysis. Pupils were assigned to one of two groups balanced for gender and cognitive style. Group 1 listened to a recording of a passage presented at 84wpm; group two listened to the same passage at 197wpm. Pupils were then required to comprehend and recall information from the passage that required assimilation of distantly positioned information. Male verbalisers and female imagers performed well in the slow condition but poorly in the fast condition. Female verbalisers showed improved performance in the fast condition. Results indicated that the interaction between verbal imagery style and gender predicts the outcome of verbal tasks, especially when processing speed was restricted.These results support differences in information processing between genders and also suggest that this processing is mediated by verbal imagery cognitive style.Keywords: Cognitive Style, Processing Speed, Gender, Verbal Imagery, Informationprocessing This paper considers cognitive style and its interactions with gender for mediating task outcome. In particular it investigates the effect of reductions in processing time for a 2 2 verbal comprehension task and its effect on outcome for different cognitive style by gender groupings. This study builds on an initial study by Riding and Vincent (1980) that demonstrated that males and females processed information differently when assimilating distantly linked verbal material presented at differing speeds. The original study did not assess cognitive style or any interactions that cognitive style may have had with gender which may be an important factor in explaining why males and females process information of this type differently. More recently studies have indicated that cognitive style, namely verbal imagery style and gender interact differently for different tasks to mediate outcome (Riding & Armstrong, 1982;Riding & Boardman, 1983;Riding & Borg, 1987;Riding & Cowley, 1986;Riding, Dahraei, Grimley & Banner, 2001;Riding & Egelstaff, 1983; Riding & RigbySmith, 1984). In addition, this paper assimilates neuropsychological findings for cognitive style and gender differences in an attempt to explain these interactions. Cognitive Style and its Assessment.Riding and Rayner (1998) define cognitive style as "an individual's preferred and habitual approach to organising and representing information" (p11). Cognitive style can be viewed as a relatively stable and fixed attribute of an individual, which is mirrored by individual brain correlates for individuals of differing styles (Glass and Riding, 1999;Riding, Glass, Butler & Pleydell-Pearce, 1997;Riding, Glass & Douglas, 1993). Riding and Cheema (1991) and Riding and Rayner (1998) suggest that style can be described by two distinct dimensions and that these dimensions reflect a number of style labels conceptualised within the ...

Cognitive style and gender differences in children’s mathematics achievement

“…Some evidence for this contention comes from Riding and Armstrong's (1982) study in which boys with a verbal or imagery style recorded the lowest computation scores of the boys, whereas girls with a verbal or imagery style obtained the highest scores of the girls. The cognitive style reversal between boys and girls is also evident in other computation, memory and reading tasks research (Grimley 2007b;Riding and Borg 1987;Riding and Cowley 1986;Riding and Egelstaff 1983;Riding et al 2003).…”

“…In line with Grimley (2007b), participants were classified as having a Verbal or Imagery style and a Wholistic or Analytic style, using the median values as cut-off points. Cognitive style divisions are shown in Table 2.…”

“…In particular, it examines whether cognitive style explains some of the variation in gender differences in mathematics. Grimley (2007b) discusses a "classic reversal" effect when investigating cognitive style and gender whereby different combinations of cognitive style have differing outcomes in mathematics performance for males and females. Some evidence for this contention comes from Riding and Armstrong's (1982) study in which boys with a verbal or imagery style recorded the lowest computation scores of the boys, whereas girls with a verbal or imagery style obtained the highest scores of the girls.…”

Diferencias de género en matemática y lenguaje en alumnos de colegios adventistas en el sistema de medición de la calidad de la Educación (SIMCE) en Chile - Gender differences among Mathematics and Language students in Adventist schools in the...

“…Sundgren (2001) indicó que muchos de los estudios sociolingüísticos han demostrado que tanto hombres como mujeres se diferencian en sus patrones de discurso y que las mujeres utilizan más formas prestigiosas que los hombres. Al mismo tiempo Obleser, Rockstroh y Eulitz (2004), Melville (2006) y Grimly (2007) afirman que hombres y mujeres procesan la información de diferentes maneras, lo que conllevaría a que se presenten estas diferencias genéricas en las pruebas de lenguaje realizadas.…”

“…A los alumnos se les requirió comprender y recordar información de pasajes que tenían que escuchar y los resultados indicaron que la interacción entre el estilo verbal-imaginario y el género, predice el resultado de tareas verbales, especialmente cuando el proceso de velocidad es restringido. Estos resultados apoyan que existen diferencias en los procesos de la transformación de la información entre hombres y mujeres (Grimly, 2007). Maltz y Borker (1982) y Tannen (1990) citados en Graddy (2006) atribuyen las diferencias de género en el estilo del lenguaje al proceso de aprendizaje.…”