The Cognitive Style of Information Professionals

This paper reports the results of research which tested the applicability of the two-dimensional McKenney-Keen Model of Cognitive Style to information professionals. A battery of nine standardized tests from the Kit of Factor-Referenced Cognitive Tests was administered to students at the University of Maryland (N=57). Factor analysis was used to explore patterns among test results and supported the hypthesized four-factor model. The four factors are: preceptive and receptive, identifying the poles of the information-gathering dimension; and systematic and intuitive factors, identifying the poles of the information-evaluation dimension. A method of graphically displaying an individual's cognitive style is described and the distribution of cognitive style scores of information students is compared with that of business students in Keen's study. Seventy-two percent of the subject information professionals demonstrate a dominant cognitive style in at least one dimension; while 33 percent have dominant styles in both dimensions. The latter group were dispersed across the four combinations, unlike graduate business students.