Anthony Gregorc, professor of curriculum and instruction at the University of Connecticut, divided the thinking style into 2 axes and consequentially 4 quadrants. The y axis is based on the perceptual preference and the x the ordering preference.
The perceptual preference runs from concrete to abstract and ordering preference from sequential to random.
- Concrete sequential.
- Concrete random.
- Abstract random.
- Abstract sequential.
Perceptual Quality
- Concrete:This quality enables you to register information directly through your five senses: sight, smell, touch, taste, and hearing. When you are using your concrete ability, you are dealing with the obvious, the “here and now.” You are not looking for hidden meanings, or making relationships between ideas or concepts. “It is what it is.”
- Abstract: This quality allows you to visualize, to conceive ideas, to understand or believe that which you cannot actually see. When you are using your abstract quality, you are using your intuition, your imagination, and you are looking beyond “what is” to the more subtle implications. “It is not always what it seems.”
Although all people have both concrete and abstract perceptual abilities to some extent, each person is usually comfortable using one more than the other. The person whose natural strength in the concrete, for example, may communicate in a direct, literal, no-nonsense manner. The person whose natural strength is the abstract may use more subtle ways to get a point across.
Ordering Ability
- Sequential:Allows your mind to organize information in a linear, step-by-step manner. When using your sequential ability, you are following a logical train of thought, a traditional approach to dealing with information. You may also prefer to have a plan and to follow it, rather than relying on impulse.
- Random:Lets your mind organize information by chunks, and in no particular order. When you are using your random ability, you may often be able to skip steps in a procedure and still produce the desired result. You may even start in the middle, or at the end, and work backwards. You may also prefer your life to be more impulsive, or spur of the moment, than planned.
(Gregorc, https://web.cortland.edu/andersmd/learning/gregorc.htm)
All elements of research and literature come with elements of danger. After a conversation with Dr Shrehan Lynch, I have come to the conclusion that spectrums can be used to label and place people on a continuum, I have some more thinking to do… What do you think?
Try The Test
All elements of research and literature come with elements of danger. After a conversation with Dr Shrehan Lynch, I have come to the conclusion that spectrums can be used to label and place people on a continuum, I have some more thinking to do… What do you think of ‘thinking styles’?
References and Further Reading
http://wp.auburn.edu/biggio/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/learning-style-test.pdf