Cognitive style and problem solving in groups

ADAPTION-INNOVATION IN THE CONTEXT OF DIVERSITY AND CHANGE. M. J. Kirton.Routledge, London, 2003. No. of pages 408. ISBN 0415298512. Price £15.50 (paperback).

Specialists in a number of areas of psychology have noted that there appear to be consistencieswithin individuals and consistent differences between individuals with respect to the way in whichthey process information, solve problems, absorb new material and these consistencies have givenrise to the notion of cognitive style. Despite fluctuations in its popularity as an area of research,cognitive style continues to be seen as an important attribute of the differences between individuals.(For example, see Sternberg & Grigorenko, 1997, or the June 2003 issue (vol 76) of the Journal ofOccupational and Organizational Psychology which contains papers debating the Allison-HayesCognitive Style Index.) How the dimensions on which people differ should be described, how manydimensions there are, how differences in cognitive style are related to other constructs such aspersonality are just some of the issues which have generated debate over the past half century. It hasbeen noted (Streufert & Nogami, 1989) that the topic has suffered from a surfeit of suggestedanswers to these questions, that there have been too many proposed constructs which haveblossomed and withered as they have failed to gain researchers’ interest or to gather supportivedata. This unsatisfactory situation has been compounded by the way in which cognitive style hasbeen linked to (or, in some experts’ opinion, confused with) cognitive ability, creativity andpersonality.

One of the more durable theories of cognitive style is that of Michael Kirton, who first describedhis notion of an adaptor-innovator dimension and an instrument to measure it in 1976. Kirton’stheory suggests that people differ in their preferred approach to problem solving, with those who aremore adaptive preferring their problems to be associated with more structure than those who aremore innovative. The difference is expressed succinctly in the phrase that adaptors like to do thingsbetter, innovators like to do things differently.

Kirton argues that cognitive style is a preferred manner of problem solving, but that people areable to function in a non-preferred style (e.g. an adaptor can adopt the innovative style and viceversa) by using ‘coping behaviour’ (which is stressful). From the outset, he has argued that style isnot related to level of ability, which should be seen as an orthogonal dimension, and that seeing styleas linked to level has produced confusion. He has also argued consistently against the notion that oneend of the dimension is more valuable than the other. In his view, more adaption or more innovationwill be the more appropriate style for solving a particular problem at any particular time. The wholerange of adaption-innovation is essential for solving the wide diversity of problems that faceindividuals and groups. So there are advantages to being located anywhere on the continuum.

Kirton has emphasized that adaptors and innovators tend to fail to see the benefits of people at theother end of the dimension, and that this can present a problem of interpersonal dynamics in workgroups. People have a tendency to judge those who are not like them as inferior because differencesin preferred style tend to be perceived as differences in ability. So, a possible value of A-I theory isthat the better understanding of differences in style will lead to higher mutual respect and morefruitful collaboration.

Much of Kirton’s work has concerned relating his theory to problem solving in groups,particularly in work-related (managerial) contexts. He has argued that a successful group has tosolve not only the problem presented but also the problem of maintaining itself as a group.Furthermore, the optimal composition of a group for solving a problem will alter as it moves fromthe suggesting of possible solutions to the implementation of one of them.

In this book Kirton describes his theory and surveys the considerable supporting literature whichincludes studies from a number of countries. He deals at length with the style/level issue,emphasizing that there is no value attached to either end of the dimension, and also that creativitydoes not imply being an innovator: one can be adaptively creative. The question of whether adaption-innovation is a personality dimension is debated, and data on the correlations with personalitymeasures summarized.

So far, so good: Kirton has had an intriguing idea, has devised a measure and gathered data on itspsychometric qualities such as its reliability and factorial structure, has demonstrated that it does notcorrelate with intelligence (unlike some of the alternative scales such as field-dependence), doesrelate in predictable patterns to such features as occupational speciality, and can be used to interpret

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Copyright # 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Appl. Cognit. Psychol. 19: 671–678 (2005)

and reduce interpersonal conflict. Along the way he discusses the problems which have bedevilledthe notion of creativity, and links his dimension to a range of areas such as education, biology, historyand sociology.

The book separates into two halves: the first is data-grounded, the second is where he allowshimself to speculate on the implications of his theory. One danger of theories such as this is that theyare extended too far and the construct is taken to be the one fundamental which can explain allmanner of behavioural differences, and there are signs of this tendency in the second half.Sometimes he uses informal descriptions of studies or consultancy work to support his argument,sometimes he claims that the theory predicts outcomes without explaining how it does so (the notionof a pendulum of change may invoke nodding recognition in the reader, but precisely how is itpredicted by the theory and what determines the magnitude of the stroke of any pendulum?), andsometimes he seems simply to allow his enviously fertile imagination to soar free. So he makes ananalogy between company mergers and mitochondria, links adaption-innovation to a range ofphenomena including accident prevention, eating disorders, dyslexia, and delinquency. It may bedoubted whether one single dimension can be the key to understanding such a range of behaviours.

There are likely to be two types of reader for this book: on the one hand there will be theacademics looking for an exposition of this theory of cognitive style and they will find the first halfrewarding while being frustrated with the speculative second; on the other there will be the managerswho are looking for an exposition of how this theory can assist them understand and manage workgroups and they are likely to find the first half tediously technical but the second to have thepersuasiveness which comes from appeal to common experience larded with references to a range ofauthoritative writers and historical precedents.

This suggests the book is in danger of frustrating both readerships, but this would be unfortunate.The theory has proven its worth by its psychometric foundation, by the amount of work it hasgenerated and by its application in industry. The academic will find here the exposition of the theoryby its founder, and the manager or management consultant will find accounts of how it has beenapplied to the world of the practitioner.

REFERENCES

Sternberg, R. J., & Grigorenko, E. L. (1997). Are cognitive styles still in style? AmericanPsychologist, 52, 700–712.

Streufert, S., & Nogami, G. Y. (1989). Cognitive style and complexity: implications for I/Opsychology. In C. L. Cooper, & I. T. Robertson (Eds.), International review of industrial andorganizational psychology. Chichester, UK: Wiley.

JEREMY FOSTER

Published online in Wiley InterScience(www.interscience.wiley.com) DOI: 10.1002/acp.1137

How does forensic psychology benefit from other branches of psychology?

APPLYING PSYCHOLOGY TO FORENSIC PRACTICE. A. Needs and G. Towl (eds). BPSBlackwell, Oxford, 2004. No. of pages 285. ISBN 1405105429. Price £25.99 (paperback).

This book aims to present an overview of different applications of psychology to forensic practice,and there is a good variety within the content of the chapters. Topics covered include chapters onassessment, treatment, and management of offenders, as well as issues relating to police, witnesses,interviewing, and staffing within the criminal justice system. This is reflected in the division of thebook into two sections: Working with offenders: Analysis and intervention and Working withCriminal Justice Personnel.

The book begins with a chapter by Nee that reflects on the importance of the offender’sperspective on crime, a point that is often overlooked by criminological researchers. Whilst I found

676 Book reviews

Copyright # 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Appl. Cognit. Psychol. 19: 671–678 (2005)