Sternberg's mental self-government model of intellectual styles¶

Theory · All theories
Evidence · 3 claims (3 for) · 1 study (1 theoretical), q1 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 3 claims rest on one study

Description¶

Sternberg proposes that intellectual style concerns how people use their intelligence rather than how much they have, analogizing the mind to a government. The model organizes styles along functions (legislative, executive, judicial), forms (monarchic, hierarchic, oligarchic, anarchic), levels (global, local), scopes (internal, external), and leanings (conservative, progressive). The article states it is "based on a notion of mentalself-government, according to which people, like societies, survive by instituting one of several alternative forms of governance."

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Assessment of styles must measure both predilections toward styles and abilities to implement them, per the article's measurement discussion.

Constraints¶

• People do not hold one style exclusively; preferences vary with situation, and some degree of domain-specificity is involved.

Target Learners¶

• K-12 and higher education students

Target Learning Objectives¶

• Understanding individual differences in how students direct their intelligence

Claims¶

• Intellectual style is a way of directing intelligence, not a level of it [+W]
• Intellectual styles are partly socialized and therefore modifiable to some degree [+W]
• Schools overwhelmingly reward executive styles and confuse style with level of intellect [+W]

Related Theories¶

• Theory of Mental Self-government as a five-dimension taxonomy of thinking styles
• Multiple Intelligences Theory

Examples¶

• Sternberg's intellectual styles inventory under validation
• Pair students with complementary intellectual styles to compensate for weaknesses

Key Sources¶

• Presseisen, Barbara Z.; Sternberg, Robert J.; Fischer, Kurt W.; Knight, Catharine C.; Feuerstein, Reuven. (1990). Learning and Thinking Styles: Classroom Interaction. National Education Association. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED327322