An Empirical Investigation of the Relationships Among Cognitive Abilities, Cognitive Style, and Learning Preferences in Students Enrolled in Specialized Degree Courses at a Canadian College

Although specific cognitive abilities, cognitive style, and learning preferences are assumed to be inter-related, the empirical evidence supporting this assumption is mixed. Cognitive style refers to how individuals represent information, and learning preference refers to how individuals prefer the presentation of information (Mayer & Massa, 2003). Both cognitive style and learning preferences have been linked to specific cognitive abilities, such as verbal abilities, visual imagery and spatial abilities, though the nature of the inter-relationships remains tenuous in the literature. The present study addressed the roles of specific cognitive abilities in the relationship between learning preferences and the visualizer-verbalizer dimension of cognitive style, using a unique sample of students enrolled in specialized post-secondary programs. A battery of cognitive tests and questionnaires was administered. It was found that spatial abilities predicted visual cognitive style, which in turn, predicted visual learning preferences. Vocabulary knowledge predicted verbal cognitive style, but not verbal learning preferences. These results suggest that specific cognitive abilities predict visual-verbal cognitive styles, though the distinction between visual-verbal cognitive styles does not have clear associations with learning preferences. Bien que l’on suppose que les habiletés cognitives, le style cognitif et les préférences en matière d’apprentissage soient interreliés, les preuves empiriques étayant cette supposition sont partagées. Le style cognitif renvoie à la façon dont les individus perçoivent l’information et les préférences en matière d’apprentissage concernent la présentation de l’information (Mayer & Massa, 2003). Les chercheurs ont établi un lien entre, d’une part, le style cognitif et les préférences d’apprentissage et, d’autre part, des capacités cognitives spécifiques comme les habiletés verbales, l’imagination visuelle et les capacités spatiales; quoique la nature des interrelations reste fragile dans les écrits. La présente étude a considéré le rôle des habiletés cognitives spécifiques dans la relation entre les préférences d’apprentissage et la dimension visualisation-verbalisation des styles cognitifs à partir d’un échantillon d’étudiants inscrits à des programmes postsecondaires spécialisés. Les chercheurs ont administré une batterie de tests cognitifs et de questionnaires. Ils ont découvert que les habiletés spatiales permettaient de prédire le style cognitif, qui à son tour, permettait de prédire les préférences d’apprentissage visuel. La connaissance du vocabulaire prédisait le style cognitif verbal, mais pas les préférences en matière d’apprentissage verbal. Ces résultats suggèrent que des habiletés spécifiques permettent de prédire les styles cognitifs verbaux et visuels, même s’il n’y a pas de lien clair entre les préférences d’apprentissage et la distinction entre ces styles

An Empirical Investigation of the Relationships Among Cognitive Abilities, Cognitive Style, and Learning Preferences in Students Enrolled in Specialized Degree Courses at a Canadian College

Although specific cognitive abilities, cognitive style, and learning preferences are assumed to be inter-related, the empirical evidence supporting this assumption is mixed. Cognitive style refers to how individuals represent information, and learning preference refers to how individuals prefer the presentation of information (Mayer & Massa, 2003). Both cognitive style and learning preferences have been linked to specific cognitive abilities, such as verbal abilities, visual imagery and spatial abilities, though the nature of the inter-relationships remains tenuous in the literature. The present study addressed the roles of specific cognitive abilities in the relationship between learning preferences and the visualizer-verbalizer dimension of cognitive style, using a unique sample of students enrolled in specialized post-secondary programs. A battery of cognitive tests and questionnaires was administered. It was found that spatial abilities predicted visual cognitive style, which in turn, predicted visual learning preferences. Vocabulary knowledge predicted verbal cognitive style, but not verbal learning preferences. These results suggest that specific cognitive abilities predict visual-verbal cognitive styles, though the distinction between visual-verbal cognitive styles does not have clear associations with learning preferences. Bien que l’on suppose que les habiletés cognitives, le style cognitif et les préférences en matière d’apprentissage soient interreliés, les preuves empiriques étayant cette supposition sont partagées. Le style cognitif renvoie à la façon dont les individus perçoivent l’information et les préférences en matière d’apprentissage concernent la présentation de l’information (Mayer & Massa, 2003). Les chercheurs ont établi un lien entre, d’une part, le style cognitif et les préférences d’apprentissage et, d’autre part, des capacités cognitives spécifiques comme les habiletés verbales, l’imagination visuelle et les capacités spatiales; quoique la nature des interrelations reste fragile dans les écrits. La présente étude a considéré le rôle des habiletés cognitives spécifiques dans la relation entre les préférences d’apprentissage et la dimension visualisation-verbalisation des styles cognitifs à partir d’un échantillon d’étudiants inscrits à des programmes postsecondaires spécialisés. Les chercheurs ont administré une batterie de tests cognitifs et de questionnaires. Ils ont découvert que les habiletés spatiales permettaient de prédire le style cognitif, qui à son tour, permettait de prédire les préférences d’apprentissage visuel. La connaissance du vocabulaire prédisait le style cognitif verbal, mais pas les préférences en matière d’apprentissage verbal. Ces résultats suggèrent que des habiletés spécifiques permettent de prédire les styles cognitifs verbaux et visuels, même s’il n’y a pas de lien clair entre les préférences d’apprentissage et la distinction entre ces styles

Play it Forward – Transforming Consumption into Generosity

Live stream consumption, spanning very diverse topics from video games to real-life streams, live coding, and political discussions, has surged in popularity across various demographics. Besides making it possible to consume content, platforms such as Twitch also enable consumers to financially support streamers and their streams in various ways, for example through monthly subscriptions, virtual currencies like Twitch Bits or gifted subscriptions to other users. This study conceptualizes each live stream chat as a unique micro community and focuses on the latter form of financial support. We build a bridge between chat and financial support data of more than 100,000 Twitch live streams and generosity through gifted subscriptions to explore why some streams seem to foster generosity more than others. Ultimately, this study sheds light on the design of online social network features that promote the actualization of the affordance of generosity within online communities

Extreme Sensory Complexity Encoded in the 10-Megabase Draft Genome Sequence of the Chromatically Acclimating Cyanobacterium Tolypothrix sp. PCC 7601

Tolypothrix sp. PCC 7601 is a freshwater filamentous cyanobacterium with complex responses to environmental conditions. Here, we present its 9.96-Mbp draft genome sequence, containing 10,065 putative protein-coding sequences, including 305 predicted two-component system proteins and 27 putative phytochrome-class photoreceptors, the most such proteins in any sequenced genome

Dissecting Structural and Functional Diversity of the Lantibiotic Mersacidin

Mersacidin is a tetracyclic lantibiotic with antibacterial activity against Gram-positive pathogens. To probe the specificity of the biosynthetic pathway of mersacidin and obtain analogs with improved antibacterial activity, an efficient system for generating variants of this lantibiotic was developed. A saturation mutagenesis library of the residues of mersacidin not involved in cycle formation was constructed and used to validate this system. Mersacidin analogs were obtained in good yield in approximately 35% of the cases, producing a collection of 82 new compounds. This system was also used for the production of deletion and insertion mutants of mersacidin. The outcome of these studies suggests that this system can be extended to produce mersacidin variants with multiple changes that will allow a full investigation of the potential use of modified mersacidins as therapeutic agents