Incorporating Individual Differences Into the Science of Learning: Commentary on Sternberg et al. (2008)

Sternberg, Grigorenko, and Zhang (2008, this issue) make a valiant effort to reinvigorate the somewhat dormant field of cognitive style by showing the implications of cognitive style for instruction and assessment. In support of their call to differentiate instruction for different kinds of learners, they summarize evidence showing that people learn better from a broad instructional method that is sensitive to multiple cognitive styles than they do from a narrow instructional method that is mainly addressed to one cognitive style. In support of their call for using multiple measures of learning potential, they summarize evidence showing that learning outcomes are better predicted by multiple measures of learning potential than by a single measure. In this commentary, I briefly examine Sternberg et al.'s claim that cognitive styles matter for instruction and assessment.