Truly striking levels of creativity are associated with global and legislative thinking styles compared with local executive thinking styles. Individuals with a global legislative thinking style prefer relatively large abstract issues, ignoring details. They prefer the task of creating, formulating , imagining and planning. Individuals with local styles prefer concrete problems requiring detailed work and tend to be pragmatically oriented. They prefer implementing and applying ideas or plans of others.
Creative students are more likely to show profiles of styles that are legislative and global.
More recent tests emphasise critical thinking and analysis, indicating there may be a shift away from benefiting executive styles. The aim of this project is to test whether there is an interaction between thinking styles and learning utilising concept mapping as a learning tool for managing material presented in either hypertext format or linear format. It is predicted that one type of learning style will be more effective with one type of presentation of material. It is predicted that there will be a significant interaction between preferred thinking styles and presentation of material in either linear or hypertext formats. Subjects with an executive, local profile will master factual knowledge more effectively through a linear approach but not see links between areas of knowledge as clearly as subjects who have a legislative, global style profile.