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Complexity of Process
(Strategies)
Type of Information Requested
The type of
information requested by a question or directive determines the kind of
thinking required. Requests for ‘concrete’ information may require
only observation, while requests for ‘abstract’ information usually
depend on thinking processes such as generalizing or inferring. For example, it
is easier to identify what a person is doing than to give the reason why they
are doing it. The first request for information is concrete, asking for an
action, while the second request is more abstract, asking for the person’s
motivation. Cognitive processing tasks tend to be easier when the requested
information is ‘concrete,’ as in persons and actions,
while requests for more ‘abstract’ information, such as
reasons and motivations, tend to be more difficult.
The following
chart lists ratings for type of information. The ratings reflect the relative
difficulty of identifying information. A rating of ‘1’ indicates that
the information is highly concrete, while a rating of 5 indicates abstract
information.
|
Rating |
Type of
Information |
Typical
Questions |
|
1 |
person,
animal, place (noun, not relationship), thing |
Who
ate the bread?
What is behind the door? |
|
2 |
amounts,
times, types, actions, locations, attributes (note that an attribute can
qualify persons, groups, animals, places, etc., even other
attributes) |
What
kind of dog was seen? How serious was the injury? What did he do
afterward? |
|
3 |
manner, goal,
purpose, alternative, referent for a pronoun, predicate
adjective. |
How
did Juan climb the wall?
What did he hope to
achieve? |
|
4 |
cause,
effect, reason, result, similarity, explanation. |
Why
did the alarm sound?
What will happen if the rope breaks? What
features do pensions and annuities share? |
|
5 |
equivalence,
difference, theme or pattern. |
What are
the differences between MIG and electric arc welding? In this agreement,
what functions as a guarantee specification? |
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