A

Cognitive Styles 21

book. We will base our discussion upon personality. However, we will
include enough information about neurology to show the connection
between mind and brain.
What about the idea, for example, that each cognitive style is conscious
in a different part of the mind. Does this difference show up in physical
brain hardware? The question is difficult to answer because very little
research has been done in this area. Until now, no one has come up with a
general theory of personality which relates cognitive styles to the function
of different brain regions. What I can say is that information from
neurology is consistent with the idea that the brains of different cognitive
styles are wired up in different ways. For instance, there is a fairly major
connection between the two hemispheres, called the massa intermedia,
which ties together the two thalami. This set of wires is present in two
thirds of humans and absent in the other third. Another major connection
between the two hemispheres, called the anterior commissure, is up to
eight times larger in some humans than in others.
In this book, we will be touching upon a number of different subjects. I
realize that most readers are not that familiar with either neurology or
psychology. Therefore, you may find yourself wondering how much of the
information which I mention is accepted by other researchers, and which
facts I am making up myself. I will try to keep this distinction very clear. If
I refer to neurology, this means that you can find this fact stated definitely
if you study books and articles on the brain. If a fact is more or less
generally accepted, then I will state that „research shows‟ or something
similar. When the information is fairly recent or less well known, then I
will include a reference indicating my specific source. On the other hand, if
I suggest a fact, then, as far as I know, it is original with me and not found
either in brain research or psychology.
Of course, not every idea which I suggest is original with me. Many
times I have found other people saying similar things. After all, we are all
studying the same minds and the same brains, and should be coming up
with similar conclusions. Sometimes, what is original is not the idea itself,
but rather the way in which it connects with other concepts and ties into a
general system of understanding.
I apologize for not always giving credit where credit is due.
Unfortunately, in a work of this magnitude it simply is not always possible
to decide exactly who was the first to come up with what idea. I spent
many years sifting through reams of partial facts and uncertain data, and by
now, I cannot remember where most of the original concepts came from.
After all, when the gold miner strikes it rich, he concentrates on the
digging and the refining and can easily forget which ore came from what
location. While many of the individual pieces were gleaned from the
thinking of others, I know that the overall structure is definitely unique.