32 A Programmer’s Guide to the Mind
Information can be either abstract or concrete.Finally, I suggest that the seven cognitive styles can be divided into
two groups which we will call the simple styles and the composite styles.
The simple styles are the Teacher, Perceiver, Server and Mercy. These are
the four names which are placed in the corners of the diagram. Each of
these four styles uses one of the two types of thinking (associative or
analytical) on one of the two kinds of information (abstract or concrete).
Two methods of thought combined with two types of memory produce
four possible combinations. The Perceiver, for example, uses associative
processing with abstract information.A
The composite styles are the Exhorter, Contributor and Facilitator.
These names are shown in the middle of the diagram. The composite styles
are based upon the foundation of the simple styles and tie them together.
The Exhorter combines Teacher and Mercy modes, and the Contributor
integrates Perceiver and Server thought. The Facilitator is the „secretary‟ of
the mind, mixing and balancing the rest of thought.
The seven cognitive styles can be divided into two groups:
The simple styles emphasize content.
They use one type of thinking with one type of information.
The composite styles emphasize action and progress.
These combine the thinking modes of the simple styles.The simple styles deal with the content of thought. The composite
styles, in contrast, work as a mental pump which drives thought and action.
I suggest that this pump is the source of imagination and creativity. Notice
that the diagram shows an arrow leading from the Exhorter through the
Contributor to the Facilitator. This arrow shows the direction in which
information flows on its way through imagination (this flow is easier to see
in the second version of the diagram). The separation between thinking (by
the simple styles) and acting (motivated more by the composite styles)
shows up in personality. Unlike the simple styles, the composite styles are
generally much more interested in doing, creating and developing than in
learning and filling the mind with more content. This means that Exhorter,
Contributor and Facilitator persons often end up building their activity
upon a rather limited or inadequate mental foundation.
A Notice that this backs up our earlier suggestion that memory and
processing go together in the mind: Abstract memory, for instance, does
not just exist by itself. Rather, it is organized either associatively or
analytically. Similarly, analytical thinking does not work in a vacuum, but
operates either on abstract or concrete information.