Understanding strategy selection

This paper explores several issues associated with explanations of why different people use different strategies for learning and inference tasks. It is suggested that although the concept of cognitive style is a useful starting point, it is unable to account for many findings in the literature, and that any model of strategy usage that confines itself to mechanisms governing strategy selection is incomplete. In addition, it is necessary to take account of strategy availability: Which strategies do people possess, and how do people discover new strategies? Several findings in the literature indicate that strategy discovery is related to general abilities. Specifically, those who are best able to execute a current strategy are those who are the most likely to identify new, more elective methods. It is suggested that many findings that support the notion of cognitive style can be reinterpreted in this light.