Is the More Impulsive Child a More Holistic Processor? A Reconsideration

Abstract

SMITH, J. DAVID, and KEMLER NELSON, DEBORAH G. Is the More Impulsive Child a More Holistic Processor? A Reconsideration. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1988, 59, 719-727. This research contrasted 2 possible relations between reflection-impulsivity and analytic or holistic modes of processing. First, a holistic predisposition could cause the child to look impulsive in some highly analytic tasks. Second, broadly impulsive, less effortful cognition could produce holistic processing in some tasks. Reflective and impulsive children (on Kagan's Matching Familiar Figures Test) were observed on 2 tasks that tap holistic processing, as conceived within the literature on dimensional integrality. These were a classification task and a color matching test that was modeled after the MFFT. In addition, items from Zelniker and Jeffrey's global matching test were included. Although impulsive children were more holistic in the classification task, they made more errors than reflectives on all the matching tests, regardless of whether the content favored holistic processing. The results suggest that impulsivity cannot be explained exhaustively as a holistic processing disposition. Instead, holistic processing is conceived as the result of an impressionistic, less effortful cognitive approach that broadly characterizes the impulsive child.

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