Fedko V. Impact of the cognitive style on cooperative learning activity of school students.

The dissertation covers the issue of the impact that the cognitive style of field dependence - field independence produces on cooperative activities of high school students. The author describes psychological peculiarities of a small group as an aggregated subject of cooperative learning activity, its main properties and types, elucidates its distinctive features compared to other types of cooperative activity (professional, teaching etc.) and to the individual learning activity, outlines the crucial psychological and pedagogical factors of its effectiveness. Characterictics of a cognitive style as a component of the body of styles inherent in personality have been specified, as well as the status and primary parameters of this cognitive style. The relationships between the studied cognitive style and a student's cognitive strategies, his/her abilities have been elicited. The research focuses on the influence the cognitive style of field dependence had on the following facets of the cooperative learning activity: group decision making, conflict behaviour of students, and psychological climate in the group. The evidence is provided that this cognitive style produces significant impact on the afore mentioned phenomena of the cooperative learning activity, however, this influence is not direct, it is mediated by other individual psychological features of srudents and by the type of relationships between students, including those formed before their involvement into cooperative learning activity.