Dialectical thinking refers to a cognitive pattern characterized by people' capacity to tolerate contradictions without experiencing the need to resolve them by outrightly rejecting one perspective in favor of another. 

Dialectical Thinking

1. Denial
2. Discounting
3. Differentiation 
4. Dialectical Thinking

New York University

The characteristic way an individual engages in cognitive tasks such as perceiving, thinking, remembering, and problem-solving.

Cognitive Style

Peng, K., & Nisbett, R. E. (1999). Culture, dialectics, and reasoning about contradiction. American psychologist, 54(9), 741.

Culture, Dialectics, and Reasoning about Contradiction.

- verbalizers
- spatial visualizers
- object visualizers

Common Cognitive Styles Present in Groups

Groups with an intermediate level of cognitive style diversity had more collective intelligence than those with a lot or very little diversity. This could be because groups with too much diversity could not effectively communicate and groups with too little did not have an adequate range of skills to perform better. 

Correlation Between Cognitive Style Diversity and Collective Intelligence

- Static vs. Dynamic
- Positivist vs. Negativist
- Evolution vs. Involution

3 Dimensions of Cognitive Style

4 Forms of Cognitive Style in Processing Contradictions

• Overgeneralizing

• Using selective abstraction

• Taking excessive responsibility

• Assuming temporal causality

• Making excessive self-references

• Catastrophizing

• Engaging in dichotomous thinking 


Types of Cognitive Distortions

Diversity of "cognitive style" refers to the psychological dimensions of each individual in the group for information acquisition and processing are different from one another. 

Cognitive Style Diversity

References for Types of Cognitive Distortions 

Explanatory style refers to an individual's habitual way of explaining the bad events that happen to them. People with a more pessimistic explanatory style tend to blame themselves and expect long-term negative consequences that affect many aspects of their lives. In contrast, those with a more optimistic explanatory style tend to blame outside forces and expect limited negative consequences.

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