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Biomedical subjects

Li-Fang Zhang

Publications and source records attributed to Li-Fang Zhang.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

Thinking styles and academic achievement among Filipino students.

The authors' objective in this study was to determine whether the precepts of R. J. Sternberg's (1988, 1997) theory of mental self-government apply to a non-Western culture. They administered R. J. Sternberg and R. K. Wagner's (1992) Thinking Styles Inventory, which is based on the theory of mental self-government, to 429 Filipino university students. The results of item analysis, scale intercorrelations, and factor analysis were consistent with the general provisions of the theory. Correlational analysis between thinking styles and grade point average showed that thinking styles are related to acade micachievement. The results are explained with respect to the concepts and practices of Philippine culture and schools and discussed in relation to the developmental assumptions of the theory of mental self-government.

Adolescent↗

Thinking styles and cognitive development.

Using R. J. Sternberg's (1988, 1997) theory of thinking styles and W. G. Perry's (1970) theory of cognitive development, the author investigated the nature of thinking styles as they relate to cognitive development. Eighty-two Hong Kong university students (44 male, 38 female) responded to the Thinking Styles Inventory (R. J. Sternberg & R. K. Wagner, 1992) and the Zhang Cognitive Development Inventory (L. F. Zhang, 1997). Statistical analyses provided varying degrees of support for the prediction of an overlap between the thinking style and cognitive development constructs. In general, students who reasoned at a higher cognitive developmental level tended to use a wider range of thinking styles than students who reasoned at a lower cognitive developmental level. Implications of results are discussed in relation to education and research.

Adolescent↗

Thinking styles and modes of thinking: implications for education and research.

The author investigated the relationship of thinking styles to modes of thinking. Participants were 371 freshmen (aged 18 and 19) from the University of Hong Kong. Participants responded to the Thinking Styles Inventory (R. J. Sternnberg & R. K. Wagner, 1992) and the Style of Learning and Thinking (Youth Form; E. P. Torrance, B. McCarthy, & M. T. Kolesinski, 1988). A major finding was that creativity generating and complex thinking styles were significantly positively correlated with the holistic mode of thinking but significantly negatively correlated with the analytic mode of thinking. Thinking styles that denote the tendency to norm favoring and simplistic information processing were significantly positively correlated with the analytic mode of thinking and significantly negatively correlated with the holistic mode of thinking. In a preliminary conclusion, it appears that the thinking style construct overlaps the mode of thinking construct. Implications of this finding for teachers and researchers are delineated.

Adolescent↗

Comparison of K-ras gene mutations in tumour and sputum DNA of patients with lung cancer.

Mutations in the K-ras gene are frequently found in lung tumours and are implicated in the development of lung cancer. In order to investigate the clinical usefulness of these mutations in lung cancer, we applied a sensitive method to compare mutations in codon 12 of the K-ras gene in DNA extracted from lung tumours and the matched sputum samples obtained from 22 lung cancer patients. K-ras mutations were identified in the lung tumours of 12 patients (54.5%) and in the sputum samples of 10 patients (45.5%). Nine patients showed an identical mutation in both the tumour and the matched sputum samples. There was a significant association between the presence of a K-ras mutation in a lung tumour and the detection of an identical mutation in the matched sputum sample of the lung cancer patient (kappa = 0.64, 95% confidence interval 0.32-0.95, p <0.01). K-ras mutations were detected in sputum samples from cancer patients with all lung tumour grades, and both in the presence and the absence of lymph node metastasis. Therefore, K-ras mutations may provide useful diagnostic markers for lung cancer.

Adenocarcinoma↗