Three obstacles to validating the Verbal-Imager Subtest of the Cognitive Styles Analysis

Although the Verbal-Imager Subtest of the Cognitive Styles Analysis (CSA) has been widely used in research on verbal-visual cognitive style (Riding, 1998), the validity of the test has not been established. This review summarizes evidence that the test lacks three types of validity: (1) face validity, in that its surface features do not appear to be related to an underlying theory, (2) construct validity, in that it fails to correlate with other known measures of verbal-visual cognitive style, and (3) predictive validity, in that it fails to predict the behavior of learners. Until the validity of the Verbal-Imager Subtest of the CSA can be established, its value in cognitive style research can be called into question.