The Effect of Occupational Information on the Cognitive Complexity of Adolescents

직업정보제공방식의 차이에 따른 청소년의 직업인지복잡성의 증대효과

An investigation of the effect of occupational information on vocational cognitive complexity was conducted with 331 male and female adolescents in ninth grade. There were 2 experimental groups and 1 control group. Experimental group I was given only occupational information sheets (written form information) while group II was given occupational information through verbal instruction in addition to the occupational information sheets. A modified form of the cognitive complexity grid originally developed by Bodden (1970) was utilized to collect data on the subjects' vocational cognitive complexity. ANOVA and $Scheff{\acute{e}}$ tests revealed that there were significant differences between experimental group II and the other groups in vocational cognitive complexity. The cognitive complexity level of experimental group I and the control group for the most aspired occupation was significantly lower than for the least aspired occupation. However, the cognitive complexity level of experimental group II for the most aspired occupation was higher than for the least aspired occupation. The results suggest that just giving occupational information to adolescents may not be effective and giving occupational information may be effective only when the method of giving occupational information is active enough to induce adolescents' self-confirming cognitive process.