Cognitive and learning styles in medical education

In this paper, the author describes the three types of styles (affective, l earning, and cognitive) that play roles in education and outlines the histo ry of cognitive- and learning-style research. She then explores the range o f ways learning styles can be applied in medical education, including ways to use information about students' learning styles to help them cope with t he challenge of content mastery and professional socialization; to offer as sistance to students coping poorly with the demands of medical education, a nd to shape efforts to recruit students from underrepresented racial and cu ltural groups.