Checkland's Soft Systems Methodology for defining and solving problems in organizations is presented on the basis of an application of the methodology. In many ways this approach represents an improvement in relation to more traditional approaches to computer-based information systems. Based on an experiment we explore the possibilities of combining the practical usefulness of soft systems thin...

Using tools like argument diagrams and profiles of dialogue, this paper studies a number of examples of everyday conversational argumentation where determination of relevance and irrelevance can be assisted by means of adopting a new dialectical approach. According to the new dialectical theory, dialogue types are normative frameworks with specific goals and rules that can be applied to convers...

People use dialectical thinking to be holistic, reconcile contradictions, and emphasize changes when processing information and managing problems. Using a questionnaire survey, this study examined the relationship between dialectical thinking and creative personality in the Chinese culture, which encourages a holistic and collective thinking style. Undergraduates majoring in different subjects ...

This research examined the association between naive dialectical thinking and creativity, measured as originality in problem construction and reframing (types of problem finding). Ethnic identity (Caucasian vs. Asian=Asian American) was examined as a moderator. Two correlational studies and one experimental study revealed a complex pattern of results: For problems with low inherent contradictio...

Defeasible argumentation is one of the approaches that addresses the challenges arising when we reason defeasibly, with several formalisms in the literature reaching a mature state. Considering that most of these theories eventually shifted their semantics towards dialectical characterizations, we believe that a sufficiently generic model of the process of reasoning in dialectical terms could a...

Previous research suggests that members of East Asian cultures show a greater preference for dialectical thinking and sensitivity to context information than do Westerners. We suggest this difference is rooted in a greater chronic Fear of Isolation (FOI) in East Asians than in Westerners. To support this hypothesis, we manipulated FOI in a group of Westerners and assessed their relative prefere...