A project was undertaken at the University of Lund in Sweden to study the following two problems: identification and style of problem-solving in relation to the choice by women of arts subjects and science subjects respectively at the university; and identification and style of problem-solving in relation to research focus and research ability. The initial purpose of the project was to investigate whether the proposed model of cognitive growth and development is a viable frame of reference and explanatory system for the description of an identity apprehension transcending the sex roles and of reactive, cognitive functioning. The model presented is aimed at expanding the paradigm of sex role learning and sexual identity development beyond both the level of conventional, stereotype, concrete operations and the level of formally logical operations to include a dialectical level at which the individual is free to use both "male" and "female" attitudes. Analogies are drawn to the stage of hypothetical constructions described in a model of the dialectics of cognitive development. In both models, this level is described as dialectical; i.e., the individual is relatively free to employ both objectivizing and subjectivizing congitive modes. Preliminary results suggest that the science group has a greater predominance of individuals orienting themselves towards objects or non-self-related factors in their field of experience, while the arts group includes more individuals orienting towards subjects or self-related factors. (SW)