The ICA model
Four dimensions of preference, grouped into three faculties: Thinking, Feeling and Willing. Each person's results show the order of their own preferences.
Four dimensions
| Dimension | Code | Faculty | Focus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Integrative Synthesis | IS | Thinking (integrative mode) | Patterns and wholes |
| Systematic Analysis | SA | Thinking (analytical mode) | Parts and structures |
| Social Attunement | SO | Feeling | Other people's states and connection |
| Environmental Engagement | EE | Willing | Direct action in the physical world |
Integrative Synthesis
Perceiving patterns across time and integrating many streams into one understanding.
Systematic Analysis
Breaking complexity into parts and building frameworks you can defend step by step.
Environmental Engagement
Acting on sensory information directly and responding in real time.
Three faculties
Thinking holds two dimensions, one integrative and one analytical. Feeling is Social Attunement, and Willing is Environmental Engagement. The three-part division echoes a long line of models of mind, from Plato's three-part soul to the psychologist Ernest Hilgard's "trilogy of mind": cognition, affection and conation (Kihlstrom). These parallels shaped the model; they are inspiration, not evidence.
How scores work
Each of the 40 items offers four responses, one for each dimension. Your choices produce four scores that add up to 40. Because the total is fixed, a high score on one dimension means lower scores on others: the scores show the order of your own preferences, not how you compare with other people. Your profile is that order, so there are 24 profiles. The glossary defines ipsative scoring, and ICA scoring shows the method.
Where the ICA sits in research
The ICA is a measure of cognitive and behavioral style. Cognitive style research shows which parts of the model are well-trodden ground and which are new.
Questions
Is a high score better?
No. Scores show the order of a person's own preferences. No dimension or profile is better than another.
Why only four dimensions?
The model is deliberately compact. Whether four dimensions are the right number is one of the questions the research is testing.
Sources
Keep reading
Start with the free ICA.
The ICA model: four dimensions of behavioral preference in three faculties, Thinking, Feeling and Willing, with 24 profiles. What each part means.