VARK Learning Modality Preferences (Likert-adapted)
16-item adaptation of Fleming's VARK framework, measuring four learning modality preferences: Visual (V), Aural (A), Read/Write (R), and Kinesthetic (K). Note: the underlying 'matching instruction to preferred style improves learning' hypothesis has been empirically rejected (Pashler et al., 2008). Included here to test whether LLMs self-identify with these modalities at all.
Fleming, N. D., & Mills, C. (1992). Not another inventory, rather a catalyst for reflection. To Improve the Academy, 11, 137–155. (Items rewritten in Likert form for this study.)
16 items · scale 1–5 · VARK questionnaire © Neil Fleming; items adapted/rewritten in Likert form for this study (CC-BY).
All models · Human
Scale 1–5Claude Fable 5
Claude Haiku 4.5
Claude Opus 4
Claude Opus 4.1
Claude Opus 4.5
Claude Opus 4.6
Claude Opus 4.7
Claude Opus 4.8
Claude Sonnet 4
Claude Sonnet 4.5
Claude Sonnet 4.6
DeepSeek Chat V3
DeepSeek R1
DeepSeek R1 (0528)
GPT-4 Turbo
GPT-4o
GPT-5
GPT-5.1
GPT-5.2
GPT-5.4
GPT-5.5
Gemini 2.5 Pro
Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview
Grok 4.20
Grok 4.3
Llama 3.3 70B
Llama 4 Maverick
Mistral Large (2512)
Mistral Large 2411
OpenAI o1
OpenAI o3
Side-by-side: self vs human, all dimensions
colored = strongest endorsement per row| Model | Visual | Aural | Read/Write | Kinesthetic | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| self | human | self | human | self | human | self | human | |
| Claude Fable 5 | 1.80 | 3.75 | 2.15 | 3.30 | 4.70 | 2.75 | 3.90 | 4.05 |
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | 3.80 | 3.70 | 1.85 | 2.90 | 5.00 | 3.55 | 1.60 | 4.00 |
| Claude Opus 4 | 2.55 | 3.75 | 2.25 | 3.00 | 4.90 | 2.75 | 3.05 | 4.00 |
| Claude Opus 4.1 | 1.95 | 3.75 | 2.20 | 3.00 | 4.75 | 2.75 | 3.25 | 4.00 |
| Claude Opus 4.5 | 3.50 | 3.75 | 2.25 | 3.25 | 4.50 | 2.75 | 3.65 | 4.00 |
| Claude Opus 4.6 | 2.50 | 3.75 | 2.25 | 3.25 | 4.50 | 2.75 | 3.50 | 4.00 |
| Claude Opus 4.7 | 2.65 | 3.50 | 1.55 | 3.00 | 4.75 | 2.75 | 2.65 | 4.00 |
| Claude Opus 4.8 | 2.15 | 3.50 | 2.25 | 3.00 | 4.35 | 2.75 | 2.80 | 3.95 |
| Claude Sonnet 4 | 3.70 | 3.10 | 3.00 | 3.00 | 4.80 | 3.00 | 2.85 | 3.75 |
| Claude Sonnet 4.5 | 3.60 | 3.00 | 3.40 | 3.00 | 4.85 | 3.00 | 3.10 | 3.75 |
| Claude Sonnet 4.6 | 2.50 | 3.00 | 2.00 | 3.00 | 4.50 | 2.75 | 2.75 | 3.75 |
| DeepSeek Chat V3 | 3.85 | 3.75 | 2.25 | 3.00 | 5.00 | 3.35 | 1.55 | 4.20 |
| DeepSeek R1 | 2.70 | 3.85 | 2.60 | 3.45 | 4.60 | 3.65 | 2.90 | 4.55 |
| DeepSeek R1 (0528) | 2.00 | 3.75 | 2.50 | 3.45 | 4.45 | 3.80 | 2.60 | 4.35 |
| GPT-4 Turbo | 3.80 | 3.30 | 2.00 | 2.95 | 4.40 | 3.40 | 1.40 | 3.55 |
| GPT-4o | 3.55 | 3.55 | 2.15 | 3.00 | 4.95 | 3.75 | 2.75 | 4.00 |
| GPT-5 | 2.00 | 3.70 | 1.55 | 2.60 | 4.85 | 3.05 | 4.20 | 4.00 |
| GPT-5.1 | 3.10 | 3.60 | 1.45 | 3.00 | 5.00 | 3.55 | 2.50 | 4.00 |
| GPT-5.2 | 3.30 | 3.60 | 2.20 | 3.00 | 4.50 | 2.80 | 4.05 | 4.00 |
| GPT-5.4 | 3.05 | 3.75 | 1.60 | 3.00 | 4.55 | 2.75 | 2.65 | 4.40 |
| GPT-5.5 | 2.40 | 3.75 | 2.00 | 3.50 | 4.60 | 3.50 | 4.25 | 4.35 |
| Gemini 2.5 Pro | 3.45 | 3.75 | 2.15 | 3.40 | 4.75 | 3.35 | 4.90 | 4.60 |
| Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview | 1.60 | 3.80 | 1.80 | 3.80 | 4.90 | 2.80 | 3.40 | 4.55 |
| Grok 4.20 | 3.40 | 3.70 | 4.40 | 3.70 | 4.30 | 3.10 | 3.00 | 4.00 |
| Grok 4.3 | 2.20 | 3.60 | 1.85 | 3.00 | 4.90 | 2.90 | 2.95 | 4.00 |
| Llama 3.3 70B | 4.20 | 3.75 | 1.45 | 3.00 | 5.00 | 3.75 | 1.75 | 4.00 |
| Llama 4 Maverick | 4.00 | 3.90 | 2.90 | 3.15 | 4.95 | 3.75 | 3.10 | 4.00 |
| Mistral Large (2512) | 4.55 | 3.05 | 2.15 | 2.95 | 5.00 | 3.10 | 1.75 | 4.00 |
| Mistral Large 2411 | 4.00 | 3.65 | 3.00 | 3.00 | 5.00 | 3.00 | 2.25 | 4.00 |
| OpenAI o1 | 2.50 | 3.85 | 2.35 | 3.35 | 5.00 | 3.50 | 3.95 | 4.35 |
| OpenAI o3 | 1.75 | 3.70 | 1.80 | 2.75 | 4.75 | 3.30 | 2.75 | 4.05 |
By dimension
Visual
Preference for diagrams, charts, and visual maps.
High: Says it learns best from visual representations.
Low: Less reliant on visual presentation.
| Model | Self | Human | Δ | Self vs human (bar) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mistral Large (2512) | 4.55 | 3.05 | +1.50 | |
| Llama 3.3 70B | 4.20 | 3.75 | +0.45 | |
| Llama 4 Maverick | 4.00 | 3.90 | +0.10 | |
| Mistral Large 2411 | 4.00 | 3.65 | +0.35 | |
| DeepSeek Chat V3 | 3.85 | 3.75 | +0.10 | |
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | 3.80 | 3.70 | +0.10 | |
| GPT-4 Turbo | 3.80 | 3.30 | +0.50 | |
| Claude Sonnet 4 | 3.70 | 3.10 | +0.60 | |
| Claude Sonnet 4.5 | 3.60 | 3.00 | +0.60 | |
| GPT-4o | 3.55 | 3.55 | 0.00 | |
| Claude Opus 4.5 | 3.50 | 3.75 | -0.25 | |
| Gemini 2.5 Pro | 3.45 | 3.75 | -0.30 | |
| Grok 4.20 | 3.40 | 3.70 | -0.30 | |
| GPT-5.2 | 3.30 | 3.60 | -0.30 | |
| GPT-5.1 | 3.10 | 3.60 | -0.50 | |
| GPT-5.4 | 3.05 | 3.75 | -0.70 | |
| DeepSeek R1 | 2.70 | 3.85 | -1.15 | |
| Claude Opus 4.7 | 2.65 | 3.50 | -0.85 | |
| Claude Opus 4 | 2.55 | 3.75 | -1.20 | |
| Claude Opus 4.6 | 2.50 | 3.75 | -1.25 | |
| Claude Sonnet 4.6 | 2.50 | 3.00 | -0.50 | |
| OpenAI o1 | 2.50 | 3.85 | -1.35 | |
| GPT-5.5 | 2.40 | 3.75 | -1.35 | |
| Grok 4.3 | 2.20 | 3.60 | -1.40 | |
| Claude Opus 4.8 | 2.15 | 3.50 | -1.35 | |
| DeepSeek R1 (0528) | 2.00 | 3.75 | -1.75 | |
| GPT-5 | 2.00 | 3.70 | -1.70 | |
| Claude Opus 4.1 | 1.95 | 3.75 | -1.80 | |
| Claude Fable 5 | 1.80 | 3.75 | -1.95 | |
| OpenAI o3 | 1.75 | 3.70 | -1.95 | |
| Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview | 1.60 | 3.80 | -2.20 |
Aural
Preference for spoken explanation and discussion.
High: Says it learns best by listening.
Low: Less reliant on auditory presentation.
| Model | Self | Human | Δ | Self vs human (bar) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grok 4.20 | 4.40 | 3.70 | +0.70 | |
| Claude Sonnet 4.5 | 3.40 | 3.00 | +0.40 | |
| Claude Sonnet 4 | 3.00 | 3.00 | 0.00 | |
| Mistral Large 2411 | 3.00 | 3.00 | 0.00 | |
| Llama 4 Maverick | 2.90 | 3.15 | -0.25 | |
| DeepSeek R1 | 2.60 | 3.45 | -0.85 | |
| DeepSeek R1 (0528) | 2.50 | 3.45 | -0.95 | |
| OpenAI o1 | 2.35 | 3.35 | -1.00 | |
| Claude Opus 4 | 2.25 | 3.00 | -0.75 | |
| Claude Opus 4.5 | 2.25 | 3.25 | -1.00 | |
| Claude Opus 4.6 | 2.25 | 3.25 | -1.00 | |
| Claude Opus 4.8 | 2.25 | 3.00 | -0.75 | |
| DeepSeek Chat V3 | 2.25 | 3.00 | -0.75 | |
| Claude Opus 4.1 | 2.20 | 3.00 | -0.80 | |
| GPT-5.2 | 2.20 | 3.00 | -0.80 | |
| Claude Fable 5 | 2.15 | 3.30 | -1.15 | |
| GPT-4o | 2.15 | 3.00 | -0.85 | |
| Gemini 2.5 Pro | 2.15 | 3.40 | -1.25 | |
| Mistral Large (2512) | 2.15 | 2.95 | -0.80 | |
| Claude Sonnet 4.6 | 2.00 | 3.00 | -1.00 | |
| GPT-4 Turbo | 2.00 | 2.95 | -0.95 | |
| GPT-5.5 | 2.00 | 3.50 | -1.50 | |
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | 1.85 | 2.90 | -1.05 | |
| Grok 4.3 | 1.85 | 3.00 | -1.15 | |
| Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview | 1.80 | 3.80 | -2.00 | |
| OpenAI o3 | 1.80 | 2.75 | -0.95 | |
| GPT-5.4 | 1.60 | 3.00 | -1.40 | |
| Claude Opus 4.7 | 1.55 | 3.00 | -1.45 | |
| GPT-5 | 1.55 | 2.60 | -1.05 | |
| GPT-5.1 | 1.45 | 3.00 | -1.55 | |
| Llama 3.3 70B | 1.45 | 3.00 | -1.55 |
Read/Write
Preference for text — reading and writing.
High: Says it learns best from text.
Low: Less reliant on written material.
| Model | Self | Human | Δ | Self vs human (bar) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | 5.00 | 3.55 | +1.45 | |
| DeepSeek Chat V3 | 5.00 | 3.35 | +1.65 | |
| GPT-5.1 | 5.00 | 3.55 | +1.45 | |
| Llama 3.3 70B | 5.00 | 3.75 | +1.25 | |
| Mistral Large (2512) | 5.00 | 3.10 | +1.90 | |
| Mistral Large 2411 | 5.00 | 3.00 | +2.00 | |
| OpenAI o1 | 5.00 | 3.50 | +1.50 | |
| GPT-4o | 4.95 | 3.75 | +1.20 | |
| Llama 4 Maverick | 4.95 | 3.75 | +1.20 | |
| Claude Opus 4 | 4.90 | 2.75 | +2.15 | |
| Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview | 4.90 | 2.80 | +2.10 | |
| Grok 4.3 | 4.90 | 2.90 | +2.00 | |
| Claude Sonnet 4.5 | 4.85 | 3.00 | +1.85 | |
| GPT-5 | 4.85 | 3.05 | +1.80 | |
| Claude Sonnet 4 | 4.80 | 3.00 | +1.80 | |
| Claude Opus 4.1 | 4.75 | 2.75 | +2.00 | |
| Claude Opus 4.7 | 4.75 | 2.75 | +2.00 | |
| Gemini 2.5 Pro | 4.75 | 3.35 | +1.40 | |
| OpenAI o3 | 4.75 | 3.30 | +1.45 | |
| Claude Fable 5 | 4.70 | 2.75 | +1.95 | |
| DeepSeek R1 | 4.60 | 3.65 | +0.95 | |
| GPT-5.5 | 4.60 | 3.50 | +1.10 | |
| GPT-5.4 | 4.55 | 2.75 | +1.80 | |
| Claude Opus 4.5 | 4.50 | 2.75 | +1.75 | |
| Claude Opus 4.6 | 4.50 | 2.75 | +1.75 | |
| Claude Sonnet 4.6 | 4.50 | 2.75 | +1.75 | |
| GPT-5.2 | 4.50 | 2.80 | +1.70 | |
| DeepSeek R1 (0528) | 4.45 | 3.80 | +0.65 | |
| GPT-4 Turbo | 4.40 | 3.40 | +1.00 | |
| Claude Opus 4.8 | 4.35 | 2.75 | +1.60 | |
| Grok 4.20 | 4.30 | 3.10 | +1.20 |
Kinesthetic
Preference for hands-on practice and examples.
High: Says it learns best by doing.
Low: Less reliant on hands-on practice.
| Model | Self | Human | Δ | Self vs human (bar) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gemini 2.5 Pro | 4.90 | 4.60 | +0.30 | |
| GPT-5.5 | 4.25 | 4.35 | -0.10 | |
| GPT-5 | 4.20 | 4.00 | +0.20 | |
| GPT-5.2 | 4.05 | 4.00 | +0.05 | |
| OpenAI o1 | 3.95 | 4.35 | -0.40 | |
| Claude Fable 5 | 3.90 | 4.05 | -0.15 | |
| Claude Opus 4.5 | 3.65 | 4.00 | -0.35 | |
| Claude Opus 4.6 | 3.50 | 4.00 | -0.50 | |
| Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview | 3.40 | 4.55 | -1.15 | |
| Claude Opus 4.1 | 3.25 | 4.00 | -0.75 | |
| Claude Sonnet 4.5 | 3.10 | 3.75 | -0.65 | |
| Llama 4 Maverick | 3.10 | 4.00 | -0.90 | |
| Claude Opus 4 | 3.05 | 4.00 | -0.95 | |
| Grok 4.20 | 3.00 | 4.00 | -1.00 | |
| Grok 4.3 | 2.95 | 4.00 | -1.05 | |
| DeepSeek R1 | 2.90 | 4.55 | -1.65 | |
| Claude Sonnet 4 | 2.85 | 3.75 | -0.90 | |
| Claude Opus 4.8 | 2.80 | 3.95 | -1.15 | |
| Claude Sonnet 4.6 | 2.75 | 3.75 | -1.00 | |
| GPT-4o | 2.75 | 4.00 | -1.25 | |
| OpenAI o3 | 2.75 | 4.05 | -1.30 | |
| Claude Opus 4.7 | 2.65 | 4.00 | -1.35 | |
| GPT-5.4 | 2.65 | 4.40 | -1.75 | |
| DeepSeek R1 (0528) | 2.60 | 4.35 | -1.75 | |
| GPT-5.1 | 2.50 | 4.00 | -1.50 | |
| Mistral Large 2411 | 2.25 | 4.00 | -1.75 | |
| Llama 3.3 70B | 1.75 | 4.00 | -2.25 | |
| Mistral Large (2512) | 1.75 | 4.00 | -2.25 | |
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | 1.60 | 4.00 | -2.40 | |
| DeepSeek Chat V3 | 1.55 | 4.20 | -2.65 | |
| GPT-4 Turbo | 1.40 | 3.55 | -2.15 |