Social Compliance as a Function of Field Dependence

1969 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 299-306 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diana Solar ◽  
Gerald Davenport ◽  
Dieter Bruehl

To test Witkin's hypothesis that field-dependent individuals are socially compliant, 10 field-dependent and 10 field-independent Ss were selected on the basis of their performance on the Thurstone Embedded-figures Test and the Rod-and-frame Test (RFT). Each field-dependent S was then paired with a field-independent S and asked to cooperate in setting the rod to true vertical in the RFT. The obtained mean displacement from true vertical of the pair working together was in every case in the direction of greater field independence than the mean of the scores for the two individuals working alone ( p < .001, sign test). However, a posttest indicated that the RFT conformity of field-dependent Ss was confined to the paired situation. The Barron Independence of Judgment Scale significantly differentiated between field-dependent and field-independent Ss. The findings support Witkin's hypothesis that field-dependent Ss are socially compliant.

1977 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 119-124 ◽  
Author(s):  
Curt Hoffman ◽  
Spencer Kagan

29 male and 28 female undergraduates were administered two measures of Witkin's field-dependence dimension—the Portable Rod-and-frame Test and the Group Embedded-figures Test—and a test of facial recognition. Field-independent males were significantly more accurate in the recognition of photographed human faces than field-dependent males. Field-independent females were also more accurate than field-dependent females, although the relation was nonsignificant. While it has often been claimed that field-dependent individuals remember faces better, the results of the present study, as well as others which have examined this relationship, support the opposite conclusion.


1984 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margery S. Brown

In an investigation of psychological differentiation, Witkin's personality dimension, 12 field-dependent and 12 field-independent students were selected from a population of college men in summerschool based on their Embedded Figures Test scores. They were assigned to conditions, given egocentric or gravitational instructions, and provided clarified or obscuring feedback about their performance on the Rod and Frame Test. Although instructions had no effect, students with clarified feedback performed better than those whose feedback was confusing. Field-independent men had less difficulty with the confusing feedback than did field-dependent men.


1979 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 489-490 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominick Pellegreno ◽  
Fred Stickle

56 high school students were administered the Group Embedded Figures Test and the Pictures of Facial Affect. A low Pearson product-moment correlation of .02 was obtained between the measures. Data indicated that field-dependent and field-independent individuals were not significantly different in their skills of labeling pictures of facial affect.


1995 ◽  
Vol 81 (2) ◽  
pp. 611-620 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank Brady

This study was designed to examine the relationship of sport classification and gender to perceptual style. 102 male and female undergraduate students from open-skilled, closed-skilled and nonathletic groups were administered the Rod and Frame Test and the Embedded Figures Test. Analysis of variance indicated men to be more field independent than women on the Rod and Frame Test, while there were no gender differences on the Embedded Figures Test. Athletes performing open and closed skills scored significantly more field independent on the Rod and Frame Test than the nonathletes. There were no significant differences among the groups on the Embedded Figures Test. No correlation between the two measures of perceptual style was obtained.


1976 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 563-566 ◽  
Author(s):  
Willem Claeys ◽  
Paul Deboeck ◽  
Nicole Viaene

Contrary to Witkin's opinion, field-dependent individuals are expected to show higher stability of self-view than field-independent individuals. 73 Belgian second-year university students were submitted to the Group Embedded Figures Test. The Five Personality Factor Test measuring extraversion, friendliness, emotional instability, conscientiousness and general culture, was administered to each student for self-description (self-report) and to both parents for description of the student (mother's report and father's report). The decrease of correlation between self-report and parent's report as a function of the degree of student's field-independence supports the authors' hypothesis. Results are interpreted in terms of closer attention of field-independent individuals to relevant cues.


1975 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Walter M. Pawelkiewicz ◽  
Walter G. Mc Intire

The field independence-dependence and self-esteem of 200 preadolescent boys and girls were studied using the Portable Rod-and-frame Test and the Coopersmith Self-esteem Inventory. Analysis of variance indicated that field-independent children had significantly higher self-esteem than middle-range and field-dependent individuals. A small significant correlation between field independence and high self-esteem obtained (–.24) but only for boys.


1968 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 1007-1013 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Arthur Sugerman ◽  
Robert Cancro

Relationships are examined between field-independence as measured by Series III of the rod-and-frame test in 51 recently hospitalized schizophrenics and outcome 6 mo. later in terms of presence in or out of hospital. An earlier attempt to find a linear relationship between field independence and outcome had proved unsuccessful; however, on the basis of more recent findings, a U-shaped relationship, predicting a poor outcome for extremely field-dependent and extremely field-independent Ss, was predicted and found. Optimal cutting-points assign 39 patients correctly; the most successful predictor in the earlier study, Phillips' scale of premorbid adjustment, had assigned 36 patients correctly. Combining these two measures and predicting a poor outcome for only those patients with extreme field-articulation and poor premorbid adjustment 42 of the 51 patients are assigned correctly. The post hoc nature of findings and the necessity for confirmation are stressed.


1995 ◽  
Vol 80 (2) ◽  
pp. 515-521 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tina Y. Mills

This study examined the performance of 49 accountants on the Group Embedded Figures Test and the Figural Intersections Test and used the two sets of scores to measure not only the accountants' field dependence-independence but also whether they may be mobile or fixed. This combination of test scores led to dividing accountants into one of four cognitive subtypes (field-independent scorers, both fixed and mobile, and field-dependent scorers, both fixed and mobile). The implications of mobility-fixity for accountants are discussed.


1986 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 279-293 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Birger Hansson ◽  
Olof O. Rydén ◽  
Per Johnsson

Previous authors have pointed out that, while the classic Rod-and-Frame Test (RFT) yields a measure of ability to perform field-independently, it is unsuitable for identifying stylistic preference, such as mobility-fixity within the field-dependence/independence dimension. To relate mobility-fixity and ability aspects of field-dependence/independence, we compared data obtained from two versions of the test: one with a “free” instruction, on which the subjects were invited to adjust the rod to any position(s) they preferred on each of 10 trials and a process-oriented version (RFT-P), involving 20 trials with the standard instruction but with a constant rod-and-frame configuration, making possible analysis of the process of adaptation. Mobility versus fixity was defined in terms of more or less frequent changes of rod positions and choice of a high or a low proportion of nongeometrical positions in the RFT-Free. 38 female and 23 male university students completed first the RFT-Free and thereafter the RFT-Process. Women were more field-dependent than men throughout the RFT-Process trials; there were no differences between the sexes over trials or in choice of positions in the RFT-Free. Compared with field-dependent subjects, field-independent subjects mote often changed rod positions in the RFT-Free and preferred nongeometrical positions somewhat more. Among field-independent subjects, those with consistently low deviations in RFT-Process more often preferred a variety of nongeometrical positions in RFT-Free than did those with gradually increasing deviations. We conclude that field-independence is associated with mobility and field-dependence with fixity, as defined by the RFT-Free variables, and that a prerequisite for high mobility is a relative stability of field-independence as reflected on the RFT-Process. Theoretical implications of this conclusion are discussed.


1972 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 983-986 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pauline C. Grippin ◽  
Fred W. Ohnmacht

23 Ss were administered the Dogmatism Scale (D), an Embedded-figures Test (EFT), and a modification of the Heidbreder conceptual learning task. A multiple regression analysis tested the influence of field independence, dogmatism, and their interaction with the first trial on which S identified every instance of a general concept serving as the criterion. It was predicted that: (1) object concepts would be easier than design concepts and these would be easier than number concepts; (2) field-independent Ss would experience less difficulty with the design and number concepts; (3) field-independent Ss who were also open-minded would require fewer trials for all concepts, whereas field-dependent closed-minded Ss would experience the greatest difficulty with all concepts. Hypotheses were supported differentially for object, design, and number concepts.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document