Effect of Practice and Training in Spatial Skills on Embedded Figures Scores of Males and Females

The effect of practice and training in spatial skills on scores obtained by male and female students on the Embedded Figures Test was examined. Forms A and B were administered 6 wk. apart to three groups of subjects ( ns = 28, 27, 27) enrolled in drafting, mathematics, and liberal arts courses. During the pretest-posttest period the drafting students received training while the other two groups served as controls. Analysis indicated (1) no initial sex difference in test scores; (2) liberal arts students differed significantly from drafting and mathematics students, but there was no significant difference between the last two groups; (3) all groups improved with practice; (4) women receiving training improved more than women who did not; (5) there was a trend toward women receiving spatial training scoring more poorly than males receiving training on the pretest, but there was no significant difference on the posttest. These results suggest that sex differences in embedded-figures scores found by many previous experimenters may have been associated with differences in prior experience in spatial skills and by a confounding of sex with area of academic study.

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Group Embedded Figures Test: Psychometric Data for a Sample of Accountants Compared with Student Norms

Perceptual and Motor Skills ◽

10.2466/pms.1985.60.3.707 ◽

1985 ◽

Vol 60 (3) ◽

pp. 707-712 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

Karen V. Pincus

Keyword(s):

Liberal Arts ◽

Business Students ◽

Descriptive Statistics ◽

Embedded Figures Test ◽

Field Independent ◽

Three Samples ◽

Psychometric Data ◽

Embedded Figures ◽

Group Embedded Figures Test ◽

Liberal Arts Students

The study examined the performance of 124 practicing accountants on the Group Embedded Figures Test. Descriptive statistics and reliability measures for the sample of accountants were compared to previously published norms for samples of students. The accountants were significantly less field independent than two of the three samples of business students. Sex differences noted previously for liberal arts students were not observed for the accountants.

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Relationships among Gender, Cognitive Style, Academic Major, and Performance on the Piaget Water-Level Task

Perceptual and Motor Skills ◽

10.2466/pms.1995.80.3.771 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 80 (3) ◽

pp. 771-778 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Ruth Ellen Hammer ◽

Nancy Hoffer ◽

William L. King

Keyword(s):

Water Level ◽

Cognitive Style ◽

Liberal Arts ◽

Academic Major ◽

Male And Female ◽

College Age ◽

Embedded Figures Test ◽

Embedded Figures ◽

Liberal Arts Students ◽

And Performance

Many researchers have found that more college-age adults than would be expected fail Piaget's water-level task, with women failing more frequently than men. It has been hypothesized that differences in cognitive style may account for performance differences on the water-level task. In the present study, 27 male and 27 female architectural students and 27 male and 27 female liberal-arts students were assessed for their performance on both Piaget's Water-level Task and Witkin's Group Embedded Figures Test. No difference was found in performance of male and female architectural students on either task, but male liberal-arts students scored significantly higher than female liberal-arts students on both measures. A disembedding cognitive style predicted success on the water-level task for the architectural students but not for the liberal arts students.

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Field Dependence and Target Identification

Human Factors The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society ◽

10.1177/001872086801000506 ◽

1968 ◽

Vol 10 (5) ◽

pp. 493-496 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Carl L. Thornton ◽

Gerald V. Barrett ◽

James A. Davis

Keyword(s):

Individual Differences ◽

Target Identification ◽

Environmental Parameters ◽

Aerial Photographs ◽

Embedded Figures Test ◽

Visual Item ◽

Embedded Figures ◽

Perceptual Style ◽

Design Selection ◽

And Training

Target identification has usually been studied with respect to environmental parameters which affect the performance of the “human operator.” Rather than use this method, which treats individual differences as sources of error, the investigators studied individual differences and related them to Witkin's concept of perceptual style. Witkin and his associates were able to differentiate subjects on their ability to pull a visual item from an embedding context. Two experiments were conducted using the Embedded Figures Test (EFT) as a measure of perceptual style. Significant correlations between perceptual style and the ability to correctly identify targets in aerial photographs were found. Since a great deal of research has been conducted in the area of perceptual style, it is possible to utilize this research in connection with problems associated with target identification. Implications in the areas of experimental design, selection, and training were discussed.

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Field Dependence-Independence as Related to College Curricula

Perceptual and Motor Skills ◽

10.2466/pms.1971.33.3f.1235 ◽

1971 ◽

Vol 33 (3_suppl) ◽

pp. 1235-1237 ◽

Cited By ~ 30

Author(s):

Edith A. DeRussy ◽

Emily Futch

Keyword(s):

College Students ◽

Field Dependence ◽

Liberal Arts ◽

College Age ◽

Embedded Figures Test ◽

Field Dependent ◽

Embedded Figures

32 college students took part in an experiment using Witkin's Embedded-figures Test as a measure of field dependence. It was hypothesized that: (1) students majoring in liberal arts are more field-dependent than those majoring in math, physics, and chemistry; and (2) college-age females are more field-dependent than college-age males. The data supported both hypotheses.

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Field Dependence: Experimenters' Expectancy, Sex Difference or No Difference?

Perceptual and Motor Skills ◽

10.2466/pms.1989.68.2.355 ◽

1989 ◽

Vol 68 (2) ◽

pp. 355-358 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Caroline Munoz Peplin ◽

Janet D. Larsen

Keyword(s):

Field Dependence ◽

Men And Women ◽

Embedded Figures Test ◽

Expectancy Effect ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Embedded Figures ◽

Males And Females ◽

Rod And Frame Test ◽

Rod And Frame ◽

Expected Outcomes

The possibility that sex differences found in previous research on field dependence may have been due partly to experimenters' expectancy was investigated. Three pairs of naive student-experimenters received different information about expected outcomes for males and females on the Rod and Frame Test and the Embedded Figures Test. There was no evidence of an experimenters' expectancy effect, but there was also no significant difference in the performance of men and women on these two tests of field dependence.

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The Solution of Achromatic and Chromatic Embedded Figures Revisited

Perceptual and Motor Skills ◽

10.2466/pms.1980.50.1.25 ◽

1980 ◽

Vol 50 (1) ◽

pp. 25-26 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

David F. Bush ◽

Steven L. Ecker

Keyword(s):

Sex Differences ◽

Previous Investigation ◽

Previous Experiment ◽

Solution Time ◽

Embedded Figures Test ◽

Two Samples ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Embedded Figures

Two samples of 20 males and 20 females each were drawn from two Eastern universities. Each of these two samples was presented with the 12-item Form B of Witkin's Embedded Figures Test, with half of each sex receiving the achromatic and half the chromatic format. As in the previous experiment (Bush & Coward, 1974), neither replication yielded a significant difference in mean solution time attributable to the effects of color. However, unlike the previous investigation, no sex differences were observed.

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Autokinesis and Psychological Differentiation

Perceptual and Motor Skills ◽

10.2466/pms.1969.28.1.99 ◽

1969 ◽

Vol 28 (1) ◽

pp. 99-103E ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Robert Cancro ◽

Harold M. Voth

Keyword(s):

Psychological Differentiation ◽

Men And Women ◽

Normal Volunteers ◽

Embedded Figures Test ◽

Personality Correlates ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Embedded Figures ◽

Rod And Frame Test ◽

Rod And Frame

105 paid, normal volunteers, of whom 77 were women, were administered the rod-and-frame test (RFT), the embedded-figures test (EFT), and the autokinetic test. Despite the similarity in personality correlates associated with these tests, there were no significant correlations—linear or curvilinear—between the measures of psychological differentiation and autokinesis. There were still no significant correlations when the men and women were treated as separate groups. Taking the extreme cases on the autokinetic test and comparing group means on the RFT and EFT still failed to yield a significant difference. The authors infer that these measures are independent, although the design of the study does not permit this inference to be stated as a conclusion.

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Cognitive Styles of School-Age Children Showing Attention Deficit Disorders with Hyperactivity

Psychological Reports ◽

10.2466/pr0.1987.61.1.119 ◽

1987 ◽

Vol 61 (1) ◽

pp. 119-125 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Sue B. Stoner ◽

Michael A. Glynn

Keyword(s):

Attention Deficit ◽

Attention Deficit Disorder ◽

Cognitive Styles ◽

School Age Children ◽

Normal Children ◽

Therapeutic Implications ◽

Embedded Figures Test ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Embedded Figures ◽

Matching Familiar Figures Test

Attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity (ADDH) children (23 boys and 5 girls) and 28 normal children (23 boys and 5 girls) were matched by age. The ADDH group had a mean score of 2.06 on the hyperactivity scale of the Parent Symptom Questionnaire; a mean score of 1.5 is accepted as the lower limit for establishing hyperactivity. Both groups were individually administered The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children—Revised, Children's Embedded Figures Test, and Matching Familiar Figures Test. No significant difference appeared on the Matching Familiar Figures Test, a measure of cognitive styles of reflection-impulsivity with intelligence statistically controlled; however, a significant main effect was found on the Children's Embedded Figures Test which suggests that ADDH children are field-dependent. Some therapeutic implications were discussed.

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Spatial Training and Calculus Ability: Investigating Impacts on Student Performance and Cognitive Style

Journal of Educational Research and Practice ◽

10.5590/jerap.2020.10.1.20 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Lindsay J McCunn ◽

Emily Cilli-Turner

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Style ◽

Student Performance ◽

Learning Style ◽

Gender Gap ◽

Cognitive Learning ◽

Spatial Skills ◽

Stem Fields ◽

Mathematics Ability ◽

And Mathematics ◽

Spatial Training

Undergraduate calculus is a foundational mathematics sequence that previews the sophistication students will need to succeed in higher-level courses. However, students often struggle with concepts in calculus because they are more abstract and visual than those in other foundational mathematics courses. Additionally, women continue to be underrepresented in the STEM fields. This study builds on previous work indicating a malleability in spatial ability by testing whether improvement occurs in students’ spatial and mathematics ability after implementing spatial training in calculus courses. The researchers also measured associations between spatial training and self-reported cognitive style. While spatial training did not significantly improve calculus and spatial skills, the researchers measured impacts on the psychological correlate of cognitive learning style. This is important as non-spatial cognitive preferences can result in students not recognizing the dynamic information encapsulated in graphical images, which is a large component of calculus. These results may have practical implications for teaching calculus at the undergraduate level and may, with further research, help to narrow the gender gap in the STEM fields.

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A Study on Mental Health Status of the Freshman and Graduates of in Five Universities of Shanxi Province of China

European Psychiatry ◽

10.1016/s0924-9338(09)71283-0 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 24 (S1) ◽

pp. 1-1

Author(s):

B. Han ◽

R. Tang ◽

S. Zhao ◽

M. Xu

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Health Status ◽

Liberal Arts ◽

College Graduates ◽

Mental Health Status ◽

Shanxi Province ◽

Medical Graduates ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Technological Universities ◽

Liberal Arts Students

Aims:To study on mental health status of the freshman and graduates in five different universities.Methods:The 1022 freshman and 956 college graduates from five different universities were tested with the Symptom Checklist 90 (SCL-90). They came from one was general university, two technological universities, one is medical university, one is agricultural university.Results:All of the freshman and college graduates’ mental health status is inferior to the contemporaries; there are about 8.5% freshman and 11.4% graduates who have psychological problems. the SCL-90 factor scores of liberal arts students are higher than those of the science in freshman and graduates. There is significant difference between two groups (P< 0.05~P< 0.01). among the five different universities, freshman is same, but in graduates of five different universities, medical graduates have a better mental health status than other college's students do.Conclusion:It is necessary that positive educating mental health status to college students’ and trained always-cheerful character and stable mood so level of mental health status of college freshman and graduates will be improved.

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