Do Confusing Information and Egocentric Instructions Influence Perception?

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.

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.


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.


1983 ◽  
Vol 56 (3) ◽  
pp. 859-863 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dayo Adejumo

The effect of cognitive style on the performance of four groups who used different strategies of study to comprehend prose was investigated. Performance on Group Embedded Figures Test was used to classify subjects into groups by cognitive style. 201 field-dependent and 125 field-independent subjects enrolled in an introductory course in psychology were subjects. Field-independent subjects performed significantly better overall. In particular, field-independent subjects in the control group and the groups given factual and inferential questions as study aids performed better than the field-dependent subjects on the inferential items at posttest. On the factual items at posttest, field-independent subjects performed significantly better only in the group who were given inferential questions as an adjunct. The cognitive styles of the subjects interacted with the strategies of study and seem to affect performance on comprehension of prose at posttest.


1969 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-103E ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Cancro ◽  
Harold M. Voth

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.


1984 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 543-549 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin F. Davies

Certain similarities are noted between the constructs of self-consciousness and field dependence-independence suggesting that private self-consciousness is associated with field-independent modes of self-functioning while public self-consciousness is associated with field-dependent modes of functioning. These propositions were tested by correlating scores on the Self-consciousness Questionnaire with scores on the Embedded Figures and Rod and Frame Tests. For both male and female college students, more privately self-conscious individuals were significantly more field independent on both embedded-figures and rod-and-frame measures. Public self-consciousness, however, was not significantly associated with either measure of field dependence-independence. Discussion considered those aspects of psychological differentiation which have not been part of the self-consciousness construct or for which no relevant research exists. Suggestions were made for investigating possible links between self-consciousness/self-awareness and self-relevant features of field dependent-independent functioning.


1978 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 531-537 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael D. Walsh

154 first-year university students were administered marker tests for Guilford's Factors of Convergent Production of Figural Transformations, Cognition of Semantic Units, and Cognition of Figural Systems as well as Witkin's Embedded Figures Test and the Portable Rod and Frame Test. Scores in the test battery were factor analyzed to determine the equivalence of different measures of psychological differentiation. Results of the analysis indicated that the Embedded Figures scores correlated (—.52) with Convergent Production of Figural Transformations, whereas the Portable Rod and Frame scores did not load on any of the factors extracted.


1973 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Hritzuk ◽  
Lorne Taylor

Students were classed as field dependent or field independent using Witkin's Rod and Frame and the Embedded Figures Test. In addition, each of the 269 grade 8 subjects performed Uznadze's set tasks. The number of trials required for excitation and extinction in the haptic and visual modality were noted. The field-dependent-independent groups, based on each test, were compared with their ability to excite and extinguish a set. A chi-square was used to test statistical significance. It was found that the field dependent and field independent groups differed in their ability to extinguish a set but not to excite a set. The differences were interpreted as supporting Witkin's hypothesis involving Einstellung.


1987 ◽  
Vol 64 (3) ◽  
pp. 907-914 ◽  
Author(s):  
Malcolm L. Van Blerkom

This study was designed to examine the relationship between lateralization and field dependence-independence. Through prior screening, 48 right-handed college students (24 men and 24 women) were identified as either field dependent or field independent on the Embedded Figures Test. Using a unilateral haptic task, field-independent men were more lateralized than field-dependent men. No such differences were found for women. These results are discussed in relation to Witkin's theory of psychological differentiation. Possible differences between men and women are also discussed.


1993 ◽  
Vol 76 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 1259-1263 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan Antonio Amador-Campos ◽  
Teresa Kirchner-Nebot

The Children's Embedded Figures Test and the Rod and Frame Test were administered to 179 boys and 110 girls of an average age of 9.03 years to measure field dependence-independence. No significant gender-related differences were found on either test. Scores on these tests were moderately and significantly correlated.


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