Field dependence/independence and performance in school: an argument against neutrality of cognitive style

Percept Mot Skills. 1990 Jun;70(3 Pt 2):1079-87. doi: 10.2466/pms.1990.70.3c.1079.

Abstract

To ascertain whether there is any relationship between field dependence/independence and performance in school, the Children's Embedded Figures Test and Embedded Figures Test were applied to 103 10- to 14-yr.-olds (55 boys and 48 girls) in Grades 5 to 8 of primary education and Grade 1 of secondary education in Santiago de Compostela (Spain), and the scores were compared with their school marks in Mathematics, Spanish, Natural Sciences, and Social Sciences, and with their over-all mark. Field-independent children performed better in all subjects, especially boys. This finding appears unsupportive of the supposed neutrality of field dependence/independence and suggests that this dimension of cognitive style should be taken into account in education.

MeSH terms

  • Achievement*
  • Adolescent
  • Child
  • Discrimination Learning
  • Female
  • Field Dependence-Independence*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Pattern Recognition, Visual