Abstract
As part of a larger research project1 ( 1 ), 15 1 male and 261 female college freshmen and sophomores were screened with the Group Embedded Figures Test which is a measure of cognitive style based on relative field dependence ( 3). Those scoring field-dependent (lower quartile) and field-independent (upper quattile) on the test were eligible to be in the treatment sample. Scores in the lower quartile ranged from 0 to 7 (M = 4.05), scores in the upper quartile from 14 to 18 (M = 15.33). Testing covered three days which led to attrition of the eligible sample. Fifteen eligible subjects were omitted when treatment groups were equalized by number and sex (8 field-dependent, 7 field-independent) and five were omicted for not responding to a demographic questionnaire ( 3 field-dependent, 2 field-independent) . Of the remaining eligible subjects, more field-dependent subjects did not participate for the thee days of the study than did field-independent subjects. There was a loss of 72 of the 158 eligible field-dependent subjects (45.6%) but only 20 of the 102 eligible field-independent subjects (19.6%) chose voluntarily not to participate. Field-independent subjects may be more intellectually curious and less intimidated by participation in experiments than field-dependent subjects. Numerous references (2, 3) indicate that differences in field dependence are related to individual differences in body concept, sense of separate identity, controls and defenses used, aspects of intellectual functioning; types of psychopathology, and personality measures. The question arises as to whether there is proportionally greater voluntary participation in other data-collecting situations by field-independent subjects which leads to biased results and limits generalizability.
Published Version
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