Field Dependence-independence Cognitive Style Research Articles

La relación de la memoria de trabajo, la función ejecutiva y el estilo cognitivo con el rendimiento académico

The constructs Working Memory (WM), Executive Function (EF), Field Dependence-Independence Cognitive Style (FDI CS) have been related to Academic Performance (AP) in different compulsory and fundamental areas, especially in mathematics and language. The objective was to analyze the relationship between the phonological loop and the visuo-spatial agenda of the WM, the cognitive flexibility of the EF and the FID CS and its prediction with the AP in the areas of natural sciences, language and mathematics. The sample consisted of 96 children and adolescents between the ages of 9 and 14 from Medellín. The instruments to assess WM were: Digits and Letters and Numbers from the WISC-IV Intelligence test (Wechsler, 2003) and Series of Drawings (Injoque-Ricle and Burin, 2013); the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (Heaton et al., 1993) assessed cognitive flexibility (EF); the FDI CS was evidenced by means of the Embedded Figures Test (Witkin et al., 1971). Through the academic bulletin issued by the Educational Institutions, the AP was measured. The results showed a low and almost moderate relationship, as well as evidence of the prediction of cognitive flexibility with the AP in natural sciences, language and mathematics, without observing a relationship between the AP in these areas with the WM and the FID CS. The predictive value of cognitive flexibility for the scope of the competences in each of the areas studied is verified.

Immediate versus delayed prompts, field dependence and independence cognitive style and L2 development

Abstract Recent research has provided evidence that corrective feedback (CF) timing can play a significant role in feedback effectiveness. However, given that immediate and delayed feedback are differentially contextualized, little is known about the mediating role of learners’ field dependence/independence (FDI) cognitive style on the effectiveness of immediate and delayed prompts. To this end, the present study examined the effects of immediate and delayed prompts as well as the mediating role of learners’ FDI on the development of English articles by EFL learners. Fifty eight EFL learners were randomly assigned into two treatment conditions as well as a control group. The participants’ FDI orientation was measured through the group embedded figures test (GEFT). The treatment groups differed from each other in terms of whether the participants received prompts immediately after errors were made or at the end of the treatment task. The results obtained from post-tests and delayed post-tests showed that providing prompts immediately following learners’ errors is more effective than delaying them until the communicative activity is over. Furthermore, regression analysis revealed that the effectiveness of immediate prompts, and not delayed prompts, is significantly predicted by learners’ FDI cognitive style.

Cognitive style and educational performance. The case of public schools in Bogotá, Colombia

This study analyses the relationships among educational performance, field dependence-independence cognitive style and factors traditionally associated with performance and style, to build a comprehensive model of factors associated with the levels of education performance of students in Bogotá. A total of 3003 students, of grades 8 and 10, from 62 public schools of the city of Bogotá, Colombia participated in the study. An analysis of multiple correspondences and a path analysis were carried out. A relationship between cognitive style and educational performance was found: field-independent students are more likely to obtain high-performance levels both in standardised tests and in teachers’ evaluations. The path analysis shows that there are two directions in the association: a direct path leads to a positive association: higher levels of field independence produce better performances; an indirect path leads to a negative association: higher levels of field independence produce indiscipline and, consequently, lower performances.

DEVELOPMENTAL AND CULTURAL ASPECTS OF FIELD-DEPENDENCE IN 11 AND 12 YEARS OLD ESTONIAN AND FINNISH STUDENTS

1. Introduction The field dependence-independence (FDI) model of information acquisition, processing, and recollection represents one of the most widely researched cognitive styles in relation to human personality and learning (Guisande et al. 2007). According to Keefe (1979:9), FDI measures the degree to which an individual uses an analytical as opposed to a global way of experiencing the environment. The construct of field-dependence (FD) and field-independence (FI) has been shown to manifest across a broad spectrum of cognitive processing behaviors (e.g. Angeli and Valanides 2004, Guisande et al. 2012) and acknowledged as having important educational implications (Dewey 2004) that may influence the way teachers teach (Evans 2004) and the structuring of interactions between teachers and students (Saracho 2000). It is valuable, therefore, to foster a clearer understanding of the manner in which children process information, so as to facilitate improvements in teaching and learning strategies that could benefit the educational outcomes of students in school settings. In considering how FDI may affect the learning of children, the work of Jonassen and Grabowski (1993) serves as an appropriate descriptive platform. Specifically, when interacting with stimuli, children who are FD may find it difficult to locate the information they are seeking because it can become masked by other information within the stimulus field. Contrastingly, FI typically find it easier to recognize and select the critical information from the surrounding field. Furthermore, when information is ambiguous and unstructured in its presentation, FI children will impose their own structure on the information. Children who are FD, however will attempt to understand and learn that information directly as it is presented and without restructure. An additional classification of the FDI construct is the intermediate or mobile style and represents a preference between FI and FD (Graff 2000, Witkin and Goodenough 1981). Graff (2000) suggested that this style may highlight versatility in wholistic and analytic preference, whereas, Witkin and Goodenough (1981) proposed that mobility of FDI may represent diversity in adaptation of preference. Finally, individuals that can adopt a style different from their dominant style demonstrate a capacity for interchangeability to suit their immediate evaluation of the information field (Saracho 2000). Overall, classification of FDI appears to be more commonly directed towards a two dimensional framework, however, recent research has incorporated the intermediate category (e.g. Guisande et al. 2012). Continuing access to specific data regarding individual differences in cognitive style preference is important in framing pedagogical practice. Interestingly, in discussing children's learning patterns associated with cognitive style, Kleinfeld (1994) was firm in her acknowledgement that while it is necessary to be aware of different styles of learning, it is equally essential that teachers avoid narrowly matching their preferred teaching styles to the patterns of abilities shown by specific cultures at particular ages. Instead, teachers need to be conscious of both the influence of biological developmental and a unique societal effect that guide the approaches children utilize to learn inside and outside of their school settings. Cassidy (2004:421) highlighted that cognitive style in the learning domain may be considered as both a state and a trait, whereby an individual's style is responsive to experiences and the demands of the situation (process) to allow change and enable adaptive behaviour. Furthermore, Cassidy's overview of the FDI cognitive style leads to the proposition that specific learning preference characteristics of FI (i.e. learning in isolation) and FD (i.e. integrated learning) individuals have implications for both learning situation and outcome. Children of different ages and cultural backgrounds typically demonstrate variation in their preferred style pattern when engaging in the cognitive processes associated with learning. …

Importancia del estilo cognitivo y el temperamento en el ámbito escolar [The importance of the cognitive style and temperament in the school context

The cognitive style Field Dependence/Independence (FDI) has been considered an explanatory factor in the individual differences of subjects. Even when the FDI factor is given a neutral value, questions arise on its neutrality when a relationship is established between the cognitive and personality variables. As a result many studies have been carried out to test the influence and importance of FDI in the school environment. Child temperament is another of the variables which has been shown to have important implications on school achievement. The present paper aims to find out whether the FDI cognitive style and temperament are related, and whether these two variables in their turn are related to cognitive, achievement and emotional variables. The sample is 108 boys and 106 girls between the ages of 6 and 7. The instruments used were: the Battery of Differential and General Aptitudes (BADyG. Yuste, 1984), the Children Embedded Figures Test (CEFT. Karp & Konstadt, 1971/1982), the Reactivity Rating Scale (RRS. Friedensberg & Strelau, 1982) and the Human Figure Drawing (HFD. Koppitz 1974/1991). The results confirm an association which is statistically significant between the FDI and temperament, and at the same time these variables are shown to be related to intelligence, school achievement and the emotional indicators in HFD. Furthermore it has been observed that the group with better results on an intellectual level and with better academic achievement in reading, writing and Maths are the subjects who are Field Independent and have low reactivity.

Correlations among scores on measures of field dependence-independence cognitive style, cognitive ability, and sustained attention.

The Children's Embedded Figures Test, the Rod and Frame Test to measure the field dependence-independence cognitive style, Cattell's Culture Fair Intelligence Tests to measure cognitive ability, and two cancellation tasks (Zazzo task and Bourdon task) to assess sustained attention were administered to 179 boys and 110 girls whose average age was 9.0 yr. Correlations between scores on measures of field dependence-independence and cognitive ability were moderated. Average correlations between scores on measures of field dependence-independence, cognitive ability, and measures of sustained attention was .23 for the Zazzo task and quite weak (.06) for the Bourdon task.

Field dependence-independence cognitive style and academic achievement: A review of research and theory

Field dependence-independence was originally conceived as a neutral style dimension, in that field-dependent subjects were considered to be as well-adapted to their environment as field-independent subjects. Subsequent authors, however, questioned this assumption of neutrality, on the grounds that field-independent subjects generally perform better in certain intellectual tasks. Such findings provoked interest in the possible repercussions of field dependence-independence for education. Here, we review research into the possible effects of FDI on achievement at school. In general, field-independent subjects perform better than field-dependent subjects, whether assessment is of specific disciplines or across the board. We discuss possible explanations for this difference in performance.

Review of Field Dependence-Independence: Cognitive Style Across the Life Span.

Originally published in Contemporary Psychology: APA Review of Books, 1994, Vol 39(2), 231–232. Reviews the book, Field Dependence-Independence: Cognitive Style Across the Life Span edited by Seymour Wapner and Jack Demick (1991). The chapters here derive from the Herman A. Witkin Memorial Conference on Bio-Psycho-Social Factors in Field Dependence-Independence Cognitive Style Across the Life Span, which took place at Clark College in September 1989. Authors examine, among other topics, cognitive style and personal design in human development, wake-sleep and psychological differentiation from intrauterine to postnatal life, psychophysiological and brain lateralization studies in field dependence-independence, field dependence-independence and embedded figures performance, adult development and aging, cultural variations in field dependence-independence, the cognitive style construct, and open research problems on field dependence-independence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)

Differences in field dependence-independence cognitive style as a function of socioeconomic status, sex, and cognitive competence

Differences in field dependence-independence cognitive style as a function of socioeconomic status, sex, and cognitive competence

Aptitude, Previous Achievement, and Cognitive Style: Relation to Academic Achievement in Nursing Courses of Differing Content

The questions studied were whether a) cognitive style might predict differential success in nursing courses having a different specialty content focus and b) whether after the inclusion of aptitude measures and previous achievement measures FDI cognitive style would significantly increase the prediction of academic achievement in nursing courses of differing specialty content. Senior baccalaureate nursing students completed the Group Embedded Figures Test as a measure of field-dependence-independence (FDI) cognitive style. Aptitude and achievement scores were obtained from students' files and instructors' grade sheets. The findings were that FDI cognitive style is not a predictor of differential academic success. The junior nursing grade point average was the best predictor of achievement in senior level nursing courses. The prediction of academic achievement of nursing students has received researchers' attention over the years in an attempt to identify data that might aid in the establishment of selection criteria, in program and curriculum planning, and in the establishment of remediation or supportive programs for enrolled students who have been identified as high risk. In most studies, affective factors alone, such as personality characteristics and vocational interests, have not been found to be predictors of academic achievement. Most researchers have found that previous achievement or aptitude measures are the best predictors of nursing course achievement (Schwirian, 1976; Grant, 1986). While previous achievement and aptitude measures may be used in the selection process, they are not helpful in giving direction for planning teaching-learning experiences. Cognitive style might serve this purpose if it was found to be predictive of academic achievement.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)