Field Dependence-independence Research Articles

Effects of Collaborative Assessment on Undergraduate Students’ Writing Performance

This study investigates the impact of collaborative assessment on undergraduate students’ writing performance in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) courses in Indonesia. Collaborative assessment, which encompasses self-assessment, peer assessment, and teacher assessment, enhances writing proficiency and critical thinking skills. This study exclusively incorporates the field dependence-independence (FDI) cognitive styles to explore how these learning styles interact with collaborative assessment strategies. The research used a quantitative method to involve 120 students from Universitas Pancasakti Tegal, divided into field-independent and field-dependent groups. Over 14 weeks, students participated in collaborative assessment activities within their writing courses. Pre- and post-tests, along with survey questionnaires, measured improvements in writing performance and student attitudes. Results indicated significant improvements in writing skills for both cognitive style groups, with field-independent students showing slightly higher gains. The study concludes that collaborative assessment effectively enhances writing performance and fosters positive learning attitudes, regardless of cognitive style, and recommends integrating this approach into EFL writing instruction. The findings imply that collaborative assessment is a valuable tool for accommodating diverse learning styles in EFL education.

The relative effects of direct and indirect written corrective feedback on L2 learning: The moderating role of field dependence/independence

The current study investigated the relative effects of direct and indirect written corrective feedback (WCF) on the learning of regular past tense, and the extent to which learning outcomes were related to individual variation in field dependence/independence (FDI). Fifty-nine Chinese intermediate second language (L2) learners of English were randomly assigned to two treatment groups and a control group. The two treatment groups carried out three written dictogloss tasks and received direct WCF and indirect WCF, respectively, on their erroneous use of regular past tense. The control group performed the same writing tasks but received feedback on the content of their writing. To evaluate the effect of treatment, a grammaticality judgement task and a picture description task were administered as the pretest, immediate posttest, and delayed posttest. The Group Embedded Figures Test was used to measure learners’ FDI orientation. The results showed that both treatment groups outperformed the control group on the posttests, but no significant differences were observed between the two treatment groups. In addition, the results suggested that FDI was related to learning outcomes as measured by the picture description task. Field independent learners had an overall advantage over field dependent learners, especially where indirect WCF was provided.

Cognitive style of field dependence-independence modulates the working memory storage of biological motion.

The biological motion refers to the continuous configuration movement of live agents in space. The perceptual processing of biological motion has the specificity of the dissociation between body form and body motion. However, there is limited evidence for whether such specificity continues when holding biological motion in working memory. We explored this question from the perspective of field dependence (FD) and field independence (FI) cognitive styles in the current study. Three categories of biological motion have been developed: intact movement, motion feature, and form feature. We examined the working memory capacity of motion features, form features, intact movements (Experiments 1-3), and the recognition of three categories of biological motion when remembering intact movements (Experiment 4). The results showed that for the motion features, FI individuals had better memory performance when remembering five items and showed greater working memory capacity and recognition compared with FD individuals, whereas the opposite pattern was observed between FI and FD individuals for the form features. The cognitive style could modulate the working memory storage of biological motion when the task becomes demanding, suggesting that body form and body motion are dissociable in working memory. Our study provided additional evidence for the specificity of biological motion processing in working memory, extending the hierarchical neural model. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Predicting VR cybersickness and its impact on visuomotor performance using head rotations and field (in)dependence

Introduction: This exploratory study aims to participate in the development of the VR framework by focusing on the issue of cybersickness. The main objective is to explore the possibilities of predicting cybersickness using i) field dependence-independence measures and ii) head rotations data through automatic analyses. The second objective is to assess the impact of cybersickness on visuomotor performance.Methods: 40 participants completed a 13.5-min VR immersion in a first-person shooter game. Head rotations were analyzed in both their spatial (coefficients of variations) and temporal dimensions (detrended fluctuations analyses). Exploratory correlations, linear regressions and clusters comparison (unsupervised machine learning) analyses were performed to explain cybersickness and visuomotor performance. Traditional VR human factors (sense of presence, state of flow, video game experience, age) were also integrated.Results: Results suggest that field dependence-independence measured before exposure to VR explain ¼ of the variance of cybersickness, while the Disorientation scale of the Simulator Sickness Questionnaire predicts 16.3% of the visuomotor performance. In addition, automatic analyses of head rotations during immersion revealed two different clusters of participants, one of them reporting more cybersickness than the other.Discussion: These results are discussed in terms of sensory integration and a diminution of head rotations as an avoidance behavior of negative symptoms. This study suggests that measuring field dependence-independence using the (Virtual) Rod and Frame Test before immersion and tracking head rotations using internal sensors during immersion might serve as powerful tools for VR actors.

Camouflage Detection and Its Association with Cognitive Style: A Functional Connectivity Study.

Background: Individual differences exist in performance in tasks that require visual search, such as camouflage detection (CD). Field dependence/independence (FD/I), as assessed using the Group Embedded Figures Test (GEFT), is an extensively studied dimension of cognitive style that classifies participants based on their visual perceptual styles. Materials and Methods: In the present study, we utilized fMRI on 46 healthy participants to investigate the underlying neural mechanisms specific to the cognitive styles of FD/FI while performing a CD task using both activation magnitude and an exploratory functional connectivity (FC) analysis. Group differences between high and low performers on the two extremes of the accuracy continuum of GEFT were studied. Results: No statistically significant group differences were observed using whole-brain voxel-wise comparison. However, the exploratory FC analysis revealed an enhanced communication between various regions subserving the cognitive traits required for visual search by FI participants over and above their FD counterparts. Conclusion: These enhanced connectivities suggest additional recruitment of cognitive functions to provide computational support that might facilitate superior performance in CD task by the participants who display a field-independent cognitive style.

Field dependence-independence mediates the association between visual perception and mathematics. A cross-sectional study in children and preadolescents.

ABSTRACT Visuospatial abilities are associated with children’s performance in mathematics. However, little is known about the contribution of visual perception, especially during preadolescence. Here, we aimed to test the relationship between visual perception, mathematics and field-dependent/independent cognitive style (FDI). We also focused on preadolescence, during which cognitive style tends to structure itself. Ninety-eight pupils were recruited in a public school in Rome (Italy) and divided into two age groups: children (age range = 6–10) and preadolescents (age range = 11–14). The relationship between visual perception, mathematics and FDI was tested by computing bivariate correlations as a preliminary step and using mediation analysis to test the mediating role of FDI. We found that FDI mediated this relation during preadolescence, enhancing the positive correlation between variables. In addition to the theoretical advances, the results of the present study may have an educational impact. Future studies should better investigate which types of training lead to mathematical achievement.

Analytic and holistic cognitive style as a set of independent manifests: Evidence from a validation study of six measurement instruments.

Cognitive styles are commonly studied constructs in cognitive psychology. The theory of field dependence-independence was one of the most important cognitive styles. Yet in the past, its measurement had significant shortcomings in validity and reliability. The theory of analytic and holistic cognitive styles attempted to extend this theory and overcome its shortcomings. Unfortunately, the psychometric properties of its measurement methods were not properly verified. Furthermore, new statistical approaches, such as analysis of reaction times, have been overlooked by current research. The aim of this pre-registered study was to verify the psychometric properties (i.e., factor structure, split-half reliability, test-retest reliability, discriminant validity with intelligence and personality, and divergent, concurrent and predictive validity) of several methods routinely applied in the field. We developed/adapted six methods based on self-report questionnaires, rod-and-frame principles, embedded figures, and hierarchical figures. The analysis was conducted on 392 Czech participants, with two data collection waves. The results indicate that the use of methods based on the rod-and-frame principle may be unreliable, demonstrating no absence of association with intelligence. The use of embedded and hierarchical figures is recommended. The self-report questionnaire used in this study showed an unsatisfactory factor structure and also cannot be recommended without futher validation on independent samples. The findings also did not correspond with the original two-dimensional theory.

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.

Characterization of Primary School Teachers’ Beliefs about Narrative Writing and their Relationship with Cognitive Style

This article reports a study that seeks to characterize the beliefs of elementary school teachers about the composition of narrative texts, and their relationship with the field independence-dependence cognitive style. The sample is composed of 87 language teachers (77 women and 10 men), from 14 educational institutions in the municipalities of Ubaté, Vélez, Ipiales and Todos a Aprender Program of Nariño in Colombia. The study is mixed and descriptive nature. The participating teachers answered the first instrument corresponding to the Questionnaire on Transmissive and Transactional Beliefs about the process of writing narrative texts. The second is called the Masked Figures Test. It was adapted from the National Pedagogical University. The results indicate that 6 out of 10 teachers have transmissive beliefs, which indicates that the participant considers writing as an act of moving or transcribing words from the board to the notebook. Regarding transactional beliefs, it is highlighted that participants conceive writing as a process composed of several stages called time to read, plan, write, revise, correct, share, rewrite, and publish. Finally, the Masked Figures Test used to identify the cognitive style of the participants shows that there is no tendency for field independence-dependence, since the average score was 25,11.

THE INFLUENCE OF FIELD INDEPENDENCE-DEPENDENCE IN SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

One of indicators that marked individual differences in Second Language Acquisition is learning style. Individuals have been cognitively described as field independent and field dependent, according to whether they approach things in details or holistically. However, there is not enough study that discusses the relationship between field independence-dependence and success in language learning. This study aims to explore the influence of field independence-dependence on second language learning success. The method used in this study is a literature review. The data are collected from previous journal articles using thematic analysis. The expected findings of this study are there may be a cognitive style bias operating in relation with second language learning success. Hopefully this study contributes as additional knowledge of that particular topic in the field of Second Language Acquisition

FIELD DEPENDENT–INDEPENDENT COGNITIVE STYLE AND CREATIVITY FROM THE PROCESS AND PRODUCT-ORIENTED APPROACHES: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

Creativity is a multifaceted construct that can be defined both in terms of process (e.g.,divergent thinking) and product (e.g., a poem). Across years, it has been related to different cognitive and personality variables, including cognitive styles. The current systematic review aimed to summarize the literature on the relationships between field dependence–independence and creativity, considering both the creative process and creative production approaches. We selected eight studies using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses rules. Findings revealed that a consistent number of studies focused on creative process mainly in terms of divergent thinking instead of convergent thinking, also providing misleading results. Additionally, only two studies focused on creative production, showing that field independents were more creative than field dependents. Given the contradictory results and the paucity of studies, we concluded that the association between field dependence–independence and creativity needs to be further investigated by more accurate empirical explorations. Limitations and future research directions are discussed.

A Psycholinguistic Look at the Role of Field Dependence/Independence in Receptive/Productive Vocabulary Knowledge: Does it Draw a Line?

The thrust of this study was to investigate the impact of learning styles in general and Field dependence/Independence (FD/I) in particular on the receptive/productive lexical performance of language learners. It aimed to check whether FD/I learners perform differently on receptive and productive vocabulary tests. To achieve this, first, 94 Iranian language learners were given the Group Embedded Figure Test (GEFT) to determine their learning style; and second, they were put into two groups and were asked to take a receptive and a productive vocabulary test. Having collected and analyzed the data, the study revealed that first, with regard to the receptive test, although FI learners outperformed the FD ones, this outperformance was not significant statistically. Second, for the productive test, a significant difference was found between FIs and FDs with FI learners having a better performance. Third, FI learners acted significantly better in the productive test compared with receptive test. Finally, FD learners performed almost similarly in both receptive and productive tests. The pertinent implications are also discussed.

The Relationships between Cognitive Styles and Creativity: The Role of Field Dependence-Independence on Visual Creative Production.

Previous studies explored the relationships between field dependent-independent cognitive style (FDI) and creativity, providing misleading and unclear results. The present research explored this problematic interplay through the lens of the Geneplore model, employing a product-oriented task: the Visual Creative Synthesis Task (VCST). The latter requires creating objects belonging to pre-established categories, starting from triads of visual components and consists of two steps: the preinventive phase and the inventive phase. Following the Amabile’s consensual assessment technique, three independent judges evaluated preinventive structures in terms of originality and synthesis whereas inventions were evaluated in terms of originality and appropriateness. The Embedded Figure Test (EFT) was employed in order to measure the individual’s predisposition toward the field dependence or the field independence. Sixty undergraduate college students (31 females) took part in the experiment. Results revealed that field independent individuals outperformed field dependent ones in each of the four VCST scores, showing higher levels of creativity. Results were discussed in light of the better predisposition of field independent individuals in mental imagery, mental manipulation of abstract objects, as well as in using their knowledge during complex tasks that require creativity. Future research directions were also discussed.

Effects of a writing strategy on improving text production skills among primary school students

The purpose of this research was to analyze the effects of a writing strategy for text production among primary school students with different cognitive styles (CS) in the field dependence-independence (FDI) dimension. The writing strategy is based on collaborative work, autonomous work, and work integrating technology, which is referred to as ACOTEC. The study was developed with a population of 63 students distributed in two randomly formed groups: one control and one experimental group. The control group developed writing exercises guided by a conventional strategy following the writing teaching processes according to the institution’s curriculum, while the experimental group adopted the ACOTEC strategy for the writing exercises. The results show the promising effects of the strategy on improving text production skills among primary school students with different CS in the FDI dimension.

Field Dependent-Independent Cognitive Styles as Correlates of Reading Comprehension Performance among Form Two Students in Kiambu County, Kenya

The problem addressed by this study was that secondary school teachers in Kenya have largely ignored the cognitive learning styles of students in their pedagogical strategies. The teachers have been mostly using talk-chalk method, which may be attributed to dismal performance in reading comprehension in English especially in sub county secondary schools. Scholarly efforts to address this issue have majorly focused on non-cognitive factors. The study was anchored on the field dependence-independence theory of cognitive styles. This study used correlational research design. The sample size was 20 public day schools representing 11% and 860 form two students representing 10.6%. The study used a modified Group Embedded Figures Test and English comprehension test. The pilot study was carried out in two schools with a sample of 30 students to establish the reliability and validity of the research tools. Data analysis involved the use of Pearson correlation and t-test to test the research hypotheses with the aid of SPSS program version 23. The findings revealed that there was a significant relationship between field independent cognitive learning style and reading comprehension performance, r (452) = .32, P = .01. The results also indicated that there was a positive significant correlation between field dependent cognitive learning style and reading comprehension score, r (404) = .48, P = .00. The findings revealed that the mean score difference in reading comprehension performance of respondents with FI and FD cognitive learning styles was statistically significant, t (854) = -2.13, p = .03. The study recommends that curriculum designers and the developers of learning content should include cognitive learning styles in learning books to educate secondary school students on the importance of these styles in educational achievement. Teachers should use diverse teaching methods that cater for the different cognitive learning styles to improve reading comprehension performance.

Field (In)dependence Flexibility Following a Virtual Immersion Is Associated With Cybersickness and Sense of Presence

Field dependence–independence (FDI) is a psychological construct determining an individual’s approach of the perception–cognition coupling. In virtual reality (VR) context, several studies suggest that an individual’s perceptive style is susceptible to shift toward a more FI mode through down-weighting of conflicting visual cues. The present study proposes to investigate the potential flexible nature of FDI following a virtual immersion and to assess if this flexibility might be associated with the subjective experience of VR. 86 participants explored a real-world–like virtual environment for approximately 10 min. FDI levels were measured before and after the VR exposure using the rod-and-frame test. Their subjective experience of VR was measured a posteriori (cybersickness and sense of presence) and used in order to build two experimental groups via a cluster analysis. The results showed that only participants with a poor subjective experience of VR (i.e., a low level of sense of presence associated with a high level of cybersickness) significantly shifted to a more FI mode, which is discussed as a sensory re-weighting mechanism. Pragmatical applications are discussed, and future studies are outlined, based on the conclusion that FDI might be more flexible than we thought, which could shed light on the psychophysiology of VR.

Investigating the Effects of Individual Cognitive Styles on Collaborative Gameplay

In multiplayer collaborative games, players need to coordinate their actions and synchronize their efforts effectively to succeed as a team; thus, individual differences can impact teamwork and gameplay. This article investigates the effects of cognitive styles on teams engaged in collaborative gaming activities. Fifty-four individuals took part in a mixed-methods user study; they were classified as field-dependent (FD) or independent (FI) based on a field-dependent–independent (FD-I) cognitive-style-elicitation instrument. Three groups of teams were formed, based on the cognitive style of each team member: FD-FD, FD-FI, and FI-FI. We examined collaborative gameplay in terms of team performance, cognitive load, communication, and player experience. The analysis revealed that FD-I cognitive style affected the performance and mental load of teams. We expect the findings to provide useful insights on understanding how cognitive styles influence collaborative gameplay.

Silent speech of vowels in persons of different cognitive styles

Introduction: This research measures the differences in silent speech of the vowels / a / - / u / in Spanish, in students with different cognitive styles in the Field Dependence – Independence (FDI) dimension. Method: Fifty-one (51) adults participated in the study. Electroencephalographic (EEG) signals were taken from 14 electrodes placed on the scalp in the language region located in the left hemisphere. Previously, the embedded figures test (EFT) was applied in order to classify them into dependent, intermediate and field independent persons. To analyse the EEG data, the signals were decomposed into intrinsic mode functions (IMF) and a mixed repeated measures analysis was performed. Results: It was found that the Power Spectral Density (PSD) in the vowels is independent of the cognitive style and its magnitude depends on the position of the electrodes. Conclusions: The results suggest that there are no significant differences in PSDs in the silent speech of vowels /a/-/u/ in persons of different cognitive styles. Significant differences were found in the PSDs according to the position of the 14 electrodes used. In our configuration, the silent speech of vowels can be studied using electrodes placed in premotor, motor and Wernicke areas.

The brain functional bases of field-dependent/field-independent cognitive styles and creative thinking

Cognitive styles refer to the habitualized behavior patterns of individuals in perceiving, learning, thinking, problem-solving, and interacting with others. They affect how individuals perceive the environment from which they receive information, how they organize and interpret this information, and how they use these explanations to guide their behavior. A concrete manifestation of individual creativity is creative thinking, and the core is divergent thinking, which refers to the production of diversified and huge output from a given information. Several studies have shown that cognitive styles have an important impact on an individuals’ creative thinking. Field dependence/independence (FDI) is the most common dimension in current studies, and most studies believe that field-independent (FI) individuals have higher creativity than field-dependent (FD) individuals. There are relatively few studies of the brain functional connection between FDI cognitive styles and creativity. In this study, we assessed FDI cognitive styles using the Embedded Figures Test and creative thinking using the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking in a sample of 414 healthy college students. Resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to test the degree centrality (DC). First, the resting state brain image of each subject was scanned. Second, the DC was calculated and regressed with creative thinking. Finally, the mediating effect analysis was conducted on the brain regions obtained, FDI cognitive styles, and creative thinking. Behavioral results showed that cognitive styles are significantly correlated with originality, flexibility, fluency and the total score of creativity, which were consistent with the existing research conclusions. The fMRI results showed that creative thinking was positively related to the right superior temporal gyrus (rSTG), right anterior cingulate cortex (rACC), left superior temporal gyrus (lSTG), right middle frontal gyrus (rMFG), and left putamen. Importantly, the rACC and rMFG partially mediated the relationship between FDI cognitive styles and creative thinking. FI cognitive style may be associated with better inhibition of irrelevant information and cognitive flexibility, which may recruit the rACC and rMFG. This study hypothesizes that FDI cognitive styles may have a partial path to affect creative thinking through cognitive control. This means that FI individuals may have higher cognitive flexibility, better cognitive control, and greater ability to exclude irrelevant information and focus attention, thus perform better in creative thinking tests. Therefore, these findings offer new empirical evidence for a better understanding of the relationship between FDI cognitive styles and cognitive thinking. This study may have some useful implications; FDI cognitive styles may affect creative thinking through the brain areas of cognitive control. In the future, researchers could train individuals on their cognitive control ability and improve the brain functional connection, thus enhancing creative thinking scores.

Cognitive and temperamental determinants of susceptibility to the Müller-Lyer illusion

The temperamental predictors of visual illusions have not yet been studied, although some researchers note that individual differences may predestine susceptibility to illusions. The purpose of our study was to analyse the cognitive and temperamental predictors of susceptibility to the Müller-Lyer illusion. The cognitive predictors included field dependence–independence, the alerting, orienting, and executive control attention networks, and the mechanism of inhibiting and updating in WM. The temperamental indicators were analysed in the context of Strelau's Regulative Theory of Temperament. 170 people aged 20–33 participated in the study. The results confirmed that susceptibility to the M-L illusion is associated with field dependence. Rhythmicity as a temperament trait moderated the relationship between susceptibility to the Müller-Lyer illusion and the efficacy of alerting. At a low level of Rhythmicity, a relationship between lower efficacy of the alerting network and higher susceptibility to the illusion was observed.