Field Independence–Field Dependence

Field independence–field dependence (FI/D) is a dimension of cognitive style that affects the degree to which individuals rely on their own internal frames of reference in perception and performance of cognitive and social tasks. The degree of reliance on internal or external referents, in turn, affects other cognitive and social domains of behavior. The result is the portrait of a field independent person who is perceptually and cognitively analytic—able to see the trees in the forest. The same person is socially introverted, thinking his or her own thoughts rather than engaging with others. The field dependent individual perceives and thinks more holistically and can even be overwhelmed by extensive data in the field—unable to engage selective attention without help. The field dependent person relies on others for direction, help, and confirmation and thus exhibits a socially engaged interpersonal style. People develop from a relatively field dependent style as children to more field independent with age, but this general developmental trend does not have a uniform outcome, and therefore, FI/D remains a variable of individual difference within the adult population.

The descriptions of individuals falling at the extreme ends of the FI/D continuum are immediately recognizable by any teacher. Some students seem to take off on their own, cognitively speaking. These field independent learners like to work independently and even get impatient when they are placed in a group for discussion and problem solving. Their field dependent counterparts are happy when it is time for group work. They are lost on their own and, therefore, subscribe to the notion that two heads are better than one. The fact that these types of individuals are so recognizable to teachers may be one reason that the construct of FI/D remains important in educational psychology.

A second reason is that all educationalists are attracted to the idea that individual differences in students can be characterized in terms of style rather than solely in terms of ability. A style is expressed on a horizontal continuum with neither end being inherently superior to the other. Ability is expressed using a vertical metaphor, with some students on top and others at the bottom. The top is good; the bottom is not. Bottom students need remediation; top students do not. Differences in the style continuum suggest that all learners can do well if they are situated in the appropriate learning environment. In this sense, cognitive styles such as FI/D are the predecessors to the idea of multiple intelligences, which also has appealed to teachers. The utility of these conceptions of individual differences is in the promise they offer for learners and the responsibility they place on educators for structuring instruction in a way that helps learners to succeed.

Despite the conceptual attraction that the FI/D construct holds, the empirical research on this construct has been plagued by measurement problems. The original measure of FI/D in the mid-1900s was administered [Page 403]individually and required the examinee to orient perceptually and physically to a field of objects as they were rotated. This cumbersome procedure was replaced by the Group Embedded Figures Test, which consists of a booklet containing line drawings in which examinees are to find hidden shapes. The rationale for the task design is that children with the field independent style will succeed in finding the hidden shapes without becoming distracted by the overall figures. The task resembles sections of intelligence tests that measure fluid ability, which is one aspect of some definitions of intelligence. Indeed, the Group Embedded Figures Test has been found to load on fluid ability when factor analyzed. Moreover, the scoring of this measure results in an overall score indicating number of correct responses; a high score means high field independence. In other words, this measure transforms the attractive, value-neutral style construct into a value-laden ability. Some connection undoubtedly exists between the field independent end of the style continuum and the field independent ability (or fluid intelligence) measured by the Group Embedded Figures Test, but research attempting to understand the role of the FI/D style in learning requires better measurement procedures.

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