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Field dependence-independence mediates the association between visual perception and mathematics. A cross-sectional study in children and preadolescents.
... The study revealed that field-independent students demonstrated superior mathematical communication skills to their fielddependent counterparts . Field-independent students exhibited analytical skills and the ability to work autonomously, while fielddependent students often worked independently but required assistance (Budiarti et al., 2022;Vargheese et al., 2022;Vecchione et al., 2023). Prawita, Amrullah, Salsabila, and Hayati (2022) expanded the perspective by exploring how individuals with the same cognitive style could communicate diverse mathematical ideas. ...
This research examines the distribution of cognitive abilities within the interactive mathematics textbook designed for 10th-grade students. The study recognizes the significance of mathematics education in nurturing students' cognitive skills. However, it also acknowledges the presence of ineffective methods that impede students' grasp of concepts and their capacity to solve problems. Employing a qualitative research approach, the study identifies and resolves questions in the interactive mathematics book. It explains each cognitive skill used to solve these questions and categorizes these skills according to Bloom's taxonomy. The findings reveal an uneven allocation of cognitive skills in both chapters. Questions falling under the application category (C3) are predominant, while those demanding higher-order thinking, such as creation (C6), are limited in number. This lack of diversity and balance underscores the necessity for incorporating a broader array of questions spanning various cognitive levels. The interactive mathematics book for 10th-grade students enhances comprehension and reinforces core principles. Nevertheless, it necessitates refinement in cognitive skill distribution, especially by including more questions that require advanced thinking. Rectifying this disparity would empower the book to foster students' critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
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.
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.
Adolescence involves a profound number of changes in all domains of development. Among others, adolescence yields an enhanced awareness and responsibility toward the community, representing a critical age to develop prosocial behaviors. In this study, the mediation role of Trait Emotional Intelligence (TEI) was detected for the relationship between the dark triad and prosocial behavior based on altruism and equity. A total of 129 healthy late adolescents filled in the Dark Triad Dirty Dozen, measuring Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and narcissism; the Altruistic Action Scale, evaluating behaviors directed at helping others; the Equity Scale, assessing behaviors directed at equity in different forms; and the TEI Questionnaire-Short Form. Results showed that TEI mediated the negative effects of the three dark triad traits on both altruism and equity. This finding suggests that TEI, which relies on a set of dispositions (e.g., emotional management of others, social competence, and empathy), might reduce the malevolent effects of the dark triad on altruism and equitable behavior in late adolescence. This led to assume that intervention programs focused on improving emotional skills, also in late adolescence, can promote prosociality.
In this longitudinal study, 64 kindergartners (mean age at T1 = 4.69 ± 0.33 years; 34 girls) were tested on visual perception skills (T2 and T3) and mathematics performance (T1 to T3) with 6-month intervals between the three testing waves. Cross-lagged path analysis showed a bidirectional relationship between visual perception and mathematics performance from T2 to T3. Specifically, children’s visual perception at T2 significantly predicted their mathematics performance at T3 (B = 0.30, SE = 0.14, p = 0.03, β = 0.19). Children’s mathematics performance at T1 accounted for unique variance in visual perception at T2 (B = 0.79, SE = 0.11, p < 0.001, β = 0.68) and visual perception at T3 (B = 0.27, SE = 0.12, p = 0.02, β = 0.32). Their mathematics performance at T2 also significantly predicted visual perception at T3 (B = 0.21, SE = 0.10, p = 0.04, β = 0.28). Totally, they explained 61% of the variance in mathematics performance and 39% of the variance in visual perception at T3. The results highlight the developmental courses as well as the reciprocal facilitations between visual perception and mathematics performance in the kindergarten period.
Field independence (FI) is the extent to which a person perceives part of a field as discrete from the surrounding field rather than embedded in the field. Several studies proposed that it represents a cognitive style that is a relatively stable individuals' predisposition towards information processing. This study investigated the effects of Field Independence/Field Dependence (FI/FD) cognitive style on topographic memory in a virtual environment. Seventy-nine college students completed the Embedded Figure Test as a measure of FI/FD cognitive style and learned two paths in the VR-Walking Corsi Test apparatus. After the learning phase, participants had to reproduce the paths from a familiar perspective or unfamiliar perspectives. Data showed that FI cognitive style predicted the ability to reproduce a path from unfamiliar perspectives, suggesting a different impact of the angle degree. Results are discussed considering the facilitation of body axes references and the increasing difficulty due to maintaining online perspectives with higher angle degrees that increase the visuo-spatial working memory cognitive load. These results support the idea that FI predicts human navigation.
There is evidence that spatial thinking is malleable, and that spatial and mathematical skills are associated (Mix et al., 2016; 2017; Uttal et al., 2013). However, few studies have investigated transfer of spatial training gains to mathematics outcomes in children, and no known studies have compared different modes of spatial instruction (explicit vs. implicit instruction). Based on a sample of 250 participants, this study compared the effectiveness of explicit and implicit spatial instruction in eliciting near transfer (to the specific spatial skills trained), intermediate transfer (to untrained spatial skills) and far transfer (to mathematics domains) at age 8. Spatial scaling and mental rotation skills were chosen as training targets as previous studies have found, and proposed explanations for, associations between these skills and mathematics in children of this age (Mix et al., 2016). In this study spatial training led to near, intermediate and far transfer of gains. Mental visualisation and proportional reasoning were proposed to explain far transfer from mental rotation and spatial scaling skills respectively. For most outcomes, except for geometry, there was no difference in the effectiveness of implicit (practice with feedback) compared to explicit instruction (instructional videos). From a theoretical perspective, the study identified a specific causal effect of spatial skills on mathematics skills in children. Practically, the results also highlight the potential of instructional videos as a method of introducing spatial thinking into the classroom.
Studies have shown that numerosity‐based arithmetic training can promote arithmetic learning in typically developing children as well as children with developmental dyscalculia (DD), but the cognitive mechanism underlying this training effect remains unclear. The main aim of the current study was to examine the role of visual form perception in arithmetic improvement through an eight‐day numerosity training for DD children. Eighty DD children were selected from four Chinese primary schools. They were randomly divided into the intervention and control groups. The intervention group received training on an apple‐collecting game, whereas the control group received an English dictation task. Children's cognitive and arithmetic performance was assessed before and after training. The results showed that the intervention group showed a significant improvement in arithmetic performance, ANS acuity, and visual form perception, but not in spatial processing and sentence comprehension. The control group showed no significant improvement in any cognitive ability. Mediation analysis further showed that training‐related improvement in arithmetic performance was fully mediated by the improvement in visual form perception. The results suggest that short‐term numerosity training enhances the arithmetic performance of DD children by improving their visual form perception.
Field dependence–independence (FDI) is a stable dimension of individual functioning, transversal to different cognitive domains. While the role of some individual variables in time perception has received considerable attention, it is not clear whether and how FDI influences timing abilities. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that FDI differently affects timing performance depending on whether the task requires cognitive restructuring. Participants were assessed for FDI using the embedded figures test (EFT). They performed a prospective timing task, reproducing the duration of a flickering stimulus, and a retrospective timing task, estimating the duration of the task. We expected performance of field-dependent (FD) and field-independent (FI) individuals not to differ in the prospective task, since restructuring of task material is not needed to reproduce the stimulus duration. Conversely, we predicted that FI individuals should be more accurate than FD ones in the retrospective condition, involving restructuring skills. Results show that while both FD and FI individuals under-reproduced the stimulus duration in the prospective task, only FD participants significantly underestimated the duration of the timing task in the retrospective condition. These results suggest that differences across FD and FI individuals are apparent in timing only when the task requires high-level cognitive processing; conversely, these differences do not affect basic sensory processing.
The so-called semantic interference effect is a delay in selecting an appropriate target word in a context where semantic neighbours are strongly activated. Semantic interference effect has been described to vary from one individual to another. These differences in the susceptibility to semantic interference may be due to either differences in the ability to engage in lexical-specific selection mechanisms or to differences in the ability to engage more general, top-down inhibition mechanisms which suppress unwanted responses based on task-demands. However, semantic interference may also be modulated by an individual’s disposition to separate relevant perceptual signals from noise, such as a field-independent (FI) or a field-dependent (FD) cognitive style. We investigated the relationship between semantic interference in picture naming and in an STM probe task and both the ability to inhibit responses top-down (measured through a Stroop task) and a FI/FD cognitive style measured through the embedded figures test (EFT). We found a significant relationship between semantic interference in picture naming and cognitive style—with semantic interference increasing as a function of the degree of field dependence—but no associations with the semantic probe and the Stroop task. Our results suggest that semantic interference can be modulated by cognitive style, but not by differences in the ability to engage top-down control mechanisms, at least as measured by the Stroop task.
Spatial thinking is an important predictor of mathematics. However, existing data do not determine whether all spatial sub‐domains are equally important for mathematics outcomes nor whether mathematics‐spatial associations vary through development. This study addresses these questions by exploring the developmental relations between mathematics and spatial skills in children aged 6 ‐10 years (N = 155). We extend previous findings by assessing and comparing performance across Uttal et al.'s (2013), four spatial sub‐domains. Overall spatial skills explained 5‐14% of the variation across three mathematics performance measures (standardised mathematics skills, approximate number sense and number line estimation skills), beyond other known predictors of mathematics including vocabulary and gender. Spatial scaling (extrinsic‐static sub‐domain) was a significant predictor of all mathematics outcomes, across all ages, highlighting its importance for mathematics in middle childhood. Other spatial sub‐domains were differentially associated with mathematics in a task and age dependent manner. Mental rotation (intrinsic‐dynamic skills) was a significant predictor of mathematics at 6 and 7 years only which suggests that at approximately 8 years of age there is a transition period regarding the spatial skills that are important for mathematics. Taken together, the results support the investigation of spatial training, particularly targeting spatial scaling, as a means of improving both spatial and mathematical thinking.
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A number of studies have investigated the cognitive deficits underlying dyslexia and dyscalculia. Yet, it remains unclear as to whether dyslexia and dyscalculia are associated with the common visual perception deficits. The current investigation analyzed cognitive performance in children with dyslexia, dyscalculia, comorbidity, and typically developing subjects. The results showed that children with dyslexia, dyscalculia and comorbidity exhibited common deficits in numerosity processing and visual perception. Furthermore, visual perception deficits accounted for deficits in numerosity processing in all three groups. The results suggest that visual perception deficits are a common cognitive deficit underlying both developmental dyslexia and dyscalculia.
In this article, we review approaches to modeling a connection between spatial and mathematical thinking across development. We critically evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of factor analyses, meta-analyses, and experimental literatures. We examine those studies that set out to describe the nature and number of spatial and mathematical skills and specific connections between these abilities, especially those that included children as participants. We also find evidence of strong spatial-mathematical connections and transfer from spatial interventions to mathematical understanding. Finally, we map out the kinds of studies that could enhance our understanding of the mechanisms by which spatial and mathematical processing are connected and the principles by which mathematical outcomes could be enhanced through spatial training in educational settings.
Using a longitudinal approach, this study investigated the relational structure of different spatial transformation skills at kindergarten age, and how these spatial skills relate to children’s later mathematics performance. Children were tested at three time points, in kindergarten, first grade, and second grade (N = 119). Exploratory factor analyses revealed two subcomponents of spatial transformation skills: one representing egocentric transformations (mental rotation and spatial scaling), and one representing allocentric transformations (e.g., cross-sectioning, perspective taking). Structural equation modeling suggested that egocentric transformation skills showed their strongest relation to the part of the mathematics test tapping arithmetic operations, whereas allocentric transformations were strongly related to Numeric-Logical and Spatial Functions as well as geometry. The present findings point to a tight connection between early mental transformation skills, particularly the ones requiring a high level of spatial flexibility and a strong sense for spatial magnitudes, and children’s mathematics performance at the beginning of their school career.
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El principal objetivo de este estudio es investigar si la dependencia en el área puede predecir la forma en que los estudiantes resuelven los problemas matemáticos en escritos o procedimientos matemáticos y explorar si esta asociación se mantiene cuando la ansiedad matemática o coeficiente intelectual (IQ) es controlado. Por consiguiente, se usó una muestra de 100 niñas de escuela y análisis estadístico inferencial (ANOVA y ANCOVA) para investigar la hipótesis del estudio. Los resultados obtenidos indicaron que hubo sustanciales diferencias en los estudiantes y el desempeño matemático obtenido en palabras y procedimiento en la ejecución de los problemas por los grupos o área de dependencia. Sin embargo, esta diferencia es aún más significativa cuando el coeficiente intelectual (IQ) y la ansiedad matemática como covariable y variables fueron considerados. Sin embargo la cantidad de Omega Cuadrada para el análisis ANCOVA decreció cuando las covariables fueron insertadas en el modelo. Los hallazgos de este estudio son adecuados para los investigadores en el campo de la psicología del aprendizaje de las matemáticas y, en particular, cómo el estilo cognitivo afecta al desempeño de los estudiantes en Matemáticas.
Numerous studies have assessed the cognitive correlates of performance in mathematics, but little research has been conducted to systematically examine the relations between visual perception as the starting point of visuospatial processing and typical mathematical performance. In the current study, we recruited 223 seventh graders to perform a visual form perception task (figure matching), numerosity comparison, digit comparison, exact computation, approximate computation, and curriculum-based mathematical achievement tests. Results showed that, after controlling for gender, age, and five general cognitive processes (choice reaction time, visual tracing, mental rotation, spatial working memory, and non-verbal matrices reasoning), visual form perception had unique contributions to numerosity comparison, digit comparison, and exact computation, but had no significant relation with approximate computation or curriculum-based mathematical achievement. These results suggest that visual form perception is an important independent cognitive correlate of lower level math categories, including the approximate number system, digit comparison, and exact computation.
To successfully navigate within an environment, individuals have to organize the spatial information in terms of salient landmarks, paths and general layout of the navigational environment. They may differ in the strategy they adopt to orientate themselves, with some individuals preferring to use salient landmarks (landmark spatial style, L-SS), others preferring to plan routes or paths through an egocentric strategy in which landmarks are connected with each other (route spatial style, R-SS) and others still create a global map-like configuration of the environment regardless of their own position in the environment (survey spatial style, S-SS). Here, we assessed whether Field independence (FI), that is the extent to which the individual perceives part of a field as discrete from the surrounding field rather than embedded in the field, predicted the individual’s spatial style. We assessed the individual’s spatial style using the spatial cognitive style test (SCST) and measured FI using the group embedded figure test (GEFT). We found that FI predicted general spatial ability, with a higher level of FI being associated with better performances on the SCST. Also, Field-independent individuals showed a marked preference for an S-SS. These results suggest that a higher level of FI is associated with better performance on higher level spatial tasks (i.e. R-SS and S-SS) that is tasks requiring individuals to restructure the “navigational field” according to the navigational goal. The results also suggest that a higher level of FI makes individuals more prone to use a global and complex map-like representation of the environment.
Background
The Embedded Figures Test (EFT, developed by Witkin and colleagues (1971)) has been used extensively in research on individual differences, particularly in the study of autism spectrum disorder. The EFT was originally conceptualized as a measure of field (in)dependence, but in recent years performance on the EFT has been interpreted as a measure of local versus global perceptual style. Although many have used the EFT to measure perceptual style, relatively few have focused on understanding the stimulus features that cause a shape to become embedded. The primary aim of this work was to investigate the relation between the strength of embedding and perceptual grouping on a group level.
Method
New embedded figure stimuli (both targets and contexts) were developed in which stimulus features that may influence perceptual grouping were explicitly manipulated. The symmetry, closure and complexity of the target shape were manipulated as well as its good continuation by varying the number of lines from the target that continued into the context. We evaluated the effect of these four stimulus features on target detection in a new embedded figures task (Leuven Embedded Figures Test, L-EFT) in a group of undergraduate psychology students. The results were then replicated in a second experiment using a slightly different version of the task.
Results
Stimulus features that influence perceptual grouping, especially good continuation and symmetry, clearly affected performance (lower accuracy, slower response times) on the L-EFT. Closure did not yield results in line with our predictions.
Discussion
These results show that some stimulus features, which are known to affect perceptual grouping, also influence how effectively a stimulus becomes embedded in different contexts. Whether these results imply that the EFT measures individual differences in perceptual grouping ability must be further investigated.
The relations among various spatial and mathematics skills were assessed in a cross-sectional study of 854 children from kindergarten, third, and sixth grades (i.e., 5 to 13 years of age). Children completed a battery of spatial mathematics tests and their scores were submitted to exploratory factor analyses both within and across domains. In the within domain analyses, all of the measures formed single factors at each age, suggesting consistent, unitary structures across this age range. Yet, as in previous work, the 2 domains were highly correlated, both in terms of overall composite score and pairwise comparisons of individual tasks. When both spatial and mathematics scores were submitted to the same factor analysis, the 2 domain specific factors again emerged, but there also were significant cross-domain factor loadings that varied with age. Multivariate regressions replicated the factor analysis and further revealed that mental rotation was the best predictor of mathematical performance in kindergarten, and visual-spatial working memory was the best predictor of mathematical performance in sixth grade. The mathematical tasks that predicted the most variance in spatial skill were place value (K, 3rd, 6th), word problems (3rd, 6th), calculation (K), fraction concepts (3rd), and algebra (6th). Thus, although spatial skill and mathematics each have strong internal structures, they also share significant overlap, and have particularly strong cross-domain relations for certain tasks. (PsycINFO Database Record
Field independence (FI) has been defined as the extent to which the individual perceives part of a field as discrete from the surrounding field, rather than embedded in the field. It has been proposed to represent a relatively stable pattern in individuals’ predisposition towards information processing. In the present study, we assessed the effect of FI on skills underpinning human navigation. Fifty Healthy individuals took part in this study. FI has been assessed by using the group embedded figures test (GEFT). Participants were also asked to perform several visuo-spatial orientation tasks, including the perspective taking/spatial orientation test (PTSOT), the mental rotation task (MRT) and the vividness task, as well as the Santa Barbara Sense of Direction Scale, a self-reported questionnaire, which has been found to predict environmental spatial orientation ability. We found that performances on the GEFT significantly predicted performances on the PTSOT and the MRT. This result supports the idea that FI predicts human navigation.
Mathematics is an important school subject but one which often poses problems for learners. It has been found that learners do not possess the cognitive capacity to handle understanding procedures, representations, concepts, and applications at the same time. while the extent of field dependency may hold the key to one way by which the working memory can be used more efficiently. This study aims to explore the concept of field dependency which may offer a way forward in reducing the cognitive demands of finite working memory capacity, thus enabling higher performance to be attained. Age and gender were considered. With a sample of 120 secondary school students, the importance of working memory in relation to mathematics performance was confirmed (r = 0.55). The extent of field dependency was measured with a larger sample of 547, drawn from five age groups. The outcomes were related to the performance in mathematics examinations, a correlation of 0.32 being obtained overall, with every age group showing positive significant correlations. In this, the more field independent perform much better. The outcomes are interpreted in terms of the increased efficiency in the use of finite working memory capacity resources. It was found that students become more field independent with age but the rate of growth of independence declines with age. Girls tended to be slightly more field-independent than boys, perhaps reflecting maturity or their greater commitment during their years of adolescence. The findings are interpreted in terms of the way the brain processes information and the implications for mathematics education are discussed briefly.
Studies have shown that numerosity processing (e.g., comparison of numbers of dots in two dot arrays) is significantly correlated with arithmetic performance. Researchers have attributed this association to the fact that both tasks share magnitude processing. The current investigation tested an alternative hypothesis, which states that visual perceptual ability (as measured by a figure-matching task) can account for the close relation between numerosity processing and arithmetic performance (computational fluency). Four hundred and twenty four third- to fifth-grade children (220 boys and 204 girls, 8.0–11.0 years old; 120 third graders, 146 fourth graders, and 158 fifth graders) were recruited from two schools (one urban and one suburban) in Beijing, China. Six classes were randomly selected from each school, and all students in each selected class participated in the study. All children were given a series of cognitive and mathematical tests, including numerosity comparison, figure matching, forward verbal working memory, visual tracing, non-verbal matrices reasoning, mental rotation, choice reaction time, arithmetic tests and curriculum-based mathematical achievement test. Results showed that figure-matching ability had higher correlations with numerosity processing and computational fluency than did other cognitive factors (e.g., forward verbal working memory, visual tracing, non-verbal matrix reasoning, mental rotation, and choice reaction time). More important, hierarchical multiple regression showed that figure matching ability accounted for the well-established association between numerosity processing and computational fluency. In support of the visual perception hypothesis, the results suggest that visual perceptual ability, rather than magnitude processing, may be the shared component of numerosity processing and arithmetic performance.
Spatial training has been indicated as a possible solution for improving Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) achievement and degree attainment. Advocates for this approach have noted that the correlation between spatial ability and several measures of STEM achievement suggests that spatial training should focus on improving students’ spatial ability. Although spatial ability can be improved with targeted training, few studies have examined specifically the relation between spatial training and STEM achievement. In this brief report, we review the evidence to date for the effectiveness of spatial training. We argue that spatial training offers one of the many promising avenues for increasing student success in STEM fields, but research studies that show such training causally improve retention, achievement, and degree attainment remain outstanding.
We tested whether mental rotation training improved math performance in 6- to 8-year-olds. Children were pretested on a range of number and math skills. Then one group received a single session of mental rotation training using an object completion task that had previously improved spatial ability in children this age (Ehrlich, Levine, & Goldin-Meadow, 200616.
Ehrlich , S. ,
Levine , S. , &
Goldin-Meadow , S. ( 2006 ). The importance of gestures in children's spatial reasoning . Developmental Psychology , 42 , 1259 – 1268 . [CrossRef], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®]View all references). The remaining children completed crossword puzzles instead. Children's posttest scores revealed that those in the spatial training group improved significantly on calculation problems. In contrast, children in the control group did not improve on any math tasks. Further analyses revealed that the spatial training group's improvement was largely due to better performance on missing term problems (e.g., 4 + ____ = 11).
Los estilos cognitivos se encuentran entre las dimensiones de diferencias individuales consideradas relevantes en la enseñanza adaptativa. De especial valor heurístico se ha mostrado la dependencia-independencia de campo, dimensión que influye, de manera consistente en los resultados académicos de los estudiantes, al margen de su nivel educativo y su origen cultural y del área de conocimiento evaluada. Esta constatación ha inspirado intentos de entrenar a los estudiantes en las habilidades de los independientes de campo, así como una línea de investigación centrada en la adaptación de los métodos instruccionales al estilo
cognitivo, que ha venido proporcionando datos que deberían ser considerados en la práctica educativa. En el presente trabajo, se sintetizan los estudios realizados hasta el momento sobre entrenamiento y adaptación instruccional y se proponen algunas líneas generales de actuación en la adaptación de la enseñanza al estilo cognitivo.
Sought to provide a theoretical framework for the learning of mathematics from Piaget's theory about the development of the number concept and the theory of field dependence–independence advanced by H. A. Witkin et al (1977). The relationship between operativity on Piagetian tasks of number, classification, seriation, field dependence–independence, and mathematics achievement on concepts, computations, and applications was investigated, using 102 Ss from Grades 2–4. Results were analyzed separately within each grade for the total mathematics achievement test score, as well as for the 3 subtests consisting of mathematics concepts, computations, and applications. In all grades, field independence was related to high mathematics achievement, especially for the concepts and applications subtests. High operativity was related to high achievement in mathematics concepts only in Grade 2. (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Having good spatial skills strongly predicts achievement and attainment in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields (e.g., Shea, Lubinski, & Benbow, 2001; Wai, Lubinski, & Benbow, 2009). Improving spatial skills is therefore of both theoretical and practical importance. To determine whether and to what extent training and experience can improve these skills, we meta-analyzed 217 research studies investigating the magnitude, moderators, durability, and generalizability of training on spatial skills. After eliminating outliers, the average effect size (Hedges's g) for training relative to control was 0.47 (SE = 0.04). Training effects were stable and were not affected by delays between training and posttesting. Training also transferred to other spatial tasks that were not directly trained. We analyzed the effects of several moderators, including the presence and type of control groups, sex, age, and type of training. Additionally, we included a theoretically motivated typology of spatial skills that emphasizes 2 dimensions: intrinsic versus extrinsic and static versus dynamic (Newcombe & Shipley, in press). Finally, we consider the potential educational and policy implications of directly training spatial skills. Considered together, the results suggest that spatially enriched education could pay substantial dividends in increasing participation in mathematics, science, and engineering. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).
During the SARS-CoV-2 disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Italy, different protective measures were taken to reduce the spread of the virus and ensure long-term public health. These include, amongst others (vaccination campaigns), a variety of prevention guidelines such as washing hands, social distancing, and wearing masks. Notably, although such prevention guidelines represent one of the primary weapons to control the virus, people's willingness toward them highly varied during the fourth wave of COVID-19 in Italy. This challenging scenario brings to consider which factors and how they affect citizens' adherence to protective behaviours during the pandemic. The present research aimed to deepen the association between fear of COVID-19 and compliance with prevention guidelines, also addressing the moderating role of personality as captured by the Dark Triad. The study was carried out with 205 participants via an online cross-sectional design. Results revealed a positive association between fear of COVID-19 and compliance with prevention guidelines. Additionally, only psychopathy and narcissism moderated this link, weakening the impact of fear on compliance. These findings yielded theoretical implications about the role of malevolent personalities on the functional impact of fear in public adherence to healthy and preventive practices. Limits and future research directions were discussed.
The current research looks at creativity as a construct resulting from a blend of interacting individual resources and investigates, in a sample of 63 young adults, the extent to which real-world creative production is supported by trait emotional intelligence (EI), through creative thinking, including both divergent thinking (DT) and convergent thinking (CT). This study hypothesizes a parallel mediation model, with trait EI as the independent variable, DT and CT as the mediators, and creative production as the dependent variable. Trait EI is evaluated using the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire-Short Version, DT and CT are assessed by the Alternative Uses Task and the Remote Associates test, respectively, whereas real-world creative production by the Visual Creative Synthesis Task. Results reveal that only DT fully mediated the relationship between trait EI and real-world creativity. These findings suggest that trait EI, encompassing well-being, self-control, emotionality, and sociability, involves a better DT ability, which in turn increases the likelihood of producing a creative invention. The failure of the mediating role of CT is explained considering the different demands of flexibility, exploration of alternatives, and attentional resources between DT and CT. Future directions are also discussed.
The current study examined the effect of fluid intelligence (Gf) on both creative potential and real-world visual creative production, taking into account the role of field-dependent-independent cognitive style (FDI). We hypothesised two models in which FDI mediated the interplay between Gf and creativity in terms of creative potential (Model A) and real-world visual creative production (Model B). Furthermore, we advanced two models (Model C and Model D), in which FDI was a moderator. In this study, one-hundred Italian young adults performed the Kaufmann Brief Intelligence Test-2, the Embedded Figure Test, three tasks measuring creative potential (Alternative Uses Task, Remote Associate Test, and Creative Personality Scale), and a real-world visual creative production task (Visual Creative Synthesis Task). Results revealed only the mediating role of FDI in both Gf-creative potential and Gf-real-world visual creative production links, supporting the notion that the individual predisposition toward field-independence plays a key role in the interplay between Gf and creativity.
Numerous studies have demonstrated an association between approximate number system (ANS) acuity and mathematical performance. Studies have also shown that ANS acuity can predict the longitudinal development of mathematical achievement. Visual form perception in the current investigation was proposed to account for the predictive role of ANS acuity in the development of mathematical achievement. One hundred and eighty-eight school children (100 males, 88 females; mean age = 12.2 ± 0.3 years) participated in the study by completing five tests: numerosity comparison, figure matching, mental rotation, nonverbal matrix reasoning, and choice reaction time. Three years later, they took a mathematical achievement test. We assessed whether the early tests predicted mathematical achievement at the later date. Analysis showed that the ANS acuity measured via numerosity comparison significantly predicted mathematical achievement 3 years later, even when controlling for individual differences in mental rotation, nonverbal matrix reasoning, and choice reaction time, as well as age and gender differences. Hierarchical regression and mediation analyses further showed that the longitudinal predictive role of ANS acuity in mathematical achievement was interpreted by visual form perception measured with a figure-matching test. Together, these results indicate that visual form perception may be the underlying cognitive mechanism that links ANS acuity to mathematical achievement in terms of longitudinal development.
Field independence describes the extent to which individuals are influenced by context when trying to identify embedded targets. It associates with cognitive functioning and is a predictor of academic achievement. However, little is known about the neural and cognitive underpinnings of field independence which lead to these associations. Here we investigated behavioural associations between two measures of field independence (Children’s Embedded Figures Test (CEFT) and Design Organisation Test (DOT)) and performance on mathematics (reasoning and written arithmetic) and science tests (reasoning and scientific inquiry) in 135 children aged 5-10 years. There were strong associations between field independence and mathematics and science, which were largely explained by individual differences in age, IQ, and verbal working memory. However, regression analyses indicated that after controlling for these variables, the CEFT explained additional variance on the mathematical reasoning and science tests, whereas the DOT predicted unique variance on the written arithmetic test.
Notwithstanding its well‐established role on high‐demanding spatial navigation tasks during adulthood, the effect of field dependence–independence during the acquisition of spatial navigation skills is almost unknown. This study assessed for the first time the effect of field dependence–independence on topographical learning (TL) across the life span: 195 individuals, including 54 healthy young‐adults (age‐range = 20–30), 46 teenagers (age‐range = 11–14), and 95 children (age‐range = 6–9) participated in this study. Field dependence–independence interacted with age in predicting TL. Also during childhood higher field independence was associated with better performances but not later in the life, that is, during adolescence and adulthood. This result suggests that field dependence–independence may have a role in fostering the acquisition of TL.
The massive open online courses (MOOCs) enable learners to learn over distances. These courses also attract attentions in higher education. However, classroom virtualization generates problems, creates distraction for students. MOOCs have provided an individualized learning opportunity in the sense that the cognitive style affects learning. This study aims at exploring the differences of students’ attention levels and learning effectiveness perceived affected by different cognitive styles within a MOOC learning environment. Brainwave detection equipment was used to carry out a teaching experiment among junior university students who were enrolled in a course about the Internet of Things. Results revealed that: (1) learners who have independent verbal, independent imagery, and dependent imagery types of cognitive styles, learning effectiveness are significantly better in the MOOC learning environment compared to traditional PowerPoint-based teaching; (2) in the MOOC learning environment, learners who have dependent verbal type of cognitive style would have significantly better attentional levels than those who have the dependent imagery type of cognitive style; (3) attention levels among learners who have the independent verbal type of cognitive style were highly positively correlated with learning effectiveness. It also implies that learners who have the independent verbal type of cognitive style benefit greatly to learn in the MOOC environment. For those learners who have the dependent verbal type of cognitive style are the last to benefit to learn in the MOOC teaching environment.
Children’s development of verbal number skills (i.e., counting abilities
and knowledge of the number names) presents a milestone in
mathematical development. Different factors such as visuo-spatial
and verbal abilities have been discussed as contributing to the
development of these foundational skills. To understand the cognitive
nature of verbal number skills in young children, the current
study assessed the relation of preschoolers’ verbal and visuospatial
abilities to their verbal number skills. In total, 141 children
aged 5 or 6 years participated in the current study. Verbal number
skills were regressed on vocabulary, phonological awareness and
visuo-spatial abilities, and verbal and visuo-spatial working memory
in a structural equation model. Only visuo-spatial abilities
emerged as a significant predictor of verbal number skills in the
estimated model. Our results suggest that visuo-spatial abilities
contribute to a larger extent to children’s verbal number skills than
verbal abilities. From a theoretical point of view, these results suggest
a visuo-spatial, rather than a verbal, grounding of verbal number
skills. These results are potentially informative for the
conception of early mathematics assessments and interventions.
Background:
Although spatial ability and mathematics performance are highly correlated, there is scant research on the extent to which spatial ability training can improve mathematics performance.
Aims:
This study evaluated the efficacy of a visuospatial intervention programme within classrooms to determine the effect on students' (1) spatial reasoning and (2) mathematics performance as a result of the intervention.
Sample:
The study involved grade six students (ages 10-12) in eight classes. There were five intervention classes (n = 120) and three non-intervention control classes (n = 66).
Methods:
A specifically designed 10-week spatial reasoning programme was developed collaboratively with the participating teachers, with the intervention replacing the standard mathematics curriculum. The five classroom teachers in the intervention programme presented 20 hr of activities aimed at enhancing students' spatial visualization, mental rotation, and spatial orientation skills.
Results:
The spatial reasoning programme led to improvements in both spatial ability and mathematics performance relative to the control group who received standard mathematics instruction.
Conclusions:
Our study is the first to show that a classroom-based spatial reasoning intervention improves elementary school students' mathematics performance.
Cognitive styles are characteristic and stable ways in which people acquire, organize and use information for solving problems and making decisions. Field dependence/independence is one of the most studied cognitive styles. Field independent subjects are characterized by having less difficulty in separating information from its contextual surroundings and being less likely to be influenced by external cues than field dependent individuals. The present work aimed at studying the influence of field dependence/independence cognitive style on consumers' visual processing and choice of yogurt labels. One hundred and thirty three consumers completed a choice conjoint task. They were asked to select their preferred yogurt label from each of 16 pairs of labels. While they completed the task their eye movements were recorded using an eye-tracker. Then, consumers were asked to complete the Group Embedded Figure Test to determine their cognitive style. Consumers were divided into two groups with different cognitive styles: 58% of the sample was characterized as field dependent and 42% as field independent. When making their choices, field dependent consumers tended to engage in less thoughtful information processing than field independent consumers and they made fewer fixations on traditional nutritional information. Besides, cognitive style significantly affected the relative importance of fat and sugar content on consumer choices and modulated the influence of the traffic light system. Field dependent consumers gave less importance to the nutritional composition of the yogurts than field independent consumers for selecting their preferred label. Results from this work suggest that studying the psychological underpinnings of consumers' decision making process when selecting food products has a great potential to contribute to a better understanding of how eating patterns and consumer preferences are shaped.
Students approach problem solving in fundamentally different ways. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships of certain cognitive variables to problem-solving performance. Cognitive restructuring, spatial ability, reading comprehension, and mathematical story problem tests presented in a regular verbiage, low verbiage, and drawn formats were given to students in grades 3-7. The reading comprehension test correlated higher with problem-solving measures than did the cognitive restructuring or spatial ability tests. Using a repeated measures design, interactions between problem formats and a cognitive restructuring test and between problem formats and reading comprehension were found. In both cases, a drawn format was better for students scoring on the low end of the scales. Contrary to what was predicted, low verbiage problems were not helpful.
Students' approaches to mathematical problem solving vary greatly. In particular, variations appear for those approaches which require conceptual understanding and visual ways of solutions. The main objective of the current study is to compare students' performance with different cognitive styles (Convergent vs. Divergent) upon mathematical pictorial problem solving. A sample of 93 third year undergraduate mathematics students were tested according to Hudson's test together with one mathematics examination done. Results obtained support the hypothesis that students with divergent cognitive styles show higher performance than convergent ones in pictorial problems. The implications of these results on teaching and setting problems emphasize that pictorial problems and the cognitive predictor variable (Convergent/ Divergent) could be challenging and a rather distinctive factor for students.
Past research has demonstrated that field dependence-independence (FDI) can affect academic performance, selective attention, and working memory. However, the underlying mechanism of how FDI modulates selective attention and working memory is still unclear. Using event-related potential (ERP) techniques, specifically with the contralateral delay activity (CDA), the present study found that the correct response rates and CDA amplitudes in the 2-item and 2-item-2-distractor conditions were comparable for field independent (FI) participants. Field dependent (FD) participants performed worse, and the CDA amplitude was enhanced when distractors appeared. These results indicated that FI participants can filter out task-irrelevant information more efficiently than FD participants. The main difference between FD and FI individuals is their inhibition function.
This article reviews the relevant literature in the area of cognitive style as it impacts on individual, vocational and organizational learning. The focus is applied to one specific, well-documented dimension of cognitive style, which has been researched and written about for almost 30 years. This is the domain of field dependence-field independence: a concept that relates to the relatively persuasive way individual learners acquire, structure and process information. It concerns how people perceive, think, solve problems and learn. This approach to cognitive style or so it has been claimed, has implications for the effectiveness of individual and organisational learning. Consequently, the available literature in this area was examined to review the development of current thinking about this concept, as well as to describe and critically evaluate the implications of the outcomes of theory and research in this area for vocational education and training.
Introduction
Les recherches sur la dépendance-indépendance à l’égard du champ visuel (DIC) sont nombreuses. En effet, la DIC a souvent été étudiée en relation avec le facteur g ou encore avec la personnalité. Cependant, l’étude des relations entre la DIC, le facteur g et les stratégies de résolution sont beaucoup plus rares.
Objectif
L’objectif de cette recherche est d’étudier, dans un premier temps, la relation DIC-facteur g et, dans un second temps, d’expliquer cette relation par l’intermédiaire de l’étude des stratégies.
Méthode
Cent soixante-dix sujets, âges de 14 ans, ont passé trois épreuves : le GEFT, le D70 et une épreuve de facteur g permettant l’évaluation des stratégies utilisées.
Résultats
Les résultats permettent de confirmer le lien habituel entre DIC et facteur g, et d’expliquer ce résultat par l’utilisation plus massive des stratégies les plus efficaces.
Styles cognitifs et recherches ‘interculturelles. — L'utilisation, dans les recherches interculturelles, des données, concepts et méthodes relevant du “style cognitif” (mode de fonctionnement caractérisant un individu dans ses activités perceptives et intellectuelles) présente un grand nombre d'avantages méthodologiques. Comme le démontrent les nombreuses études qui ont été consacrées à un style cognitif privilégié qui correspond à la dimension “global-articulé”, les styles cognitifs sont fondamentaux dans L'étude du développement; ils peuvent être mesurés par des techniques objectives; les tests utilisables peuvent être appliqués avec validité et ils ont un sens pour des populations qui sont de niveau mental tout à fait différent; ils ont été conçus en relation avec des manières particulières d'élever les enfants, de telle sorte qu'ils peuvent servir à identifier les résultats de ces méthodes dans L'étude comparative des schèmes de socialisation. Les mêmes relations entre les premières expériences familiales et les différences inter-individuelles au long du continuum “global-articulé” qui avaient été originellement observées dans des milieux occidentaux, L'ont été également dans des milieux non occidentaux. De plus, on a trouvé dans le style cognitif modal de certains groupes non occidentaux, les différences qu'on avait pu prédire sur la base des différences observées dans la manière d'élever les enfants. La fréquence des différences dues au sexe en matière de style “articulé” ou “global” dans un grand nombre de cultures, amène à penser que L'étude du rôle que joue le sexe dans le développement cognitif pourrait être une voie féconde pour la recherche interculturelle.
This study focused on the influence of field dependence-independence on the development of formal operational thought during early adolescence. The Group Embedded Figures Test and three paper-and-pencil logical reasoning tests involving second-order operations were administered to 450 sixth, seventh, and eighth grade boys and girls. The results showed that the relationships between field dependence-independence and formal operational reasoning abilities were due largely to their common overlap with IQ. The findings are discussed in terms of the acquisition and utilization of formal thought structures.
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.
La dépendance/indépendance à l'égard du champ (DIC) a été initialement conçue comme une dimension neutre de style cognitif;
les sujets dépendants du champ étaient considérés aussi bien adaptés à leur environnement que les sujets indépendants du champ.
Par la suite les auteurs ont cependant remis en cause ce postulat de neutralité du fait que les sujets indépendants du champ
ont en général de meilleures performances dans certaines tâches cognitives de tels constats ont suscité de l'intérêt pour
les répercussions possibles de la DIC en éducation. Les auteurs font une revue des recherches sur les effets possibles de
la DIC sur la réussite scolaire. En général, les sujets indépendants ont de meilleures performances que les sujets dépendants,
que l'évaluation porte sur des disciplines spécifiques ou qu'elle soit générale. Les auteurs discutent les explications possibles
de ces différences de performance.
This study was performed to examine the relationships among intelligence, field dependence, sex role, and mathematics achievement, and involved 287 college students. In addition, information was gathered on subjects' mathematics background. Although the number of mathematics courses taken and intelligence were the two best predictors of mathematics achievement, other variables were found to have indirect contributions. Path analysis revealed that field dependence and sex role affected mathematics achievement by influencing the number of mathematics courses taken by students while in high school and college.