Field dependent and independent cognitive style.

A very influential research based conceptualization of cognitive style produced the so-called field dependent/independent cognitive style (Witkin, Dyk, Paterson, Goodenough & Karp, 1992). These cognitive styles have evolved from culture and are persuasive in determining predictable differences in a variety of psychological domains including perception, but also in attention to specific stimuli, attributions, and self-construal as interdependent or independent, and influence social categorization processes. Research on perception demonstrated that some subjects relied primarily on internal frames of reference whereas others consistently based their spatial orientation on external frames. From these early perceptual studies ongoing research has investigated the affect of cognitive style on cognition and social orientation. The field dependent subjects rely more on external sources of reference and tend to be more socially oriented. The field independent subjects look for reference cues within themselves and feel less drawn toward socially based behavior as a reference source for perception.

Researchers saw in this perceptual model the factors that explained important cross-cultural differences. For example, Witkin, Goodenough, and Oltman (1979) viewed bipolar cognitive style as affecting the relative autonomous functioning of people in society. The field dependent respondents are people who accept society as it is, whereas the field independent more broadly analyzes the eco-cultural context. Research supports the contention that the field dependent style affects a variety of psychological domains and is reliable over time and in a number of situations. In this context cognitive style refers not to the content of cognition, but rather to preferred ways of processing relevant information.

A significant amount of cross-cultural research has been completed on cognitive styles that are cognitive processors considered functional since they relate to selective adaptation (Berry, 1991). Research has established relationships between cognitive style and various ecological and cultural variables. For example field independence is thought more salient in hunting and gathering societies compared to agricultural communities, in nomadic versus sedentary groups, where population density is low compared to high, where the family structure is nuclear compared to extended, where social stratification is loose compared to tight, where socialization produce assertive behaviors rather than compliance, where western education is high versus low, and where wage employment is high versus low (Berry, Poortinga, Segall, & Dasen, 2007). In short the field independent cognitive style typically develops in an industrialized Western society where it is functional to survival, whereas sedentary societies with rigid social structures produce relatively more field dependence. Harsh family practices in sedentary non-European cultures are supported by a stronger emphasis on adherence to authority as a reference point for cultural behaviors. To argue that people are field dependent is to say that their cognition is more heavily influenced by the cultural context in thinking about or deciding their reaction to stimuli. On the other hand field independent people see themselves as separate from others and as living a distinct and independent existence and are therefore more autonomous in relationships with others. Berry (1976a) tested the field-independent/dependent construct in 18 subsistence societies and found support for the relationship of cognitive style to eco-cultural elements.

In summary field dependent respondents are more attentive to external aspects of learning including the cultural contexts and the specific instructions provided. Field independent learners on the other hand are more autonomous in solving problems and making learning-relevant decisions. Since the U.S educational settings promote student assertiveness students that develop a field independent cognitive style were more likely to achieve in this cultural context.

Date: 2015-01-11; view: 1309