From+Johnson's+dissertation

// Field independence & field dependence  // The concept of field independence and field dependence was first proposed by Witkin in 1954. In his studies, he investigated human’s self-consistency in perception can be differentiated as field-of-a-whole (field dependence) and part-of-a-field (field independence). In order to realize the difference between these two types of perceptions, Witkin designed several experiments in three approaches (tests of space orientation, tests of body action, and perceptual test). For tests of space orientation, the most well-known is the rod-and-frame test. In this test, the visual field is completely dark except for a glowing and moveable rod and luminous and tilted frame that can be turned clockwise and counterclockwise. The participant’s task is to place this glowing and moveable rod in a true perpendicular position. Comparing with field dependent persons who easily align the rod with the frame margins, part-of-a-field (field independent) individuals are much more successful at placing the rod vertically, because their perceptions have the strong emphasis on “keeping-item-and-field-separate” (p.36). For field-of-a-whole (field dependent) persons, their perception will be influenced by the rotating frame and can not fully separate the rod (item) from the frame (field). For tests of body action, researchers conducted the body-adjustment test. In this test, the room could be rotated by researchers and participants sitting in a rotating chair. The subjects’ tasks is try to align their body as a perpendicular situation with the ground. If persons can better keep their body vertically, they are more field independent. On the contrary, if persons try to move their body to match the rotating room, they are more field dependent. The embedded figures test (EFT) or group embedded figures test (GEFT) is a typical perceptual test. In this test, each complex figure includes an embedded simple figure. The participant’s task is to identify the embedded figure located inside the complex diagram as quickly as possible. Field independent persons spend less time identifying the embedded graph than field dependent persons (Witkin et al., 1962). Field independence (FI) and field dependence (FD) has been studied in the context of cognitive styles as well. Witkin & Moore (1974) defined cognitive styles as “the individual’s way of handling a wide range of perceptual and intellectual tasks” (p. 2). They proposed that individuals can be categorizes as two types of cognitive styles, field independence and field dependence. For field independent persons, no matter how strong the outside field is organized, their perceptions are totally isolated and independent from the outside environment. For field dependent persons, their perception is highly broad, because they are easily guided by outer surroundings. For example, field dependent individuals have stronger social sensitivity and easily develop social skills. Field independent subjects are more likely to be interested in impersonal and abstract affairs within a specific environment. Based on the Witkin’s theory, Garger and Guild (1984) illustrated persons’ learning styles as field dependent and field independent and summarized the major characteristics for each learning style. Table 1 showed the difference between field dependence and field independence in learning styles.

Table 1 // The Difference between Field Dependence (FD) and Field Independence (FI) in Learning Styles (Garger & Guild, 1984) // Field dependence || Field independence || Perceives globally. || Perceives analytically. || Experiences in a global fashion, adheres to structures as given. || Experiences in an articulate fashion, imposes structures of restrictions. || Makes broad general distinctions among concepts, sees relationships. || Makes specific concept distinctions, little overlap. || Social orientation. || Impersonal orientation. || Learns material with social content best. || Learns social material only as an intentional task. || Attends best to material relevant to own experience. || Interested in new concepts for their own sake. || Requires externally defined goals and reinforcements. || Has self-defined goals and reinforcements. || Table 1 (//continued//) // The Difference between Field Dependence (FD) and Field Independence (FI) in Learning Styles (Garger & Guild, 1984)// Field dependence || Field independence || Needs organization provided. || Can self-structure situations. || More affected by criticism. || Less affected by criticism. || Uses spectator approach for concept attainment. || Uses hypothesis-testing approach to attain concepts. ||
 * Learning styles ** ||
 * Learning styles ** ||
 * Learning Styles ** ||
 * Learning Styles ** ||