Field Dependence and Schema Utilization during Recall: Cognitive Process or Attitude?

Abstract

The presence of a schema in a text promotes the comprehension and recall of the information it contains. The ability to extract a schema out of a text depends on the field independence of the subject. Thus field-independent subjects recall better the elements of a text that can be organized according to a schema than field-dependent subjects. The purpose of this experiment was to check whether the fact of guiding field-dependent subjects toward an activity of search and utilization of the schema, thanks to adequate instruction, would allow them to perform as well as field-independent subjects. 192 7th graders in three Poitiers junior high schools were subdivided into 4 groups. Some pupils had to read a text with schema and others without schema, and they were given either an instruction prompting them to search for a schema and use it (modified instruction) or no instruction (normal instruction). The intellectual and reading level as well as the reading time were neutralized. The results show that, when the text is subtended by a schema, the number of target words correctly recalled varies with field independence for whatever instruction. Moreover, in the situation without schema, the correlation between field-dependent and field-independent subjects’ recall scores almost equals zero with normal instruction but is positive and significant with the modified instruction. The conclusion is that the field-independent subjects’ superiority is related to a specific cognitive mode of functioning.