Field Independence and Concept Formation

Abstract

Thirty men and 26 women were tested on Witkin's adaptation of the Gottschaldt Embedded Figures Test and on the Shipley Hartford Scale. Results showed that field independent men and women scored significantly higher than the field dependent men and women on the Shipley Abstraction Scale but not on the Shipley Verbal Scale. The findings were interpreted as supporting the hypothesis that field independence is an asset on tests that require perceptual concept formation (the abstraction of elements and relations from things rather than from words) although other studies have found that it was not beneficial on tests that require verbal concept formation (the abstraction of elements and relations from words rather than from things).