The effects of socio-economic status, father's absence, family size, and birth order on the field dependence of Grade 6 elementary school children in Jamaica, West Indies, were examined. To 206 boys and 212 girls from 5 urban schools the Hidden Figures Test and a questionnaire were administered. For girls, but not for boys, field independence correlated significantly and positively with socio-economic status, but significantly and negatively with father's absence. No significant relation existed for the boys. Field dependence had no significant relation with family size and birth order.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BarclayA.CusumanoD. R.Father absence, cross-sex identity, and field-dependent behavior in male adolescents. Child Development, 1967, 38, 243–250.
2.
ClarkeE.My mother who fathered me. London: Allen & Unwin, 1957.
3.
KerrM.Personality and conflict in Jamaica. Liverpool: Liverpool Univer. Press, 1952.
4.
MillerE. L.A study of body image, its relationship to self concept, anxiety and certain social and physical variables in a selected group of Jamaican adolescents. Unpublished M.A. thesis, Univer. of the West Indies, 1967.
5.
MillerG. W.Factors in school achievement and social class, Journal of Educational Psychology, 1970, 61, 260–261.
6.
MitchelmoreM.The perceptual development of Jamaican students, with special reference to visualization and drawing of three-dimensional geometrical figures and the effects of spatial training. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, Ohio State Univer., 1974.
7.
RosenB. C.Family structure and achievement motivation. American Sociological Review, 1961, 26, 575–585.
8.
ShermanJ. A.Field articulation, sex, spatial visualization, dependency, practice, laterality of the brain and birth order. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 1974, 38, 1223–1235.
9.
VernonP. E.Intelligence and cultural environment. London: Methuen, 1969.
10.
WitkinH. A.DykR. B.FatersonH. F.GoodenoughD. R.KarpS. A.Psychological differentiation: Studies of development. Potomac, Md.: Lawrence Erlbaum Assoc., 1974. (Reprint)
11.
WitkinH. A.GoodenoughD. R.KarpS. A.Stability of cognitive style from childhood to young adulthood. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1967, 7, 291–300.
12.
WitkinH. A.LewisH. B.HertzmanM.MachoverK.MeissnerP. B.WapnerS.Personality through perception: An experimental and clinical study. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1972. (Reprint)
