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Abstract

The aim of the present study is to test two hypotheses, (1) Witkin and Goodenough's 1982 assumption that participation in a structured physical activity increases field-independence and (2) that subjects characterized by high field-independence would show greater gains than subjects with high field-dependence on ice hockey skills. An adaptation of Oltman, Raskin, and Witkin's Group Embedded Figures Test (GEFT) was given to measure field-dependency and standardized tests were used to evaluate the players' skill. An experimental group of 26 boys (M = 11.27 yr.) were members of an ice hockey training program; 18 boys of a control group (M = 11.93 yr.) participated in no programmed physical activity. A pretest (field-dependency and skill) was administered 21 weeks prior to the posttest; no significant differences were found for scores on embedded figures between groups; Witkin and Goodenough's hypothesis was not supported, but field-independent subjects tended to learn more.

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Effect of Structured Ice Hockey Training on Scores on Field-Dependence/Independence

Abstract

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