Abstract
Research on psychological differentiation and psychopathology has indicated that both extremes of differentiation are found in clinical populations. Previous research found that subjects with over-ideational or delusional symptomatology are likely to be field-independent. It was predicted that college students with high scores on measures of Perceptual Aberration and Magical Ideation, particularly those also high on Impulsive Nonconformity, would receive higher scores than control subjects on the Group Embedded Figures Test, a measure of differentiation. It was also predicted that subjects receiving high scores on Physical Anhedonia would show lower differentiation than controls. The results did not support these predictions, calling into question the relevance of the field dependence/independence construct to schizotypal symptoms. Findings are also discussed in terms of the possible heterogeneity of the Perceptual Aberration and Magical Ideation groups, restriction of range in samples of nonclinical subjects with schizotypal experiences, and problems in the measurement of cognitive style.
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