Field dependence and stimulus complexity in a figure copying task

Field dependence is often associated with studies of cognitive style from Witkin's laboratory but Piaget also considered the concept a fundamental factor in the development of visuoperceptual analysis. Assessment has traditionally relied on two measures, the Rod-and-Frame Test and the Embedded Figures Test. A new task was developed, based on the Rod-and-Frame Test, in which a target stimulus is drawn within a misleading frame. Misleading frames significantly influenced the orientation of drawings created by 36 kindergartners in Exp. 1, and the drawing of more complex stimulus figures was influenced by the frames for a group of 65 adults in Exp. 2. Field-dependent behavior is related to the complexity of the task and to age. The correlation of scores on the Embedded Figures Test with performance on this task was low for both groups.