Perceptual dependency, personality structure and organicity in the case of chronic alcoholics. A survey with Embedded...

To discover whether high scores in the Embedded Figures Test (EFT) akin to the Rod and Frame Test) with increased field dependency would predict organic decay in alcoholics, and whether field dependency/independence is reflected in projective material, 83 alcoholics were examined at the Tienen psychiatric clinic, 2/3 of them being aged between 25 and 45 years with a relatively short drinking history. The Benton, Grassi and Modified Word Learning Tests were used to measure possible organic decay, and correlated with Life as an Animal and the Embedded Figures Test to discover whether field dependency/independence expresses dependency/independence desire. In 77 % of cases, there is a drop in Grassi and Benton Scores when there is a drop in the EFT, proving that indeed field dependency is an indication of organicity, although verbal learnability remains undisturbed by a rise in the EFT. As EFT scores increases, so do dependency wishes, and there is a lack of strength to control one's situation as expressed in the Life as an Animal Test. The data also suggests that increased orality and dependence accompany organic deterioration.