The Relationship between the Cognitive Style of Field Independence/Field Dependence and the Visual Selective Attention Abilities in Kindergarten Children

Abstract

This study investigated the relationship between visual selective attention and the cognitive style of field independence/dependence in 20 kindergarten children. The students were given a visual selective attention task to determine which students were in the visual selective attention stage. Two groups of ten students each were formed; those students who were in the visual selective attention stage and those who were not. Next, students from both groups were given the Children's Embedded Figures Test (CEFT) to determine field independence/dependence. Results were correlated using the Pearson Product Moment Correlation. Visual selective attention and field independence/dependence were found to be significantly correlated (r = .633; p = .01). The r2 was .400 showing that 40% of the variation on the visual attention task is shared by the CEFT. Implications for future research and classroom practice were discussed.