Field Dependence Independence

The papers presented in this volume seek to illuminate relationships among the cognitive style of field dependence- independence and biological, psychological, and sociocultural aspects of human functioning across the life span. The book begins by addressing fundamental issues concerning the role of cognitive style in human development. The remainder of the text treats cognitive style in relation to biological, psychological, and sociocultural functioning. Also included is a summary of directions for future research.

The papers presented in this volume seek to illuminate relationships among the cognitive style of field dependence- independence and biological, psychological, and sociocultural aspects of human functioning across the life span. The book begins by addressing fundamental issues concerning the role of cognitive style in human development. The remainder of the text treats cognitive style in relation to biological, psychological, and sociocultural functioning. Also included is a summary of directions for future research.

First published in 1985. This volume contains papers presented at two symposia in honor and memory of the late Herman A. Witkin. One symposium, Style in Cognition and Culture, was organized by Seymour Wapner and took place at the Eastern Psychological Association Meetings in Hartford, Connecticut, April 11, 1980. The second symposium, La Dipendenza dal Campo, was organized by Mario Bertini and Luigi Pizzamiglio and took place at the Institute of Psychology, University of Rome, Italy, November 28-29, 1980.

In this groundbreaking handbook, more than 60 internationally respected authorities explore the interface between intelligence and personality by bringing together a wide range of potential integrative links drawn from theory, research, measurements, and applications.

This book has been in the making since my days at Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, in the Faculty of Education. I had always wanted to produce a book that is small and easy enough to read and yet succinct to meet the needs of the undergraduate or graduate students in Education who are preparing for their sessional exams! The book has undergone considerable revisions to meet that target goal. In part these revisions have been necessitated by the geometric increase in our knowledge of general psychology, as well as science, in the last two decades. This is to say nothing of the psychology of learning. The increase in our knowledge- base has further been doubled by the new technology of the Internet. Some have even argued that, the availability of the Internet has rendered the publishing of such books redundant. However, I’m convinced that books would continue to play a central role in our lives for the foreseeable future. I had wanted to include most of the material that psychologists subsume under the heading of learning. I have tried to include important topics as well as new developments in the field that I believe an undergraduate student will find useful. Also included are “cultural Implications”, which are applications of the general topic in a classroom setting in the relevant culture.