Cautionary Note on Measurement of Field Independence

Abstract

A proliferation of measures currently are used in studies dealing with Witkin's field-independence construct; many of these bear little resemblance to Witkin's original operationalizations. To examine the relationships among several of the most frequently used measures (RFT, various EFTs, Kohs Blocks, Draw-a-Person), 122 rs were obtained from 40 studies in which two or more of the measures in question had been employed. It was observed that, while the measures do share some variance, the amount is generally quite low. What any one test measures is not reflected to a great extent by any other. Thus, the indiscriminate use of tests which “resemble” Witkin's original measures is unwarranted and conceptually dangerous. Future studies should preferably be based on a combined use of the RFT and either Witkin's original EFT or Jackson's shortened version thereof.