Field Dependence and Differences between Visual and Verbal Learning Tasks

Abstract

50 female undergraduate students were administered 2 paired-associate learning tasks (verbal and visual) and assigned on the basis of their scores on the rod-and-frame test to extreme field-dependent and field-independent groups. No significant difference was found between the two groups on the visuo-perceptive paired-associate tests. Compared to the field-independent Ss, however, the field-dependent Ss showed significant impairment on the verbal task ( U = 18, p < .01). These findings are discussed in terms of possible dominant (left) cerebral hemisphere involvement in field dependency.