A New Procedure for Determining Components of Field Dependency

Abstract

Rod-and-frame component scores can be derived from an over-all deviation score which measures direction and amount of rod tilt from vertical. Nyborg (1974) presented one procedure for deriving component scores, another procedure is presented here. This procedure is appropriate to determine whether the rod or the frame is used as a predominant and consistent cue for verticality. Also, rod-and-frame test data are presented as a function of performance on a backward digit-span test. The over-all result can be described as an interaction of complex field-dependency category by sex. The constant error component may complicate this interaction. The results show that there are several kinds of field dependencies and that one kind of field dependency may have a different meaning for men and women.