Depth Picture Percepition in Relation to Cognitive Style and Training in Non-Western Children

Abstract

The present study tested hypotheses that non-Western subjects' difficulties in judging depth in linear pictures are a function of individual patterns of perceptual organization (operationally defined as cognitive style measured by tests of field dependence/independence), and that training in depth perception tasks or field independence would improve performance in both areas. Nigerian fourth graders (n = 172) were administered depth picture perception tasks and the Group Embedded Figures Test (GEFT) in a Stratified Random Assignment design. Subjects who were more field-independent scored higher on the depth picture perception test and gained more from training than relatively field-dependent subjects, as predicted. Perceptual training on the pictures generalized to the GEFT. Also, GEFT training resulted in improvements on both depth picture perception and GEFT posttests. Child-rearing practices that may increase field independence and subsequent depth picture are discussed.