Psychology
in
the
Schools
Volume
26,
January 1989
MEASUREMENT CHARACTERISTICS OF
THE FINDING EMBEDDED FIGURES TEST
JANET
G.
MELANCON
Loyola University
of
the South
BRUCE THOMPSON
University of New Orleans
and
LSU
Medical Center
The study investigated the measurement characteristics of both forms of a multiple
choice measure
of
field independence: the Finding Embedded Figures Test. Subjects
(n
=
302)
completed both forms of the FEFT
or
one form of the FEFT and the Group
Embedded Figures Test. Item performance was evaluated by computing classical item
difficulty and item-by-total-score correlation coefficients; FEFT-by-GEFT concurrent
validity correlation coefficients; and test-retest and alpha reliability coefficients. Results
suggest that the FEFT forms provide reasonably reliable and valid data.
In the years immediately following World War 11, Herman A. Witkin and his col-
leagues performed a series of historically important studies (e.g., Witkin, 1949) involv-
ing stylistic variations in perceptions of visual stimuli. These initial studies investigated
variations in ability to perceive the upright in the absence of normally-available orient-
ing stimuli. Witkin, Moore, Goodenough, and Cox (1977, pp.3-4) present photographs
of
the apparati used in these early “rod-and-frame” and “body-adjustment” tests.
Heesacker (1981) presents a summary of the early years of this important research, and
of the antecedents of the work dating back to the previous century (Jastrow, 1892).
Witkin’s early work led to the development
of
the theory of psychological differen-
tiation and the delineation
of
a
cognitive style that has come to be called field in-
dependence/dependence (Goodenough
&
Witkin, 1977, pp.2-3).
As
Witkin (1979, p.359)
explains:
We designate the tendency to rely on the self as a primary referent in information
processing as a field-independent mode of functioning and the tendency to rely on
external referents as
a
field-dependent mode
of
functioning. These tendencies find
widespread expression in an individual’s perception, intellectual, and social activities.
Persons who tend to operate on the field independence (FI) end
of
this cognitive style
continuum tend to perceive themselves as more segregated from their environments;
these persons tend to be more analytical in their abilities and interests.
Persons who tend to operate on the field dependence (FD) end of the contiuum,
on the other hand, tend to be less able either to distinguish among or to reorganize stimuli.
More field dependent persons also tend to be more social in their abilities and interests.
Thus, more field dependent persons have a greater preference to be with people (Bard,
1972; Coates, Lord,
&
Jakobovics, 1975) and may be more popular with their peers
(Wong, 1976). Similarly, more field dependent persons may be more attentive to social
cues (Eagle, Goldberger,
&
Breitman, 1969; Fitzgibbons
&
Goldberger, 1971; Ruble
&
Nakamura, 1972) and may even prefer to be physically closer to other people (Holley,
1972; Justice, 1969). In summary, as Jacobs and Gedeon (1982, p.19) explain:
Field independent persons are those who tend to process information with greater
isolation from their environment. Thus, they have been shown to have less sen-
Send reprint requests to Bruce Thompson, College of Education, University
of
New Orleans, New Orleans,
LA
70148.
69