EDUCATION POSITION OR POLICY Some aspects of field-dependence in young children

This paper presents a study which investigated the relationship between field-dependence, perceptual egocentrism, and inductive reasoning in 53 kindergarten children. The general objective of the study wa3 to assess the validity of the field-dependence measures in early childhood. Field-dependence was found to relate positively with perceptual egocentrism and inductive reasoning, however the field-dependence measures employed showed only moderate correlations with each other. Factor analysis and the absence of sex differences gave little support for the construct validity of the field-dependence measures. The usefulness of field-dependence as a meaningful construct in describing perceptual development in young children was considered doubtful. (Author/CS