Date of Award
5-1979
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department
Psychology
Abstract
This study dealt with the particular cognitive style known as field-independence and field-dependence as an influential factor upon the number of words recalled from categorized and uncategorized lists of words across three trials. After being tested for cognitive style using Witkin's Group Embedded Figures Test, 6 subjects from each of three identified styles, field-independent, medium, and field-dependent, were given a related (categorized) list of words while 6 different subjects from each of the cognitive styles were given an unrelated (uncategorized) list of words. Each word list was presented three times with recall after each trial for every subject being recorded. An analysis of variance, analyses of simple effects, and Newman Kuels' multiple range tests all indicated that all subjects in all groups recalled a relatively equal number of words on the categorized word list, but on the uncategorized list, field-independent people recalled a significantly greater number of words than field-dependent people. But field-independent subjects did not use subjective organization, as measured by Tulving' s formula, more than field-dependent subjects. It was postulated that with more than 3 trials, the use of subjective organization by the field-independent group might have become apparent.
Recommended Citation
King, Lynda L., "Field dependence and recall of related and unrelated lists of words" (1979). Master's Theses. 427.
https://scholarship.richmond.edu/masters-theses/427