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Dissertation Information for Michael John Streibel

NAME:
- Michael John Streibel

DEGREE:
- Ph.D.

DISCIPLINE:
- Education

SCHOOL:
- University of Wisconsin, Madison (USA) (1980)

ADVISORS:
- None

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
- None

MPACT Status: Incomplete - Not_Inspected

Title: THE ROLE OF STIMULUS SIZE ON PERFORMANCE IN THE EMBEDDED-FIGURES-TEST AND IN THE ROD-AND-FRAME-TEST AND THE IMPLICATIONS OF THIS ROLE FOR THE FIELD-DEPENDENCE - INDEPENDENCE CONSTRUCT

Abstract: "Three experiments were performed in which sixteen, twenty-four, and thirty-six male and female college students, respectively, were exposed to two sizes of the standard Witkin Embedded-Figures-Test (EFT). In the third experiment, all subjects were also exposed to two sizes of the Rod-and-Frame-Test (RFT). Field-dependence in the EFT was measured as an average, speed/accuracy, disembedding response time of six figures for each size, whereas in the RFT, field-dependence was measured as a signed, average deviation in degrees of a luminous line in the presence of a tilted outline-frame from the perceived upright in a no-frame condition.

In the first experiment, the physical size of the EFT changed from 1 to 4 (i.e., where the size of the standard Witkin EFT was taken as unity). A non-significant size-effect was found for all subjects as a group, and, a significant rank correlation was found between the performances on the two sizes of the EFT. However, field-dependent subjects (i.e., FD Ss or the slowest third of the distribution) and field-independent subjects (i.e., FI Ss or the fastest third) on the smaller-sized EFT tended to move towards a common value in their EFT performance as the stimulus-size increased.

In the second experiment, the physical size of the EFT changed from 1 to 8. A non-significant, overall size effect was again found but the EFT performance of FI and FD Ss interacted significantly with the size factor according to the same trend as in experiment 1. FI Ss, in effect, became significantly more field-dependent, and FD Ss became significantly more field-independent, as the size of the EFT increased by a factor of eight. Finally, a non-significant rank correlation was found between the performances of all subjects on the two sizes of the EFT.

In the third experiment, the physical size of the EFT changed from 1 to 8 and the physical size of the RFT changed from 1 to 4.5. A significant stimulus size-effect was found in the EFT with all subjects becoming more field-independent. A significant stimulus size-effect was also found in the RFT, but here, all subjects became more field-dependent. Non-significant Pearson correlation coefficients, Spearman rank correlation co-efficients, and median tests between the two sizes of the EFT and the RFT were found. It was therefore concluded that the two tests might not be measuring a common variable called perceptual style by Witkin. Finally, the EFT performance of FI and FD Ss again displayed a significant interaction with the size of the embedded figures. A series of questions about the size-preferences and the disembedding processing-strategies on the EFT indicated that not only did FI Ss prefer the small figures (whereas FD Ss preferred the large figures) but they also tended to look for entire gestalts during the disembedding task (whereas FD Ss tended to look for parts of the intended figures). A parallel-serial processing-styles hypothesis was proposed to account for the EFT data.

The present experiments were taken as a first step in an experimental re-examination of the interaction between learner aptitudes (i.e., perceptual style) and the information-processing requirements of a learning task. As such, they focused on perceptual, rather than symbolic, disembedding of visual information and underscored the importance of perception as the first stage of learning from visuals. The present experiments have clear implications for educational technology researchers. First, the EFT and the RFT are not necessarily interchangeable measures of perceptual and cognitive style. Second, researchers need to avoid using one size of figures in the EFT to measure a subject's perceptual style and then using another size of visual figures in their instructional treatment. Finally, when the size of the EFT gets large enough, the EFT may no longer discriminate between subjects who have traditionally been labelled field-dependent and field-independent."

MPACT Scores for Michael John Streibel

A = 0
C = 1
A+C = 1
T = 0
G = 0
W = 0
TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2009-05-15 08:13:34

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