Field dependence-independence (FDI) cognitive style: The influence in memory tasks

Abstract

Reflecting the concerns arising from the professional teaching practice, in this study it is our intention to try to understand the differences of the students in their learning and school achievement. Whereas the predictive value of Cognitive Style FDI (Field Dependence-Independence) in the success or failure of schools, it was our goal to check if the subject with different cognitive styles feature differences in the performance in tests involving encoding processes, storage and retrieval of information. Our study sample consists of two groups of students with different age levels. The first group consists of (N = 98), 98 children aged 8 and 9 years of age, students of the 3rd and 4th years of schooling respectively; the second group comprises (N = 95), 95 teenagers aged between 13 and 14 years, students of 7 and 8 grades. Once evaluated the Cognitive Style FDI of the two groups, through the tests: "EFT" and "CEFT" respectively, teenagers and children, we proceed to the evaluation of Memory tasks. The instruments used were: (i) a copy of the Rey Complex Figure Test (memory test) and (ii) Spanish Verbal Learning Test-Complutense Children (SVLT-CC). We concluded that the differences between students in FD, intermediate and FI, at any age, don't relate to the amount of information retained or stored but with the differences in frequency of use of strategies of learning organization that do point out the differences in their learning processes.