Psychology of Scientist: XXXIII. Cognitive Style Differences between Science and Non-Science Faculty and Students

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Abstract
Jackson's shortened form of Witkin's Embedded Figures Test was individually administered to 24 undergraduate male students and 24 male university faculty to assess their level of field dependence. One half of the faculty and student groups specialized in science, while the remaining half were non-science oriented. It was hypothesized that both students and faculty specializing in the sciences would exhibit greater field independence than the non-science groups. It was further hypothesized that this difference would be more pronounced between science and non-science faculty groups than between similar student groups. A 2 × 2 analysis of variance gave a significant main effect for field of study, with science-oriented individuals exhibiting a high degree of field independence. However, individual comparisons indicated a significant difference between science and non-science groups occurred only with the faculty. The results were discussed in terms of the relationship between cognitive style, field of study, and the possibility of selective screening during academic training.

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