Do confusing information and egocentric instructions influence perception?
In an investigation of psychological differentiation, Witkin's personality dimension, 12 field-dependent and 12 field-independent students were selected from a population of college men in summerschool based on their Embedded Figures Test scores. They were assigned to conditions, given egocentric or gravitational instructions, and provided clarified or obscuring feedback about their performance on the Rod and Frame Test. Although instructions had no effect, students with clarified feedback performed better than those whose feedback was confusing. Field-independent men had less difficulty with the confusing feedback than did field-dependent men.
D000328:Adult; D004193:Discrimination Learning; D005246:Feedback; D005260:Female; D005364:Field Dependence-Independence; D005556:Form Perception; D006801:Humans; D012718:Set, Psychology