Field-Dependence-Independence and Career Counseling: Directions for Research

This paper reviews relevant research concerning the utilization of Field-dependence-independence cognitive style in vocational decision-making as well as in implementation and adjustment of career choices. Need for further investigation is highlighted and how career interventions can be enriched by including cognitive style indicated. A test of cognitive styles offers complementary information to traditional career counseling but needs to be explicitly integrated into personal history, academic experiences, achievements, motivations, and vocational goals. New directions for research are offered.

Group Embedded Figures Test: Psychometric Data for a Sample of Accountants Compared with Student Norms

The study examined the performance of 124 practicing accountants on the Group Embedded Figures Test. Descriptive statistics and reliability measures for the sample of accountants were compared to previously published norms for samples of students. The accountants were significantly less field independent than two of the three samples of business students. Sex differences noted previously for liberal arts students were not observed for the accountants.

Selected Bibliography on Cognitive Styles: 1978-1982

A computer search, using descriptors from the thesauri of the Educational Resource Information Center (ERIC) and from the Psychological Abstracts, yielded a total of 159 published references on various cognitive styles. This endeavor spanned a 4-yr. period from 1978 to 1982. An organizational structure was imposed on this listing to facilitate meaningful retrieval. References were alphabetically and chronologically grouped under relevant subject headings.

Group Embedded Figures Test: Psychometric Data for a Sample of Canadian Undergraduate Business Students

The Group Embedded Figures Test was administered to a group of 150 Canadian senior undergraduates in business administration. Distribution characteristics, sex differences, reliability, and internal consistency measures for this group were compared to previously published norms for samples of USA students.

Students' Performance in Accounting: Differential Effect of Field Dependence-Independence as a Learning Style

This study examined the differential moderating effects associated with field dependence-independence and perceptions of stress on students' performance after controlling for SAT Mathematics and Verbal scores as well as students' actual effort on homework. The average performance of 178 third-year accounting majors over three examinations was used to evaluate their understanding of financial accounting. The students also took the Group Embedded Figures Test. While the data indicate that the most significant variables were students' effort, SAT Verbal scores, and their perceptions of stress, these variables were differentially associated with students' performance depending upon whether the student was classified as a field-independent or field-dependent learner.

Public accountants' field dependence: Canadian evidence

The cognitive styles of 113 practicing, professional accountants from Nova Scotia, Canada were examined using the Group Embedded Figures Test. They completed a demographic survey for descriptive information as well as their rank in the firm and preferred area of professional practice. Analysis suggested professional accountants tend to be more analytical than intuitive in cognitive style and, consistent with recent findings in other fields, men and women in accounting do not appear to be different in cognitive style. No statistically significant differences were found on the embedded figures scores across ranks of trainee, manager, and partner or across select, preferred areas of professional practice.

Group Embedded Figures Test: psychometric data documenting shifts from prior norms in field independence of accountants

This study examined the performance of 516 practicing accountants on the Group Embedded Figures Test. The present accountants scored significantly more field-independent than the published test norms and the 124 accountants in Pincus's 1985 sample. Significant differences were also noted between traditional (entry immediately following collage at age 22) and delayed-entry (late entry or second career) accountants. Gender differences noted in the norms were not observed for the current sample.

The Group Embedded Figures Test: The Learning Effect Reexamined

The Group Embedded Figures Test was administered to 96 undergraduate business administration students at a Canadian university. Analysis suggests that the learning effect may not be independent of the order in which the two main parts of the test are completed and any learning effect may be confounded by the non-comparable difficulty of the two main parts.