Field Independence-Dependence and Verbal Restructuring

This study investigated the hypothesis that field-independent individuals are more efficient in verbal restructuring tasks than field-dependent individuals. Forty field-independent and 40 field-dependent female undergraduates were required to solve cued and uncued word and nonword anagrams under either a difficult or easy anagram condition. The results of the analysis did not support the contention that field-independent individuals are more efficient than field-dependent individuals at providing an inherently organized field with a new organization or a disorganized field with organization. Analysis of the solution strategies revealed a significant interaction between task difficulty and field independence on the types of strategies used for uncued nonword anagram solving. The results are discussed in terms of the present findings and their relevance for future research on field independence and verbal restructuring.