Maternal Teaching Strategies and Field Dependent‐independent Cognitive Styles in Chicano Families

Hypotheses were derived from the most recent formulation of field‐dependence theory, and tested, concerning (a) the role that cognitive styles play in determining individual differences in maternal teaching strategies; (b) the role of maternal teaching strategies as mediators of children's development of cognitive style; (c) the emergence of field dependence‐independence as a coherent construct in young Chicano children; and (d) sex differences. Forty‐three Chicano mothers were observed, in their homes, teaching cognitive‐perceptual tasks to their own five‐year‐old children, and each mother and child was administered a battery of measures to assess field dependence‐independence. Results were generally in line with the theory.