FIELD DEPENDENT/INDEPENDENT COGNITIVE STYLE RESEARCH REVISITED: DO FIELD DEPENDENT READERS READ DIFFERENTLY THAN FIELD INDEPENDENT READERS?

Recent literature in the area of psychological differentiation suggests that cognitive styles may have significant application potential to the problems of education. Field dependence/ independence is one cognitive style construct that has a relatively rich history of research and has been given serious consideration for issues involving curriculum and instruction. This article reviews field dependence/independence research as it relates to reading and reading instruction. In particular, the construct is considered from its overall impact on reading, its relation to vocabulary or word knowledge, and its impact on reading comprehension. Implications for reading instruction are developed from the review of the literature and future directions for the interaction of field dependence/ independence and reading research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]