Attention and visuospatial abilities: neuropsychological approach in field-dependent and field-independent schoolchildren

The aim of this study was to explore cognitive processes that may underlie the poor school performance of children with a field-dependent cognitive style. One-hundred-and fortynine children between the ages of 8 and 11 were evaluated using the Children Embedded Figures Test (CEFT) and classified as field-dependent, field-independent, or intermediate field-dependent-independent (FDI). The Digit Span and Digit Symbol, as well as the Visual Search and Attention Test (VSAT) were administered as tests of attentional function. The Block Design and the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test were administered as tests of visuospatial abilities. Fieldindependent children obtained higher scores than field-dependent children on the tests of attentional function. With regard to visuospatial tasks, field-independent children obtained higher scores than both field-dependent and intermediate FDI children on the Block Design test. On the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure test, field-dependent children obtained lower scores than both field-independent and intermediate-FDI children.