Students in the Library and Information Science concentration at the Faculty of Information, University of Toronto, are being taught the Information Horizon Interview (IHI). By learning this technique, students are able to conduct original information behavior research upon a topic or population of their choice. This article provides a succinct…

The best established lateralized cerebral function is speech production, with the majority of the population having left hemisphere dominance. An important question is how to best assess the laterality of this function. Neuroimaging techniques such as functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) are increasingly used in clinical settings to…

Reports on a study that tested the effects of cognitive style upon the short-term recall of abstract figures seen with different contextual backgrounds. Findings indicated that field dependent individuals can learn and transfer visual information. (CH)

This report discusses the current state of research into the visual effects of screen layout design, i.e., the arrangement of design elements on a screen. First, two types of design elements are described: technical (those things that engineers work with and that users have little or no control over), and comprehensibility (those elements that a…

Three groups of 20 fourth-grade children differing in imitation level were given embedded figures, locus of control, central-incidental and matching familiar figures tasks and tests. Results appear to show a relationship between imitation and selective attention but not with other aspects of cognitive style. (RH)

Fifty-five college students participated in a study investigating the effect of field dependence and time limitations on the solution of mathematics word problems and visual interpretation problems. Field-independent (n=25) and field-dependent (n=30) subjects represented the upper and lower thirds on the Hidden Figures Test. Field-independent…

This study examines the effects of three levels of visual complexity upon the learning of an instructional slide tape program about the functions of a human heart. The three levels of complexity were a simple line drawing in color, an illustration in color, and a realistic color photograph. The effects of visual stimulus complexity upon…

Tests of 172 fourth grade students in Zaria, Nigeria, supported the hypotheses that non-Western subjects' difficulties in judging depth in linear pictures are a function of individual perceptual organization, and that training could improve field independence and depth perception. Discusses child-rearing practices that may increase field…

Reading achievement tests have been used to identify deficiencies in inner city, poor readers; however, they often do not provide information about encoding strategies which lead some children to academic success. Immediate memory and visual analytic differences which contribute to the success of skilled readers are isolated in this study using 20…

Attempts to replicate findings demonstrating a relationship between the cognitive control (field articulation) and reading disability in school-aged children. Reading disability and nonreading disability groups were administered a series of cognitive control measures. Performance on field articulation significantly differentiated between children…

Free verbal responses to pictures as an indication of cognitive style were studied for 199 college students, at Eastern Kentucky University. The Group Embedded Figures Test (GEFT) was administered following presentation of the pictures, a series of colored pictures of simple, medium and complex configuration. Responses given to three graduate…

This study examined the effects of two cognitive styles--field dependents-independents and reflectivity-impulsivity--on learning from microcomputer-based instruction. In the first of three experimental designs, a programmed instruction text on the human heart was used which contained both visual and verbal information in an instructional display,…

The relationship of eye movements while watching television to reading ability, cognitive style, and mode of presentation was studied using as subjects 85 third-grade children who had been classified as good or poor readers by scores on the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test; their cognitive style was measured by the Children's Embedded Figures which…

Using cross classifiable pictures, this study assessed taxonomic and thematic clustering in free recall in 240 children, ages seven and ten. The effects of both free and constrained test conditions and developmental, ethnic, and socioeconomic differences, were examined. (BS)

This exploratory study was conducted to investigate the potential interaction between the media attribute, horizontal screen placement, and a learner's cognitive aptitudes, fluid ability, and visualization. The primary hypothesis tested was that low-ability learners who are without well-developed assembly and control operations should perform…