Much of our interaction with the visual world requires us to isolate some currently important objects from other less important objects. This task becomes more difficult when objects move, or when our field of view moves relative to the world, requiring us to track these objects over space and time. Previous experiments have shown that observers can track a maximum of about 4 moving objects. A natural explanation for this capacity limit is that the visual system is architecturally limited to handling a fixed number of objects at once, a so-called magical number 4 on visual attention. In contrast to this view, Experiment 1 shows that tracking capacity is not fixed. At slow speeds it is possible to track up to 8 objects, and yet there are fast speeds at which only a single object can be tracked. Experiment 2 suggests that that the limit on tracking is related to the spatial resolution of attention. These findings suggest that the number of objects that can be tracked is primarily set by a flexibly allocated resource, which has important implications for the mechanisms of object tracking and for the relationship between object tracking and other cognitive processes.

Research on Multiple Identity Tracking (MIT) focused on the influence of differences in properties of targets’ and non-targets’ identities on tracking performance and identity recognition. It has been found that the uniqueness of single property, but not compounded property, facilitated tracking performance. However, the uniqueness of compounded property could facilitate tracking performance in the condition where the property guided or oriented attention towards targets. The facilitating effect was also affected by both the complexity of identity information and working memory load. One problem with the previous research is that the same category of stimuli (e.g., either numbers or letters) served as targets and non-targets. The current study involved two categories of stimuli (i.e., 0-9 and A、C、E、K、N、P、R、T、U、Y) and manipulated the differences between targets and non-targets to investigate the effects of differences in targets-nontargets identity on tracking performance and identity recognition. Two experiments had been conducted with undergraduate students using the MIT paradigm. Experiment 1A included three conditions: no identity difference (e.g., both targets and non-targets were the same numbers), within-category difference (e.g., targets and non-targets were different numbers), and between-category difference (e.g., targets were numbers and non-targets were letters). Results showed a significantly greater tracking performance in the between-category difference condition relative to the no identity difference condition, with within-category difference in between. Experiment 1B simultaneously manipulated the identity differences (no difference, within-category difference, between-category difference) and the number of targets (4 vs. 5) and found a significant interaction between the two factors. That is, when there were 4 targets (6 non-targets), tracking performance for between-category difference and within-category difference was better than for no identity difference; when there were 5 targets (5 non-targets), tracking performance for between-category difference was better than for within-category and no identity difference. And tracking performance for within-category difference was significantly better than for no identity difference. Experiment 2 altered the degrees of between-category difference. Non-targets in the third experiment were 5 letters. Targets were 4 letters and 1 number (low-difference condition), 2 letters and 3 numbers (medium-difference condition), and 5 numbers (high-difference condition). We observed that both tracking performance and identity recognition increased with the increasing degree of difference. The results of the two experiments indicated that between-category identity difference between targets and non-targets facilitated tracking performance and identity recognition in the multiple identity tracking task. These results could be explained by the working memory model, grouping theory and Model of Multiple Identity Tracking (MOMIT).

596 undergraduate students from 7 schools of a major university responded to a group of 20 questions relating to self-perceptions of creativity and independence employed in earlier studies of graduate faculty members and industrial inventors and producers. The hypothesis was that these students would tend to perceive of themselves in terms of popular expectations relating to the schools of their choice. The results indicated that students of architecture, engineering, liberal arts, and science tend to see themselves as significantly more independent, individualistic, and creative than students of business, education, and to some extent, agriculture.

Abstract Field independence (FI) has been defined as the extent to which the individual perceives part of a field as discrete from the surrounding field, rather than embedded in the field. It has been proposed to represent a relatively stable pattern in individuals' predisposition towards information processing. In the present study, we assessed the effect of FI on skills underpinning human navigation. Fifty Healthy individuals took part in this study. FI has been assessed by using the group embedded figures test (GEFT). Participants were also asked to perform several visuo-spatial orientation tasks, including the perspective taking/spatial orientation test (PTSOT), the mental rotation task (MRT) and the vividness task, as well as the Santa Barbara Sense of Direction Scale, a self-reported questionnaire, which has been found to predict environmental spatial orientation ability. We found that performances on the GEFT significantly predicted performances on the PTSOT and the MRT. This result supports the idea that FI predicts human navigation.

Earlier studies demonstrated that visual tracking of dynamic objects is supported by both scene-based and object-based reference frames, depending on the magnitude of scene displacement (Huff, Jahn, & Schwan, 2009; Liu et al., 2005). The current experiment tests if this pattern also applies to younger participants, i.e. school-age children, by comparing the effects of abrupt scene rotations on tracking performance of multiple dynamic objects in a 3D scene across five age groups (grade 1, 3, 5, 7 and adults). Scene rotations have two consequences: displacement of (1) the whole scene and, (2) individual objects. Tracking accuracy of 123 participants was measured across five age groups (grades 1, 3, 5, 7, and adults). Either 1 or 3 targets moved independently among a total of 8 identical objects for 5s. The scene remained constant or was rotated by 10 or 20 after 3s. Tracking performance of all participants was well above chance level (probability of 0.5) and an age-related increase in performance was observed. Contrasting the two factors revealed that scene rotation had a greater impact on performance than object displacement. Further, the effect of abrupt rotations was independent of age. These findings suggest that allocentric reference frames support attentive tracking across abrupt viewpoint changes and that scene-based tracking is already applied early in human development. Findings are discussed in light of new studies that link MOT to grouping processes (local and global). We propose that scene-based or allocentric processing abilities undergo a similar development as, or are connected to, grouping skills.

BackgroundThe construct of field independence (FI) remains one of the most widely cited notions in research on cognitive style and on learning and instruction more generally. However, a great deal of confusion continues to exist around the definition of FI, its measurement, and the interpretation of research results, all of which have served to limit our understanding of and practice in education.AimsThis study reviews research evidence on FI and highlights key issues to frame a more informed agenda for future research.ArgumentsCaution needs to be exercised over the interpretation of the evidence around FI and field dependence (FD). In tests measuring FI only, it is inappropriate to use the term FD. FI is clearly correlated with measures of spatial ability; however, whether FI is just a measure of perceptual and more specifically spatial ability is a matter of debate. Furthermore, whether FI is just a cognitive ability or a cognitive style is not the central issue, as both can be developed. FI has a significant relationship with aspects of working memory and with other variables. It is especially important in the management and interpretation of complex cognitive tasks.ConclusionsField independence has an important role to play in the navigation of the complex and information-rich learning environments of the 21st century. It is therefore important to move beyond the present narrow focus on FI as a style or trait by acknowledging, embracing, and exploring the complexity of the interaction between individual and contextual variables.

本研究探讨了身份交换对多身份追踪表现的影响。实验1和实验2分别考察了全部报告法和部分报告法下身份交换对多身份追踪表现的具体影响。结果均发现,身份交换对身份-位置绑定干扰程度越大,位置追踪和身份识别容量也均越低,但位置容量始终高于身份容量,并且这些特性在不同追踪负荷上相同。此外,部分报告法比全部报告法更具有容量测量优势。实验3则进一步从听觉通道上控制了语音复述对当前任务的干扰,所得结果仍支持实验1和实验2。这表明,身份交换对多身份追踪的干扰机制是身份-位置绑定机制受到损害,而非语音复述的作用。

The reported experiment tested the effect of abrupt and unpredictable viewpoint changes on the attentional tracking of multiple objects in dynamic 3-D scenes. Observers tracked targets that moved independently among identically looking distractors on a rectangular floor plane. The tracking interval was 11 s. Abrupt rotational viewpoint changes of 10°, 20°, or 30° occurred after 8 s. Accuracy of tracking targets across a 10° viewpoint change was comparable to accuracy in a continuous control condition, whereas viewpoint changes of 20° and 30° impaired tracking performance considerably. This result suggests that tracking is mainly dependant on a low-level process whose performance is saved against small disturbances by the visual system's ability to compensate for small changes of retinocentric coordinates. Tracking across large viewpoint changes succeeds only if allocentric coordinates are remembered to relocate targets after displacements.

Observers can visually track multiple objects that move independently even if the scene containing the moving objects is rotated in a smooth way. Abrupt scene rotations yield tracking more difficult but not impossible. For nonrotated, stable dynamic displays, the strategy of looking at the targets' centroid has been shown to be of importance for visual tracking. But which factors determine successful visual tracking in a nonstable dynamic display? We report two eye tracking experiments that present evidence for centroid looking. Across abrupt viewpoint changes, gaze on the centroid is more stable than gaze on targets indicating a process of realigning targets as a group. Further, we show that the relative importance of centroid looking increases with object speed.

Abstract Spatial reference in multiple object tracking is available from configurations of dynamic objects and static reference objects. In three experiments, we studied the use of spatial reference in tracking and in relocating targets after abrupt scene rotations. Observers tracked 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6 targets in 3D scenes, in which white balls moved on a square floor plane. The floor plane was either visible thus providing static spatial reference or it was invisible. Without scene rotations, the configuration of dynamic objects provided sufficient spatial reference and static spatial reference was not advantageous. In contrast, with abrupt scene rotations of 20 , static spatial reference supported in relocating targets. A wireframe floor plane lacking local visual detail was as effective as a checkerboard. Individually colored geometric forms as static reference objects provided no additional benefit either, even if targets were centered on these forms at the abrupt scene rotation. Individualizing the dynamic objects themselves by color for a brief interval around the abrupt scene rotation, however, did improve performance. We conclude that attentional tracking of moving targets proceeds within dynamic configurations but detached from static local background.

Past research has demonstrated that field dependence–independence (FDI) can affect academic performance, selective attention, and working memory. However, the underlying mechanism of how FDI modulates selective attention and working memory is still unclear. Using event-related potential (ERP) techniques, specifically with the contralateral delay activity (CDA), the present study found that the correct response rates and CDA amplitudes in the 2-item and 2-item–2-distractor conditions were comparable for field independence (FI) participants. Field dependence (FD) participants performed worse, and the CDA amplitude was enhanced when distractors appeared. These results indicated that FI participants can filter out task-irrelevant information more efficiently than FD participants. The main difference between FD and FI individuals is their inhibition function.

ABSTRACT 3rd-grade children previously classified as either reflective or impulsive were administered a serial learning task under 3 different conditions. After administration of 2 lists, 1 group was told their performance was poor, a 2nd was told that the next lists were difficult, and controls were given no special communication. Impulsive Ss in all groups reported more incorrect words before and after experimental intervention. Reflective boys who were told the next lists were difficult showed the largest increase in incorrect words.

61The effects of the field dependence on performance multiple tasks were studied.61The interaction effect between field dependence and frame of reference was found.61Field-independent individual showed better performance when using north-up maps.61FI individual had better performance than FD individuals in mental rotation tasks.61There was no difference between FI and FD individuals when they used track-up maps.

This study tested whether multiple-object tracking-the ability to visually index objects on the basis of their spatiotemporal history-is scene based or image based. Initial experiments showed equivalent tracking accuracy for objects in 2-D and 3-D motion. Subsequent experiments manipulated the speeds of objects independent of the speed of the scene as a whole. Results showed that tracking accuracy was influenced by object speed but not by scene speed. This held true whether the scene underwent translation, zoom, rotation, or even combinations of all 3 motions. A final series of experiments interfered with observers' ability to see a coherent scene by moving objects at different speeds from one another and by distorting the perception of 3-D space. These reductions in scene coherence led to reduced tracking accuracy, confirming that tracking is accomplished using a scene-based, or allocentric, frame of reference.

Field dependence-independence (FDI) is a construct intensively investigated within cognitive style research, but its cognitive underpinnings are not clearly specified. We propose that performance on FDI tasks primarily reflects the operations of the visuospatial and executive components of working memory. We tested this hypothesis in a dual-task experiment with a commonly used measure of FDI, the Hidden Figures Test. The results showed that performance on this test was impaired by concurrent performance of secondary tasks that primarily tap the visuospatial component (spatial tapping) and the executive component (2-back and random number generation), but was almost unaffected by other secondary tasks (simple tapping and articulatory suppression). Moreover, an analysis of secondary task performance ruled out the possibility of strategic trade-offs and revealed an intriguing dissociation for two different sets of andomness indices for the random number generation task. These results support the hypothesised mapping between FDI and working memory components and suggest that the dual-task paradigm can provide a useful way to bring underspecified constructs like FDI into closer alignment with theoretical ideas developed within cognitive psychology.

Abstract Various tools have been designed to classify the wholistic/analytic cognitive style, based mostly on behavioral data that reveals little about how these processes function. The main goal of this study is to characterize patterns of eye movements (EM) that are typical of learners with tendencies toward wholistic/analytic styles. Forty students completed the E-CSA-W/A test, while their EM were simultaneously monitored. The results revealed that the overall response time of the wholist group was lower in both tasks. The differences in response time between the groups are interpreted as being influenced by impulsive/reflective styles. While the behavioral data provide us with the end result and quantitative differences between the groups, EM provide us with the qualitative information about the process that led to the response. The study showed that the wholist group is characterized by less fixations and transitions than the analytic group, which is interpreted as reflecting use of whole/partial strategy.

This article reviews the relevant literature in the area of cognitive style as it impacts on individual, vocational and organizational learning. The focus is applied to one specific, well-documented dimension of cognitive style, which has been researched and written about for almost 30 years. This is the domain of field dependence-field independence: a concept that relates to the relatively persuasive way individual learners acquire, structure and process information. It concerns how people perceive, think, solve problems and learn. This approach to cognitive style or so it has been claimed, has implications for the effectiveness of individual and organisational learning. Consequently, the available literature in this area was examined to review the development of current thinking about this concept, as well as to describe and critically evaluate the implications of the outcomes of theory and research in this area for vocational education and training.

This paper argues that a theory of situated vision, suited for the dual purposes of object recognition and the control of action, will have to provide something more than a system that constructs a conceptual representation from visual stimuli: it will also need to provide a special kind of direct (preconceptual, unmediated) connection between elements of a visual representation and certain elements in the world. Like natural language demonstratives (such as ‘this’ or ‘that’) this direct connection allows entities to be referred to without being categorized or conceptualized. Several reasons are given for why we need such a preconceptual mechanism which individuates and keeps track of several individual objects in the world. One is that early vision must pick out and compute the relation among several individual objects while ignoring their properties. Another is that incrementally computing and updating representations of a dynamic scene requires keeping track of token individuals despite changes in their properties or locations. It is then noted that a mechanism meeting these requirements has already been proposed in order to account for a number of disparate empirical phenomena, including subitizing, search-subset selection and multiple object tracking (Pylyshyn et al., Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology 48(2) (1994) 260). This mechanism, called a visual index or FINST, is briefly discussed and it is argued that viewing it as performing a demonstrative or preconceptual reference function has far-reaching implications not only for a theory of situated vision, but also for suggesting a new way to look at why the primitive individuation of visual objects, or proto-objects, is so central in computing visual representations. Indexing visual objects is also, according to this view, the primary means for grounding visual concepts and is a potentially fruitful way to look at the problem of visual integration across time and across saccades, as well as to explain how infants' numerical capacity might arise.

Abstract There is considerable evidence that visual attention is concentrated at a single locus in the visual field, and that this locus can be moved independent of eye movements. Two studies are reported which suggest that, while certain aspects of attention require that locations be scanned serially, at least one operation may be carried out in parallel across several independent loci in the visual field. That is the operation of indexing features and tracking their identity. The studies show that: (a) subjects are able to track a subset of up to 5 objects in a field of 10 identical randomly-moving objects in order to distinguish a change in a target from a change in a distractor; and (b) when the speed and distance parameters of the display are designed so that, on the basis of some very conservative assumptions about the speed of attention movement and encoding times, the predicted performance of a serial scanning and updating algorithm would not exceed about 40% accuracy, subjects still manage to do the task with 87% accuracy. These findings are discussed in relation to an earlier, and independently motivated model of feature-binding--called the FINST model--which posits a primitive identity maintenance mechanism that indexes and tracks a limited number of visual objects in parallel. These indexes are hypothesized to serve the function of binding visual features prior to subsequent pattern recognition.

Stroop interference paradigm was used to investigate the differences of the inhibitory mechanism between the filed dependenct and filed independenct participants. By using GEFT(group embedded figures test), 28 partic? ipants were selected from 71 university students, and there was equal number of 14 students in both field-de? pendent group and field-independent group. In the experiment, the WinPes Phychological Experimental System was applied to present Stroop task. The results showed:(1)People of field-dependent cognitive style inhibited less efficiently the distracting information than those of independent style.(2)In the Stroop task, automatic pro? cessing of the word colors happened, but the automatic degree was relatively low.

People can attend to and track multiple moving objects over time. Cognitive theories of this ability emphasize location information and differ on the importance of motion information. Results from several experiments have shown that increasing object speed impairs performance, although speed was confounded with other properties such as proximity of objects to one another. Here, we introduce a new paradigm to study multiple object tracking in which object speed and object proximity were manipulated independently. Like the motion of a planet and moon, each target–distractor pair rotated about both a common local point as well as the center of the screen. Tracking performance was strongly affected by object speed even when proximity was controlled. Additional results suggest that two different mechanisms are used in object tracking—one sensitive to speed and proximity and the other sensitive to the number of distractors. These observations support models of object tracking that include information about object motion and reject models that use location alone.

The notion that visual attention can operate over visual objects in addition to spatial locations has recently received much empirical support, but there has been relatively little empirical consideration of what can count as an 'object' in the first place. We have investigated this question in the context of the multiple object tracking paradigm, in which subjects must track a number of... [Show full abstract]

用镶嵌图形测验方法从大学生中选出场独立性、场中间性和场依存性被试各32名,在分段限时条件下解决瑞文标准推理测验的B、C、D、E组问题.实验结果表明,认知方式不同组被试图形推理总成绩差异显著,场独立组最高、中间组次之、场依存组最低;随推理问题难度的渐增(B→C→D→E).认知方式的作用效果愈加明显,场独立组、中间组对图形类比推理(B组)、系统变化(C组)和系列关系(D组)的推理水平显著高于场依存组.对复杂抽象问题(E组)的推理水平场独立组显著高于中间组和场依存组;认知方式可解释图形推理总成绩25.9%的变异,年级可解释11.2%的变异.认知方式是影响图形推理水平的重要人格变量.

采用多目标追踪（MOT）与点探测刺激觉察任务相结合的实验范式，分别通过改变运动与静止非目标数量，考察追踪难度变化对不同类型非目标选择性抑制的影响。实验一通过改变运动非目标数量为4、5、6，发现当运动非目标数量为6时，追踪难度显著增加，静止非目标上的抑制量也显著增加，而运动非目标上的抑制量则不随追踪难度的变化而变化；实验二改变静止非目标数量为4、5、6，同样发现当静止非目标数量为6时，追踪难度显著增加，静止非目标上的抑制量也显著增加，而运动非目标上的抑制量仍不随追踪难度的变化而变化，且当静止非目标数量为6时，静止非目标上的抑制量显著大于运动非目标，出现了反转现象，其原因可能是视野范围内总的对象数量超出了视觉索引容量，被试改变了对静止与运动非目标的抑制策略。综合实验结果表明，静止非目标上的抑制程度随追踪难度的提高而增加；而运动非目标上的抑制程度对追踪难度的变化不敏感，在不同难度水平上保持相对稳定。

Witkin HA, Goodenough DR.

The field dependent and field independent cognitive styles are described in detail and a characterization of cognitive styles in general is given. The literature from four areas of interest to educators, in which the implications of the field dependent and field independent cognitive styles have been examined, are reviewed. These areas are: How students learn; how teachers teach; how teachers and students interact; how students make their educational-vocational choices and perform in the area of their choice. (116pp.)

为探讨场独立个体在心理旋转时与场依存个体相比是否会表现出更高的神经效能以及两者在完成此任务上的皮层分布。选取不同场认知方式个体为被试，采用ERP技术研究其完成心理旋转任务时皮层的慢电位。结果发现：在完成心理旋转任务时，场依存个体皮层负慢波的波幅明显大于场独立个体的；场依存个体大脑中区和右区负慢波的波幅明显大于场独立个体的，表明场依存个体比场独立个体在完成任务时需投入更多的资源，从而说明场认知方式是影响神经效能的一个因素。

In individual differences psychology, one of the long-standing debated issues has been focusing on the nature of the field-dependence/independence construct as defined in Witkin’s theory of psychological differentiation––the pioneer work in the study of intellectual styles. The present study examines the nature of the field-dependence/independence construct against academic achievement as well as against the thinking style construct as defined in Sternberg’s theory of mental self-government. Participants were 200 (154 female and 46 male) students enrolled in a large comprehensive university in Shanghai, the People’s Republic of China. Participants responded to the Group Embedded Figures Test and the Thinking Styles Inventory. Students’ academic achievements were also examined in relation to their field-dependence/independence (FDI) and thinking style scores. Major findings are (1) the FDI and the thinking style constructs were unrelated; and (2) whereas particular thinking styles were related to the students’ overall achievement in mathematics courses and courses in the Chinese language, the FDI scores were related only to students’ achievement in geometry. It was concluded that the field-dependence/independence construct represents perceptual ability, but not a broad cognitive style.

采用2个2×2×6三因素混合设计实验,以图形和数字为实验材料,探讨能反应个体能力水平差 异的场认知方式对心理旋转的影响。两个实验结果均表明：（1）场认知方式的主效应显著,场独立性的被试比场依存性的被试反应时短,且正确率高;两类被试的 反应时、正确率曲线具有一致的变化趋势;（2）图形和数字的心理旋转反应时呈倒“V”形状,反应时随着旋转角度的增加而增加,180°时反应时最长,以 180°为界,曲线两侧的变化趋势对称;（3）正确率随着旋转角度的增加而降低,呈现“V”状,180°时正确率最低,曲线两侧的变化趋势对称。

Unconscious thought theory (UTT) suggests that conscious thinking is less effective in complex decision-making than unconscious thinking. However, little research has taken individual differences (e.g., cognitive style) into account. Using an adapted UTT paradigm, the present study compared the performances of individuals with a wholist or an analytic cognitive style in both conscious and unconscious thought conditions. After viewing information regarding four hypothetical phones, participants in the conscious thought condition deliberated for three minutes before rating the phones, while participants in the unconscious thought condition were distracted with a 2-back task for three minutes before rating. The results showed that wholists were equally good at differentiating good and bad phones after conscious or unconscious thought, whereas analytics performed well only when thinking unconsciously. The modulation effect of cognitive style appeared only in conscious thought. Implications for UTT and the understanding of cognitive style are discussed.