Similarities
Cognitive styles
6B
As noted in the main text, the cross-cultural approach to cognitive style involves
an attempt to understand how particular cognitive performances might be important in particular ecological and cultural contexts, drawing upon the proposal by
Ferguson (1956) that different cultural environments lead to the development of
different patterns of ability. In the cognitive-styles approaches, there is an interest
in an “ecological analysis” (Berry, 1980) of the demands of the situation, posing
the two questions of what has to get done in order to survive (termed “ecological
demands”) and what the cultural practices are that lead to the development of the
required cognitive performances (termed “cultural supports”; Berry, 1966). The
cognitive-styles approach searches for the patterns of cognitive activity, based
on the assumption of moderate universalism that the underlying processes are
common to all groups, but that their differential development and use will lead to
different patterns of ability.
The main text also describes some of the cross-cultural use of the Field Dependent–Independent (FDI) construct, particularly that which has been carried out
in relation to the ecocultural framework (Figure 1.1). Early studies (e.g., Berry,
1966; Dawson, 1967) employed a rudimentary version of the emerging framework
(mainly the ecology, socialization and acculturation components). Later studies
(e.g., Berry, 1976; Berry et al., 1986; Mishra, Sinha and Berry, 1996) have used the
full ecocultural framework. Work up until the mid-1970s has been reviewed by
Witkin and Berry (1975), while later work has been reviewed by Berry (1991). The
ecocultural framework has some obvious relevance for the theory of psychological
differentiation. This relationship between the framework and the theory is most
succinctly presented in Additional Topics Figure 6.1, which illustrates the major
ecological, cultural and acculturational variables, along with their expected relationships with the FDI cognitive style.
It is expected that nomadic hunters and gatherers, who are relatively loose in
social structure and who emphasize assertion in socialization, are likely to be
relatively field independent; in contrast, sedentary agriculturalists, who are tight
in social structure and who emphasize compliance in socialization, are likely to
be relatively field dependent. Furthermore, those undergoing acculturation, particularly those with higher levels of western schooling, are likely to be more field
independent than those with less of such experience.
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Cross-Cultural Psychology
Antecedent variable
Prediction of cognitive style
Field independence
Field dependence
Subsistence pattern
Settlement pattern
Population density
Family type
Social/political stratification
Socialization
Western education
Wage employment
Hunting, Gathering
Nomadic
Low
Nuclear
Loose
Assertion
High
High
Agriculture
Sedentary
High
Extended
Tight
Compliance
Low
Low
Additional Topics Figure 6.1 Relationships between ecological, cultural and acculturation variables
and cognitive style.
In the literature reviewed by Witkin and Berry (1975), correlations were found
to be significant among tests representing the perceptual domain, but this was not
always the case, particularly in Africa. Less consistency appeared in the literature
between the perceptual and other domains.
With respect to gender differences, there was a variable but interpretable pattern. An early “anthropological veto” was provided by Berry (1966) and replicated
by MacArthur (1967), demonstrating that the gender difference usually found
(females relatively more field-dependent than males) did not appear in a variety
of Inuit and North American Indian samples. This was interpreted as an outcome
of the relatively similar socialization and other ecological and cultural experiences of boys and girls in these hunter-gatherer societies. In most such societies
a relatively field-independent cognitive style was judged to be highly adaptive
for both males and females in individual economic roles, in family life and in
hunting and gathering activity more generally. In contrast, in tighter and more
structured societies (such as among agricultural peoples) the usual gender differences were typically in evidence.
One of the clear theoretical points of contact between Witkin’s theory and the
ecocultural framework is that the description of characteristic family and socialization practices (which lead to variation in cognitive-style development) matches
the descriptions of these practices as they vary across cultures from an emphasis
on assertion to one on compliance (Barry, Child and Bacon, 1959; see Chapter 2,
p. 45). The conclusion was drawn from a review of over a dozen studies within and
across cultures that the socialization of cognitive style as proposed by the theory
was generally supported.
Turning to other cultural factors, within which these family practices are set,
Witkin and Berry (1975, p. 46) concluded that
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Cognitive styles
9
a relatively field-dependent cognitive style . . . is likely to be prevalent in social settings
characterized by insistence on adherence to authority both in society and in the family,
by the use of strict or even harsh socialization practices to enforce this conformance, and
by tight social organization. In contrast, a relatively field-independent cognitive style . . . is
likely to be prevalent in social settings which are more encouraging of autonomous
functioning, which are more lenient in their child-rearing practices, and which are loose
in their social organization.
Ecological factors, within which both cultural and family practices are set, focussed
on variations in cognitive style across groups that engage their environment differentially (e.g., nomadic hunting and gathering societies vs. sedentary agricultural
ones). This ecological perspective provided the broadest context for examining the
origin of differences in cognitive style. Witkin and Berry (1975, pp. 61–62) concluded
that “individuals from hunting-based samples tend to be more field-independent on
tasks of perceptual differentiation, while those from agriculture-based samples tend
to be relatively field-dependent. There may also be a congruent difference in degree
of personal autonomy.”
The last major section of their review was concerned with adaptation and change,
particularly in relation to acculturation. Virtually all of the studies reviewed provided
evidence for increased field independence with acculturation experience. However,
it was unclear whether such experiences fundamentally alter the cognitive style of
individuals, or whether they alter the approach to the test materials, through greater
familiarity with and practice in acquiring “test-taking tricks.” This finding is similar
to that in the first two approaches to cognition: acculturation, particularly schooling, has a profound influence on a person’s cognitive life.
Since 1975, cross-cultural empirical work has continued on the FDI theory. By far
the largest program of cross-cultural research was conducted by Durganand Sinha
and his colleagues in India. Generally, Sinha adopted the ecocultural framework and
sought out populations in India with whom he could test and extend predictions
from the model. In a first study, Sinha (1979) worked with two subgroups of the
Birhor, one of which remained nomadic hunter-gatherers, while the other had made
the transition to being sedentary agriculturalists. A third group, of long-standing
agriculturalists (the Oraon), was also included. Predictions were that, with the expected variations in socialization practices (but no variation in acculturation), mean
scores would vary according to ecological engagement. Samples of boys and girls
of age 8 to 10 years from each of the three groups were administered an embedded
figures task in which a simple figure had to be found in a complex background (i.e.,
by “disembedding”). Results showed a significant group effect, and Sinha interpreted
this finding as support both for his hypothesis, and for the ecocultural framework.
More recent cross-cultural studies are reported in the main text (Berry et al., 1986;
Mishra, Sinha and Berry, 1996; Mishra and Berry, 2008). In the Berry et al. (1986)
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Cross-Cultural Psychology
study a version of the Embedded Figures Test (EFT) was developed for use in Central
Africa. Initial observations allowed for the drawing of objects and scenes from daily
life in the Biaka (Pygmy) and Bagandu (farming) cultures. The African Embedded
Figures Test (AEFT) was devised using a single object (a triangle) embedded in these
larger drawings. Four examples of items from the AEFT are shown in Additional
Topics Figure 6.2. As for the original EFT, the task is to find the smaller object that is
embedded in the larger figure. The score is the number of correct items identified.
AEFT item 8
AEFT item 16
AEFT item 18
AEFT item 29
Additional Topics Figure 6.2 Four Items from the African Embedded Figures Test (Berry et al., 1986).
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As described in the main text (p. 146), results from this study showed that there
were differences between the Biaka and Bagandu in performance on the AEFT
when both the ecocultural (hunting vs. farming) and sociopolitical (acculturation)
factors (as shown in Additional Topics Figure 6.1) were taken into account. This
pattern is largely replicated in the most recent research (e.g., Mishra and Berry,
2008).
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