Introduction .uk



Title: The Leuven Embedded Figures Test (L-EFT): Measuring Perception, Intelligence or Executive Function?Author names and affiliations:Hanne Huygelier a, Ruth Van der Hallen a, b, Johan Wagemans a, Lee de-Wit a, c, & Rebecca Chamberlain a, da Laboratory for Experimental Psychology, KU Leuven; b Cognitive Aspects of Psychopathology, Department of Psychology, Education & Child Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Netherlands; c Cognition and Language Sciences, Chandler House, University College London, UK; d Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths College, University of London, London, UK.Address of affiliation: Tiensestraat 102, Leuven, BelgiumE-mail addresses of authors:hanne.huygelier@kuleuven.be,vanderhallen@essb.eur.nl; johan.wagemans@kuleuven.be, l.de-wit@ucl.ac.uk, R.Chamberlain@gold.ac.ukCorresponding author:Hanne HuygelierAbstractPerformance on the Embedded Figures Test (EFT) has been interpreted as a reflection of local/global perceptual style, weak central coherence and/or field independence, as well as a measure of intelligence and executive function. The variable ways in which EFT findings have been interpreted demonstrate that the construct validity of this measure is unclear. In order to address this lack of clarity, we investigated to what extent performance on a new Embedded Figures Test (L-EFT) correlated with measures of intelligence, executive functions and estimates of local/global perceptual styles. In addition, we compared L-EFT performance to the original group EFT to directly contrast both tasks. Taken together, our results indicate that performance on the L-EFT does not correlate strongly with estimates of local/global perceptual style, intelligence or executive functions. Additionally, the results show that performance on the L-EFT is similarly associated with memory span and fluid intelligence as the group EFT. These results suggest that the L-EFT does not reflect a general perceptual or cognitive style/ability. These results further emphasize that empirical data on the construct validity of a task do not always align with the face validity of a task. Keywords: Embedded Figures; EFT; local perceptual style; weak coherence; executive functions, intelligenceIntroductionMost theories, models and experiments in cognitive psychology aim to reveal general principles of mental functioning. However, while general principles are to be acknowledged, important inter-individual differences exist regarding cognitive abilities and styles of information processing ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"25csdt9g34","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(de-Wit & Wagemans, 2015)","plainCitation":"(de-Wit & Wagemans, 2015)"},"citationItems":[{"id":1199,"uris":[""],"uri":[""],"itemData":{"id":1199,"type":"chapter","title":"Individual differences in local and global perceptual organization","container-title":"Oxford Handbook of Perceptual Organization","publisher":"Oxford University Press","publisher-place":"Oxford, U.K.","page":"601-620","event-place":"Oxford, U.K.","URL":"","author":[{"family":"Wit","given":"Lee","non-dropping-particle":"de-"},{"family":"Wagemans","given":"Johan"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2015"]]},"accessed":{"date-parts":[["2016",8,25]]}}}],"schema":""} (de-Wit & Wagemans, 2015). One important contribution to research on individual differences in visual perception and cognition was made by Herman Witkin. In 1950, Witkin developed the Embedded Figures Test (EFT) to measure an information processing style that was either field-dependent or field-independent ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"1o6p54o4t2","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(H. A. Witkin, 1950)","plainCitation":"(H. A. Witkin, 1950)"},"citationItems":[{"id":1185,"uris":[""],"uri":[""],"itemData":{"id":1185,"type":"article-journal","title":"Individual Differences in Ease of Perception of Embedded Figures","container-title":"Journal of Personality","page":"1-15","volume":"19","issue":"1","source":"Wiley Online Library","DOI":"10.1111/j.1467-6494.1950.tb01084.x","ISSN":"1467-6494","language":"en","author":[{"family":"Witkin","given":"H. A."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["1950",9,1]]}}}],"schema":""} (Witkin, 1950). In the EFT observers must find a simple line drawing (target shape) within a more complex line drawing (Figure 1A-E). The concept of field-(in)dependence referred to individual differences in the (in)sensitivity to information from a broader context. Shortly after, ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"tsjnu7bol","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Adevai, Silverman, & Gough, 1968)","plainCitation":"(Adevai, Silverman, & Gough, 1968)"},"citationItems":[{"id":1053,"uris":[""],"uri":[""],"itemData":{"id":1053,"type":"article-journal","title":"Perceptual Correlates of the Rod-and-Frame Test","container-title":"Perceptual and Motor Skills","page":"1055-1064","volume":"26","issue":"3","source":"pms.","abstract":"A randomly selected group of 92 male college students were given a battery of 10 perceptual tests, most of which have been used to separate field-independents from field-dependents in earlier studies of relationships between perceptual mode and physiological response tendencies. Test scores were factor analyzed in an attempt to define the psychological domain measured. Four factors accounted for most of the test score variance; the embedded figures test, sharing much of its variance with quantitative-spatial IQ tests, was the test with least of its variance accounted for. The rod-and-frame test, core test for field-dependence, correlated best with mirror-tracing speed, mirror-tracing accuracy, and the embedded figures test and had small or moderate positive correlations with all of the other tests except letter discrimination, which showed little relationship to any other test. Subject-controlled rod-and-frame correlated highly with experimenter-controlled rod-and-frame, suggesting their interchangeability as measures of field-dependence. Ss with rod-and-frame errors of 1.5° or less did significantly better on the rest of the perceptual battery than Ss with errors of 8° or more The embedded-figures test and the Draw-A-Person test were especially divergent for the two extreme rod-and-frame groups, suggesting their efficacy as screening devices for extreme field-dependents and independents.","DOI":"10.2466/pms.1968.26.3c.1055","ISSN":"0031-5125, 1558-688X","note":"PMID: 4876407","journalAbbreviation":"Percept Mot Skills","language":"en","author":[{"family":"Adevai","given":"Greta"},{"family":"Silverman","given":"Albert J."},{"family":"Gough","given":"W. Edward Mc"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["1968",6,1]]}}}],"schema":""} Adevai, Silverman and Gough (1968) revealed that people who were better at detecting the orientation of a rod in a tilted frame were also better at finding target shapes in embedded figures. Witkin assumed that the correlation between these two tests revealed an underlying cognitive style that could impact a wide array of domains, especially with regard to education ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"1pmelfat3m","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(H. A. Witkin, Moore, Goodenough, & Cox, 1975)","plainCitation":"(H. A. Witkin, Moore, Goodenough, & Cox, 1975)"},"citationItems":[{"id":1074,"uris":[""],"uri":[""],"itemData":{"id":1074,"type":"article-journal","title":"Field-Dependent and Field-Independent Cognitive Styles and Their Educational Implications","container-title":"ETS Research Bulletin Series","page":"1-64","volume":"1975","issue":"2","source":"Wiley Online Library","DOI":"10.1002/j.2333-8504.1975.tb01065.x","ISSN":"2333-8504","journalAbbreviation":"ETS Research Bulletin Series","language":"en","author":[{"family":"Witkin","given":"H. A."},{"family":"Moore","given":"C. A."},{"family":"Goodenough","given":"D. R."},{"family":"Cox","given":"P. W."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["1975",12,1]]}}}],"schema":""} (Witkin, Moore, Goodenough, & Cox, 1975). Witkin and colleagues hypothesized that individuals with a field-independent style were generally more analytic in their approach and would therefore be better suited for curricula and jobs that were focused on mathematics, sciences and engineering than field-dependent individuals. Later, research on Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) revealed that individuals with ASD outperformed typically developing controls on the EFT ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"01AQuS2i","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Jolliffe & Baron-Cohen, 1997; Ring et al., 1999; Shah & Frith, 1983)","plainCitation":"(Jolliffe & Baron-Cohen, 1997; Ring et al., 1999; Shah & Frith, 1983)"},"citationItems":[{"id":439,"uris":[""],"uri":[""],"itemData":{"id":439,"type":"article-journal","title":"Are people with autism and Asperger syndrome faster than normal on the Embedded Figures Test?","container-title":"Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry","page":"527–534","volume":"38","issue":"5","source":"Google Scholar","author":[{"family":"Jolliffe","given":"Therese"},{"family":"Baron-Cohen","given":"Simon"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["1997"]]}}},{"id":1329,"uris":[""],"uri":[""],"itemData":{"id":1329,"type":"article-journal","title":"Cerebral correlates of preserved cognitive skills in autism: A functional MRI study of Embedded Figures Task performance","container-title":"Brain","page":"1305-1315","volume":"122","issue":"7","source":"CrossRef","DOI":"10.1093/brain/122.7.1305","ISSN":"0006-8950, 1460-2156","shortTitle":"Cerebral correlates of preserved cognitive skills in autism","language":"en","author":[{"family":"Ring","given":"H. A."},{"family":"Baron-Cohen","given":"S."},{"family":"Wheelwright","given":"S."},{"family":"Williams","given":"S. C. R."},{"family":"Brammer","given":"M."},{"family":"Andrew","given":"C."},{"family":"Bullmore","given":"E. T."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["1999",7,1]]}}},{"id":1823,"uris":[""],"uri":[""],"itemData":{"id":1823,"type":"article-journal","title":"An islet of ability in autistic children: a research note","container-title":"Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry","page":"613-620","volume":"24","issue":"4","author":[{"family":"Shah","given":"A"},{"family":"Frith","given":"Uta"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["1983"]]}}}],"schema":""} (Jolliffe & Baron-Cohen, 1997; Ring et al., 1999; Shah & Frith, 1983). This finding shifted the interpretation of good performance on the EFT from reflecting a field-independent cognitive style to a reflection of a specific type of perceptual processing, which was referred to as weak central coherence ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"alo0t6e2of","properties":{"formattedCitation":"{\\rtf (Francesca Happ\\uc0\\u233{} & Frith, 2006)}","plainCitation":"(Francesca Happé & Frith, 2006)","dontUpdate":true},"citationItems":[{"id":1813,"uris":[""],"uri":[""],"itemData":{"id":1813,"type":"article-journal","title":"The Weak Coherence Account: Detail-focused Cognitive Style in Autism Spectrum Disorders","container-title":"Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders","page":"5-25","volume":"36","issue":"1","source":"link..kuleuven.ezproxy.kuleuven.be","abstract":"“Weak central coherence” refers to the detail-focused processing style proposed to characterise autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The original suggestion of a core deficit in central processing resulting in failure to extract global form/meaning, has been challenged in three ways. First, it may represent an outcome of superiority in local processing. Second, it may be a processing bias, rather than deficit. Third, weak coherence may occur alongside, rather than explain, deficits in social cognition. A review of over 50 empirical studies of coherence suggests robust findings of local bias in ASD, with mixed findings regarding weak global processing. Local bias appears not to be a mere side-effect of executive dysfunction, and may be independent of theory of mind deficits. Possible computational and neural models are discussed.","DOI":"10.1007/s10803-005-0039-0","ISSN":"0162-3257, 1573-3432","shortTitle":"The Weak Coherence Account","journalAbbreviation":"J Autism Dev Disord","language":"en","author":[{"family":"Happé","given":"Francesca"},{"family":"Frith","given":"Uta"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2006",1,1]]}}}],"schema":""} (Happé & Frith, 2006) or enhanced local processing ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"a28laj99c0m","properties":{"formattedCitation":"{\\rtf (Mottron, Dawson, Souli\\uc0\\u232{}res, Hubert, & Burack, 2006)}","plainCitation":"(Mottron, Dawson, Soulières, Hubert, & Burack, 2006)"},"citationItems":[{"id":1761,"uris":[""],"uri":[""],"itemData":{"id":1761,"type":"article-journal","title":"Enhanced perceptual functioning in autism: an update, and eight principles of autistic perception","container-title":"Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders","page":"27-43","volume":"36","issue":"1","source":"PubMed","abstract":"We propose an \"Enhanced Perceptual Functioning\" model encompassing the main differences between autistic and non-autistic social and non-social perceptual processing: locally oriented visual and auditory perception, enhanced low-level discrimination, use of a more posterior network in \"complex\" visual tasks, enhanced perception of first order static stimuli, diminished perception of complex movement, autonomy of low-level information processing toward higher-order operations, and differential relation between perception and general intelligence. Increased perceptual expertise may be implicated in the choice of special ability in savant autistics, and in the variability of apparent presentations within PDD (autism with and without typical speech, Asperger syndrome) in non-savant autistics. The overfunctioning of brain regions typically involved in primary perceptual functions may explain the autistic perceptual endophenotype.","DOI":"10.1007/s10803-005-0040-7","ISSN":"0162-3257","note":"PMID: 16453071","shortTitle":"Enhanced perceptual functioning in autism","journalAbbreviation":"J Autism Dev Disord","language":"ENG","author":[{"family":"Mottron","given":"Laurent"},{"family":"Dawson","given":"Michelle"},{"family":"Soulières","given":"Isabelle"},{"family":"Hubert","given":"Benedicte"},{"family":"Burack","given":"Jake"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2006",1]]}}}],"schema":""} (Mottron, Dawson, Soulières, Hubert, & Burack, 2006).However, empirical work by ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"mu0ame9p6","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Milne & Szczerbinski, 2009)","plainCitation":"(Milne & Szczerbinski, 2009)"},"citationItems":[{"id":1065,"uris":[""],"uri":[""],"itemData":{"id":1065,"type":"article-journal","title":"Global and local perceptual style, field-independence, and central coherence: An attempt at concept validation.","container-title":"Advances in Cognitive Psychology","page":"1-26","volume":"5","issue":"-1","source":"CrossRef","DOI":"10.2478/v10053-008-0062-8","ISSN":"1895-1171","shortTitle":"Global and local perceptual style, field-independence, and central coherence","author":[{"family":"Milne","given":"Elizabeth"},{"family":"Szczerbinski","given":"Marcin"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2009",1,1]]}}}],"schema":""} Milne and Szczerbinski (2009) questions to what extent the EFT measures the aforementioned constructs. Milne and Szczerbinski performed a factor analysis on a wide range of tasks assumed to measure enhanced local processing or weak central coherence (including the group EFT; ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"2m52fqbrro","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Witkin, Oltman, Raskin, & Karp, 1971)","plainCitation":"(Witkin, Oltman, Raskin, & Karp, 1971)","dontUpdate":true},"citationItems":[{"id":1198,"uris":[""],"uri":[""],"itemData":{"id":1198,"type":"book","title":"A manual for the embedded figures tests.","publisher":"Consulting Psychologists Press","publisher-place":"Palo Alto, CA","event-place":"Palo Alto, CA","author":[{"family":"Witkin","given":"H. A."},{"family":"Oltman","given":"Philip K."},{"family":"Raskin","given":"E."},{"family":"Karp","given":"S. A."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["1971"]]}}}],"schema":""} Witkin, Oltman, Raskin, & Karp, 1971) to test whether a common factor underlies these different local-global tasks. Their results suggested that individual differences on the EFT reflected a factor called disembedding, but did not reflect a general local or global perceptual style. The disembedding factor also correlated with coherent motion thresholds and intelligence in their student sample. To further obfuscate the conceptual clarity of the EFT, good performance on the EFT has consistently been linked to general intelligence and, in more recent years, has also been interpreted as a measure of executive functions ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"1FlTCL5r","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Brosnan et al., 2002; Goodenough & Karp, 1961; Richardson & Turner, 2000; Roberge & Flexer, 1981)","plainCitation":"(Brosnan et al., 2002; Goodenough & Karp, 1961; Richardson & Turner, 2000; Roberge & Flexer, 1981)"},"citationItems":[{"id":1326,"uris":[""],"uri":[""],"itemData":{"id":1326,"type":"article-journal","title":"Executive functioning in adults and children with developmental dyslexia","container-title":"Neuropsychologia","page":"2144-2155","volume":"40","issue":"12","source":"ScienceDirect","abstract":"The performance of developmentally dyslexic children and adults was studied upon a range of tasks that involved executive functioning. Both adult and child samples of dyslexics were found to under-perform on the group-embedded figures test. This test required the identification of constituent parts from within complex visual arrays, with good performance necessitating the inhibition of the processing of the surrounding context. A general deficit on visual–spatial tasks was eliminated as an explanation as dyslexics performed normally upon a range of other non-verbal assessments. The dyslexics consistently demonstrated a deficit in digit span tasks, a decrement that was increased with distractors, again suggesting difficulties in inhibiting the processing of the surrounding context. A deficit was also identified upon a verbal fluency task without a deficit in vocabulary level. Additionally, a specific deficit in the recollection of the temporal order of the presentation of items was in evidence, without a deficit in the recognition of the items themselves. The findings taken as a whole suggest that dyslexic individuals show deficiencies in executive functions relating to inhibition of distractors and to sequencing of events, a set of tasks associated with left prefrontal cortex functioning in the acquired neuropsychology literature.","DOI":"10.1016/S0028-3932(02)00046-5","ISSN":"0028-3932","journalAbbreviation":"Neuropsychologia","author":[{"family":"Brosnan","given":"Mark"},{"family":"Demetre","given":"James"},{"family":"Hamill","given":"Stephen"},{"family":"Robson","given":"Kate"},{"family":"Shepherd","given":"Haidee"},{"family":"Cody","given":"Gerard"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2002"]]}}},{"id":1181,"uris":[""],"uri":[""],"itemData":{"id":1181,"type":"article-journal","title":"Field dependence and intellectual functioning","container-title":"Journal of Abnormal","page":"241-246","volume":"63","issue":"2","source":"Journals@Ovid","abstract":": \"The present study was designed to test the hypotheses that some intellectual and perceptual tasks have a common requirement for overcoming embedded contexts, and that relationships obtained between measures of field dependence and standard tests of intelligence are based on this common factor. Two factor analyses were conducted on matrices of correlations between cognitive tests, including tests of field dependence and the subtests of the WISC. The results tend to support both hypotheses.\" (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved), (C) 1961 by the American Psychological Association","ISSN":"0096-851X","call-number":"00032378-196109000-00002","language":"English.","author":[{"family":"Goodenough","given":"D. R."},{"family":"Karp","given":"S. A."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["1961",9]]}}},{"id":1293,"uris":[""],"uri":[""],"itemData":{"id":1293,"type":"article-journal","title":"Field Dependence Revisited I: Intelligence","container-title":"Educational Psychology","page":"255-270","volume":"20","issue":"3","source":"Taylor and Francis+NEJM","abstract":"This paper addresses a central problem for the theory of field dependence-its relationship with intelligence. Measures of field dependence (e.g. the Embedded Figures Test, EFT) are often found unable to display discriminant validity with conventional intelligence tests. Field independence is often associated with higher intelligence. This has resulted in an unhelpful see-saw debate as to whether field independence is, or is not, another manifestation of greater intelligence. Furthermore, they have only been able to discuss the quantitative differences between the styles. This paper is divided into three parts. Firstly, it examines research between field dependence and psychometrical intelligence, including a recent study which uses the Cognitive Styles Analysis (CSA) and compares the results with the Embedded Figures Test (EFT) to address the issue of whether the EFT is a valid measure of field dependence theory. The main part presents an argument for seeking a relationship with the componential subtheory of the Triarchic Theory of Intelligence (Sternberg, 1985a), which may have greater potential for describing qualitative differences in intellectual functioning. It is proposed that field-independents may be associated with a heuristic routine that gives priority to selective encoding and selective comparing. By contrast, field-dependents may give priority to selective combining and selective comparing. The third part of the paper offers a brief summary of a study which empirically explores these proposed associations using both the EFT and CSA to measure FI. The findings reveal that, in both cases, some degree of functional association is found. However, the relationship is stronger with the latter measure. The conclusion of the paper is that Witkin's theory of field dependence may be usefully observed and informed through Sternberg's Triarchic Theory of Intelligence.","DOI":"10.1080/713663747","ISSN":"0144-3410","shortTitle":"Field Dependence Revisited I","author":[{"family":"Richardson","given":"Julie A."},{"family":"Turner","given":"Tony E."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2000",9,1]]}}},{"id":1299,"uris":[""],"uri":[""],"itemData":{"id":1299,"type":"article-journal","title":"Re-Examination of the Covariation of Field Independence, Intelligence and Achievement","container-title":"British Journal of Educational Psychology","page":"235-236","volume":"51","issue":"2","source":"Wiley Online Library","abstract":"Summary. A principal factor analysis was performed on a matrix of correlations among measures of field independence, intelligence, and achievement in reading and mathematics. Factors of general intelligence and verbal ability were identified. Field independence shared a substantial amount of variance with general intellectual ability.","DOI":"10.1111/j.2044-8279.1981.tb02478.x","ISSN":"2044-8279","language":"en","author":[{"family":"Roberge","given":"J. J."},{"family":"Flexer","given":"B. K."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["1981",6,1]]}}}],"schema":""} (Brosnan et al., 2002; Goodenough & Karp, 1961; Richardson & Turner, 2000; Roberge & Flexer, 1981). John ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"1epentvp75","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Duncan, 2013)","plainCitation":"(Duncan, 2013)"},"citationItems":[{"id":1314,"uris":[""],"uri":[""],"itemData":{"id":1314,"type":"article-journal","title":"The Structure of Cognition: Attentional Episodes in Mind and Brain","container-title":"Neuron","page":"35-50","volume":"80","issue":"1","source":"ScienceDirect","abstract":"Cognition is organized in a structured series of attentional episodes, allowing complex problems to be addressed through solution of simpler subproblems. A “multiple-demand” (MD) system of frontal and parietal cortex is active in many different kinds of tasks, and using data from neuroimaging, electrophysiology, neuropsychology, and cognitive studies of intelligence, I propose a core role for MD regions in assembly of the attentional episode. Monkey and human data show dynamic neural coding of attended information across multiple MD regions, with rapid communication within and between regions. Neuropsychological and imaging data link MD function to fluid intelligence, explaining some but not all “executive” deficits after frontal lobe lesions. Cognitive studies link fluid intelligence to goal neglect, and the problem of dividing complex task requirements into focused parts. Like the innate releasing mechanism of ethology, I suggest that construction of the attentional episode provides a core organizational principle for complex, adaptive cognition.","DOI":"10.1016/j.neuron.2013.09.015","ISSN":"0896-6273","shortTitle":"The Structure of Cognition","journalAbbreviation":"Neuron","author":[{"family":"Duncan","given":"John"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2013",10,2]]}}}],"schema":""} Duncan (2013) has even explicitly used the EFT to illustrate the types of problem solving that are typically involved in tests of fluid intelligence. The theoretical account that he has put forward is supported by numerous observations. For example, ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"1r0j8p5sel","properties":{"formattedCitation":"{\\rtf (B\\uc0\\u246{}lte, Holtmann, Poustka, Scheurich, & Schmidt, 2007)}","plainCitation":"(B?lte, Holtmann, Poustka, Scheurich, & Schmidt, 2007)"},"citationItems":[{"id":1318,"uris":[""],"uri":[""],"itemData":{"id":1318,"type":"article-journal","title":"Gestalt Perception and Local-Global Processing in High-Functioning Autism","container-title":"Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders","page":"1493-504","volume":"37","issue":"8","source":"ProQuest","abstract":"This study examined gestalt perception in high-functioning autism (HFA) and its relation to tasks indicative of local visual processing. Data on of gestalt perception, visual illusions (VI), hierarchical letters (HL), Block Design (BD) and the Embedded Figures Test (EFT) were collected in adult males with HFA, schizophrenia, depression and normative controls. Individuals with HFA processed gestalt stimuli less in accord with gestalt laws, particularly regarding the principle of similarity. Gestalt processing correlated positively with global processing of the HL. EFT and BD performance correlated negatively with VI susceptibility in HFA. All clinical groups succumbed less to VI than the normative sample. Results suggest decreased gestalt perception in HFA, being associated with a more general local visual processing bias. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]","DOI":"","ISSN":"01623257","language":"English","author":[{"family":"B?lte","given":"Sven"},{"family":"Holtmann","given":"Martin"},{"family":"Poustka","given":"Fritz"},{"family":"Scheurich","given":"Armin"},{"family":"Schmidt","given":"Lutz"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2007",9]]}}}],"schema":""} B?lte, Holtmann, Poustka, Scheurich and Schmidt (2007) reported a high correlation (r =.63) between nonverbal IQ (using the Block Design subscale of the Wechsler Intelligence Scales) and EFT performance in a sample of high-functioning autism, schizophrenics, depressed and healthy individuals and ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"19jhnku7bu","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(McKenna, 1984)","plainCitation":"(McKenna, 1984)"},"citationItems":[{"id":1356,"uris":[""],"uri":[""],"itemData":{"id":1356,"type":"article-journal","title":"Measures of field dependence: Cognitive style or cognitive ability?","container-title":"Journal of Personality and Social Psychology","page":"593-603","volume":"47","issue":"3","source":"APA PsycNET","abstract":"It is generally assumed and stated that measures of field dependence are measures of cognitive style. The present author examines this assumption at 2 levels: conceptual and empirical. At the conceptual level, several criteria (e.g., N. Kogan's [1971, 1973] classification) defining cognitive style are examined. At the empirical level 3 alternative explanations are considered: general ability, spatial ability, and fluid ability. It is found that the measures of field dependence do not meet the criteria for a cognitive style at the conceptual level and that at the empirical level there are substantial correlations with standard ability tests. (72 ref)","DOI":"10.1037/0022-3514.47.3.593","ISSN":"1939-1315 0022-3514","shortTitle":"Measures of field dependence","language":"English","author":[{"family":"McKenna","given":"Frank P."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["1984"]]}}}],"schema":""} McKenna (1984) listed a considerable number of studies that found moderate to large correlations between measures of IQ and different embedded figures tasks that were robust across various types of samples. Although the EFT has also been interpreted as a measure of executive functions ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"ad2gsnniaf","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Brosnan et al., 2002)","plainCitation":"(Brosnan et al., 2002)"},"citationItems":[{"id":1326,"uris":[""],"uri":[""],"itemData":{"id":1326,"type":"article-journal","title":"Executive functioning in adults and children with developmental dyslexia","container-title":"Neuropsychologia","page":"2144-2155","volume":"40","issue":"12","source":"ScienceDirect","abstract":"The performance of developmentally dyslexic children and adults was studied upon a range of tasks that involved executive functioning. Both adult and child samples of dyslexics were found to under-perform on the group-embedded figures test. This test required the identification of constituent parts from within complex visual arrays, with good performance necessitating the inhibition of the processing of the surrounding context. A general deficit on visual–spatial tasks was eliminated as an explanation as dyslexics performed normally upon a range of other non-verbal assessments. The dyslexics consistently demonstrated a deficit in digit span tasks, a decrement that was increased with distractors, again suggesting difficulties in inhibiting the processing of the surrounding context. A deficit was also identified upon a verbal fluency task without a deficit in vocabulary level. Additionally, a specific deficit in the recollection of the temporal order of the presentation of items was in evidence, without a deficit in the recognition of the items themselves. The findings taken as a whole suggest that dyslexic individuals show deficiencies in executive functions relating to inhibition of distractors and to sequencing of events, a set of tasks associated with left prefrontal cortex functioning in the acquired neuropsychology literature.","DOI":"10.1016/S0028-3932(02)00046-5","ISSN":"0028-3932","journalAbbreviation":"Neuropsychologia","author":[{"family":"Brosnan","given":"Mark"},{"family":"Demetre","given":"James"},{"family":"Hamill","given":"Stephen"},{"family":"Robson","given":"Kate"},{"family":"Shepherd","given":"Haidee"},{"family":"Cody","given":"Gerard"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2002"]]}}}],"schema":""} (Brosnan et al., 2002), there have been no studies, to our knowledge, that explicitly measured the association between EFT performance and executive functions.The current studies were motivated by our limited understanding of what may drive individual differences in EFT performance. To study this, the Leuven Embedded Figures Test (L-EFT), a computerised EFT with a well-controlled stimulus set regarding the perceptual factors involved in embedding was used ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"a1vdsj5f0ii","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(de-Wit, Huygelier, Hallen, Chamberlain, & Wagemans, 2017)","plainCitation":"(de-Wit, Huygelier, Hallen, Chamberlain, & Wagemans, 2017)"},"citationItems":[{"id":3036,"uris":[""],"uri":[""],"itemData":{"id":3036,"type":"article-journal","title":"Developing the Leuven Embedded Figures Test (L-EFT): testing the stimulus features that influence embedding","container-title":"PeerJ","page":"e2862","volume":"5","source":"","abstract":"Background The Embedded Figures Test (EFT, developed by Witkin and colleagues (1971)) has been used extensively in research on individual differences, particularly in the study of autism spectrum disorder. The EFT was originally conceptualized as a measure of field (in)dependence, but in recent years performance on the EFT has been interpreted as a measure of local versus global perceptual style. Although many have used the EFT to measure perceptual style, relatively few have focused on understanding the stimulus features that cause a shape to become embedded. The primary aim of this work was to investigate the relation between the strength of embedding and perceptual grouping on a group level. Method New embedded figure stimuli (both targets and contexts) were developed in which stimulus features that may influence perceptual grouping were explicitly manipulated. The symmetry, closure and complexity of the target shape were manipulated as well as its good continuation by varying the number of lines from the target that continued into the context. We evaluated the effect of these four stimulus features on target detection in a new embedded figures task (Leuven Embedded Figures Test, L-EFT) in a group of undergraduate psychology students. The results were then replicated in a second experiment using a slightly different version of the task. Results Stimulus features that influence perceptual grouping, especially good continuation and symmetry, clearly affected performance (lower accuracy, slower response times) on the L-EFT. Closure did not yield results in line with our predictions. Discussion These results show that some stimulus features, which are known to affect perceptual grouping, also influence how effectively a stimulus becomes embedded in different contexts. Whether these results imply that the EFT measures individual differences in perceptual grouping ability must be further investigated.","DOI":"10.7717/peerj.2862","ISSN":"2167-8359","shortTitle":"Developing the Leuven Embedded Figures Test (L-EFT)","journalAbbreviation":"PeerJ","language":"en","author":[{"family":"Wit","given":"Lee","non-dropping-particle":"de-"},{"family":"Huygelier","given":"Hanne"},{"family":"Hallen","given":"Ruth Van","dropping-particle":"der"},{"family":"Chamberlain","given":"Rebecca"},{"family":"Wagemans","given":"Johan"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2017",1,24]]}}}],"schema":""} (de-Wit, Huygelier, Hallen, Chamberlain, & Wagemans, 2017). We evaluated to what extent the L-EFT relates to a local or global perceptual style and to measures of fluid intelligence and executive functions. In addition, the L-EFT is compared to Witkin’s group EFT in order to assess the extent to which these reflect (dis)similar underlying perceptual or cognitive processes. In summary, these studies provide further clarification on the extent to which EFTs measure local/global perceptual style, fluid intelligence and executive functions. In REF _Ref496280561 \h Study 1, we set out to investigate whether the variance in performance on the L-EFT could be explained by the variance in performance on two other related perceptual tests that have often been assumed to measure a common local or global bias (namely, a variant of the Navon hierarchical letter task and a coherent motion task). Based on a previous study investigating variants of the L-EFT in relation to hierarchical perceptual processing in the Navon task, it was predicted that there would be little correlation between local-global perceptual performance and performance on the L-EFT ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"a1cntoi59j5","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Chamberlain, Van der Hallen, Huygelier, Van de Cruys, & Wagemans, 2017)","plainCitation":"(Chamberlain, Van der Hallen, Huygelier, Van de Cruys, & Wagemans, 2017)"},"citationItems":[{"id":3560,"uris":[""],"uri":[""],"itemData":{"id":3560,"type":"article-journal","title":"Local-global processing bias is not a unitary individual difference in visual processing","container-title":"Vision Research","source":"ScienceDirect","abstract":"A large body of research reports individual differences in local and global visual processing in relation to expertise, culture and psychopathology. However, recent research has suggested that various different measures of local-global processing are not strongly associated with one another, calling its construct validity into question. The current study sought to further explore the validity of local-global processing biases in perception by developing three tasks based on two existing paradigms: the Embedded Figures Test (EFT) and the Navon hierarchical letters task. The newly developed tasks aimed to control for stimulus and response factors that may have impacted upon the reliability of previous research. They were administered to a large sample of undergraduate students (N>100). The results of two new versions of the EFT indicated that disembedding performance is influenced by the structure of the embedding context. In addition, global precedence and interference in the Navon task remained present even when local attentional approaches to global hierarchical stimuli were restricted. Inter-task correlations within the EFT were high but low between the EFT and the Navon task, lending support to the notion that local-global processing is not a monolithic construct, but representative of a number of distinct perceptual abilities and biases. Future research may use these task distinctions to pinpoint more precisely which aspects of perceptual processing characterise specific (clinical) participant populations.","URL":"","DOI":"10.1016/j.visres.2017.01.008","ISSN":"0042-6989","journalAbbreviation":"Vision Research","author":[{"family":"Chamberlain","given":"Rebecca"},{"family":"Van der Hallen","given":"Ruth"},{"family":"Huygelier","given":"Hanne"},{"family":"Van de Cruys","given":"Sander"},{"family":"Wagemans","given":"Johan"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2017",5,4]]},"accessed":{"date-parts":[["2017",10,9]]}}}],"schema":""} (Chamberlain, Van der Hallen, Huygelier, Van de Cruys, & Wagemans, 2017). In REF _Ref496280603 \h Study 2, we set out to investigate to what extent individual differences on the L-EFT could be predicted by performance on an array of different executive function (EF) tasks and fluid intelligence. On the basis of previous research ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"jAAxot9D","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Goodenough & Karp, 1961; McKenna, 1984; Richardson & Turner, 2000; Roberge & Flexer, 1981)","plainCitation":"(Goodenough & Karp, 1961; McKenna, 1984; Richardson & Turner, 2000; Roberge & Flexer, 1981)"},"citationItems":[{"id":1181,"uris":[""],"uri":[""],"itemData":{"id":1181,"type":"article-journal","title":"Field dependence and intellectual functioning","container-title":"Journal of Abnormal","page":"241-246","volume":"63","issue":"2","source":"Journals@Ovid","abstract":": \"The present study was designed to test the hypotheses that some intellectual and perceptual tasks have a common requirement for overcoming embedded contexts, and that relationships obtained between measures of field dependence and standard tests of intelligence are based on this common factor. Two factor analyses were conducted on matrices of correlations between cognitive tests, including tests of field dependence and the subtests of the WISC. The results tend to support both hypotheses.\" (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved), (C) 1961 by the American Psychological Association","ISSN":"0096-851X","call-number":"00032378-196109000-00002","language":"English.","author":[{"family":"Goodenough","given":"D. R."},{"family":"Karp","given":"S. A."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["1961",9]]}}},{"id":1356,"uris":[""],"uri":[""],"itemData":{"id":1356,"type":"article-journal","title":"Measures of field dependence: Cognitive style or cognitive ability?","container-title":"Journal of Personality and Social Psychology","page":"593-603","volume":"47","issue":"3","source":"APA PsycNET","abstract":"It is generally assumed and stated that measures of field dependence are measures of cognitive style. The present author examines this assumption at 2 levels: conceptual and empirical. At the conceptual level, several criteria (e.g., N. Kogan's [1971, 1973] classification) defining cognitive style are examined. At the empirical level 3 alternative explanations are considered: general ability, spatial ability, and fluid ability. It is found that the measures of field dependence do not meet the criteria for a cognitive style at the conceptual level and that at the empirical level there are substantial correlations with standard ability tests. (72 ref)","DOI":"10.1037/0022-3514.47.3.593","ISSN":"1939-1315 0022-3514","shortTitle":"Measures of field dependence","language":"English","author":[{"family":"McKenna","given":"Frank P."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["1984"]]}}},{"id":1293,"uris":[""],"uri":[""],"itemData":{"id":1293,"type":"article-journal","title":"Field Dependence Revisited I: Intelligence","container-title":"Educational Psychology","page":"255-270","volume":"20","issue":"3","source":"Taylor and Francis+NEJM","abstract":"This paper addresses a central problem for the theory of field dependence-its relationship with intelligence. Measures of field dependence (e.g. the Embedded Figures Test, EFT) are often found unable to display discriminant validity with conventional intelligence tests. Field independence is often associated with higher intelligence. This has resulted in an unhelpful see-saw debate as to whether field independence is, or is not, another manifestation of greater intelligence. Furthermore, they have only been able to discuss the quantitative differences between the styles. This paper is divided into three parts. Firstly, it examines research between field dependence and psychometrical intelligence, including a recent study which uses the Cognitive Styles Analysis (CSA) and compares the results with the Embedded Figures Test (EFT) to address the issue of whether the EFT is a valid measure of field dependence theory. The main part presents an argument for seeking a relationship with the componential subtheory of the Triarchic Theory of Intelligence (Sternberg, 1985a), which may have greater potential for describing qualitative differences in intellectual functioning. It is proposed that field-independents may be associated with a heuristic routine that gives priority to selective encoding and selective comparing. By contrast, field-dependents may give priority to selective combining and selective comparing. The third part of the paper offers a brief summary of a study which empirically explores these proposed associations using both the EFT and CSA to measure FI. The findings reveal that, in both cases, some degree of functional association is found. However, the relationship is stronger with the latter measure. The conclusion of the paper is that Witkin's theory of field dependence may be usefully observed and informed through Sternberg's Triarchic Theory of Intelligence.","DOI":"10.1080/713663747","ISSN":"0144-3410","shortTitle":"Field Dependence Revisited I","author":[{"family":"Richardson","given":"Julie A."},{"family":"Turner","given":"Tony E."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2000",9,1]]}}},{"id":1299,"uris":[""],"uri":[""],"itemData":{"id":1299,"type":"article-journal","title":"Re-Examination of the Covariation of Field Independence, Intelligence and Achievement","container-title":"British Journal of Educational Psychology","page":"235-236","volume":"51","issue":"2","source":"Wiley Online Library","abstract":"Summary. A principal factor analysis was performed on a matrix of correlations among measures of field independence, intelligence, and achievement in reading and mathematics. Factors of general intelligence and verbal ability were identified. Field independence shared a substantial amount of variance with general intellectual ability.","DOI":"10.1111/j.2044-8279.1981.tb02478.x","ISSN":"2044-8279","language":"en","author":[{"family":"Roberge","given":"J. J."},{"family":"Flexer","given":"B. K."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["1981",6,1]]}}}],"schema":""} (Goodenough & Karp, 1961; McKenna, 1984; Richardson & Turner, 2000; Roberge & Flexer, 1981) it was predicted that there would be moderate correlations between fluid intelligence and performance on the L-EFT. The moderate correlation between the EFT and fluid intelligence would reflect residual problem-solving processes required to perform the tasks. For the EFs we explored whether performance on the L-EFT was associated to memory span, inhibition and cognitive flexibility. In Study 3, we compared the L-EFT to Witkin’s original group EFT (G-EFT). The two tasks differ in two important aspects. The perceptual factors that make the target shape more difficult to find (embedding principles) are systematically manipulated in the L-EFT and their effect on difficulty has been explicitly studied which is not the case for the G-EFT. The main embedding principle in the L-EFT is the number of lines continued from the target into the context shape ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"a194crhiubq","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(de-Wit et al., 2017)","plainCitation":"(de-Wit et al., 2017)"},"citationItems":[{"id":3036,"uris":[""],"uri":[""],"itemData":{"id":3036,"type":"article-journal","title":"Developing the Leuven Embedded Figures Test (L-EFT): testing the stimulus features that influence embedding","container-title":"PeerJ","page":"e2862","volume":"5","source":"","abstract":"Background The Embedded Figures Test (EFT, developed by Witkin and colleagues (1971)) has been used extensively in research on individual differences, particularly in the study of autism spectrum disorder. The EFT was originally conceptualized as a measure of field (in)dependence, but in recent years performance on the EFT has been interpreted as a measure of local versus global perceptual style. Although many have used the EFT to measure perceptual style, relatively few have focused on understanding the stimulus features that cause a shape to become embedded. The primary aim of this work was to investigate the relation between the strength of embedding and perceptual grouping on a group level. Method New embedded figure stimuli (both targets and contexts) were developed in which stimulus features that may influence perceptual grouping were explicitly manipulated. The symmetry, closure and complexity of the target shape were manipulated as well as its good continuation by varying the number of lines from the target that continued into the context. We evaluated the effect of these four stimulus features on target detection in a new embedded figures task (Leuven Embedded Figures Test, L-EFT) in a group of undergraduate psychology students. The results were then replicated in a second experiment using a slightly different version of the task. Results Stimulus features that influence perceptual grouping, especially good continuation and symmetry, clearly affected performance (lower accuracy, slower response times) on the L-EFT. Closure did not yield results in line with our predictions. Discussion These results show that some stimulus features, which are known to affect perceptual grouping, also influence how effectively a stimulus becomes embedded in different contexts. Whether these results imply that the EFT measures individual differences in perceptual grouping ability must be further investigated.","DOI":"10.7717/peerj.2862","ISSN":"2167-8359","shortTitle":"Developing the Leuven Embedded Figures Test (L-EFT)","journalAbbreviation":"PeerJ","language":"en","author":[{"family":"Wit","given":"Lee","non-dropping-particle":"de-"},{"family":"Huygelier","given":"Hanne"},{"family":"Hallen","given":"Ruth Van","dropping-particle":"der"},{"family":"Chamberlain","given":"Rebecca"},{"family":"Wagemans","given":"Johan"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2017",1,24]]}}}],"schema":""} (de-Wit et al., 2017; see Figure 1F-J for an example). The embedding principles in the G-EFT, as evaluated on the basis of our visual inspection, include manipulations of 3D shapes that conflict with the 2D target shape, shading to create conflicting figure-ground interpretations (Figure 1E), shading to create conflicting segmentation (Figure 1D), line continuation (Figure 1B), mirror symmetry in the context shape and adding lines that are parallel with the target lines (Figure 1C).The L-EFT and G-EFT also differ in the task procedure. In the L-EFT the target shape is presented simultaneously with the embedding context, while in the G-EFT the target shape is not presented simultaneously with the embedding context. Due to this difference participants may need to hold the target shape in memory for longer periods of time in the G-EFT than in the L-EFT. Therefore, we predict that memory span is more strongly associated to the G-EFT than the L-EFT.In addition, REF _Ref496280603 \h Study 2 and 3 include an evaluation of the split-half and test-retest reliability of the L-EFT to test whether the variance that is picked up by the L-EFT remains consistent within the test and across different test moments. Study 1 REF _Ref496280561 \h Study 1 aimed to evaluate to what extent the variance in performance on the L-EFT could be explained by the variance in performance on a variant of the Navon hierarchical letter task and a Coherent Motion task. The Navon hierarchical letter task was selected due to its popularity as a tool to measure local versus global perceptual style in ASD ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"l284bupod","properties":{"formattedCitation":"{\\rtf (Happ\\uc0\\u233{} & Frith, 2006)}","plainCitation":"(Happé & Frith, 2006)"},"citationItems":[{"id":1813,"uris":[""],"uri":[""],"itemData":{"id":1813,"type":"article-journal","title":"The Weak Coherence Account: Detail-focused Cognitive Style in Autism Spectrum Disorders","container-title":"Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders","page":"5-25","volume":"36","issue":"1","source":"link..kuleuven.ezproxy.kuleuven.be","abstract":"“Weak central coherence” refers to the detail-focused processing style proposed to characterise autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The original suggestion of a core deficit in central processing resulting in failure to extract global form/meaning, has been challenged in three ways. First, it may represent an outcome of superiority in local processing. Second, it may be a processing bias, rather than deficit. Third, weak coherence may occur alongside, rather than explain, deficits in social cognition. A review of over 50 empirical studies of coherence suggests robust findings of local bias in ASD, with mixed findings regarding weak global processing. Local bias appears not to be a mere side-effect of executive dysfunction, and may be independent of theory of mind deficits. Possible computational and neural models are discussed.","DOI":"10.1007/s10803-005-0039-0","ISSN":"0162-3257, 1573-3432","shortTitle":"The Weak Coherence Account","journalAbbreviation":"J Autism Dev Disord","language":"en","author":[{"family":"Happé","given":"Francesca"},{"family":"Frith","given":"Uta"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2006",1,1]]}}}],"schema":""} (Happé & Frith, 2006). The Coherent Motion task was selected as it has previously been shown to be associated with a disembedding factor on which the G-EFT loaded significantly ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"2ibecqtrcb","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Milne & Szczerbinski, 2009)","plainCitation":"(Milne & Szczerbinski, 2009)"},"citationItems":[{"id":1065,"uris":[""],"uri":[""],"itemData":{"id":1065,"type":"article-journal","title":"Global and local perceptual style, field-independence, and central coherence: An attempt at concept validation.","container-title":"Advances in Cognitive Psychology","page":"1-26","volume":"5","issue":"-1","source":"CrossRef","DOI":"10.2478/v10053-008-0062-8","ISSN":"1895-1171","shortTitle":"Global and local perceptual style, field-independence, and central coherence","author":[{"family":"Milne","given":"Elizabeth"},{"family":"Szczerbinski","given":"Marcin"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2009",1,1]]}}}],"schema":""} (Milne & Szczerbinski, 2009). If L-EFT performance reflects a local/global perceptual style, performance on the L-EFT should be predicted by the performance on the Navon and Coherent Motion task. Furthermore, the Navon task included conditions in which participants were instructed to selectively attend the local or global level of the hierarchical letter. Thus, if the L-EFT reflects a local perceptual style we would predict a stronger association between good L-EFT performance and good performance on the local than the global attention condition of the Navon Selective Attention Task (NSAT). If the L-EFT reflects a global perceptual style we would predict a stronger association between good L-EFT performance and good performance on the global than the local attention condition of the NSAT. Good performance on the Coherent Motion task is typically interpreted as a reflection of a global perceptual style. Therefore, if good L-EFT performance reflects a global perceptual style we predict a positive association between good performance on the Coherent Motion task and good performance on the L-EFT.MethodsParticipants. A group of 62 undergraduate psychology students took part in this study for course credits. The median age was 19 years (SD=3.13). The sample was primarily female (85%). All procedures performed in this study were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional ethical committee and approved by the ethical committee of the KU Leuven (approval number: S58409) as well as in accordance with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Written informed consent for each participant was obtained prior to testing.Instruments.Leuven Embedded Figures Test (L-EFT). The stimulus set of the L-EFT consisted of 16 different target shapes (simple line drawings) each embedded to a varying degree in a context shape, producing 64 unique trials. Participants were asked to perform a matching-to-sample task and were presented with one target shape (on the top of the screen) and three context shapes (on the bottom of the screen) simultaneously (Figure 2A). The target and context shapes had a size of 3cm2. The target shape was presented in the middle on top of the screen and the context shapes were presented next to each other and 7cm below the target shape. Of the three context shapes presented, one contained the target while the other two were distractor contexts. The context shape with the target always contained the target shape with the same scale and orientation as the target shape presented on top of the screen. Participants were asked to choose which context shape contained the target as quickly and accurately as possible by clicking on the response alternative with the computer mouse. The stimulus displays were presented until the participant provided a correct response. If they provided a wrong response, feedback was given and they were prompted to give a new response until they chose the correct context shape. All 64 trials were presented in a random order. The entire task takes 5 to 10 minutes to complete. Stimulus presentation and response registration were controlled using custom software written in C# developed in Visual Studio.Navon Selective Attention Task (NSAT). A white global letter with a size of 3.5cm2 made up of local letters was presented 2.5cm from the fixation cross against a black background (Figure 2B). The global and local letters could be 1 of 5 consonants (C, D, F, H, T) or 1 of 5 vowels (U, O, E, A, I). All stimuli were created using the MATLAB toolbox GERT v1.20 ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"149i94qmd9","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Demeyer & Machilsen, 2011)","plainCitation":"(Demeyer & Machilsen, 2011)"},"citationItems":[{"id":1352,"uris":[""],"uri":[""],"itemData":{"id":1352,"type":"article-journal","title":"The construction of perceptual grouping displays using GERT","container-title":"Behavior Research Methods","page":"439-446","volume":"44","issue":"2","source":"link.","abstract":"To study perceptual grouping processes, vision scientists often use stimuli consisting of spatially separated local elements that, together, elicit the percept of a global structure. We developed a set of methods for constructing such displays and implemented them in an open-source MATLAB toolbox, GERT (Grouping Elements Rendering Toolbox). The main purpose of GERT is to embed a contour in a field of randomly positioned elements, while avoiding the introduction of a local density cue. However, GERT’s modular implementation enables the user to create a far greater variety of perceptual grouping displays, using these same methods. A generic rendering engine grants access to a variety of element-drawing functions, including Gabors, Gaussians, letters, and polygons.","DOI":"10.3758/s13428-011-0167-8","ISSN":"1554-3528","journalAbbreviation":"Behav Res","language":"en","author":[{"family":"Demeyer","given":"Maarten"},{"family":"Machilsen","given":"Bart"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2011",11,20]]}}}],"schema":""} (Demeyer & Machilsen, 2011). In randomly alternating blocks participants were asked to report whether the local (local attention condition) or global letter (global attention condition) was a vowel or not by pressing the ‘f’ or ‘j’ key. The local and global letter were either congruent (both vowels or consonants) or incongruent (one vowel, one consonant). A total of 100 experimental trials were presented to participants in addition to 10 practice trials. In each trial, a fixation cross was presented for 100ms followed by a letter shape for 300ms. Participants received a 4s time limit starting at stimulus onset to provide a response. Accuracy and response times were registered and stimulus presentation and response registration were controlled by PsychoPy ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"prd4j432n","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Peirce, 2007)","plainCitation":"(Peirce, 2007)"},"citationItems":[{"id":1010,"uris":[""],"uri":[""],"itemData":{"id":1010,"type":"article-journal","title":"PsychoPy—Psychophysics software in Python","container-title":"Journal of Neuroscience Methods","page":"8-13","volume":"162","issue":"1–2","source":"ScienceDirect","abstract":"The vast majority of studies into visual processing are conducted using computer display technology. The current paper describes a new free suite of software tools designed to make this task easier, using the latest advances in hardware and software. PsychoPy is a platform-independent experimental control system written in the Python interpreted language using entirely free libraries. PsychoPy scripts are designed to be extremely easy to read and write, while retaining complete power for the user to customize the stimuli and environment.\n\nTools are provided within the package to allow everything from stimulus presentation and response collection (from a wide range of devices) to simple data analysis such as psychometric function fitting. Most importantly, PsychoPy is highly extensible and the whole system can evolve via user contributions. If a user wants to add support for a particular stimulus, analysis or hardware device they can look at the code for existing examples, modify them and submit the modifications back into the package so that the whole community benefits.","DOI":"10.1016/j.jneumeth.2006.11.017","ISSN":"0165-0270","journalAbbreviation":"Journal of Neuroscience Methods","author":[{"family":"Peirce","given":"Jonathan W."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2007",5,15]]}}}],"schema":""} (Peirce, 2007).Coherent Motion Task (CM). An array of 600 moving dots was presented at central fixation to participants (Figure 2C). A proportion of the dots moved in the same direction (global motion), while the other dots moved in random directions. The direction of global motion was manipulated and had four levels: up, down, left and right. The proportion of dots that moved in the global motion direction was manipulated and consisted of eight levels ranging from 5 to 80%. Each dot had a diameter of 0.28cm and moved at a speed of 7.1cm/s. All dots were presented in an array with a diameter of 15cm. The stimuli were presented for 500ms and the participants had to make a forced choice between the four possible motion directions by pressing one of the four arrow keys. A total of 400 experimental trials were presented and 80 practice trials. Stimulus presentation was controlled and accuracy of responses was registered using custom software written in C# developed in Visual Studio.Procedure.Testing took place in multiple one-hour sessions for different groups each consisting of approximately 15 participants. Each participant performed the computer tasks individually on a Dell Inspiron desktop computer in a slightly darkened computer room. The monitor had a width of 46cm and a height of 26cm. Participants viewing distance was on average 45cm, but was not constrained by a chin rest. The tasks were administered in fully counterbalanced order.Data analysis methodTo summarize performance on the L-EFT only the first response on each trial was used. Performance on the L-EFT was summarized by the proportion of correct responses and the median response times (RTs) of the accurate responses for each participant. Performance on the CM task was summarized by calculating the mean accuracy of each participant (CM accuracy). For the CM task no response times were registered. Performance on the NSAT was summarized by calculating the median RTs of accurate trials and the mean accuracy in the local (NSAT local) and global attention conditions (NSAT global). ResultsOutliers.None of the participants obtained an accuracy below chance level on the L-EFT (.33). One participant obtained an accuracy near chance level (.53) on the global attention condition of the NSAT and was therefore excluded from subsequent analyses. No outliers were detected for accuracy in the CM task. Reliability. The split-half Spearman-Brown reliability index and descriptive statistics of each measure are reported in Table 1. The split-half reliability of the L-EFT was moderate (.56) to good (.74) and the split-half reliability of the CM accuracy and NSAT local and global accuracy and RTs was good (range: .71-.96).Main Analysis. Linear regression models were used to test to what extent L-EFT accuracy and RTs could be predicted by CM accuracy and NSAT local and global accuracy and RTs. All effects were evaluated against an alpha level of .05. All analyses were performed in R ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"foforq39c","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(R Core Team, 2016)","plainCitation":"(R Core Team, 2016)"},"citationItems":[{"id":1151,"uris":[""],"uri":[""],"itemData":{"id":1151,"type":"book","title":"R: A language and environment for statistical computing.","publisher":"R Foundation for Statistical Computing","publisher-place":"Vienna, Austria","event-place":"Vienna, Austria","author":[{"literal":"R Core Team"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2016"]]}}}],"schema":""} (R Core Team, 2016). The results of these models are reported in Table 2 and scatterplots between the outcome variable and each predictor are visualized in Figure 3. The overall contribution of the predictors ranged between 18% to 24% of explained variance for the prediction of RTs and accuracy, respectively. For the prediction of the L-EFT accuracy only the NSAT local accuracy and NSAT global RTs reached significance at the level of .05. The results indicated that higher accuracy on the NSAT local condition and faster responses on the NSAT global condition were associated with higher L-EFT accuracy. For the prediction of the L-EFT RTs the only predictor that reached significance was the NSAT local RTs. Faster responses on the NSAT local condition were associated with faster responses on the L-EFT.DiscussionIn REF _Ref496280561 \h Study 1, we aimed to evaluate to what extent perceptual ability could account for individual differences in performance on the L-EFT. For that reason, we selected a coherent motion task and a variant of the Navon hierarchical letter task to evaluate to what extent performance on the L-EFT could be predicted by performance on these two tasks. No evidence was found for a high amount of predictive power for the CM task and the NSAT. There was no clear pattern showing that performance in either the local or global attention condition of the NSAT was a better predictor of L-EFT performance. In addition, CM accuracy was not a significant predictor of L-EFT performance. Thus, these results further support the finding that there is little convergence between different measures that are all considered to measure local/global perceptual style in student samples ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"a3ab9fecg1","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Chamberlain et al., 2017; Milne & Szczerbinski, 2009)","plainCitation":"(Chamberlain et al., 2017; Milne & Szczerbinski, 2009)"},"citationItems":[{"id":3560,"uris":[""],"uri":[""],"itemData":{"id":3560,"type":"article-journal","title":"Local-global processing bias is not a unitary individual difference in visual processing","container-title":"Vision Research","source":"ScienceDirect","abstract":"A large body of research reports individual differences in local and global visual processing in relation to expertise, culture and psychopathology. However, recent research has suggested that various different measures of local-global processing are not strongly associated with one another, calling its construct validity into question. The current study sought to further explore the validity of local-global processing biases in perception by developing three tasks based on two existing paradigms: the Embedded Figures Test (EFT) and the Navon hierarchical letters task. The newly developed tasks aimed to control for stimulus and response factors that may have impacted upon the reliability of previous research. They were administered to a large sample of undergraduate students (N>100). The results of two new versions of the EFT indicated that disembedding performance is influenced by the structure of the embedding context. In addition, global precedence and interference in the Navon task remained present even when local attentional approaches to global hierarchical stimuli were restricted. Inter-task correlations within the EFT were high but low between the EFT and the Navon task, lending support to the notion that local-global processing is not a monolithic construct, but representative of a number of distinct perceptual abilities and biases. Future research may use these task distinctions to pinpoint more precisely which aspects of perceptual processing characterise specific (clinical) participant populations.","URL":"","DOI":"10.1016/j.visres.2017.01.008","ISSN":"0042-6989","journalAbbreviation":"Vision Research","author":[{"family":"Chamberlain","given":"Rebecca"},{"family":"Van der Hallen","given":"Ruth"},{"family":"Huygelier","given":"Hanne"},{"family":"Van de Cruys","given":"Sander"},{"family":"Wagemans","given":"Johan"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2017",5,4]]},"accessed":{"date-parts":[["2017",10,9]]}}},{"id":1065,"uris":[""],"uri":[""],"itemData":{"id":1065,"type":"article-journal","title":"Global and local perceptual style, field-independence, and central coherence: An attempt at concept validation.","container-title":"Advances in Cognitive Psychology","page":"1-26","volume":"5","issue":"-1","source":"CrossRef","DOI":"10.2478/v10053-008-0062-8","ISSN":"1895-1171","shortTitle":"Global and local perceptual style, field-independence, and central coherence","author":[{"family":"Milne","given":"Elizabeth"},{"family":"Szczerbinski","given":"Marcin"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2009",1,1]]}}}],"schema":""} (Chamberlain et al., 2017; Milne & Szczerbinski, 2009).Study 2While REF _Ref496280561 \h Study 1 set out to improve our understanding of the relationship between different tasks that are assumed to measure local or global perceptual styles, it did not provide us with an answer to the question whether the L-EFT is related to fluid intelligence and/or EFs. Therefore, in Study 2 the relationship between L-EFT performance, three executive sub-domains and fluid intelligence was evaluated. The three EF domains were derived from the framework reviewed by Diamond (2013): inhibitory control, working memory and cognitive flexibility. Each of these cognitive abilities have the potential to play a role in EFT performance. Good performance on the EFT could be related to inhibitory control, as one may need to inhibit or suppress the surrounding (embedded) context ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"FVUflxKl","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Brosnan et al., 2002)","plainCitation":"(Brosnan et al., 2002)"},"citationItems":[{"id":1326,"uris":[""],"uri":[""],"itemData":{"id":1326,"type":"article-journal","title":"Executive functioning in adults and children with developmental dyslexia","container-title":"Neuropsychologia","page":"2144-2155","volume":"40","issue":"12","source":"ScienceDirect","abstract":"The performance of developmentally dyslexic children and adults was studied upon a range of tasks that involved executive functioning. Both adult and child samples of dyslexics were found to under-perform on the group-embedded figures test. This test required the identification of constituent parts from within complex visual arrays, with good performance necessitating the inhibition of the processing of the surrounding context. A general deficit on visual–spatial tasks was eliminated as an explanation as dyslexics performed normally upon a range of other non-verbal assessments. The dyslexics consistently demonstrated a deficit in digit span tasks, a decrement that was increased with distractors, again suggesting difficulties in inhibiting the processing of the surrounding context. A deficit was also identified upon a verbal fluency task without a deficit in vocabulary level. Additionally, a specific deficit in the recollection of the temporal order of the presentation of items was in evidence, without a deficit in the recognition of the items themselves. The findings taken as a whole suggest that dyslexic individuals show deficiencies in executive functions relating to inhibition of distractors and to sequencing of events, a set of tasks associated with left prefrontal cortex functioning in the acquired neuropsychology literature.","DOI":"10.1016/S0028-3932(02)00046-5","ISSN":"0028-3932","journalAbbreviation":"Neuropsychologia","author":[{"family":"Brosnan","given":"Mark"},{"family":"Demetre","given":"James"},{"family":"Hamill","given":"Stephen"},{"family":"Robson","given":"Kate"},{"family":"Shepherd","given":"Haidee"},{"family":"Cody","given":"Gerard"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2002"]]}}}],"schema":""} (Brosnan et al., 2002). Cognitive flexibility could be important in the EFT, as switching between local or global stimulus attributes of the embedded figures could facilitate target detection. Short-term memory could be required to keep the target in mind whilst searching the embedding contexts. Finally, the general task demands (setting up goals and sub-goals, and executing each in the correct order) could depend on the same capacities measured in typical fluid intelligence tests ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"g1kj9ahg8","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Duncan, 2013)","plainCitation":"(Duncan, 2013)"},"citationItems":[{"id":1314,"uris":[""],"uri":[""],"itemData":{"id":1314,"type":"article-journal","title":"The Structure of Cognition: Attentional Episodes in Mind and Brain","container-title":"Neuron","page":"35-50","volume":"80","issue":"1","source":"ScienceDirect","abstract":"Cognition is organized in a structured series of attentional episodes, allowing complex problems to be addressed through solution of simpler subproblems. A “multiple-demand” (MD) system of frontal and parietal cortex is active in many different kinds of tasks, and using data from neuroimaging, electrophysiology, neuropsychology, and cognitive studies of intelligence, I propose a core role for MD regions in assembly of the attentional episode. Monkey and human data show dynamic neural coding of attended information across multiple MD regions, with rapid communication within and between regions. Neuropsychological and imaging data link MD function to fluid intelligence, explaining some but not all “executive” deficits after frontal lobe lesions. Cognitive studies link fluid intelligence to goal neglect, and the problem of dividing complex task requirements into focused parts. Like the innate releasing mechanism of ethology, I suggest that construction of the attentional episode provides a core organizational principle for complex, adaptive cognition.","DOI":"10.1016/j.neuron.2013.09.015","ISSN":"0896-6273","shortTitle":"The Structure of Cognition","journalAbbreviation":"Neuron","author":[{"family":"Duncan","given":"John"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2013",10,2]]}}}],"schema":""} (Duncan, 2013). MethodsParticipants. A new sample of 132 undergraduate psychology students participated in this study for course credits. The median age was 18 years (SD=1.44). The sample was primarily female (90%). A subset of 45 participants completed the L-EFT twice with a two-week interval in between the test and retest. These participants were also undergraduate psychology students with a median age of 19 years (SD=3.74) and they were primarily female (96%). All procedures performed in this study were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional ethical committee and (approval number: S58409) and in accordance with the 1964 Helsinki declaration. Written informed consent for each participant was obtained prior to testing.Instruments.Leuven Embedded Figures Task. The L-EFT as described in REF _Ref496280561 \h Study 1 and visualized in Figure 2A was used in this study.Raven Advanced Progressive Matrices short form (RAPM). A computerized version of the short form of the original RAPM was administered to participants. The RAPM has good psychometric properties and allows for a quick assessment of fluid intelligence ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"1djtp7frgn","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Arthur & Day, 1994)","plainCitation":"(Arthur & Day, 1994)"},"citationItems":[{"id":1342,"uris":[""],"uri":[""],"itemData":{"id":1342,"type":"article-journal","title":"Development of a Short form for the Raven Advanced Progressive Matrices Test","container-title":"Educational and Psychological Measurement","page":"394-403","volume":"54","issue":"2","author":[{"family":"Arthur","given":"Winfred"},{"family":"Day","given":"David"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["1994"]]}}}],"schema":""} (Arthur & Day, 1994). Participants were presented with a 3 by 3 matrix of visual designs and asked to detect the rule that determined the matrix. They needed to select one response alternative out of 8 possible alternatives which would complete the matrix best. The matrix of visual designs had a size of 15cm2 and the response options were presented just below the matrix and had a height of 10cm and width of 20cm. Participants received a 15-minute time limit to complete 12 test items, which were presented in order of progressive difficulty. Participants were not able to revisit previously answered items. Participants received a 5-minute warning, once the first 10 minutes of the test had passed. Both accuracy and response times were registered. Presentation of stimuli and response registration were controlled by PsychoPy ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"19p5rqco3f","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Peirce, 2007)","plainCitation":"(Peirce, 2007)"},"citationItems":[{"id":1010,"uris":[""],"uri":[""],"itemData":{"id":1010,"type":"article-journal","title":"PsychoPy—Psychophysics software in Python","container-title":"Journal of Neuroscience Methods","page":"8-13","volume":"162","issue":"1–2","source":"ScienceDirect","abstract":"The vast majority of studies into visual processing are conducted using computer display technology. The current paper describes a new free suite of software tools designed to make this task easier, using the latest advances in hardware and software. PsychoPy is a platform-independent experimental control system written in the Python interpreted language using entirely free libraries. PsychoPy scripts are designed to be extremely easy to read and write, while retaining complete power for the user to customize the stimuli and environment.\n\nTools are provided within the package to allow everything from stimulus presentation and response collection (from a wide range of devices) to simple data analysis such as psychometric function fitting. Most importantly, PsychoPy is highly extensible and the whole system can evolve via user contributions. If a user wants to add support for a particular stimulus, analysis or hardware device they can look at the code for existing examples, modify them and submit the modifications back into the package so that the whole community benefits.","DOI":"10.1016/j.jneumeth.2006.11.017","ISSN":"0165-0270","journalAbbreviation":"Journal of Neuroscience Methods","author":[{"family":"Peirce","given":"Jonathan W."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2007",5,15]]}}}],"schema":""} (Peirce, 2007).Corsi Tapping Test. A computerized version based on the original paradigm of the Corsi tapping test was administered to estimate short-term memory span ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"m2rghhoik","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Corsi, 1973)","plainCitation":"(Corsi, 1973)"},"citationItems":[{"id":1641,"uris":[""],"uri":[""],"itemData":{"id":1641,"type":"thesis","title":"Human memory and the medial temporal region of the brain","publisher":"ProQuest Information & Learning","publisher-place":"US","number-of-pages":"891","source":"APA PsycNET","event-place":"US","author":[{"family":"Corsi","given":"Philip M."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["1973"]]}}}],"schema":""} (Corsi, 1973). A 4 by 4 matrix of green squares was presented in the centre of the screen on a black background. Each square had a size of 1.4cm2 and the entire matrix of squares had a size of 6.65cm2. A particular number of squares sequentially changed colour to blue (1s) and the order of these colour-changing squares was determined at random (Figure 4A). Participants had to click on the squares in the same order as the presented sequence after the entire sequence was presented. During stimulus presentation, the cursor was disabled to prevent participants from tracking the stimulus presentation with their cursor to aid their memory. Participants could not proceed to the next trial without providing a response. The sequence length of each trial was determined by a 1-up 2-down staircase that started at a sequence length of 2 items. Five practice trials were presented. An additional 32 trials were administered to estimate the maximum sequence length an individual could reproduce. Presentation of stimuli and response registration were controlled by PsychoPy ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"1pm1cdtork","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Peirce, 2007)","plainCitation":"(Peirce, 2007)"},"citationItems":[{"id":1010,"uris":[""],"uri":[""],"itemData":{"id":1010,"type":"article-journal","title":"PsychoPy—Psychophysics software in Python","container-title":"Journal of Neuroscience Methods","page":"8-13","volume":"162","issue":"1–2","source":"ScienceDirect","abstract":"The vast majority of studies into visual processing are conducted using computer display technology. The current paper describes a new free suite of software tools designed to make this task easier, using the latest advances in hardware and software. PsychoPy is a platform-independent experimental control system written in the Python interpreted language using entirely free libraries. PsychoPy scripts are designed to be extremely easy to read and write, while retaining complete power for the user to customize the stimuli and environment.\n\nTools are provided within the package to allow everything from stimulus presentation and response collection (from a wide range of devices) to simple data analysis such as psychometric function fitting. Most importantly, PsychoPy is highly extensible and the whole system can evolve via user contributions. If a user wants to add support for a particular stimulus, analysis or hardware device they can look at the code for existing examples, modify them and submit the modifications back into the package so that the whole community benefits.","DOI":"10.1016/j.jneumeth.2006.11.017","ISSN":"0165-0270","journalAbbreviation":"Journal of Neuroscience Methods","author":[{"family":"Peirce","given":"Jonathan W."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2007",5,15]]}}}],"schema":""} (Peirce, 2007).Flanker Task. The flanker task used in this study was based on the paradigm originally developed by ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"UFNBNJj5","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Eriksen & Eriksen, 1974)","plainCitation":"(Eriksen & Eriksen, 1974)"},"citationItems":[{"id":1346,"uris":[""],"uri":[""],"itemData":{"id":1346,"type":"article-journal","title":"Effects of noise letters upon the identification of a target letter in a nonsearch task","container-title":"Perception & Psychophysics","page":"143-149","volume":"16","issue":"1","source":"link.","abstract":"During a 1-sec tachistoscopic exposure, Ss responded with a right or left leverpress to a single target letter from the sets H and K or S and C. The target always appeared directly above the fixation cross. Experimentally varied were the types of noise letters (response compatible or incompatible) flanking the target and the spacing between the letters in the display. In all noise conditions, reaction time (RT) decreased as between-letter spacing increased. However, noise letters of the opposite response set were found to impair RT significantly more than same response set noise, while mixed noise letters belonging to neither set but having set-related features produced intermediate impairment. Differences between two target-alone control conditions, one presented intermixed with noise-condition trials and one presented separately in blocks, gave evidence of a preparatory set on the part of Ss to inhibit responses to the noise letters. It was concluded that S cannot prevent processing of noise letters occurring within about 1 deg of the target due to the nature of processing channel capacity and must inhibit his response until he is able to discriminate exactly which letter is in the target position. This discrimination is more difficult and time consuming at closer spacings, and inhibition is more difficult when noise letters indicate the opposite response from the targe","DOI":"10.3758/BF03203267","ISSN":"0031-5117, 1532-5962","journalAbbreviation":"Perception & Psychophysics","language":"en","author":[{"family":"Eriksen","given":"Barbara A."},{"family":"Eriksen","given":"Charles W."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["1974"]]}}}],"schema":""} Eriksen and Eriksen (1974). A white arrow (target) was presented in the middle of the screen and two flankers (arrows or squares) were presented on both sides of the target for 250ms. The arrows and squares had a height of 2.5cm. Participants were asked to respond as quickly as possible with the arrow keys on the keyboard in which direction the white arrow was pointing. The task had to be performed in three conditions that were presented in a random order: congruent, incongruent and neutral flankers (Figure 4B). In the congruent condition the flankers and target arrow were pointing in the same direction, while in the incongruent condition the flankers were pointing in the opposite direction as the target arrow. In the neutral condition the flanker stimuli were squares. A total of 120 experimental trials and 20 practice trials were performed by each participant. Between trials a fixation cross was presented for 250ms and the colour of the fixation cross was changed to red or green to provide feedback to participants. After half of the trials a pause screen appeared and participants could decide when they continued with the second half of the trials. Reaction times and accuracy were registered. Stimulus presentation and response registration were controlled by PsychoPy ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"8jmdkn8gu","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Peirce, 2007)","plainCitation":"(Peirce, 2007)"},"citationItems":[{"id":1010,"uris":[""],"uri":[""],"itemData":{"id":1010,"type":"article-journal","title":"PsychoPy—Psychophysics software in Python","container-title":"Journal of Neuroscience Methods","page":"8-13","volume":"162","issue":"1–2","source":"ScienceDirect","abstract":"The vast majority of studies into visual processing are conducted using computer display technology. The current paper describes a new free suite of software tools designed to make this task easier, using the latest advances in hardware and software. PsychoPy is a platform-independent experimental control system written in the Python interpreted language using entirely free libraries. PsychoPy scripts are designed to be extremely easy to read and write, while retaining complete power for the user to customize the stimuli and environment.\n\nTools are provided within the package to allow everything from stimulus presentation and response collection (from a wide range of devices) to simple data analysis such as psychometric function fitting. Most importantly, PsychoPy is highly extensible and the whole system can evolve via user contributions. If a user wants to add support for a particular stimulus, analysis or hardware device they can look at the code for existing examples, modify them and submit the modifications back into the package so that the whole community benefits.","DOI":"10.1016/j.jneumeth.2006.11.017","ISSN":"0165-0270","journalAbbreviation":"Journal of Neuroscience Methods","author":[{"family":"Peirce","given":"Jonathan W."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2007",5,15]]}}}],"schema":""} (Peirce, 2007).Switching Task. A cued task switching paradigm with an arbitrary stimulus-response association was used ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"29iclfn8uv","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Kiesel et al., 2010)","plainCitation":"(Kiesel et al., 2010)"},"citationItems":[{"id":1350,"uris":[""],"uri":[""],"itemData":{"id":1350,"type":"article-journal","title":"Control and interference in task switching—A review","container-title":"Psychological Bulletin","page":"849-874","volume":"136","issue":"5","source":"APA PsycNET","abstract":"The task-switching paradigm offers enormous possibilities to study cognitive control as well as task interference. The current review provides an overview of recent research on both topics. First, we review different experimental approaches to task switching, such as comparing mixed-task blocks with single-task blocks, predictable task-switching and task-cuing paradigms, intermittent instructions, and voluntary task selection. In the 2nd part, we discuss findings on preparatory control mechanisms in task switching and theoretical accounts of task preparation. We consider preparation processes in two-stage models, consider preparation as an all-or-none process, address the question of whether preparation is switch-specific, reflect on preparation as interaction of cue encoding and memory retrieval, and discuss the impact of verbal mediation on preparation. In the 3rd part, we turn to interference phenomena in task switching. We consider proactive interference of tasks and inhibition of recently performed tasks indicated by asymmetrical switch costs and n-2 task-repetition costs. We discuss stimulus-based interference as a result of stimulus-based response activation and stimulus-based task activation, and response-based interference because of applying bivalent rather than univalent responses, response repetition effects, and carryover of response selection and execution. In the 4th and final part, we mention possible future research fields.","DOI":"10.1037/a0019842","ISSN":"1939-1455 0033-2909","language":"English","author":[{"family":"Kiesel","given":"Andrea"},{"family":"Steinhauser","given":"Marco"},{"family":"Wendt","given":"Mike"},{"family":"Falkenstein","given":"Michael"},{"family":"Jost","given":"Kerstin"},{"family":"Philipp","given":"Andrea M."},{"family":"Koch","given":"Iring"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2010"]]}}}],"schema":""} (Kiesel et al., 2010). A white circle or a white square with a diameter of 3.5cm was presented in the middle of the screen (target) on a blue or green background for 500ms (Figure 4C). Participants were asked to respond as quickly as possible with the “up” key for the circle and with the “down” key for the square when the background colour of the screen was green and had to reverse this stimulus-response rule when the background colour of the screen was blue. The stimulus-response rule switched unpredictably after 6 to 12 trials. A total of 20 switches occurred during the task. Accuracy and reaction times for each trial were registered. Presentation of stimuli and response registration were controlled by PsychoPy ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"4mn3cc1s1","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Peirce, 2007)","plainCitation":"(Peirce, 2007)"},"citationItems":[{"id":1010,"uris":[""],"uri":[""],"itemData":{"id":1010,"type":"article-journal","title":"PsychoPy—Psychophysics software in Python","container-title":"Journal of Neuroscience Methods","page":"8-13","volume":"162","issue":"1–2","source":"ScienceDirect","abstract":"The vast majority of studies into visual processing are conducted using computer display technology. The current paper describes a new free suite of software tools designed to make this task easier, using the latest advances in hardware and software. PsychoPy is a platform-independent experimental control system written in the Python interpreted language using entirely free libraries. PsychoPy scripts are designed to be extremely easy to read and write, while retaining complete power for the user to customize the stimuli and environment.\n\nTools are provided within the package to allow everything from stimulus presentation and response collection (from a wide range of devices) to simple data analysis such as psychometric function fitting. Most importantly, PsychoPy is highly extensible and the whole system can evolve via user contributions. If a user wants to add support for a particular stimulus, analysis or hardware device they can look at the code for existing examples, modify them and submit the modifications back into the package so that the whole community benefits.","DOI":"10.1016/j.jneumeth.2006.11.017","ISSN":"0165-0270","journalAbbreviation":"Journal of Neuroscience Methods","author":[{"family":"Peirce","given":"Jonathan W."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2007",5,15]]}}}],"schema":""} (Peirce, 2007).Procedure.Testing took place during multiple one-hour sessions for different groups each consisting of approximately 15 participants. All tasks were presented on a monitor with a width of 46cm and a height of 26cm in a slightly darkened computer room. The average viewing distance was approximately 45cm. The RAPM was always administered as the first test. After the RAPM, in half of the sessions the L-EFT was administered as the second task and followed by a block of EF tasks, while in the other half of the sessions the block of EF tasks was administered before the L-EFT. The EF tasks were always administered in the same order: switching task, flanker task and the Corsi tapping test.Data analysis methodPerformance on the L-EFT was summarized by calculating the mean accuracy and median RTs on accurate trials. To summarize flanker performance, the RTs for accurate trials of the congruent and incongruent condition were divided by the RTs for accurate trials on the neutral condition. Then, a difference score was calculated based on the normalized data between the incongruent and congruent condition (flanker incongruency effect). Performance on the RAPM was summarized using the proportion of correct items for each participant. Performance on the Corsi tapping test was summarized by calculating the average of the number of correctly reproduced items of each sequence (memory span). Performance on the switching task was summarized by calculating the difference between the normalized RTs for accurate trials on switch (trials immediately after a cued task switch) versus maintain trials, which will be referred to as switch cost.ResultsOutliers. No participant obtained an accuracy below chance level on the L-EFT (.33). For the flanker task, data of four participants that had an accuracy 2.5 standard deviations below the mean of the congruent and neutral conditions were removed. For the RAPM, data of two participants were excluded, because their performance was fast and inaccurate on the RAPM. They had an average reaction time of two standard deviations below the mean in combination with an accuracy one standard deviation below the mean. There were no outliers detected on the memory span index. For the switching task, three participants who obtained an accuracy level below or equal to chance level in the maintain trials were excluded from subsequent analyses. Additionally, one individual who obtained a mean accuracy on the maintain trials that lay 2.5 standard deviations below the mean was excluded from further analyses. Based on these criteria 8.5% of the data was excluded from further analyses. Reliability. The reliability of all measures estimated with the Spearman-Brown split-half method and descriptive statistics of all measures are reported in Table 1. Overall, the reliability of the measures was moderate to good (range: .62-.88) except for the flanker incongruency effect, which had a lower split-half reliability (.42). Additionally, the test-retest reliability of the L-EFT was estimated by calculating the intra-class correlation on a sample of 45 participants who completed the L-EFT twice. The test-retest reliability of accuracy (r(44)=.55, 95% CI [.30, .72]) and RTs (r(44)=.45, 95% CI [.19, .66]) was moderate.Main analysis. Linear regression models were used to predict L-EFT accuracy and RTs by performance on the flanker task, Corsi tapping test, RAPM and switching task (Table 3). Scatterplots of the outcome variables and each predictor are also presented in Figure 5. The results indicated that the main effect of the RAPM, flanker incongruency effect and switch cost did not have a significant influence on L-EFT accuracy. Memory span contributed significantly at the .05 level for the prediction of L-EFT accuracy. For the prediction of L-EFT RTs there were no significant predictors. Overall, the explained variance was quite low, ranging between 2% for the prediction of RTs to 7% for the prediction of accuracy.DiscussionWe studied the contribution of EFs and IQ to the L-EFT in a large sample of undergraduate psychology students. It was predicted that EFT performance could relate to intelligence, cognitive flexibility, short-term memory span and inhibitory control. In order to measure intelligence and EFs the following battery of tests was administered: RAPM short form, switching task, Corsi tapping test and the flanker task. Little support was found for a significant contribution of EFs and IQ to performance on the L-EFT, except for a small but significant association between memory span and L-EFT accuracy. These results stand somewhat in contrast to the studies that have linked the original EFT to EFs and fluid intelligence ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"1reksrac6v","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Brosnan et al., 2002; McKenna, 1984)","plainCitation":"(Brosnan et al., 2002; McKenna, 1984)"},"citationItems":[{"id":1326,"uris":[""],"uri":[""],"itemData":{"id":1326,"type":"article-journal","title":"Executive functioning in adults and children with developmental dyslexia","container-title":"Neuropsychologia","page":"2144-2155","volume":"40","issue":"12","source":"ScienceDirect","abstract":"The performance of developmentally dyslexic children and adults was studied upon a range of tasks that involved executive functioning. Both adult and child samples of dyslexics were found to under-perform on the group-embedded figures test. This test required the identification of constituent parts from within complex visual arrays, with good performance necessitating the inhibition of the processing of the surrounding context. A general deficit on visual–spatial tasks was eliminated as an explanation as dyslexics performed normally upon a range of other non-verbal assessments. The dyslexics consistently demonstrated a deficit in digit span tasks, a decrement that was increased with distractors, again suggesting difficulties in inhibiting the processing of the surrounding context. A deficit was also identified upon a verbal fluency task without a deficit in vocabulary level. Additionally, a specific deficit in the recollection of the temporal order of the presentation of items was in evidence, without a deficit in the recognition of the items themselves. The findings taken as a whole suggest that dyslexic individuals show deficiencies in executive functions relating to inhibition of distractors and to sequencing of events, a set of tasks associated with left prefrontal cortex functioning in the acquired neuropsychology literature.","DOI":"10.1016/S0028-3932(02)00046-5","ISSN":"0028-3932","journalAbbreviation":"Neuropsychologia","author":[{"family":"Brosnan","given":"Mark"},{"family":"Demetre","given":"James"},{"family":"Hamill","given":"Stephen"},{"family":"Robson","given":"Kate"},{"family":"Shepherd","given":"Haidee"},{"family":"Cody","given":"Gerard"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2002"]]}}},{"id":1356,"uris":[""],"uri":[""],"itemData":{"id":1356,"type":"article-journal","title":"Measures of field dependence: Cognitive style or cognitive ability?","container-title":"Journal of Personality and Social Psychology","page":"593-603","volume":"47","issue":"3","source":"APA PsycNET","abstract":"It is generally assumed and stated that measures of field dependence are measures of cognitive style. The present author examines this assumption at 2 levels: conceptual and empirical. At the conceptual level, several criteria (e.g., N. Kogan's [1971, 1973] classification) defining cognitive style are examined. At the empirical level 3 alternative explanations are considered: general ability, spatial ability, and fluid ability. It is found that the measures of field dependence do not meet the criteria for a cognitive style at the conceptual level and that at the empirical level there are substantial correlations with standard ability tests. (72 ref)","DOI":"10.1037/0022-3514.47.3.593","ISSN":"1939-1315 0022-3514","shortTitle":"Measures of field dependence","language":"English","author":[{"family":"McKenna","given":"Frank P."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["1984"]]}}}],"schema":""} (Brosnan et al., 2002; McKenna, 1984). Brosnan et al. (2002) found that dyslexic children and adults with poor working memory ability performed worse on the G-EFT and interpreted this finding as a reflection of poor ability to disinhibit the surrounding task-irrelevant context while searching for the target shape. Although it could be that in samples with EF dysfunctions EF skills may affect EFT performance, our results do not support the idea that good performance on an embedded figures task is necessarily a good proxy of inhibitory skills. Therefore, it seems premature to interpret performance on the EFT as a reflection of poor inhibitory skills since there is little empirical support for this idea. McKenna (1984) summarizes the results of a number of studies that reported correlations between the performance on various forms of the original EFT and the Raven progressive matrices. These studies involved cross-cultural, children, elderly and student samples. The correlations between the RAPM and EFT ranged from .40 to .78 (M=.56, SD=0.11) and were estimated on sample sizes ranging from 30 to 173 participants (M=63, SD=32.82). Given the robust findings of a moderate to good correlation between fluid intelligence and EFT performance across many different samples and the fact that accuracy spanned the entire range of the RAPM in our sample, our results showing little correlation between the RAPM and L-EFT contrast the earlier findings reported in McKenna (1984).A possible explanation for the difference in findings on the contribution of fluid intelligence to EFT performance between our study and the studies reported in McKenna (1984) is that the new L-EFT may be more independent of fluid intelligence than the original EFT developed by Witkin. Because the perceptual factors that make the target shape more embedded in the L-EFT are systematically manipulated, the performance on the L-EFT might be driven to a larger extent by pure perceptual factors than by general problem solving skills. In Study 3 we tested this possible explanation by directly comparing the contribution of fluid intelligence to the performance on the L-EFT and G-EFT. In addition, we compared the contribution of memory span to performance on the L-EFT and G-EFT since we predicted that the L-EFT would be less affected by participant’s memory span than the G-EFT.Study 3To test whether the L-EFT has a smaller association with memory span and fluid intelligence than the G-EFT, we directly compared the contribution of these two predictors to performance on the G-EFT and L-EFT in REF _Ref496280624 \h Study 3.MethodsParticipants. A new sample of 167 psychology students participated in this study for course credits. Their median age was 18 years (SD=1.05). The sample was primarily female (82%). A large subset of these participants (n=107) completed the L-EFT twice at two different time points (median age=18 years, SD=0.93 years, 78% females). All procedures performed in this study were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional ethical committee as in Study 1 and 2. Written informed consent for each participant was obtained prior to testing.Instruments.The Leuven Embedded Figures Test. The task procedure of the L-EFT was slightly adjusted to increase the reliability of the task. The target, embedding context and distractors were also presented simultaneously as in REF _Ref496280561 \h Study 1, but for a limited duration of 3s. After the stimulus presentation, subjects had to make a forced choice between the 3 response alternatives by pressing a button on the numeric keypad. Unlike the task procedure of the L-EFT in the previous studies, subjects were not allowed to provide multiple responses for each trial and no feedback was provided. All 64 figures of the stimulus set of the L-EFT were presented twice (128 trials). The stimulus presentation and response registration were controlled using custom software developed with PsychoPy ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"205r27npq0","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Peirce, 2007)","plainCitation":"(Peirce, 2007)"},"citationItems":[{"id":1010,"uris":[""],"uri":[""],"itemData":{"id":1010,"type":"article-journal","title":"PsychoPy—Psychophysics software in Python","container-title":"Journal of Neuroscience Methods","page":"8-13","volume":"162","issue":"1–2","source":"ScienceDirect","abstract":"The vast majority of studies into visual processing are conducted using computer display technology. The current paper describes a new free suite of software tools designed to make this task easier, using the latest advances in hardware and software. PsychoPy is a platform-independent experimental control system written in the Python interpreted language using entirely free libraries. PsychoPy scripts are designed to be extremely easy to read and write, while retaining complete power for the user to customize the stimuli and environment.\n\nTools are provided within the package to allow everything from stimulus presentation and response collection (from a wide range of devices) to simple data analysis such as psychometric function fitting. Most importantly, PsychoPy is highly extensible and the whole system can evolve via user contributions. If a user wants to add support for a particular stimulus, analysis or hardware device they can look at the code for existing examples, modify them and submit the modifications back into the package so that the whole community benefits.","DOI":"10.1016/j.jneumeth.2006.11.017","ISSN":"0165-0270","journalAbbreviation":"Journal of Neuroscience Methods","author":[{"family":"Peirce","given":"Jonathan W."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2007",5,15]]}}}],"schema":""} (Peirce, 2007).The Group Embedded Figures Test (G-EFT, ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"1ig1s01bag","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Witkin et al., 1971)","plainCitation":"(Witkin et al., 1971)","dontUpdate":true},"citationItems":[{"id":1198,"uris":[""],"uri":[""],"itemData":{"id":1198,"type":"book","title":"A manual for the embedded figures tests.","publisher":"Consulting Psychologists Press","publisher-place":"Palo Alto, CA","event-place":"Palo Alto, CA","author":[{"family":"Witkin","given":"H. A."},{"family":"Oltman","given":"Philip K."},{"family":"Raskin","given":"E."},{"family":"Karp","given":"S. A."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["1971"]]}}}],"schema":""} Witkin et al., 1971). The G-EFT was administered to participants in group. Participants were asked to trace the outline of a target shape hidden within a complex figure. On the first pages of the test booklet participants received instructions on how to complete the task. They were instructed that the test aims to measure their ability to find a simple form when it is hidden in a complex pattern. They could see an example of a target shape and its location in a complex shape and they were instructed that the simple form would always be present in the complex shape with the same proportions, size and direction as the original simple form. They were instructed not to skip items and were allowed to correct mistakes. As in the original version, participants were instructed to complete 7 practice trials within 2 minutes and two sets of 9 test trials each within 5 minutes. On each page of the test booklet two context shapes are presented. Underneath each context shape a text indicated which of the 8 possible target shapes the participant had to trace in the context shape. The target shapes were located on the last page of the booklet. The accuracy of the responses was recorded.Executive Functions. Fluid intelligence was estimated with the RAPM administered in the same way as described in Study 2. Short-term memory span was estimated with the Corsi tapping test. The number of trials of the Corsi tapping test was reduced from 32 (in Study 2) to 20 to avoid that fatigue would build up during the task.Procedure. Testing took place during multiple one-hour sessions for different groups each consisting of approximately 15 participants. Each participant performed the computer tasks individually on a Dell Inspiron desktop computer in a slightly darkened computer room. The monitor had a width of 46cm and a height of 26cm. The viewing distance was approximately 45cm. All four tasks were administered in fully counterbalanced order. The G-EFT was administered exactly according to the instructions in the manual ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"2h4r5ahku0","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(H. A. Witkin et al., 1971)","plainCitation":"(H. A. Witkin et al., 1971)"},"citationItems":[{"id":1198,"uris":[""],"uri":[""],"itemData":{"id":1198,"type":"book","title":"A manual for the embedded figures tests.","publisher":"Consulting Psychologists Press","publisher-place":"Palo Alto, CA","event-place":"Palo Alto, CA","author":[{"family":"Witkin","given":"H. A."},{"family":"Oltman","given":"Philip K."},{"family":"Raskin","given":"E."},{"family":"Karp","given":"S. A."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["1971"]]}}}],"schema":""} (Witkin et al., 1971). ResultsOutliers. For the RAPM and Corsi tapping test no outliers were detected according to the criteria used in Study 2. For the G-EFT, no outliers were detected. To evaluate the test-retest reliability, one outlier was removed from the data who performed below chance level (<.33) on the L-EFT in the first session of data collection. None of the participants obtained an accuracy below chance level (.33) on the L-EFT that was administered in the second session of data collection.Reliability. The reliability of all measures estimated with the split-half Spearman-Brown method ranged from moderate to good (range: .48-.84, Table 1). In addition, descriptive statistics of each measure are reported in Table 1. The split-half reliability of the L-EFT was good (range: .76-.80). The test-retest reliability was estimated by calculating the intra-class correlation of accuracy on the L-EFT of the participants who completed the L-EFT in two test sessions that were 3 months apart and this indicated a moderate test-retest reliability for accuracy, r(105)=.46, 95% CI [.30, .60] and a weak test-retest reliability for median RTs, r(105)=.21, 95% CI [.02, .38].Main analysis.A linear mixed model was used in which accuracy was predicted by the main effect of the type of EFT task, the main effect of the covariates RAPM and memory span, the interaction between the type of EFT task and RAPM and the interaction between the type of EFT task and the memory span, including a random intercept for the subjects. Since the L-EFT is associated with a guess rate of 33% and the G-EFT is not, the accuracy on both tasks is measured on a different scale. Therefore, to compare these two measures we standardized the accuracy. The model was fitted with the lme4 package of R ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"a13hpb6jpbm","properties":{"formattedCitation":"{\\rtf (Bates, M\\uc0\\u228{}chler, Bolker, & Walker, 2015, p. 4)}","plainCitation":"(Bates, M?chler, Bolker, & Walker, 2015, p. 4)"},"citationItems":[{"id":1145,"uris":[""],"uri":[""],"itemData":{"id":1145,"type":"article-journal","title":"Fitting Linear Mixed-Effects Models using lme4","container-title":"Journal of Statistical Software","collection-title":"1","page":"1-48","volume":"67","issue":"1","source":"","abstract":"Maximum likelihood or restricted maximum likelihood (REML) estimates of the parameters in linear mixed-effects models can be determined using the lmer function in the lme4 package for R. As for most model-fitting functions in R, the model is described in an lmer call by a formula, in this case including both fixed- and random-effects terms. The formula and data together determine a numerical representation of the model from which the profiled deviance or the profiled REML criterion can be evaluated as a function of some of the model parameters. The appropriate criterion is optimized, using one of the constrained optimization functions in R, to provide the parameter estimates. We describe the structure of the model, the steps in evaluating the profiled deviance or REML criterion, and the structure of classes or types that represents such a model. Sufficient detail is included to allow specialization of these structures by users who wish to write functions to fit specialized linear mixed models, such as models incorporating pedigrees or smoothing splines, that are not easily expressible in the formula language used by lmer.","DOI":"10.18637/jss.v067.i01","note":"arXiv: 1406.5823","author":[{"family":"Bates","given":"Douglas"},{"family":"M?chler","given":"Martin"},{"family":"Bolker","given":"Ben"},{"family":"Walker","given":"Steve"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2015"]]}},"locator":"4"}],"schema":""} (Bates, M?chler, Bolker, & Walker, 2015, p. 4). The results are reported in Table 4 and visualized in Figure 6. The main effect of the type of EFT task was not significant. The main effects of RAPM and memory span were significant, indicating that good performance on the EFT, independent of the type of EFT task, is positively associated with good performance on the RAPM and memory span. Furthermore, the pairwise interactions between the EFT version and RAPM and memory span were not significant. The latter results indicate that the RAPM and memory span had a similar impact on the standardized accuracy for the L-EFT compared to the G-EFT.DiscussionThe results revealed that the standardized performance on the G-EFT and L-EFT was similarly associated with memory span and fluid intelligence. We had predicted that memory span would affect the performance on the G-EFT more than on the L-EFT because the target shape is presented simultaneously with the embedding contexts in the L-EFT and not in the G-EFT. In addition to that, we tested whether fluid intelligence was more strongly related to performance on the G-EFT than the L-EFT since we found smaller associations between fluid intelligence and L-EFT performance in Study 2 than what is typically reported in the literature about the G-EFT ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"a9qn8p2gic","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(McKenna, 1984)","plainCitation":"(McKenna, 1984)"},"citationItems":[{"id":1356,"uris":[""],"uri":[""],"itemData":{"id":1356,"type":"article-journal","title":"Measures of field dependence: Cognitive style or cognitive ability?","container-title":"Journal of Personality and Social Psychology","page":"593-603","volume":"47","issue":"3","source":"APA PsycNET","abstract":"It is generally assumed and stated that measures of field dependence are measures of cognitive style. The present author examines this assumption at 2 levels: conceptual and empirical. At the conceptual level, several criteria (e.g., N. Kogan's [1971, 1973] classification) defining cognitive style are examined. At the empirical level 3 alternative explanations are considered: general ability, spatial ability, and fluid ability. It is found that the measures of field dependence do not meet the criteria for a cognitive style at the conceptual level and that at the empirical level there are substantial correlations with standard ability tests. (72 ref)","DOI":"10.1037/0022-3514.47.3.593","ISSN":"1939-1315 0022-3514","shortTitle":"Measures of field dependence","language":"English","author":[{"family":"McKenna","given":"Frank P."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["1984"]]}}}],"schema":""} (McKenna, 1984). However, we did not find support for a stronger association between performance on the RAPM and the G-EFT than the RAPM and the L-EFT. This result indicates that good performance on the G-EFT does not require more general problem solving skills than the L-EFT.ConclusionEmbedded figures tests have been interpreted as a measure of disembedding or local perceptual style, as well as a measure of fluid intelligence, inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"0EJOuEK0","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Brosnan et al., 2002; Duncan, 2013; Goodenough & Karp, 1961; Roberge & Flexer, 1981)","plainCitation":"(Brosnan et al., 2002; Duncan, 2013; Goodenough & Karp, 1961; Roberge & Flexer, 1981)"},"citationItems":[{"id":1326,"uris":[""],"uri":[""],"itemData":{"id":1326,"type":"article-journal","title":"Executive functioning in adults and children with developmental dyslexia","container-title":"Neuropsychologia","page":"2144-2155","volume":"40","issue":"12","source":"ScienceDirect","abstract":"The performance of developmentally dyslexic children and adults was studied upon a range of tasks that involved executive functioning. Both adult and child samples of dyslexics were found to under-perform on the group-embedded figures test. This test required the identification of constituent parts from within complex visual arrays, with good performance necessitating the inhibition of the processing of the surrounding context. A general deficit on visual–spatial tasks was eliminated as an explanation as dyslexics performed normally upon a range of other non-verbal assessments. The dyslexics consistently demonstrated a deficit in digit span tasks, a decrement that was increased with distractors, again suggesting difficulties in inhibiting the processing of the surrounding context. A deficit was also identified upon a verbal fluency task without a deficit in vocabulary level. Additionally, a specific deficit in the recollection of the temporal order of the presentation of items was in evidence, without a deficit in the recognition of the items themselves. The findings taken as a whole suggest that dyslexic individuals show deficiencies in executive functions relating to inhibition of distractors and to sequencing of events, a set of tasks associated with left prefrontal cortex functioning in the acquired neuropsychology literature.","DOI":"10.1016/S0028-3932(02)00046-5","ISSN":"0028-3932","journalAbbreviation":"Neuropsychologia","author":[{"family":"Brosnan","given":"Mark"},{"family":"Demetre","given":"James"},{"family":"Hamill","given":"Stephen"},{"family":"Robson","given":"Kate"},{"family":"Shepherd","given":"Haidee"},{"family":"Cody","given":"Gerard"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2002"]]}}},{"id":1314,"uris":[""],"uri":[""],"itemData":{"id":1314,"type":"article-journal","title":"The Structure of Cognition: Attentional Episodes in Mind and Brain","container-title":"Neuron","page":"35-50","volume":"80","issue":"1","source":"ScienceDirect","abstract":"Cognition is organized in a structured series of attentional episodes, allowing complex problems to be addressed through solution of simpler subproblems. A “multiple-demand” (MD) system of frontal and parietal cortex is active in many different kinds of tasks, and using data from neuroimaging, electrophysiology, neuropsychology, and cognitive studies of intelligence, I propose a core role for MD regions in assembly of the attentional episode. Monkey and human data show dynamic neural coding of attended information across multiple MD regions, with rapid communication within and between regions. Neuropsychological and imaging data link MD function to fluid intelligence, explaining some but not all “executive” deficits after frontal lobe lesions. Cognitive studies link fluid intelligence to goal neglect, and the problem of dividing complex task requirements into focused parts. Like the innate releasing mechanism of ethology, I suggest that construction of the attentional episode provides a core organizational principle for complex, adaptive cognition.","DOI":"10.1016/j.neuron.2013.09.015","ISSN":"0896-6273","shortTitle":"The Structure of Cognition","journalAbbreviation":"Neuron","author":[{"family":"Duncan","given":"John"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2013",10,2]]}}},{"id":1181,"uris":[""],"uri":[""],"itemData":{"id":1181,"type":"article-journal","title":"Field dependence and intellectual functioning","container-title":"Journal of Abnormal","page":"241-246","volume":"63","issue":"2","source":"Journals@Ovid","abstract":": \"The present study was designed to test the hypotheses that some intellectual and perceptual tasks have a common requirement for overcoming embedded contexts, and that relationships obtained between measures of field dependence and standard tests of intelligence are based on this common factor. Two factor analyses were conducted on matrices of correlations between cognitive tests, including tests of field dependence and the subtests of the WISC. The results tend to support both hypotheses.\" (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved), (C) 1961 by the American Psychological Association","ISSN":"0096-851X","call-number":"00032378-196109000-00002","language":"English.","author":[{"family":"Goodenough","given":"D. R."},{"family":"Karp","given":"S. A."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["1961",9]]}}},{"id":1299,"uris":[""],"uri":[""],"itemData":{"id":1299,"type":"article-journal","title":"Re-Examination of the Covariation of Field Independence, Intelligence and Achievement","container-title":"British Journal of Educational Psychology","page":"235-236","volume":"51","issue":"2","source":"Wiley Online Library","abstract":"Summary. A principal factor analysis was performed on a matrix of correlations among measures of field independence, intelligence, and achievement in reading and mathematics. Factors of general intelligence and verbal ability were identified. Field independence shared a substantial amount of variance with general intellectual ability.","DOI":"10.1111/j.2044-8279.1981.tb02478.x","ISSN":"2044-8279","language":"en","author":[{"family":"Roberge","given":"J. J."},{"family":"Flexer","given":"B. K."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["1981",6,1]]}}}],"schema":""} (Brosnan et al., 2002; Duncan, 2013; Goodenough & Karp, 1961; Roberge & Flexer, 1981). In order to evaluate to what extent performance on the embedded figures test can be explained by these different functions, we tested to what extent a new embedded figures test, the L-EFT, was associated with different measures of local/global perceptual style, executive functions and fluid intelligence. We also compared the L-EFT to the most commonly used traditional version of the EFT ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"a1g1jbh8cid","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(H. A. Witkin et al., 1971)","plainCitation":"(H. A. Witkin et al., 1971)"},"citationItems":[{"id":1198,"uris":[""],"uri":[""],"itemData":{"id":1198,"type":"book","title":"A manual for the embedded figures tests.","publisher":"Consulting Psychologists Press","publisher-place":"Palo Alto, CA","event-place":"Palo Alto, CA","author":[{"family":"Witkin","given":"H. A."},{"family":"Oltman","given":"Philip K."},{"family":"Raskin","given":"E."},{"family":"Karp","given":"S. A."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["1971"]]}}}],"schema":""} (Witkin et al., 1971). It has been shown that perceptual grouping affects embeddedness of shapes ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"aibub7h8bn","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(de-Wit et al., 2017)","plainCitation":"(de-Wit et al., 2017)"},"citationItems":[{"id":3036,"uris":[""],"uri":[""],"itemData":{"id":3036,"type":"article-journal","title":"Developing the Leuven Embedded Figures Test (L-EFT): testing the stimulus features that influence embedding","container-title":"PeerJ","page":"e2862","volume":"5","source":"","abstract":"Background The Embedded Figures Test (EFT, developed by Witkin and colleagues (1971)) has been used extensively in research on individual differences, particularly in the study of autism spectrum disorder. The EFT was originally conceptualized as a measure of field (in)dependence, but in recent years performance on the EFT has been interpreted as a measure of local versus global perceptual style. Although many have used the EFT to measure perceptual style, relatively few have focused on understanding the stimulus features that cause a shape to become embedded. The primary aim of this work was to investigate the relation between the strength of embedding and perceptual grouping on a group level. Method New embedded figure stimuli (both targets and contexts) were developed in which stimulus features that may influence perceptual grouping were explicitly manipulated. The symmetry, closure and complexity of the target shape were manipulated as well as its good continuation by varying the number of lines from the target that continued into the context. We evaluated the effect of these four stimulus features on target detection in a new embedded figures task (Leuven Embedded Figures Test, L-EFT) in a group of undergraduate psychology students. The results were then replicated in a second experiment using a slightly different version of the task. Results Stimulus features that influence perceptual grouping, especially good continuation and symmetry, clearly affected performance (lower accuracy, slower response times) on the L-EFT. Closure did not yield results in line with our predictions. Discussion These results show that some stimulus features, which are known to affect perceptual grouping, also influence how effectively a stimulus becomes embedded in different contexts. Whether these results imply that the EFT measures individual differences in perceptual grouping ability must be further investigated.","DOI":"10.7717/peerj.2862","ISSN":"2167-8359","shortTitle":"Developing the Leuven Embedded Figures Test (L-EFT)","journalAbbreviation":"PeerJ","language":"en","author":[{"family":"Wit","given":"Lee","non-dropping-particle":"de-"},{"family":"Huygelier","given":"Hanne"},{"family":"Hallen","given":"Ruth Van","dropping-particle":"der"},{"family":"Chamberlain","given":"Rebecca"},{"family":"Wagemans","given":"Johan"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2017",1,24]]}}}],"schema":""} (de-Wit et al., 2017) and that variants of this task correlated poorly with ostensive measures of local and global visual processing ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"alng3c4kg4","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Chamberlain et al., 2017)","plainCitation":"(Chamberlain et al., 2017)"},"citationItems":[{"id":3560,"uris":[""],"uri":[""],"itemData":{"id":3560,"type":"article-journal","title":"Local-global processing bias is not a unitary individual difference in visual processing","container-title":"Vision Research","source":"ScienceDirect","abstract":"A large body of research reports individual differences in local and global visual processing in relation to expertise, culture and psychopathology. However, recent research has suggested that various different measures of local-global processing are not strongly associated with one another, calling its construct validity into question. The current study sought to further explore the validity of local-global processing biases in perception by developing three tasks based on two existing paradigms: the Embedded Figures Test (EFT) and the Navon hierarchical letters task. The newly developed tasks aimed to control for stimulus and response factors that may have impacted upon the reliability of previous research. They were administered to a large sample of undergraduate students (N>100). The results of two new versions of the EFT indicated that disembedding performance is influenced by the structure of the embedding context. In addition, global precedence and interference in the Navon task remained present even when local attentional approaches to global hierarchical stimuli were restricted. Inter-task correlations within the EFT were high but low between the EFT and the Navon task, lending support to the notion that local-global processing is not a monolithic construct, but representative of a number of distinct perceptual abilities and biases. Future research may use these task distinctions to pinpoint more precisely which aspects of perceptual processing characterise specific (clinical) participant populations.","URL":"","DOI":"10.1016/j.visres.2017.01.008","ISSN":"0042-6989","journalAbbreviation":"Vision Research","author":[{"family":"Chamberlain","given":"Rebecca"},{"family":"Van der Hallen","given":"Ruth"},{"family":"Huygelier","given":"Hanne"},{"family":"Van de Cruys","given":"Sander"},{"family":"Wagemans","given":"Johan"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2017",5,4]]},"accessed":{"date-parts":[["2017",10,9]]}}}],"schema":""} (Chamberlain et al., 2017). However, these studies did not reveal the relation between the EFT, fluid intelligence and executive functions. In the current studies, we tested how individual differences in performance on the L-EFT and G-EFT relate to performance on other tasks that are often assumed to measure local/global perceptual styles and measures of fluid intelligence and executive functions. In REF _Ref496280561 \h Study 1, we demonstrated that inter-individual differences on the embedded figures task, Navon selective attention and coherent motion task are not strongly associated to each other. This finding aligns with the results of the study of ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"1an28e815k","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Milne & Szczerbinski, 2009)","plainCitation":"(Milne & Szczerbinski, 2009)"},"citationItems":[{"id":1065,"uris":[""],"uri":[""],"itemData":{"id":1065,"type":"article-journal","title":"Global and local perceptual style, field-independence, and central coherence: An attempt at concept validation.","container-title":"Advances in Cognitive Psychology","page":"1-26","volume":"5","issue":"-1","source":"CrossRef","DOI":"10.2478/v10053-008-0062-8","ISSN":"1895-1171","shortTitle":"Global and local perceptual style, field-independence, and central coherence","author":[{"family":"Milne","given":"Elizabeth"},{"family":"Szczerbinski","given":"Marcin"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2009",1,1]]}}}],"schema":""} Milne and Szczerbinski (2009) and ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"a19pdauf413","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Chamberlain et al., 2017)","plainCitation":"(Chamberlain et al., 2017)"},"citationItems":[{"id":3560,"uris":[""],"uri":[""],"itemData":{"id":3560,"type":"article-journal","title":"Local-global processing bias is not a unitary individual difference in visual processing","container-title":"Vision Research","source":"ScienceDirect","abstract":"A large body of research reports individual differences in local and global visual processing in relation to expertise, culture and psychopathology. However, recent research has suggested that various different measures of local-global processing are not strongly associated with one another, calling its construct validity into question. The current study sought to further explore the validity of local-global processing biases in perception by developing three tasks based on two existing paradigms: the Embedded Figures Test (EFT) and the Navon hierarchical letters task. The newly developed tasks aimed to control for stimulus and response factors that may have impacted upon the reliability of previous research. They were administered to a large sample of undergraduate students (N>100). The results of two new versions of the EFT indicated that disembedding performance is influenced by the structure of the embedding context. In addition, global precedence and interference in the Navon task remained present even when local attentional approaches to global hierarchical stimuli were restricted. Inter-task correlations within the EFT were high but low between the EFT and the Navon task, lending support to the notion that local-global processing is not a monolithic construct, but representative of a number of distinct perceptual abilities and biases. Future research may use these task distinctions to pinpoint more precisely which aspects of perceptual processing characterise specific (clinical) participant populations.","URL":"","DOI":"10.1016/j.visres.2017.01.008","ISSN":"0042-6989","journalAbbreviation":"Vision Research","author":[{"family":"Chamberlain","given":"Rebecca"},{"family":"Van der Hallen","given":"Ruth"},{"family":"Huygelier","given":"Hanne"},{"family":"Van de Cruys","given":"Sander"},{"family":"Wagemans","given":"Johan"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2017",5,4]]},"accessed":{"date-parts":[["2017",10,9]]}}}],"schema":""} Chamberlain et al. (2017), which indicated that there is no single common factor underlying performance in tasks interpreted as measuring local/global perceptual style. In addition to interpreting the EFT as a measure of local/global perceptual style, better performance on the EFT has also been interpreted as a reflection of better executive functions ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"wsnvYyRv","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Brosnan et al., 2002; McKenna, 1984)","plainCitation":"(Brosnan et al., 2002; McKenna, 1984)"},"citationItems":[{"id":1326,"uris":[""],"uri":[""],"itemData":{"id":1326,"type":"article-journal","title":"Executive functioning in adults and children with developmental dyslexia","container-title":"Neuropsychologia","page":"2144-2155","volume":"40","issue":"12","source":"ScienceDirect","abstract":"The performance of developmentally dyslexic children and adults was studied upon a range of tasks that involved executive functioning. Both adult and child samples of dyslexics were found to under-perform on the group-embedded figures test. This test required the identification of constituent parts from within complex visual arrays, with good performance necessitating the inhibition of the processing of the surrounding context. A general deficit on visual–spatial tasks was eliminated as an explanation as dyslexics performed normally upon a range of other non-verbal assessments. The dyslexics consistently demonstrated a deficit in digit span tasks, a decrement that was increased with distractors, again suggesting difficulties in inhibiting the processing of the surrounding context. A deficit was also identified upon a verbal fluency task without a deficit in vocabulary level. Additionally, a specific deficit in the recollection of the temporal order of the presentation of items was in evidence, without a deficit in the recognition of the items themselves. The findings taken as a whole suggest that dyslexic individuals show deficiencies in executive functions relating to inhibition of distractors and to sequencing of events, a set of tasks associated with left prefrontal cortex functioning in the acquired neuropsychology literature.","DOI":"10.1016/S0028-3932(02)00046-5","ISSN":"0028-3932","journalAbbreviation":"Neuropsychologia","author":[{"family":"Brosnan","given":"Mark"},{"family":"Demetre","given":"James"},{"family":"Hamill","given":"Stephen"},{"family":"Robson","given":"Kate"},{"family":"Shepherd","given":"Haidee"},{"family":"Cody","given":"Gerard"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2002"]]}}},{"id":1356,"uris":[""],"uri":[""],"itemData":{"id":1356,"type":"article-journal","title":"Measures of field dependence: Cognitive style or cognitive ability?","container-title":"Journal of Personality and Social Psychology","page":"593-603","volume":"47","issue":"3","source":"APA PsycNET","abstract":"It is generally assumed and stated that measures of field dependence are measures of cognitive style. The present author examines this assumption at 2 levels: conceptual and empirical. At the conceptual level, several criteria (e.g., N. Kogan's [1971, 1973] classification) defining cognitive style are examined. At the empirical level 3 alternative explanations are considered: general ability, spatial ability, and fluid ability. It is found that the measures of field dependence do not meet the criteria for a cognitive style at the conceptual level and that at the empirical level there are substantial correlations with standard ability tests. (72 ref)","DOI":"10.1037/0022-3514.47.3.593","ISSN":"1939-1315 0022-3514","shortTitle":"Measures of field dependence","language":"English","author":[{"family":"McKenna","given":"Frank P."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["1984"]]}}}],"schema":""} (Brosnan et al., 2002). However, to our knowledge, no studies had explicitly tested whether executive functions can predict EFT performance. Thus, these interpretations were based on intuitions about the cognitive functions required to complete the test items. Therefore, in REF _Ref496280603 \h Study 2 and 3 we explicitly tested to what extent executive functions and fluid intelligence predict performance on the L-EFT and in REF _Ref496280624 \h Study 3 we compared the contribution of memory span and fluid intelligence to performance on the L-EFT and the G-EFT. Study 2 revealed that L-EFT performance was quite independent of fluid intelligence, memory span, inhibition and cognitive flexibility. Study 3 revealed that fluid intelligence and memory span are significantly associated with good EFT performance and that this association was not moderated by the EFT version. We also evaluated the reliability of the L-EFT. The split-half reliability of the L-EFT indicates that people perform relatively consistently on the two test halves. However, the stability of the scores over a period of two weeks in Study 2 and 4 months in Study 3 was only moderate. This raises the question whether the L-EFT measures a stable trait within a sample of undergraduates. It has been shown that performance on a battery of tests to measure field- dependence/independence remained stable throughout development ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"hvdogb12r","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Herman A. Witkin, Goodenough, & Karp, 1967)","plainCitation":"(Herman A. Witkin, Goodenough, & Karp, 1967)"},"citationItems":[{"id":154,"uris":[""],"uri":[""],"itemData":{"id":154,"type":"article-journal","title":"Stability of cognitive style from childhood to young adulthood","container-title":"Journal of personality and social psychology","page":"291–300","volume":"7","issue":"3","source":"Google Scholar","author":[{"family":"Witkin","given":"Herman A."},{"family":"Goodenough","given":"Donald R."},{"family":"Karp","given":"Stephen A."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["1967"]]}}}],"schema":""} (Witkin, Goodenough, & Karp, 1967) and a good test-retest correlation (ranging from .78 to .92) at test-retest intervals ranging from 1 hour to 6 weeks has been reported for the G-EFT in young, primarily female student samples ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"24dueve9b7","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Kepner & Neimark, 1984)","plainCitation":"(Kepner & Neimark, 1984)"},"citationItems":[{"id":884,"uris":[""],"uri":[""],"itemData":{"id":884,"type":"article-journal","title":"Test–retest reliability and differential patterns of score change on the Group Embedded Figures Test","container-title":"Journal of Personality and Social Psychology","page":"1405-1413","volume":"46","issue":"6","source":"APA PsycNET","abstract":"Examined retest reliability of the Group Embedded Figures Test (GEFT) under 3 different intervals between test and retest, all with an interpolated cognitive task. 159 18–51 yr old undergraduates served as Ss in 3 experiments. Despite a significant increase in the group mean score from test to retest in all 3 experiments, retest reliability coefficients were high, .78–.92. There was also a suggestion that reliability increased with duration of delay. Examination of individual patterns of test–retest score change revealed 4 patterns: consistent field dependent (FD), consistent field independent (FI), unclassifiable, and latent field independent, whose retest scores took them from the FD range to the FI range. The latter 2 patterns accounted for the significant retest improvement. Relative frequencies of Ss in each pattern were relatively constant over the 3 experiments. Ss in the pattern categories also differed with respect to score on number series completion tests, suggesting that the 4 patterns reflect more general individual differences in analytic ability. It is concluded that the GEFT is a reliable test, but suggestions for a more error-free classification procedure based on a test–retest score pattern is proposed. (15 ref)","DOI":"10.1037/0022-3514.46.6.1405","ISSN":"1939-1315(Electronic);0022-3514(Print)","author":[{"family":"Kepner","given":"Marc D."},{"family":"Neimark","given":"Edith D."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["1984"]]}}}],"schema":""} (Kepner & Neimark, 1984). In addition, for other perceptual tasks such as the Navon task researchers have reported high test-retest reliability over a period of 7 to 10 days when using a hierarchical shape task but lower test-retest reliability in a traditional Navon letter task. These results suggest that perceptual biases can be stable across time, but that this stability is impacted by differing task demands which can create noise in the participant’s response (Dale & Arnell, 2013). The fact that stability may differ according to task demands should motivate caution in researchers studying individual differences in perceptual ability. Whilst the reliability of personality traits has received much attention (e.g., Roberts & DelVecchio, 2000), less attention has been paid to the reliability of perceptual traits, and measures of stability should be included in future investigations. We must consider one possible limitation to the generalizability of our results. We tested a primarily female student sample in our three different studies that may be more homogeneous regarding their perceptual abilities, fluid intelligence and executive functions compared to a random sample from the general population. Even though we attempted to compensate for the sample homogeneity by choosing tasks that would maximize inter-individual differences within this group the convergence between the different measures may still differ in different samples. The moderate stability of the L-EFT could also be related to the homogeneous sample that took part in our study and a more heterogeneous sample may elicit different levels of perceptual trait stability. In conclusion, the data from Study 1 suggests that good performance on the embedded figures test cannot be used as a proxy for a general perceptual style. Study 2 suggests good embedded figures test performance is not associated with individual differences in inhibition or cognitive flexibility. Study 2 and 3 finds some association between memory span and embedded figures performance, and Study 3 finds an association between embedded figures performance and fluid intelligence. Thus, across these studies there are some significant correlates of embedded figures performance, but none of these account for a large amount of variance in performance. This?indicates that performance?on the?embedded figures tests cannot be assumed to be a good proxy for a general perceptual style, fluid intelligence, memory span, inhibition or cognitive flexibility. This means that deficits (or improvements)?in embedded figures test performance in different clinical groups need to be interpreted with care, because we cannot definitively link performance with embedded figures?to general perceptual or cognitive mechanisms.References ADDIN ZOTERO_BIBL {"custom":[]} CSL_BIBLIOGRAPHY Adevai, G., Silverman, A. J., & Gough, W. E. M. (1968). Perceptual Correlates of the Rod-and-Frame Test. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 26(3), 1055–1064. , W., & Day, D. (1994). Development of a Short form for the Raven Advanced Progressive Matrices Test. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 54(2), 394–403.Bates, D., M?chler, M., Bolker, B., & Walker, S. (2015). Fitting Linear Mixed-Effects Models using lme4. 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An islet of ability in autistic children: a research note. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 24(4), 613–620.Witkin, H. A. (1950). Individual Differences in Ease of Perception of Embedded Figures. Journal of Personality, 19(1), 1–15. , H. A., Goodenough, D. R., & Karp, S. A. (1967). Stability of cognitive style from childhood to young adulthood. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 7(3), 291–300.Witkin, H. A., Moore, C. A., Goodenough, D. R., & Cox, P. W. (1975). Field-Dependent and Field-Independent Cognitive Styles and Their Educational Implications. ETS Research Bulletin Series, 1975(2), 1–64. , H. A., Oltman, P. K., Raskin, E., & Karp, S. A. (1971). A manual for the embedded figures tests. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press. ................
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