Importancia del estilo cognitivo y el temperamento en el ámbito escolar [The importance of the cognitive style and temperament in the school context]

The cognitive style Field Dependence/Independence (FDI) has been considered an explanatory factor in the individual differences of subjects. Even when the FDI factor is given a neutral value, questions arise on its neutrality when a relationship is established between the cognitive and personality variables. As a result many studies have been carried out to test the influence and importance of FDI in the school environment. Child temperament is another of the variables which has been shown to have important implications on school achievement. The present paper aims to find out whether the FDI cognitive style and temperament are related, and whether these two variables in their turn are related to cognitive, achievement and emotional variables. The sample is 108 boys and 106 girls between the ages of 6 and 7. The instruments used were: the Battery of Differential and General Aptitudes (BADyG. Yuste, 1984), the Children Embedded Figures Test (CEFT. Karp & Konstadt, 1971/1982), the Reactivity Rating Scale (RRS. Friedensberg & Strelau, 1982) and the Human Figure Drawing (HFD. Koppitz 1974/1991). The results confirm an association which is statistically significant between the FDI and temperament, and at the same time these variables are shown to be related to intelligence, school achievement and the emotional indicators in HFD. Furthermore it has been observed that the group with better results on an intellectual level and with better academic achievement in reading, writing and Maths are the subjects who are Field Independent and have low reactivity.