Field-Dependence/Independence, Movement-Based Instruction and Fourth Graders' Achievement in Selected Musical Tasks

Abstract

The purpose of this study was 1) to examine the effect of psychomotor activities on achievement in temporal discrimination tasks; and, 2) to examine the interaction of this treatment with the cognitive style variable of field dependence/independence (FDI). A one-group pre-test-posttest design was utilized in the study. An intact class (n = 29) of normal fourth graders received eighteen class sessions in which musical concepts pertaining to tempo, meter and rhythm were reinforced through activities involving a psychomotor response. FDI was measured by means of the Group Embedded Figures Test (GEFT); subjects were classified as field dependent (FD) or field independent (FI) on the basis of a median split of the GEFT. The following standardized tests were used as both pre- and posttests; 1) Music Aptitude Profile (MAP)-Meter; 2) MAP-Tempo; and 3) Intermediate Measures of Music Audiation (IMMA)-Rhythm. Data were analyzed through repeated measures ANOVA procedures. Results indicated that pre- to posttest differences for IMMA-Rhythm and MAP-Meter and interactions with FDI were non-significant. For MAP-Tempo, the pre- to posttest difference and the interaction effect for FDI were statistically significant, with the interaction effect accounting for 15% of the variance.