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Intellectual Lability and Characteristics of Global/Local Analysis of Visual Information in Individuals with a Field-Dependent–Field-Independent Cognitive Style

Identificator
EDN: HVSHKM ; УДК: 159.93+159.95
Authors
Vorobyov Yuri Yuryevich, postgraduate student of the Department of Personality Psychology, Saint Petersburg State University. Russia, St. Petersburg. ORCID: 0009-0002-3147-4025. E-mail: y.vorobiev@mail.ru ; Shoshina Irina Ivanovna, Doctor of Biology, associate professor, leading researcher, B. G. Ananyev Research Center for Human Studies, Saint Petersburg State University. Russia, St. Petersburg; professor, National University of Science and Technology MISIS. Russia, Moscow. ORCID: 0000-0002-0777-1122. E-mail: shoshinaii@mail.ru ; Kostromina Svetlana Nikolaevna, Doctor of Psychology, professor, Head of the Department of Personality Psychology, Saint Petersburg State University. Russia, St. Petersburg. ORCID: 0000-0001-9508-2587. E-mail: s.kostromina@spbu.ru
Journal
HERALD OF VYATKA STATE UNIVERSITY №3 (157), 2025
Section
PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCES
Pages
89-100
Abstract
Fundamental knowledge about the nature of individual differences in cognitive strategies is becoming increasingly relevant in the context of contemporary challenges, including the development of neurotechnologies, personalized approaches in education, and professional selection. The cognitive style of field dependence–independence has predominantly been examined as a psychological construct, whereas studies addressing it from a neurophysiological perspective remain scarce. The limited available evidence suggests an association between field dependence–independence and neurophysiological mechanisms underlying global and local information processing. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between the cognitive style of field dependence–independence, intellectual lability, and the characteristics of global and local visual information processing. The sample consisted of 37 women and 14 men (mean age 23 ± 7.8 years). Cognitive style was assessed using the Embedded Figures Test; intellectual lability was measured with the homonymous method in the modification by S. N. Kostromina; and the characteristics of global/local visual processing were evaluated using visocontrastometry and the Navon task. Individuals with a mobile field-independent (mFID) cognitive style demonstrated higher intellectual lability compared to fixed field-dependent (fFD) and mobile field-dependent (mFD) participants. Moreover, participants with higher lability exhibited significantly greater contrast sensitivity at low spatial frequencies, which are preferentially processed by neurons of the magnocellular system that primarily projects to the dorsal visual stream. In the Navon task, mFID individuals responded to global stimuli faster than participants with fFD and mFD cognitive styles. Regression analysis revealed that an increase in the field-independence index (i.e., a shift toward field independence) was associated with faster responses to both global and local stimuli. The findings support the view that field dependence–independence reflects characteristics of the balance between the magnocellular and parvocellular systems and, accordingly, the interaction between the dorsal and ventral visual processing streams, thereby shaping visual perceptual strategies. The present study is the first to integrate quantitative indicators of contrast sensitivity, hierarchical stimulus perception (the Navon task), and intellectual lability into a unified model linking the cognitive style of field dependence–independence with the balance of interactions between visual subsystems.
Keywords
field-dependence/field-independence intellectual lability global/local information analysis contrast sensitivity the Navon test magno- and parvocellular systems dorsal and ventral pathways
Recieved
24.04.2026
Published
16.07.2026

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