Let's look at the picture below.
What do you see?
Do you see a mother and daughter cutting and eating fruits in the kitchen? Well, if you do, you are right That's what most of us with a typical central coherence would be able to observe on the first! look.
Now, let me bring you into the perspective of what a person with weak central coherence would see.
Now lets look at another picture
What do you see?
A forest? Great!
Now, what do you think a person with weak central coherence will perceive the same picture?
.
.
.
.
.
Yes! The individual trees!
How about this one?
Children playing volleyball?
And what does a person with weak central coherence see?
.
.
.
.
.
Geometric shapes!
Can you tell the difference?
That is right! Those with a weak central coherence would find it challenging to see the bigger picture of things and have the tendency to focus on the details.
So, what exactly is Central Coherence?
Coherence - the tendency to integrate information in context for higher level meaning or gestalt, often at the expense of attention to or memory for feature information
Weak central coherence are often associated to individuals with autism. (Happé & Frith, 2006)
So people with weak central coherence :
1. They would find it challenging to put context what they read and make meaningful connections with the text.
- They struggle with homographs (same spelling words with multiple meanings and might not be pronounced the same)
Here are some examples of homographs:
- Lacking in comprehension skills
2. Detail focused
3. Do not succumb to visual illusions
4. Deficit model – different perceptions of the world have implications for social communication and behavior. But the ability to detach from context and proves fine detail is an advantage in many visuo-spatial tasks.
Witkin's Embedded Figures Test (EFT)
- A timed psychological assessment consisting of 18 items pertaining to field dependence and field independence.
- A test commonly use to assess cognitive while yield conclusions for the central coherence of the person.
In this test, research by Shah and Frith (1983, 1993) and backed up by Jolliffee and Baron-Cohen (1997) have found that children with ASD faired much better compared to typical children.
- Research shows that children with Autism mostly fall under the Field Independence (FI). Farmaki, Sakkalis, Loesche & Nisiforou (2019) have found that FI learners perform better in a visual disambiguation task and produce a higher reversal rate than their Field Dependence (FD) counterparts.
So what are the pros and cons of falling under the FI cognitive style?
- Individuals that fall under the FI cognitive style find it less difficult to separate the most essential information from its context. They are more likely to be influenced by internal than external cues. These individuals are also selective in the information that they input (Riding & Cheema, 1991; Zhang, 2004). FI individuals tend to focus on the details of a written context or picture. Which results in finding it a challenge to see the bigger picture or putting the different details together. However, due to their ability to observe the details, most of them perform better visuospatial awareness compared to those that fall under the FD cognitive style.
When research has proven that most children with Autism fall under the field independence cognitive style, it does not mean that all fall under it. Learning to discover your child's / student's strengths might be one of the most fulfilling journeys. Remember, this is a process and not an end goal. Just like watering a plant, when you water it day after day (the process) the tree will grow and bear fruits (goal). Let's learn to tap on their strengths and work on their weaknesses to bring out the best in these individuals and improve their quality of life.
Discovering your child's strength is a process and not an end goal. Just like watering a plant, when you water it day after day (the process) the tree will grow and bear fruits (goal). Enjoy the process! - Empowered4Life
Citations:
Farmaki, C., Sakkalis, V., Frank, L., & Nisiforou, EA (2019). Assessing Field Dependence-Independence Cognitive Abilities Through EEG-Based Bistable Perception Processing. Front. Hum. Neurosci. 13:345.
Happé, F., & Frith, U. The Weak Coherence Account: Detail-focused Cognitive Style in Autism Spectrum Disorders. J Autism Dev Disord 36, 5–25 (2006).
Jolliffe, T., & Baron-Cohen, S. (1997). Are People with Autism and Asperger Syndrome Faster Than Normal on the Embedded Figures Test? Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 38, No. 5, 27-534.
Shah, A., & Frith, U. (1983). An islet of ability in autism: A research note. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 24, 613-620.
Shah, A., & Frith, U. (1993). Why do autistic individuals show superior performance on the block design test? Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 34, 1351-1364.
Witkins, H., Oltman, P., Raskin, E., Karp, S. (1971) A Manual for Embedded Figures Test, Children’s Embedded Figures Test & Group Embedded Figures Test. Menlo Park, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.
Zhang, L.F. (2004). Field-dependence/independence: Cognitive style or perceptual ability? – validating against thinking styles and academic achievement. Personality and Individual Differences, 37, 1295-1311.
Comments