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Drawing on the Group Embedded Figures Test, the Articulation of the Body Scale, and written responses to three questions, the study reports significant links between field-dependent or field-independent styles and play choices, between play preferences and academic outcomes, and between thinking style and performance. It also finds that sports preferences relate to state-mandated test results, unstructured play supports achievement, and cultural values correlate with thinking style. The authors argue the findings can guide educators’ extracurricular and play-related policies by connecting play preferences to broader life experiences.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/childrens-thinking-styles-play-and-academic-performance/591439/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/childrens-thinking-styles-play-and-academic-performance/591439.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"supergirl","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-30","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":24},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"How does the study define thinking styles?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"Researchers define thinking styles as mental frameworks that help individuals process information and solve problems in specific contexts. The article treats field dependence and field independence as measurable components of these styles.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"What differences does the article describe between field-dependent and field-independent children?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"Field-dependent children tend to favor social situations, use facial cues, rely on authority for decisions, and process information using the surrounding perceptual field. Field-independent children tend to be socially distant, divide a visual field into elements, set their own thinking standards, and show strong logical-analytical reasoning.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"What relationships does the article report among play preferences and academic performance?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"The authors find significant relationships between children’s play preferences and academic performance, and between thinking styles and academic performance. They also report that preferences for sports relate positively and negatively to state test scores, and that children who favored unstructured play activities tended to achieve academically.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},591439,1792192424,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":24,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":46,"language":139,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":143,"read_time":31,"preview_page_count":4},962088121634,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_9964176cb1d06d4a9deccf72a44ae3dc","Children’s Thinking Styles, Play, and Academic Performance  \ns  \nRobyn M. Holmes, Sharon Liden, and Lisa Shin  \nBased on the study of seventy-four middle school children of mostly Filipino and part Hawaiian heritages, this article explores the relationships of children’s thinking styles, play preferences, and school performance. Using the Group Embedded Figures Test, the Articulation of the Body Scale, and written responses to three questions, the authors found significant relationships between children’s fieldindependent or field-dependent thinking styles and play preferences; play preferences and academic performance; thinking styles and academic performance; and thinking styles and cultural setting. They also discovered that children’s preferences for sports related, both positively and negatively, to their scores on state-mandated tests for language and math; that children who preferred unstructured play activities tended to achieve academic success; and that cultural values were correlated to thinking style. The authors argue that their study has applied value for educators because it relates children’s play preferences to other aspects of their life experiences, which can help school policy makers decide the extracurricular activities and the types of play they should encourage. Keywords: academic performance;field dependent; field independent; middle-school children; play; thinking styles  \nCurrent literature connecting children’s thinking styles to play and academic performance seems sparse compared to the literature about other topics in play research. (Saracho 1989a, 1989b, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1998) . The mostrecent studies appeared at the end of the twentieth century despite a renewed interest in and some more current research on thinking styles (Zhang and Sternberg 2006, 2009; Zhang, Sternberg, and Rayner 2012) . Previous studies about the relationship of children’s thinking styles to play and academic performance often relied heavily on European and American samples. These studies also focused on younger children and gave little attention to later formative periods. In this article, we explore these relationships in a non-Western cultural setting and with middle-school children.  \n219  \nAmerican Journal of Play, volume 5, number 2 © The Strong Contact Robyn M. Holmes at [rholmes@monmouth.edu](rholmes@monmouth.edu)  \nWhat Are Thinking Styles?  \nResearchers define thinking styles as the mental frameworks that enable individuals to process information and solve problems in specific contexts (Saracho 1998; Zhang and Sternberg 2006, 2009) . These styles operate much as culture does in guiding individuals’ thoughts and perceptions. Researchers have identified field-dependence-independence (FDI) as a measurable component of thinking style, which consists of an antithetical pair of constructs—field dependence (FD) and field independence (FI) (Witkin 1949; Witkin et al. 1962). Individuals inclined to FD or FI process information differently, solve problems differently, and, in general, simply behave differently, even in similar situations.  \nSeveral researchers (Liu and Chepyator-Thomson 2008; Saracho and Spodek 1981; Zhang and Sternberg 2009) provide a thorough comparison of how FD and FI individuals typically process situational information differently (see figure 1). As a group, field-dependent individuals gravitate towards social situations and enjoy interacting with others. They use facial cues when processing a situation. They are sensitive to others. They prefer to stand close to others when interacting with them. They rely on authority to make decisions, and they make use of the surrounding perceptual field when processing a situation.  \nIn contrast, as a group, field-independent individuals do not prefer social contact, and other people consider them socially distant. Field-independent individuals tend to divide a visual field into separate elements rather than perceive it as a whole. They also set their own standards for thinking ","cbCaihCjCkICwjyz","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaihCjCkICwjyz","pdf",146681,"English","# What Are Thinking Styles?\n## Thinking styles as mental frameworks\n## Field dependence vs. field independence\n# Thinking Styles and Play\n## Play links to developmental outcomes\n## Differences in play quantity and engagement\n# Field Dependence and Independence in practice\n## Common traits and interests\n# Research Rationale and Study Focus\n## Sparse literature and prior study limitations\n## Non-Western cultural setting with middle-school children","[{\"question\":\"How does the study define thinking styles?\",\"answer\":\"Researchers define thinking styles as mental frameworks that help individuals process information and solve problems in specific contexts. The article treats field dependence and field independence as measurable components of these styles.\"},{\"question\":\"What differences does the article describe between field-dependent and field-independent children?\",\"answer\":\"Field-dependent children tend to favor social situations, use facial cues, rely on authority for decisions, and process information using the surrounding perceptual field. Field-independent children tend to be socially distant, divide a visual field into elements, set their own thinking standards, and show strong logical-analytical reasoning.\"},{\"question\":\"What relationships does the article report among play preferences and academic performance?\",\"answer\":\"The authors find significant relationships between children’s play preferences and academic performance, and between thinking styles and academic performance. They also report that preferences for sports relate positively and negatively to state test scores, and that children who favored unstructured play activities tended to achieve academically.\"}]","Children’s Thinking Styles, Play, and Academic Performance | PDF",1792072385]