Cognitive style of gifted and average readers

Abstract

Thirty gifted and 30 average readers were selected from a population of 300 eighth, tenth, and twelfth grade students in small towns or rural areas in Kansas. Students were classified as field independent or field dependent. It was found that gifted and average readers used the same reading strategies but there were significant differences in how frequently some strategies were used. There were also significant differences in how frequently some strategies were used by field independent and field dependent readers. Gifted readers scored significantly higher than average readers on the Hidden Figures Test. No significant differences in the frequency of reading strategy use were found between field independent gifted readers and field dependent gifted readers or between field independent and field dependent average readers.