PSYCHOLOGICAL DIFFERENTIATION: CURRENT STATUS

The status of the differentiation hypothesis, derived from differentiation theory, is examined in light of the evidence that has accumulated since the hypothesis was proposed a decade and a half ago. Assuming that greater or less differentiation is an organismic attribute, the hypothesis postulates that behaviors reflecting extent of differentiation are likely to be interrelated, making for self-consistency in individual functioning across domains. The newer evidence has on the whole confirmed the linkages among the behaviors examined in the earlier research that was done to test the differentiation hypothesis. The differentiation hypothesis has also proven useful in generating predictions about linkages to behaviors in new domains (cognitive restructuring, interpersonal competencies and cerebral lateralization); these predictions have been tested and generally confirmed. The differentiation construct appears able to account for phenomena that cannot be accommodated by other lower-order constructs, such as field dependence-independence. On all these grounds the differentiation construct continues to serve a useful function. Whereas the differentiation hypothesis has dealt only with the interrelatedness among components of a cluster of behaviors subsumed under differentiation, the newer evidence carries suggestions for a hierarchical ordering of these components and for the nature of causal connections among them.

[1]  H. A. Witkin,et al.  Field dependence and interpersonal behavior. , 1977 .

[2]  I. Hochberg,et al.  Ear laterality performance of children from low and middle socioeconomic levels on a verbal dichotic listening task. , 1971, Cortex; a journal devoted to the study of the nervous system and behavior.

[3]  Anne C. Petersen,et al.  Physical androgyny and cognitive functioning in adolescence. , 1976 .

[4]  D. Broverman,et al.  THE AUTOMATIZATION COGNITIVE STYLE AND PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT. , 1964, Child development.

[5]  S. Freedman,et al.  VISUAL IMAGERY PRODUCED BY RHYTHMIC PHOTIC STIMULATION: PERSONALITY CORRELATES AND PHENOMENOLOGY. , 1965, British journal of psychology.

[6]  E. Saltz,et al.  RETENTION OF ANXIETY MATERIAL AS A FUNCTION OF COGNITIVE DIFFERENTIATION. , 1965, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[7]  A. Wechsler.  The effect of organic brain disease on recall of emotionally charged versus neutral narrative texts , 1973, Neurology.

[8]  D. Donovan,et al.  Perceptual differentiation and defense mechanisms in alcoholics. , 1975, Journal of clinical psychology.

[9]  B L Brilhart.  Relationships of speaker-message perception to perceptual field-independence. , 1970, The Journal of communication.

[10]  G. Gleser,et al.  Ego Defenses and Perceptual Styles , 1970, Perceptual and motor skills.

[11]  D. Kimura.  Functional Asymmetry of the Brain in Dichotic Listening , 1967 .

[12]  D Galin,et al.  Implications for psychiatry of left and right cerebral specialization. A neurophysiological context for unconscious processes. , 1974, Archives of general psychiatry.

[13]  H. A. Witkin,et al.  ORIGINS OF THE FIELD‐DEPENDENT AND FIELD‐INDEPENDENT COGNITIVE STYLES , 1977 .

[14]  M. C. Winestine.  Twinship and psychological differentiation. , 1969, Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry.

[15]  G. Weiss,et al.  Cognitive styles in adolescents previously diagnosed as hyperactive. , 1972, Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines.

[16]  Herman A. Witkin,et al.  Cognitive styles in personal and cultural adaptation , 1977 .

[17]  H. Ehrlichman,et al.  Field Independence and Laterality in the Perception of Faces , 1977, Perceptual and motor skills.

[18]  K M Heilman,et al.  Auditory affective agnosia. Disturbed comprehension of affective speech. , 1975, Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry.

[19]  D. Kimura,et al.  Spatial localization in left and right visual fields. , 1969, Canadian journal of psychology.

[20]  A. Nilsson,et al.  Para-natal emotional adjustment. A prospective investigation of 165 women. II. The influence of background factors, psychiatric history, parental relations, and personality characteristics. , 1970, Acta psychiatrica Scandinavica. Supplementum.

[21]  Investigation of the convergent validity of different measures of cognitive style. , 1969, Journal of projective techniques & personality assessment.

[22]  D. Kimura,et al.  Manual activity during speaking. I. Right-handers. , 1973, Neuropsychologia.

[23]  J. Levy,et al.  Possible Basis for the Evolution of Lateral Specialization of the Human Brain , 1969, Nature.

[24]  G. Gainotti.  Emotional behavior and hemispheric side of the lesion. , 1972, Cortex; a journal devoted to the study of the nervous system and behavior.

[25]  H. Lutzky,et al.  PERCEPTUAL LEVELING IN INSTITUTIONAL AND OTHER CHILDREN. , 1963, The Journal of genetic psychology.

[26]  E. Miller,et al.  Handedness and the pattern of human ability. , 1971, British journal of psychology.

[27]  C. Halverson,et al.  Relations between preschool activity and aspects of intellectual and social behavior at age 71/2. , 1976 .

[28]  Richard L. Degerman,et al.  ACTIVITY LEVEL AND INTELLECTUAL FUNCTIONING IN NORMAL PRESCHOOL CHILDREN , 1965 .

[29]  Schimek Jg.  Cognitive style and defenses: a longitudinal study of intellectualization and field independence. , 1968 .

[30]  H. A. Witkin,et al.  Psychological Differentiation in Cross-Cultural Perspective , 1975 .

[31]  R. Davidson,et al.  Right hemisphere lateralization for emotion in the human brain: interactions with cognition , 1975, Science.

[32]  D. Donovan,et al.  Psychopathology and Defensive Style of Alcoholics as a Function of Congruence-Incongruence between Psychological Differentiation and Locus of Control , 1976, Psychological reports.

[33]  G. Rizzolatti,et al.  Opposite superiorities of the right and left cerebral hemispheres in discriminative reaction time to physiognomical and alphabetical material. , 1971, Brain : a journal of neurology.

[34]  D. Tucker,et al.  Sex differences and lateral specialization of hemispheric functioning , 1976, Neuropsychologia.

[35]  Herman A. Witkin,et al.  Psychological differentiation and forms of pathology , 1965 .

[36]  R. Hilliard,et al.  Hemispheric laterality effects on a facial recognition task in normal subjects. , 1973, Cortex; a journal devoted to the study of the nervous system and behavior.

[37]  P. Wachtel,et al.  Exploration of Effects of Distraction, Competing Tasks and Cognitive Style on Attention Deployment , 1969, Perceptual and motor skills.

[38]  H. Lefcourt.  Cognitive activity and hypothesis formation during a double entendre word association test as a function of locus of control and field dependence. , 1973 .

[39]  G. Gleser,et al.  An objective instrument for measuring defense mechanisms. , 1969, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[40]  D. Goodenough,et al.  The role of individual differences in field dependence as a factor in learning and memory. , 1975, Psychological bulletin.

[41]  L. Phillips,et al.  A developmental analysis of cognition as observed in dimensions of Rorschach and objective test performance. , 1959, Journal of personality.

[42]  L. Pizzamiglio,et al.  Development of the hemispheric dominance in children from 5 to 10 years of age and their relations with the development of cognitive processes. , 1971, Brain research.

[43]  V. Douglas.  Stop, look and listen: The problem of sustained attention and impulse control in hyperactive and normal children. , 1972 .

[44]  Field Dependence and Visual Maze Learning , 1968, Perceptual and motor skills.

[45]  James O. Miller,et al.  Socioeconomic Background and Cognitive Functioning in Preschool Children. , 1970 .

[46]  D. Waber.  Sex Differences in Mental Abilities, Hemispheric Lateralization, and Rate of Physical Growth at Adolescence. , 1977 .

[47]  M. Kinsbourne,et al.  Intellectual Differences in Relation to Personal and Family Handedness , 1976, The Quarterly journal of experimental psychology.

[48]  J. Minard,et al.  Psychological differentiation and perceptual defense: studies of the separation of perception from emotion. , 1969, Journal of abnormal psychology.

[49]  D. Waber.  Biological substrates of field dependence: implications of the sex difference. , 1977, Psychological bulletin.

[50]  G. Adevai,et al.  Perceptual Correlates of the Rod-and-Frame Test , 1968, Perceptual and motor skills.

[51]  A Carmon,et al.  Ear asymmetry in perception of emotional non-verbal stimuli. , 1973, Acta psychologica.

[52]  V. Douglas,et al.  Cognitive styles in hyperactive children and the effect of methylphenidate. , 1971, Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines.

[53]  J. Mcglone,et al.  The relation between cerebral speech laterality and spatial ability with special reference to sex and hand preference. , 1973, Neuropsychologia.

[54]  N. Reppucci.  Individual Differences in the Consideration of Information Among Two Year Old Children. , 1970 .

[55]  P Bakan,et al.  Visual asymmetry in perception of faces. , 1973, Neuropsychologia.

[56]  G. Adevai,et al.  Some relationships between handedness and perception. , 1966, Journal of psychosomatic research.

[57]  R. Dyk.  An exploratory study of mother-child interaction in infancy as related to the development of differentiation. , 1969, Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry.

[58]  L. Pizzamiglio.  Handedness, Ear-Preference, and Field-Dependence , 1974, Perceptual and motor skills.

[59]  J. Schuck,et al.  A signal detection analysis of the rod and frame test , 1970 .