Effect of cognitive style and gender on adolescents' problem solving ability

This study investigated the effects of cognitive style and gender on adolescents' problem solving ability. Two hundred and forty senior secondary school students (109 males and 131 females; mean age = 16.5 years; SD = 2.56) were participants in the study. The Group Embedded Figures Test was used to classify participants into field independent (n = 127) and field dependent (n = 113) cognitive styles. A 16 × 14 puzzle box was used to test problem solving ability. F-statistics showed significant main effects of cognitive style (p < .001) and gender (p < .001) on problem solving. Adolescents possessing the field independent cognitive style solved more puzzle task than adolescents possessing the field dependent cognitive style. Male adolescents outperformed female adolescents on the problem solving task. Effect size (ES) values of 0.43 and 0.27 for cognitive style and gender respectively showed that the results were reliable. Suggestion was made for further studies.