Field dependence and body balance.

This study reports four points about the portable Rod and Frame Test performance of 30 Japanese women in terms of body balance. The primary findings using a stabilometer are: (a) field dependence correlated negatively with increased sway path within 1 min. both while a dot pattern as a visual stimulus was stationary and while it was moving. (b) Field dependence correlated positively with the difference in sway path between the two following phases, in one of which the subjects watched the horizontal visual movement to the right and in the other movement to the left. (c) Motion aftereffect had no direct and immediate influence on sway path, but rather a latent and long-term effect. And on a pedograph which measures the distribution of foot pressure and the shape of the sole, (d) field dependence correlated negatively with anterior positions of the center of foot pressure and with the proportion of the front part to the rear of the sole. Over-all, field dependence measured by the Rod and Frame Test seems to be associated with body posture when dot patterns are viewed.