Sex chromosome abnormalities and cognitive performance: III. Field dependence, frame dependence, and failing development of perceptual stability in girls with Turner's syndrome.

The Rod-and-Frame Test (RFT) was administered to Turner girls (N = 45), their normal sisters (N = 19), and to nonsiblings with primary amenorrhoea and growth retardation as seen in Turner girls (N = 15). The test was scored by the traditional method which gives a measure of field dependence, as well as by a new method that gives a measure of frame dependence and response inconsistency. The traditional method showed Turner girls to be extremely field dependent. The new method showed that the so-called field dependence in Turner girls was due to response inconsistency, rather than to significant frame dependence. It is concluded that response inconsistency is a characteristic of RFT performance in Turner girls, probably reflecting failing development of "perceptual stability".