Describes study of college students that was conducted to determine whether increasing the amount of data in different graphic formats affects the interpretation of quantitative information. Immediate and delayed recall are examined, and correlations between graphic format and field dependence and independence are discussed. (12 references) (LRW)

A study was conducted to determine the effect of graphic format--bar, line, table, and line-table graph--on the interpretation of numerical data by field dependent and field independent students. Ninety-six undergraduate students were given the Group Embedded Figures Test and randomly assigned to one of four treatments. During the testing phase,…