Effect of Cognitive Style on Topographical Learning Across Life Span: Insights From Normal Development Maddalena Boccia IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia of Rome Francesca Vecchione and Antonella Di Vita IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia of Rome and Sapienza University of Rome Simonetta D’Amico University of L’Aquila Cecilia Guariglia IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia of Rome and Sapienza University of Rome Laura Piccardi IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia of Rome and University of L’Aquila Notwithstanding its well-established role on high-demanding spatial navigation tasks during adulthood, the effect of field dependence–independence during the acquisition of spatial navigation skills is almost unknown. This study assessed for the first time the effect of field dependence–independence on topographical learning (TL) across the life span: 195 individuals, including 54 healthy young-adults (age-range = 20–30), 46 teenagers (age-range = 11–14), and 95 children (age-range = 6–9) participated in this study. Field dependence–indepen- dence interacted with age in predicting TL. Also during childhood higher field independence was associated with better performances but not later in the life, that is, during adolescence and adulthood. This result sug- gests that field dependence–independence may have a role in fostering the acquisition of TL. Cognitive style refers to a pervasive psychological dimension of individual functioning, namely it refers to the consistent manner in which individuals analyze the world, process, and acquire information (Kozhevnikov, 2007). Although relatively stable, cognitive style may adapt to environmental changes (Kozhevnikov, 2007). Since 1950s, scholars have tried to disentangle which are the individual differ- ences that affect psychological functioning in a per- vasive and stable way. Here we will focus on a specific type of cognitive style, namely field depen- dence–independence. A detailed description of other stable dimensions of individual functioning is out of the main aim of this study; further details about other cognitive styles can be found in the review by Kozhevnikov (2007). Field dependence– independence is widely recognized as a pervasive dimension of the individual functioning which affects the information processing style characteriz- ing the way individuals analyses the world. X chro- mosome has been hypothesized to contribute to the field dependence–independence (Goodenough et al., 1977), even if genetic predisposition remains unknown (Goodenough & Witkin, 1977). As a cog- nitive style, field dependence–independence are two opposite dimensions on a continuum, which refers to the extent to which individuals tend to rely on an internal frame of reference in processing and organizing the environmental information (field-independent individuals or FI) or an external frame of reference, which makes them susceptible to deceptive cues when identifying known elements in unknown settings (field-dependent individuals or FD; Witkin, Moore, Goodenough, & Cox, 1977). Field dependence–independence has a great impact on cognitive tasks requiring to go beyond the The authors thank the “Istituto Comprensivo di Via Anagni” in Rome for their cooperation and interest in this research. In particular, the authors thank the School’s Director, Dr. Maura Frasca, for her interest in this project, as well as Dr. Chiara Bel- lagamba and Dr. Veronica Sacco for their help with the children during data acquisition. We also acknowledge the children who participated in the study and their families, who provided their consent. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Maddalena Boccia, Cognitive and Motor Rehabilitation Unit, IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, via Ardeatina 306, 00179 Rome, Italy. Electronic mail may be sent to m.boccia@hsantalucia.it. © 2018 Society for Research in Child Development All rights reserved. 0009-3920/2018/xxxx-xxxx DOI: 10.1111/cdev.13184 Child Development, xxxx 2018, Volume 00, Number 0, Pages 1–9