Childrens Drawing

1
Childrens Drawing
Steve Croker Room C009 Ext. 2081 s.croker_at_derby.ac
.uk
2
Outline

• The importance of drawing
• The development of drawing ability
• general
• human figures
• maps
• Theories of Drawing Development
• outline
• strengths and weaknesses
• The role of culture/environment
• Conclusion

3
The importance of drawing

• Purpose for children
• sensory exploration
• express thoughts/feelings
• reflect knowledge of world
• Drawing reveal information about childrens
• motor co-ordination
• self-concepts
• emotions
• social attitudes

4
The development of drawing ability - general
drawing

• 3 stages
• 1. Scribbles (12 months )
• 2. 1st representational shapes and forms
• 2 yrs realise pictures depict objects (Kavanaugh
  Harris, 1994)
• 2/3 yrs scribbles -gt pictures, meaning imposed
  on picture
• 3/4 yrs use lines to represent boundaries
• 3. More realistic drawings
• 5/6 yrs more complex but contain perceptual
  distortions
• 6/7 yrs more realism, e.g. representation of 3D
  (Braine et al, 1993)

5
From Seifert Hoffnung
6
The development of drawing ability 2 specific
areas of interest (1)

• 1. Human Figure Drawing
• a. TADPOLES
• b. circle represents head, body descends between
  the 2 vertical lines
• c. child adds second circle for body, with
  another pair of lines for arms

From Cole Cole
7
The development of drawing ability 2 specific
areas of interest (2)

• 2. Childrens maps (Piaget Inhelder, 1948/1956)
• Drawings of familiar neighbourhoods revealed
• Preschool (3/4 yrs)
• fragmented and disorganised landmarks
• Early school (5/6 yrs)
• landmarks organised around familiar routes of
  travel
• but not mastered relationship of one route to
  another
• Middle childhood (6)
• overall configuration of large scale space

8
Theories 1. Luquet/Piagets Stage theory (1)

• Fortuitous realism (1.5-2.5 yrs)
• realism of scribbles
• Failed realism (2.5-5 yrs)
• representational intention
• Intellectual realism (5-8 yrs)
• drawing what is known
• Visual realism
• drawing what is seen

9
Theories 1. Luquet/Piagets Stage theory (2)

• Strengths
• explains seeming stages of acquisition
• evidence in support
• Clark (1897)

Under 8 yrs
Over 8 yrs
10
Theories 1. Luquet/Piagets Stage theory (3)

• Evidence in support
• Freeman Janikoun (1972)

Under 8 yrs
Over 8 yrs
11
Theories 1. Luquet/Piagets Stage theory (4)

• Weaknesses
• Role of culture/environment not considered
• Evidence against
• Gifted children and autistic savants (e.g. Selfe,
  1977, 1995)
• Instructions (Barret, Beaumont Jennett (1985)
• Standard Instructions Draw exactly what you can
  see from where you are sitting.
• Explicit Instructions Draw exactly what you can
  see from where you are sitting - look very
  carefully at it so that you can draw it just as
  you see it.
• Standard 11 correct
• Explicit 65 correct

12
Theories 2. Information Processing theory

• E.g. Willats, 1995
• Development due to
• increase in fine motor skills
• increase in knowledge of rules conventions of
  drawing
• increase in ability to keep in mind several
  aspects of drawing (e.g. 3D)
• Problems
• gifted children and some autistic savants
  (Golomb, 1995)

13
Theories 3. Kellogs Gestaltist approach

• Scribbles
• 20 different categories
• Progression
• learning to combine basic scribbles to form
  intermediate pre-representational structures
• these intermediate structures combine to form
  representational forms (people, sun, flowers)
• Problem young children produce representational
  drawings
• Not all children go through intermediate stage

14
Theories 4. Karmiloff-Smiths modular approach (1)

• Modular theory
• 1st pictures (not scribbles) mental
  representations not coherently organised.
  Restricted to habitual (e.g. stereotypical
  pictures)
• New, coherently organised mental representations
  can be used flexibly (can draw what see).

15
Theories 4. Karmiloff-Smiths modular approach (2)

• evidence for
• stereotypical drawing in young children e.g.
  Karmiloff-Smith (1990) 5 yr olds cant draw a
  man with two heads
• Zhi et al (1997) most children draw e.g. a man
  in a fixed sequence
• evidence for modularity (e.g. Williams syndrome)
• evidence against
• more flexibility in young children than
  previously thought (Zhi et al, 1997)
• autistic savants

16
The role of culture

• Many theories assume a universal sequence of
  development
• Cultural differences
• American
• Japanese
• French
• Ponapean
• Balinese

17
American, 5yrs, 7 months
Japanese, 5yrs, 2 mths
Ponapean, 5 yrs
French, 3 yrs, 6 mths
Balinese, 4 yrs, 1 mth
18
Learning Outcomes

• Describe the sequence of drawing acquisition and
  be able to evaluate the research
• Describe and evaluate theories of drawing
  development
• Discuss whether there is a universal sequence in
  drawing development
• Discuss and evaluate whether there are
  age-related stages in drawing development