年幼儿童人物画结构变化及其影响因素

儿童人物画突出的结构特点是比例不协调。该研究考察了三百多名４．５－６．５岁幼儿的人物画,发现４．５岁到６．５岁幼儿自由画人躯干面积和头的面积的比值平均为１．３０,头的面积稍小于躯干的面积;自由画人躯干与头的面积的比值在４．５到６．５岁之间,变化曲线呈“Ｎ＂字形;这一比值的变化是和幼儿对于人体结构的认知发展有关的;临摹标准比例范画对于幼儿人物画的结构有显著影响,但是除了４．５－５岁之外,临摹画人与自由画人躯干／头的比值变化趋势基本一致;改变绘画顺序以及身体部位的功能性夸大对于幼儿人物画结构都有显著影响。     

4～6岁儿童人物画结构比例影响因素的比较研究

本研究旨在探索不同文化背景下影响 4～ 6岁儿童人物画结构比例的因素及认知发展的规律。研究分为自由画人与按照规定要求画人两部分。发现多因素导致儿童自由画人结构失调 ,如绘画顺序、空间统筹安排能力、头躯包含的器官以及对其重要性的认识等均会影响儿童自由人物画的头躯比值。儿童能按要求事先安排规定人物画的结构比例 ,根据细节多寡相应加大或缩小人体有关部分 ,如增大躯干部分以容纳夹克衫的纽扣、口袋等细节 ,或相应缩小头的轮廓以示背影等。此外 ,注意与重要性等因素也会对规定人物画结构产生影响。     

The role of inhibitory control in the development of human figure drawing in young children

We investigated the role of inhibitory control in young children’s human figure drawing. We used the Bear–Dragon task as a measure of inhibitory control and used the classification system devised by Cox and Parkin to measure the development of human figure drawing. We tested 50 children aged between 40 and 64 months. Regression analysis showed that inhibitory control predicted development in human figure drawing even after the effect of age was excluded. These data suggest that inhibitory control plays a role in the development of children’s drawing and imply a relation between the executive functions and representational change.     

Influence of head orientation on visually and memory-guided arm movements

In the absence of visual supervision, tilting the head sideways gives rise to deviations in spatially defined arm movements. The purpose of this study was to determine whether these deviations are restricted to situations with impoverished visual information. Two experiments were conducted in which participants were positioned supine and reproduced with their unseen index finger a 2 dimensional figure either under visual supervision or from memory (eyes closed). In the former condition, the figure remained visible (using a mirror). In the latter condition, the figure was first observed and then reproduced from memory. Participants' head was either aligned with the trunk or tilted 30° towards the left or right shoulder. In experiment 1, participants observed first the figure with the head straight and then reproduced it with the head either aligned or tilted sideways. In Experiment 2, participants observed the figure with the head in the position in which the figure was later reproduced. Results of Experiment 1 and 2 showed deviations of the motor reproduction in the direction opposite to the head in both the memory and visually-guided conditions. However, the deviations decreased significantly under visual supervision when the head was tilted left. In Experiment 1, the perceptual visual bias induced by head tilt was evaluated. Participants were required to align the figure parallel to their median trunk axis. Results revealed that the figure was perceived as parallel with the trunk when it was actually tilted in the direction of the head. Perceptual and motor responses did not correlate. Therefore, as long as visual feedback of the arm is prevented, an internal bias, likely originating from head/trunk representation, alters hand-motor production irrespectively of whether visual feedback of the figure is available or not.     

Comparative analysis of proprioception in left and right arms

Using the “kinaesthetic memory for the target” technique, differences in the accuracy of pointing to a target with the right and left arms are analysed. The effect of rotation of the head to left and right upon this process is also studied.

With the head normally orientated, it was found that pointing with the right arm is significantly better than with the left. Accuracy of pointing is greater with the target directly in front of the body than when it lies to either left or right side.

When the head is rotated, the direction of the pointing error is inversely related to the direction of rotation.

The study suggests that the precision of control over arm (in the absence of vision) is related to the varying ability of individual subjects to correlate limb movements with the prevailing orientation of the body, especially of the head and neck. This is additional to the influences of genetically-determined handedness and of the sensory input from the moving limb.     

Horizontal plane head stabilization during locomotor tasks

Frequency characteristics of head stabilization were examined during locomotor tasks in healthy young adults(N = 8) who performed normal walking and 3 walking tasks designed to produce perturbations primarily in the horizontal plane. In the 3 walking tasks, the arms moved in phase with leg movement, with abnormally large amplitude, and at twice the frequency of leg movement. Head-in-space angular velocity was examined at the predominant frequencies of trunk motion. Head movements in space occurred at low frequencies (< 4.0 Hz) in all conditions and at higher frequencies (> 4.0 Hz) when the arms moved at twice the frequency of the legs. Head stabilization strategies were determined from head-on-trunk with respect to trunk frequency profiles derived from angular velocity data. During natural walking at low frequencies (< 3.0 Hz), head-on-trunk movement was less than trunk movement. At frequencies 3.0 Hz or greater, equal and opposite compensatory movement ensured head stability. When arm swing was altered, compensatory movement guaranteed head stability at all frequencies. Head stabilization was successful for frequencies up to 10.0 Hz during locomotor tasks. Maintaining head stability at high frequencies during voluntary tasks suggests that participants used feedforward mechanisms to coordinate head and trunk movements. Maintenance of head stability during dynamic tasks allows optimal conditions for vestibulo-ocular reflex function.     

Horizontal Plane Head Stabilization During Locomotor Tasks

Frequency characteristics of head stabilization were examined during locomotor tasks in healthy young adults (N = 8) who performed normal walking and 3 walking tasks designed to produce perturbations primarily in the horizontal plane. In the 3 walking tasks, the arms moved in phase with leg movement, with abnormally large amplitude, and at twice the frequency of leg movement. Head-in-space angular velocity was examined at the predominant frequencies of trunk motion. Head movements in space occurred at low frequencies (< 4.0 Hz) in all conditions and at higher frequencies (> 4.0 Hz) when the arms moved at twice the frequency of the legs. Head stabilization strategies were determined from head-on-trunk with respect to trunk frequency profiles derived from angular velocity data. During natural walking at low frequencies (< 3.0 Hz), head-on-trunk movement was less than trunk movement. At frequencies 3.0 Hz or greater, equal and opposite compensatory movement ensured head stability. When arm swing was altered, compensatory movement guaranteed head stability at all frequencies. Head stabilization was successful for frequencies up to 10.0 Hz during locomotor tasks Maintaining head stability at high frequencies during voluntary tasks suggests that participants used feedforward mechanisms to coordinate head and trunk movements. Maintenance of head stability during dynamic tasks allows optimal conditions for vestibulo-ocular reflex function.     

Hierarchical structure in perceptual representation

A theoretical framework for perceptual representation is presented which proposes that information is coded in hierarchical networks of nonverbal propositions. The hierarchical structure of the representations implies selective organization: Some subsets of a figure will be encoded as integral, structural units of that figure, while others will not. A context-sensitive metric for the “goodness” of a part within a figure is developed, corresponding to the probability that the subset will be encoded as a structural unit. Converging evidence supporting this position is presented from four different tasks using simple, straight-line figures. The tasks studied are (a) dividing figures into “natural” parts, (b) rating the “goodness” of parts within figures, (c) timed verification of parts within figures, and (d) timed mental synthesis of spatially separated parts into unitary figures. The results are discussed in terms of the proposed theory of representation, the processes that operate on those representations, and the general implications of the data for perceptual theories.     

Understanding the mind as an active information processor: do young children have a "copy theory of mind"?

Most 4-, but no 3-year-olds, were able to understand the mind's active role in evaluating the truth of verbal information. They appreciated that a statement, whether true or false, will be disbelieved if the listener has existing beliefs to the contrary and that it will be believed if no such beliefs exist. Four- and 5-year-olds were equally competent in understanding the need for interpretation of pictorial material. They realized that an uninitiated person cannot make sense of a "droodle", which in itself is an uninterpretable section of a larger meaningful drawing. We discuss the impact of our findings on the question of whether children at this age entertain a copy theory of mind.     

Quality of Drawing as a Factor in the Interpretation of Figure Drawings

Examined the drawings of 32 poliomyelitis patients and their matched controls to see whether figure drawings primarily reflect the subject's projection of psychological state, ability to draw, or some combination of these two factors. An overview of the literature is also given. Drawings from disabled and nondisabled subjects were reliably rated for quality, with no significant quality difference found between groups. Analyses of variance were then used to compare the drawings on several different measures of drawing size, completion and movement that might be assumed on the basis of the literature, to reflect the subjects' projection of disability status. Results showed that quality of drawing was a significant factor in 13 of the 17 comparisons while disability status proved to be a significant factor in only one of the 17 comparisons. There were no significant interactions. Therefore, the overall findings are consistent with the hypothesis that quality of drawing—rather than projective mechanisms—may at times be the overwhelming determinant of clinical and research findings with figure drawings.     

A New Look at Gaze: Preschool Children's Understanding of Eye-Direction

This study challenges the consensus view that children can judge what someone is looking at from infancy. In the first experiment 2-, 3-, and 4-year-old children were asked to judge what a person in a drawing was looking at and which of two people was “looking at” them. Only 6% of 2-year-olds and young 3-year-olds passed both gaze-direction tasks, but over 70% passed an analogous point-direction task. Most older 3-year-olds and 4-year-olds passed all three tasks. Experiment 2 compared children's ability to judge what the experimenter was looking at with performance on the picture tasks. Three-year-olds performed significantly worse than 4-year-olds on the real life and picture gaze tasks. Performances on the two types of gaze task were highly correlated. Experiment 3 included stimuli with the additional cue of head-direction. Even the younger children performed well on these stimuli. These results suggest that, regardless of task format, children cannot judge what someone is looking at from eye-direction alone until the age of 3 years. Weaknesses in the evidence supporting the consensus view are highlighted and discussed.     

The representation of depth in children's drawings of a table

Willats (1977) analysed developments in the drawing of a table in terms of the projection system in which the table top was represented, and concluded that representation of depth in drawing goes through a series of discrete stages, each of which can be identified with a projection system. A partial replication of Willats' study is presented here, using a much larger sample. The relationship between age and use of projection system found by Willats was in general supported. Not all the “stages” were found to be discrete, however, and an examination of the way in which the table tops were drawn shows that whilst the majority of older children appeared to use perspective, they did not use it correctly. A method is given by which tables that are drawn as if from a central viewpoint can be formally classified. It is concluded that development in the understanding of the representation of depth is not very closely linked to development in the use of projection systems.     

An exploratory study of the draw-a-person as a measure of racial identity.

The race of the figure drawn on the Draw-A-Person Test is proposed as a measure of acceptance of racial identity. Reliability and validity of this measure were explored in a two-part study. Part 1 confirmed the hypothesis that the race of the figure drawn is related to the race of the child producing the drawing. Comparison of the figures drawn by black (n = 157) and white (n = 167) children confirmed three other hypotheses based on the voluminous literature suggesting that black children are less accepting of their racial group membership than whites. These hypotheses were: (a) whites should be more likely to draw figures that are clearly white than blacks are to draw figures that are clearly black, (b) whites should be less likely to draw blacks than blacks are to draw whites, and (c) blacks should be more likely to avoid giving clear indication of the race of the figures they draw than are whites. Inter-rater reliability for the race of the figure drawn was .79. Five weeks after the initial drawing, a subsample of 28 black children drew a second figure and performed a picture choice task designed to assess acceptance of racial identity. The race of the figure drawn showed a test-retest reliability of .53 and correlated significantly with the other measure of racial identity (r27 = .39).     

Pavlovian Conditioning to a Diazepam Cue with Yohimbine as the Unconditional Stimulus

On multiple occasions, rats were administered diazepam (2.0 mg/kg, ip) followed 30 min thereafter by yohimbine hydrochloride (2.5 or 5.0 mg/kg) or isotonic saline (forward conditioning groups). Three additional groups (backward conditioning controls) were given equivalent injections, but in reverse order. After eight such pairings, the effects of a single injection of diazepam on motor performance (balancing on a rotating drum) was assessed. Rats that had received either dose of yohimbine during forward conditioning trials maintained their balance longer than the saline controls. After four additional conditioning trials, the animals’ activity patterns in a plus-maze screening test for anxiolytics were examined. Placed into the maze after a single test injection of isotonic saline, the behavior of all groups was virtually identical: less than 16% of total entries into or time spent in the four arms of the maze was spent in the two “open” arms (unprotected by surrounding walls). When tested in the maze again, but 35 min after a single injection of diazepam, the groups that had received diazepam but not yohimbine during the conditioning phase exhibited the expected increase in open-arm activity, and equivalent increases were found in backward conditioning groups. However, the group previously conditioned with 2.5 mg/kg of yohimbine following diazepam also showed an increased open-arm activity when tested with diazepam alone, but it was significantly greater than that seen in the control group. In contrast, the group conditioned with 5.0 mg/kg yohimbine following diazepam exhibited no effect of diazepam upon their plus maze activity; consequently, these animals spent less time in the open arms than either of the other groups. Yohimbine alone normally decreases open-arm activity (a putative “anxiogenic” effect) in a linear dose-dependent fashion. The fact that it had a bidirectional conditional effect on the diazepam cue drug demonstrates that a conditional response in drug → drug conditioning cannot always be predicted on the basis of the behavioral response to the signaled drug. Consideration is given to possible reasons for these effects of diazepam → yohimbine pairings in terms of the known neuropharmacological properties of yohimbine.     

Sexual ambiguity in children's human figure drawings

Four hundred sixty-one children in grades 5-9 drew a person and indicated the sex of their human figure drawing. A significant number (8%) of children were unable to classify their drawings as to sex; the frequency of uncertainty did not vary with grade or sex of child. Inability to determine the sex of one's own drawing is hypothesized to be a conceptual rather than a perceptual problem, and to reflect uncertainty about the essence of sexual identification.     

Induction-, test-, and comparison-figure interactions under illusion and figural aftereffect conditions

Ganz (1966a, b) has argued that an induction figure will displace a test figure placed near it under both illusion and figural aftereffect conditions. The data from Experiments I and II show that most of the illusion produced by the figures studied by Ganz results from an interaction between the comparison and induction figures. The data from Experiment III suggest that both the test and comparison figures interact with the induction figure under figural aftereffect conditions. Although the induction-test figure interactions do not contradict Ganz’s model, the induction-comparison figure interactions cannot be explained by it. The data also suggest that researchers should be extremely cautious in drawing conclusions about the processes underlying illusions and figural aftereffects unless they are confident that there is no interaction between the induction and comparison figures.     

Quality of drawing as a factor in the interpretation of figure drawings

Examined the drawings of 32 poliomyelitis patients and their matched controls to see whether figure drawings primarily reflect the subject's projection of psychological state, ability to draw, or some combination of these two factors. An overview of the literature is also given. Drawings from disabled and nondisabled subjects were reliably rated for quality, with no significant quality difference found between groups. Analyses of variance were then used to compare the drawings on several different measures of drawing size, completion and movement that might be assumed on the basis of the literature, to reflect the subjects' projection of disability status. Results showed that quality of drawing was a significant factor in 13 of the 17 comparisons while disability status proved to be a significant factor in only one of the 17 comparisons. There were no significant interactions. Therefore, the overall findings are consistent with the hypothesis that quality of drawing-rather than projective mechanisms-may at times be the overwhelming determinant of clinical and research findings with figure drawings.     

Head and Trunk Movements During Turning Gait in Children with Cerebral Palsy

Thirty children with cerebral palsy (CP) and 22 typical developing (TD) were tested with 3D-gait analysis. At turning, trunk rotation was larger in CP2 (GMFCS II) than in TD and CP1 (GMFCS I), and head flexion was larger in CP3 (GMFCS III) than TD. Maximum head and trunk flexion values during the entire trial were larger in CP3 than in the other groups, and trunk flexion was larger in CP2 than in TD. Trial time increased with GMFCS-level. Less trunk rotation than TD and CP1 reflects spatial insecurity in CP2, which in CP3 is compensated by the walker. The flexed head and trunk in CP3 and trunk in CP2 may reflect deficits in proprioception and sensation requiring visual control of the lower limbs.     

Children''s understanding of belief and disconfirming visual evidence

Data from 3- to 5-year-old children show that even the youngest have an understanding that a story character cannot think an object is in a box when the character looks into the empty box. This understanding is, however, limited to the case where children share the same visual perspective with the character. When visual perspectives are different the relevant knowledge develops shortly after 4 years at about the time that children master the false belief task. These results are interpreted as young children using an implicit constraint that “think” cannot be applied in view of disconfirming visual evidence. This implicit knowledge becomes explicit and, thus, perspective independent with some delay.