Infants' Pre-representative Act of Trace-making before they Begin to Depict

Abstract

This study examined how infants develop the process of trace-making in everyday life. A longitudinal observation of two infants was conducted from 2 to 18 months after birth. Although numerous studies have examined the process of drawing, little is known about pre-representative acts or about trace-making itself. The term trace-making, especially in infancy, merits careful consideration because it is characterized as a spontaneous act. Observations indicate that trace-making episodes can be classified into three patterns: a) change of texture, b) change of layout, and c) change of state. The transition in the frequency of these patterns shows the process of acquiring controlled movement skills in daily tasks before acquiring the skill of depicting images. The results suggest that infants can select information about surface properties and learn how to change these properties after the age of 2 months.