1994 Volume 5 Issue 2 Pages 154-164
This study examined the development of children's imaginative drawings and the effects of instruction on drawings. The children's task was to draw "X," a person or house which did not actually exist. Experiment 1, participants were three groups of children (five year old preschoolers, 3rd graders, and 5th graders, N=135). The children took part under one of three conditions : (1) Hint group-given an exmple of "X" with verbal instruction ; (2) Model group-given a picture of an example of "X" and verbal instruction ; or (3) Control group-no instruction. They received instruction before starting to draw. The main results were as follows. The Hint and Model groups produced more sophisticated pictures than did the Control group. In the treatment groups, even preschoolers were able to use higher level strategies in which various conceptual categories were combined (e.g. combining a human being and an animal). Experiment 2 clarified whether the effects of instruction could be maintained over time. Thirty-seven preschoolers performed the task three times : before instruction, immediately after instruction, and one week after. The groups which were given instruction performed better than Control group. These results suggest that instruction is highly effective in enhancing imaginative drawing.
