Consideration of Observing Others in the Art Activity by Pair of Children with Different-Ages

Abstract

The present study investigates the interaction between a pair of children with different-ages in art activity using gaze analysis. The main objective is to grasp the situation when child observes their partners and utilizes obtained information. Furthermore, the difference of age between the two children will be considered. To obtain analytical data, subjects wore Eye-Tracker that is used to monitor their gaze direction. The data were treated by Behavior-Coding-System that makes the calculation of the number of times and the length of time when the children pay attention to their partners. The following result is by infants (around 5 years of age, n = 7) and elementary school children (around 8 years of age, n = 7). On same a table, a pair of one infant and one elementary school child independently worked on an activity using clay. On the whole, infants looked at elementary school children. But, on the other hand, elementary school children’s behavior became polarized. In initial phase, most infants emulated elementary school children’s action, however the contrary was never recorded. From the above, it can be presumed that the observation patterns were different between infants and elementary school children.