Children's Size Judgments in a Picture with Suggested Depth

Abstract

IT is widely accepted¹ that, in their drawings, children below the ages of 8 or 9 years typically disregard the conventional rules whereby depth is represented in perspective. Piaget and Inhelder² argue that, in order to represent an object in perspective, the artist must recognize that both the object and observer occupy the same projective space extending beyond the object and including the observer as well. Children cannot adopt the objective viewpoint necessary to recognize this, therefore they cannot draw in perspective. Because this viewpoint need not be adopted when interpreting perspective drawings, children have no difficulty perceiving pictures in depth. This argument can be questioned. Young children may not draw in perspective because they cannot even perceive depth in pictures, quite apart from portraying it in their own drawings. Hudson^3,4 found that European children, during their first year at school, were like unacculturated African tribal adults in that many failed to interpret the perspective features of a picture as representing depth. Other cross-cultural studies, like those of Hudson⁵, Deregowski⁶ and Winter⁷, indicate that the interpretation of pictures in depth is a learnt ability that requires a considerable amount of practice. Subjects that have had little exposure to pictorial material experience difficulties when interpreting pictorial depth.