In the Eye of an Artist

Overview

Objectives/Goals My objective was to determine at what age a child can draw the human body with the fullest amount of body parts. Methods/Materials In this project I tested 45 subjects. There were fifteen children in each age group, five, six, and seven year olds. I tested five children in the same age group at a time. I then gave them a piece of paper and a pencil. I explain to them that they will be drawing a picture of themself. They had 5 minutes to complete their picture. When the 5 minutes were up I told them to stop, and to put their initials and age on the paper. Results I did observe that the 5 year olds took the least amount of time to complete the drawing. All 45 of my subjects completed their picture within the 5 minute period. The body parts that were tested to be drawn were 2 eyes, 1 neck, 5 fingers, 1 mouth, 1 torso, 2 legs, 1 nose, and 2 arms. Overall, my 7 year olds drew 5 body parts of the 8 tested 100% of the time. As my data shows, the 7 year old will represent the human body with the fullest amount of body parts most consistently. Conclusions/Discussion In conclusion, the data did not support my hypothesis.I originally thought that at 6 years old a child would be able to draw the human body with the fullest amount of body parts. My test results show that a 7 year old begins to draw the human body with the fullest amount of body parts present. This project could be done in a number of ways. Asking the children questions about their drawings or asking them to draw two people and explain the differences and similarities in both. Realizing a child's fears or anxieties might also show through their art. More importantly, how they might feel about themself. Through their art we see more than just a figure from a child, rather the visual perception of a growing mind.

Competition history

• CSEF 2012 Cognitive Science (Junior Division Only) · Entry J0706

Resources

• CSEF project summary ↗

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