Elsevier

Cognitive Development

Volume 36, October–December 2015, Pages 52-67
Cognitive Development

Is children’s naming and drawing of pictures mediated by representational intentions? Evidence from typical development and autism

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cogdev.2015.08.002Get rights and content

Highlights

  • •

    Pictorial understanding qualitatively differs in typical development (TD) and autism.

  • •

    Artists’ representational intent mediates how TD children name and draw 2-D shapes.

  • •

    Children with autism do not reflect on intentions when comprehending 2-D shapes.

  • •

    For TD children, the meaning of a picture is not determined entirely by resemblance.

  • •

    Picture comprehension in autism may be increasingly egocentric.

Abstract

Research has debated whether shape or inferred referential intent directs children’s picture naming. Here we investigate whether typically developing (TD) children aged 2–5 years and children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) comprehend pictures differently depending on whether they are intentional symbols. Participants were shown ambiguous line drawings and were informed that they were either intentional or accidental creations. Children were asked to name and draw each picture. TD children only evidenced a preference for shape-based naming when pictures were intentional representations, and were increasingly likely to create canonical drawings of symbolised referents when stimuli were intentional. Representational intentions did not influence the verbal or drawing responses of children with ASD, however, the nature of their drawings was related to their prior naming. Thus, the meaning that TD children derive from 2-D shapes is mediated by referential intent, while picture comprehension in autism may be comparatively egocentric.

Section snippets

Is children’s naming and drawing of pictures mediated by representational intentions? Evidence from typical development and autism

Pictures are symbols for entities that exist independently in time and space. Because they are intended to symbolise real objects, it is the cultural norm to assign object names to 2-dimensional representations (i.e. real monkeys and monkey pictures can be referred to with the word “monkey”). Previous research has debated over the cues that direct picture naming in typically developing (TD) children. One possibility is that children simply label shape, without reflecting on factors that are

Participants

Participants were 32 TD 2- and 3-year-olds (17 males, 15 females; M age = 3;1, range: 2;1–3;11, SD = 0;7), 32 TD 4- and 5-year-olds (16 males, 16 females; M age = 4;11, range = 4;0–5;9, SD = 0;6), and 20 children with ASD (19 males, 1 female; M age = 9;8, range = 4;11–16;2, SD = 3;5) recruited from mainstream schools, specialist schools, nurseries and preschools in Kendal and Preston, UK. Children with ASD were diagnosed by a qualified educational or clinical psychologist, using standardised instruments (i.e.

Results

Two sets of analyses were conducted. The first set addresses children’s verbal responses. In order to identify age-related differences in typical development and identify the impact of ASD, the two groups of TD children and children with ASD were directly compared. The second set focuses on children’s drawing responses, and their relation to verbal responding and experimental condition. Here we conduct two Generalized Linear Mixed-effects Models—one incorporating the effect of chronological age

Discussion

The present study investigated whether children’s naming and drawing of pictures is influenced by representational status, as determined by an artist’s intentions. TD children aged 2- to 5-years and children with ASD were shown a series of line drawings roughly shaped like familiar nameable objects, and were informed that the figures had been created intentionally or by accident. At test, participants were asked to name the pictures, and then draw them. Our results indicate that picture

Conclusions

Overall, the present study has shown that representational status significantly mediates how TD children, but not children with ASD, name and draw ambiguous pictures. The tendency of TD 2- to 5-year-olds to name a picture’s shape is influenced by whether or not the artist intended that shape to be representational. Additionally, TD 5-year-olds (but not 3- or 4-year-olds) were more likely to produce canonical drawings of symbolised referents when they believed that stimuli were intended to be

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the children, parents and staff at Hillside Specialist School, Preston (UK), Sandgate School, Kendal (UK), Ghyllside Primary School, Kendal (UK), Sunny Brow Day Nursery, Kendal (UK), Castle Park School, Kendal (UK) and Burton Preschool, Burton-in-Kendal (UK). We would also like to thank Dr Rob Davies for his expert guidance concerning general linear mixed-effects modelling and R.

References (51)

  • S. Baron-Cohen et al.

    Do children with autism use the speaker’s direction of gaze strategy to crack the code of language?

    Child Development

    (1997)
  • S. Baron-Cohen

    Mindblindness: an essay on autism and theory of mind

    (1995)
  • P. Bloom et al.

    Intention and analogy in children’s naming of pictorial representations

    Psychological Science

    (1998)
  • J.G. Bremner et al.

    Prior visual inspection and object naming: two factors that enhance hidden feature inclusion in young children’s drawings

    British Journal of Developmental Psychology

    (1984)
  • C.A. Browne et al.

    Theory of mind in children’s naming of drawings

    Journal of Cognition and Development

    (2001)
  • T.C. Callaghan et al.

    Emergence of graphic symbol functioning and the question of domain specificity: a longitudinal study

    Child Development

    (2002)
  • T.C. Callaghan et al.

    Children’s understanding of artist-picture relations: implications for their theories of pictures

  • T.C. Callaghan et al.

    Modeling referential actions in 6- to 18-month-old infants: a precursor to symbolic understanding

    Child Development

    (2004)
  • T. Charman et al.

    Drawing development in autism: the intellectual to visual realism shift

    British Journal of Developmental Psychology

    (1993)
  • T. Charman et al.

    Infants with autism: an investigation of empathy, pretend play, joint attention, and imitation

    Developmental Psychology

    (1997)
  • M.J. Chen et al.

    Representational drawings of solid objects by young children

    Perception

    (1984)
  • M.V. Cox

    Children’s drawings

    (1992)
  • M.V. Cox

    The pictorial world of the child

    (2005)
  • B. D’Entremont et al.

    Imitation of intentional and accidental actions by children with autism

    Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders

    (2007)
  • L.M. Dunn et al.

    The British picture vocabulary scale

    (1997)

    • Cited by (0)

    View full text
    Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.