Stages of Drawing and Intelligence

摘要

Children's drawings follow a developmental sequence. Beginning with uncontrolled scribble, children progress to controlled scribble, through basic forms, to increasingly sophisticated modes of representation. While researchers describe the stages somewhat differently, there is general agreement that definable stages do exist and are easily observable. The environment must, however, provide access to the necessary materials as well as opportunities for expression. The extent to which the environment facilitates the evolution of art in children is a critical consideration. The tendency of children to represent their world in this way appears to exist across cultures. Like their civilian counterparts, children in military families express themselves in drawing. Their graphic representations serve several purposes: they show the child's growing intellectual and cognitive development, they are a language and communication system, and they offer a means of counseling and therapy. As part of the developmental process, children integrate their various skills as they draw. The motivation to represent in drawings what they see causes children to sharpen their perceptions and increase their fine motor skills. As they create, they also coordinate (e.g., eye and hand). While the process is artistic, it may also be seen as cognitive, as an indicator of the child's growing intellectual competence. The widespread use of projective drawings by psychologists for assessing not only cognitive and developmental levels but also overall personality integration is also noted within this report.