Abstract
The present paper reports a part of a larger research program concerning the development of body schemes in children aged 18 months to 4.6 years. Body schemes are thought to reflect children’s mental representations of human bodies. The composition of these schemes, that is, their position, rotation, symmetry and integration, are indices of children’s representational abilities. In this study it was hypothesized that though children’s ability to identify, recognize and label single parts of the body will precede their representational ability of bodies, the former ability is a necessary but insufficient prerequisite ability for the latter representational ability. To study this hypothesis, a special assessment strategy was developed consisting of two tests. The first assessed the children’s ability to recognize and identify parts of their own body, parts of his or her own face and that of the experimenter. In addition, the children were required to label and/or identify parts of the body and face of a human model. The second test consisted of three forms of construction of a body and a face which were presented successively. First, the children were requested to complete the construction of incomplete models. They were then asked to construct the models while receiving the parts successively, and finally, after receiving all parts at once. The finished constructions were scored according to their composition, that is, position, rotation, symmetry and integration. All children were also presented with intelligence tests. This study was conducted with 36 children, aged 18–36 months, frequenting a creche. The results of analyses of variance and an “exploratory” factor analysis (because of the small sample size) on the data obtained from both representational tests and the intelligence tests confirm the general hypothesis.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Arnheim.R. (1954). Art and visual perception. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Bas sett, E. M. (1977). Production strategies in the child’s drawing of the human figure: Towards an argument for a model of syncretic perception. In G. Butterworth (Ed.), The child’s representation of the world (pp. 49–59). New York: Plenum.
Brittain, W. L. (1979). Creativity, art and young children. New York: McMillan.
Brittain, W.L., & Chien, Y-C. (1980). Effect of materials on preschool children’s ability to represent a man. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 51,995–1000.
Brittain, W.L., & Chien, Y-C. (1983). Relationship between preschool children’s ability to name body parts and their ability to construct a man. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 57,19–24.
Golomb, C. (1972). Evolution of the human figure in a three-dimensional medium. Developmental Psychology, 6, 395–391.
Golomb, C. (1973). Children’s representation of human figures: The effect of models, media, and instruction. Genetic Psychology Monographs, 87,197–251.
Goodenough, F. (1926). Measurement of intelligence by drawings. New York: Harcourt, Brace, & World.
Goodenough, F. (1931). Children’s drawings. In C. Murchison (Ed.), A handbook of child psychology, (pp. 480–514). Worcester, MA: Clark University Press.
Lezine, I. (1976). Remarques sur la prise de conscience du corps chez l’enfant. Bulletin de Psychologie, 30, 253–263.
Lis, A., & Venuti, P. (1985). The development of body schemata in infants: Different methods of evaluation. Paper presented at the eighth biennial meeting of the International Society for the Study of Behavioral Development. Tours, France: July.
Lis, A., Venuti, P., Basile, A. P., & Finesso, R. (1988). Lo sviluppo dello schema corporeo [The development of body schemes]. Età Evolutiva, 30,23–34.
Lis, A., Venuti, P., & Carrara, S. (1984). Cognitive aspects of the development of body schemata in infants. Paper presented at the fourth International Conference of Infants Studies. New York.
Luquet, G. H. (1913). Le dessins d’un enfant. Paris: F. Alcan.
Luquet, G. H. (1927). Le dessin enfantin. Paris: F. Alcan.
Mahler, M., & McDevitt, J. B. (1982). Thoughts on the emergence of the sense of self, with particular emphasis on the body self. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 30, 827–848.
Meili-Dworetzki, G. (1957). Das Bild des Menschen in der Vorstellung und Darstellung des Klein-kindes. Bern: Huber.
Modaressi, T., & Kenny, J. (1977). Children’s response to their true and distorted images. Child Psychology and Human Development, 894–101.
Monniez, A. (1980). Approche experimentale du schema corporel chez des enfants de 3 à 6 ans. Essai d’une technique inédite de representation. Bulletin de Psychologie, 34,35–40.
Piaget,J (1937). La construction du réel chez l’enfant. Paris: Delachaux et Niestlé.
Piaget,J (1945). La formation du symbole chez l’enfant. Paris: Delachaux et Niestlé.
Piaget,J (1947). Le jugement et le raisonnement chez l’enfant. Paris: Delachaux et Niestlé.
Piaget, J., & Inhelder, B. (1966). L’image mental chez l’enfant. Paris: PUF.
Wallach, M. A., & Bordeaux, J. (1976). Children’s construction of the human figure. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 43,439–446.
Wallon, H. (1931). Comment se develppe chez l’enfant la notion du corps propre. Journal de Psychologie, 3, 705–748.
Zazzo, R. (1948). Image du corps et conscience de soi. Enfance, 1,29–43.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1990 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Lis, A., Venuti, P. (1990). The Development of Body Schemes in Children Aged 18–36 Months. In: Oppenheimer, L. (eds) The Self-Concept. Recent Research in Psychology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-84143-9_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-84143-9_3
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-540-52371-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-84143-9
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive