the role of genre and cognition in children’s art appreciation
DESCRIPTION
Laura Schneebaum Department of Applied Psychology. The Role of Genre and Cognition in Children’s Art Appreciation. Acknowledgements. Dr. Gigliana Melzi & Adina Schick The NYU Child Language Research Team Steinhardt Dean’s Grant for Student Research - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
THE ROLE OF GENRE AND COGNITION
IN CHILDREN’S ART APPRECIATION
Laura SchneebaumDepartment of Applied Psychology
Dr. Gigliana Melzi & Adina Schick
The NYU Child Language Research Team
Steinhardt Dean’s Grant for Student Research
Applied Psychology Departmental Research Grant
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Art has been an essential part of everyday life for many centuries.
Although works of art can be universally appreciated, they depict and represent the cultural reality of a specific time period.
Given the importance of art in transmitting culture across generations, one important area of focus has been on the ways in which children come to comprehend artistic pieces.
ART APPRECIATION
IMPORTANCE OF ART APPRECIATION
Art appreciation requires that children combine their understanding of the world, their emotions, and their interpretations of the work.
As children come to appreciate works of art they learn to construct meaning and articulate their thoughts.
Thus, engaging with and talking about art provides children with a forum for developing their literacy and communication skills.
Suburban versus urban setting
School environment
INFLUENCES OF ART APPRECIATION
Environmental Factors
Previous experience
Gender Age / Grade
Subject matter Artistic
characteristics Artistic style
Type of Artwork
Person-level Characteristics
DEVELOPMENT OF ART APPRECIATION
Art Appreciation Progression
Sensorial StageColor, Representational Content
Concrete StageRealism, Subject Matter, Art Quality, Color
Expressive StageStyle, Form, Emotional Impact
DEVELOPMENT OF ART APPRECIATION
Art Appreciation Progression
Sensorial StageColor, Representational Content
Concrete StageRealism, Subject Matter, Art Quality, Color
Expressive StageStyle, Form, Emotional Impact
Piagetian Cognitive Development
Formal Operational StageThinking is abstract and systematic
Concrete Operational StageThinking is logical and organized
Preoperational StageThinking is representational, lacks logic
DEVELOPMENT OF ART APPRECIATION
Art Appreciation Progression
Sensorial StageColor, Representational Content
Concrete StageRealism, Subject Matter, Art Quality, Color
Expressive StageStyle, Form, Emotional Impact
Piagetian Cognitive Development
Formal Operational StageThinking is abstract and systematic
Concrete Operational StageThinking is logical and organized
Preoperational StageThinking is representational, lacks logic
The present study examined children’s expression of art appreciation.
Two main questions guided the present study: 1.How do children talk about works from different artistic genre?
2.To what extent are the descriptions children provide related to their overall level of cognitive reasoning?
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
40 children between the ages 8-13 (M = 130.83,SD = 22.89) were recruited to participate in this study.
Groups of children were evenly divided by gender.
All parents had at least a college education (M = 17.7, SD = 1.29).
All children resided in suburban settings.
PARTICIPANTS
Parents completed a demographic questionnaire designed to ascertain children’s previous experiences with art.
Children completed the Fun and Challenging Puzzles II (Bakken, 1995), a paper-and-pencil cognitive reasoning measure.
Children were shown 3 paintings and prompted to talk about them.
PROCEDURE
Landscape with Saint Jerome by Poussin
Landscape by Kandinsky
Landscape:The Parc Monceauby MonetRenaissance/Baroque Impressionism Abstraction Representational Semi-representational Abstract
What do you see in this painting? How would you feel if you were in the painting and why? How do you feel when you look at it and why? Why do you think the artist painted this particular scene in the way he did? If you saw this in a museum, why would you think it was famous? Would you put this in your room, why or why not? What do you like most about it and why? What do you like least about it and why?
SAMPLE PROMPTS
Children’s conversations about art were transcribed and verified using a standardized system (MacWhinney, 2000).
All utterances related to the artwork were coded for level of appreciation and artistic themes.
TRANSCRIPTION & CODING
Perceptual
Contextual
Analytical
• Attraction• Representation & Realism• Emotional Expression• Style & Form • Interpretation • Other
Contextual
Analytical
k = .87 k = .90
How do children talk about works from different artistic genre?
RESEARCH QUESTION 1:
Poussin Monet Kandinsky33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
4241.5 (23.0)
38.95 (22.9)
35.9 (22.5)
AMOUNT OF TALK BY GENRE
*
Num
ber o
f Ref
eren
ces
F(2, 38) = 5.23, p = .01
LEVEL OF APPRECIATION BY PAINTING TYPE
Poussin Monet Kandinsky0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16Perceptual Contextual Analytical
Mea
n P
erce
ntag
e
F(2, 38) = 7.91, p < .01
*
*
THEMES BY LEVEL: PERCEPTUAL
Kandinsky
Monet
Poussin
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Attraction Representation and Realism Other
THEMES BY LEVEL: CONTEXTUAL
Kandinsky
Monet
Poussin
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Attraction Representation and Realism Emotional Expression Style and Form Interpretation
THEMES BY LEVEL: ANALYTICAL
Kandinsky
Monet
Poussin
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Emotional Expression Style and Form Interpretation Other
To what extent are the descriptions children provide related to their overall
level of cognitive reasoning?
RESEARCH QUESTION 2:
PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS
Perceptual Contextual Analytical
Gender -.06 -.03 .10
Age -.36* .30† .23
Grade -.38* .38* .21
*p < .05, †p = .06
Perceptual Contextual Analytical
MuseumVisits -.33* -.02 .41**
ClassroomExhibits -.12 .03 .12
Appreciation Classes -.04 -.06 .09
Production Classes -.07 .03 .07
PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS
**p < .01, * p < .05
Cognitive reasoning was positively correlated with analytical talk (r = .33, p < .05).
COGNITIVE REASONING AND ART APPRECIATION
Predictors R2 ΔR2 (β) (SE) (B)Model 1 .17* .17Museum Visits 10.30 3.74 0.41
Model 2 .26* .10Museum Visits 9.88 3.57 0.39Cognitive Reasoning 1.62 0.73 0.31
Cognitive reasoning uniquely explained 10% of the variance in analytical talk, controlling for museum visits.
COGNITIVE REASONING AND ART APPRECIATION
Cognitive reasoning was negatively correlated with total amount of talk about Poussin (r = -.34, p < .05), and was positively correlated with amount of talk about Monet (r = .31, p = .05).
Poussin Monet KandinskyMuseum
Visits -.37* -.16 -.19
ClassroomExhibits .16 -.28 .12
Appreciation Classes -.07 -.00 .06
Production Classes -.01 -.01 .02
* p < .05
COGNITIVE REASONING AND ART APPRECIATION
Cognitive reasoning was negatively correlated with total amount of talk about Poussin (r = -.34, p < .05), and was positively correlated with amount of talk about Monet (r = .31, p = .05).
Cognitive reasoning uniquely explained 13% of the variance in amount of talk about Poussin above and beyond museum visits.
Cognitive reasoning uniquely explained 10% of the variance in amount of talk about Monet.
Predictors R2 ΔR2 (β) (SE) (B)Model 1 .14* .14Museum Visits 3.56 1.46 0.37
Model 2 .26* .13Museum Visits 3.75 1.37 0.39Cognitive Reasoning -0.71 0.28 -0.36
Predictors R2 (β) (SE) (B)Cognitive Reasoning .10* .64 .32 .31
DISCUSSION
Results both support and expand on past findings that children’s talk about art varies based on the genre of the painting. The more realistic the artwork, the more children
focus on what they see in the painting. Children seem to have the most difficulty talking
about abstract paintings.
There seems to be a developmental progression in children’s level of art appreciation. Age/grade influence perceptual and contextual talk;
cognitive reasoning influences level of analytical talk. Children’s level of cognitive reasoning further
influences the type of painting they appreciate.
Representational
Semi-Representational
Abstract
IMPLICATIONS & FUTURE DIRECTIONS
The current study was exploratory in nature; future studies should further probe these relations: Larger sample size More experiential measures Longitudinal design
Numerous factors, including type of artwork and cognitive reasoning, appear to play a role in children’s art appreciation.
Art appreciation fosters children’s ability to formulate opinions and express their thoughts and feelings.
Current findings should be used to inform the development of art appreciation curricula.
“I certainly consider a great appreciation of painting to be the best indication of a most perfect mind…”