DEVELOPMENT OF STRUCTURE AND STRATEGY IN 2-DIMENSIONAL PICTURES

The development of 2 structural principles, hierarchical complexity and interruption, was examined in a new domain, 2-dimensional pictures. Using felt pieces, 20 children in each of 3 age groups (4-4.5, 4.5-5, and 5-5.5 yrs) were asked to reproduce felt pictures of flower arrangements constituting tree structures of different levels of hierarchical complexity. For each model, task difficulty was varied by requiring Ss to construct pictures either with whole flowers or with component pieces. The ability to reproduce the models formed a Guttman scale according to tree structure complexity, and older Ss scored higher on the scale than younger Ss. Thus, hierarchical complexity has a developmental role in the pictorial domain, as in language and 3-dimensional construction. The construction process was analyzed in terms of uninterrupted and interrupted strategies. Unlike earlier results with abstract (nonfigural) 3-dimensional construction tasks, the present Ss did not avoid interrupted strategies. The lack of strategy preference with whole flowers and the development of a preference for interrupted strategies with components may stem from the fact that the strong figural and thematic aspects of the models reduced the cognitive complexity of an interrupted strategy. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1979 American Psychological Association.