Graphic symbols as "the mind on paper": links between children's interpretive theory of mind and symbol understanding

Children gradually develop interpretive theory of mind (iToM)—the understanding that different people may interpret identical events or stimuli differently. The present study tested whether more advanced iToM underlies children’s recognition that map symbols’ meanings must be communicated to others when symbols are iconic (resemble their referents). Children (6–9 years; N = 80) made maps using either iconic or abstract symbols. After accounting for age, intelligence, vocabulary, and memory, iToM predicted children’s success in communicating symbols’ meaning to a naïve map‐user when mapping tasks involved iconic (but not abstract) symbols. Findings suggest children’s growing appreciation of alternative representations and of the intentional assignment of meaning, and support the contention that ToM progresses beyond mastery of false belief.     

Teaching Science Through Pictorial Models During Read-Alouds

This study examines how three elementary teachers refer to pictorial models (photographs, drawings, and cartoons) during science read-alouds. While one teacher used realistic photographs for the purpose of visually verifying facts about crystals, another employed analytical diagrams as heuristic tools to help students visualize complex target systems (rainbow formation and human eye functioning). Another teacher used fictional cartoons to engage students in analogical storytelling, communicating animal camouflage as analogous to human “blending in.” However, teachers did not always explicitly convey the representational nature of pictorial models (analog and target as separate entities). It is argued that teachers need to become more aware of how they refer to pictorial models in children’s science books and how to promote student visual literacy.     

Infants' cross-modal transfer from solid objects to their graphic representations

12-month-old infants were familiarized either tactually or visually with objects and then tested for visual recognition memory using either (1) the familiar and a novel object, (2) colored pictures of the objects, or (3) outline drawings of them. In Study 1, infants showed recognition memory on all 3 visual intramodal problems but showed cross-modal transfer only when objects were used as test stimuli. With increased familiarization times in Study 2, transfer from tactually presented samples to both pictorial displays was achieved, indicating that after feeling an object the infants were able to recognize it visually solely on the basis of its contour. With reduced familiarization times in Study 3, there was no evidence for transfer from visually presented samples to the 2 pictorial displays, replicating the pattern of results observed cross-modally in Study 1 and suggesting that, at least in certain respects, cross-modal and intramodal perception follow similar principles.     

Discrimination of geons by pigeons: The effects of variations in surface depiction

We explored how changes in the depiction of the surface features of a simple volume (a geon) affected the pigeon’s recognition performance. Pigeons were trained to make a different keypeck response to each of four computer-rendered single-geon objects. In Experiment 1, the pigeons were tested with images of the original stimuli in which the light source was shifted from its original position, as well as with silhouettes and line drawings of these objects. All three types of stimulus variations resulted in marked drops in performance: above chance for silhouettes and light-change stimuli, but at chance for line drawings. In Experiment 2, the pigeons were tested with images of the original stimuli in which the contrast levels were either increased or decreased. These transformations resulted in very small drops in performance (except for the complete absence of contrast-a silhouette). These results indicated that the pigeons attended to the shape of the outside contour of an object and to the relative brightness of an object’s surface contours.     

Memory for pictures: a life-span study of the role of visual detail

This experiment assessed the effect of the amount of physical detail in pictures on picture recognition memory for 7-year-olds, 9-year-olds, young adults, and older adults over 68. Subjects were presented simple and complex line drawings, factorially combined in a "same-different" recognition test with simple or complex forms of each. For each age group, recognition accuracy was significantly higher for pictures presented in the simple than in the complex form. This effect was due to differences between simple and complex pictures in the correct rejection rate but not the hit rate; subjects were less accurate detecting deletions from changed complex pictures than additions to changed simple pictures. The older adults were no better than chance at correctly rejecting changed complex pictures. Although increasing the presentation duration from 5 sec to 15 sec increased overall accuracy, it did not increase subjects' ability to correctly reject changed complex pictures. Results are interpreted in terms of schematic encoding and storage of pictures. Accordingly, visual information that communicates the central schema of each picture is more likely to be encoded and retained in memory than information that does not communicate this schema.     

Too Much Familiarity! The Developmental Path of the Fluency Heuristic in Children

We tested whether changes in attribution processes could account for the developmental differences observed in how children’s use fluency to guide their memory decisions. Children ranging in age from 4 to 9 years studied a list of familiar or unfamiliar cartoon characters. In Experiment 1 (n = 84), participants completed a recognition test during which the perceptual fluency of some items was enhanced using a prime. In Experiment 2 (n = 96), participants completed a source recollection judgment on their recognition decisions. Primed items were recognized at a higher rate than unprimed items. However, while young children rely on fluency for all items, older children use fluency only for unfamiliar items. This pattern came together with a reduction in familiarity-based—but not recollection-based—memory responses.     

论绘画从写实到抽象的嬗变简

绘画分为写实和抽象两种造型方式,在长这几百年的时间里,写实绘画一直占据着主要的位置,也受到人们的欢迎.在20世纪初,抽象绘画打破了写实绘画的主要位置,以非具象的画面形成新的视觉方式,同样给人强烈的视觉震撼力.     

Drawing for others: influence of referential intention in early production of drawings / Dibujar para otros: influencia de la intencionalidad referencial en la producción temprana de dibujos

This study examines if and how the presence of an adult as a receptive agent of children’s drawings has an effect on the early production of pictorial symbols by emphasizing the children’s referential intention as drawers. To this end, we compared three-year-old children’s representational drawings with a model in four experimental conditions, three conditions with an adult as a receptive agent and one condition without a receiver. In the conditions with a receiver (Linguistic Feedback, Graphic Demonstration and Graphic Product) children were explicitly asked to draw for an adult, who had to use the children’s pictures to find hidden objects in identical boxes; the conditions differed in the adult’s actions with non-representational drawings. The results indicate that the presence of the receiver had an impact on representational production only when the adult demonstrated how to create the drawings with the intent of communicating the identity of the objects (Graphic Demonstration). Although drawing is typically viewed as a solitary activity, these results suggest that representational drawings may emerge in communicative contexts between drawers and receivers.     

论"新写实小说"

新写实小说作为一种特别的文学现象，它属于现实主义范畴却又与传统现实主义有所不同。它以平实朴素的语言风格、贴近民众的凡人琐事契合了读者心理，从而赢得了自身的发展。但后期由于过分注重生活原生态的展示，使作品格调灰暗，沉重压抑，新写实小说尽管有自身的缺陷，但它对其它的新现实主义创作及个人化写作产生了深刻的影响。     

新现实主义小说现实品格论——兼论新现实主义小说与改革文学、新写实、先锋文学之不同

新现实主义小说是在社会转型期这个特殊的历史语境中形成的 ,因而表现出了鲜明的现实品格和人文关怀精神。它既是对“改革文学”的一种继承和超越 ,也是对“新写实”的纠正和批判 ,同时也是对先锋文学的反拨和扬弃。因而具有关注现实、反映人生 ,贴近社会、抚慰民众 ,暴露弊端、批判丑恶的现实品格     

Adaptation de la Perspective à une Situation Complexe par des Elèves de 9–12 ans

The research described here deals with relationships between teaching situations and pupils’ notions in the context of three dimensional geometry lessons during compulsory schooling. Specifically, ways in which 9 to 12 year old children adapt perspective drawings of a cube in two quite complex situations are looked at. These situations require that assemblies of cubes be represented with different objectives in mind. Furthermore, the situations are created at the beginning of the learning process as implemented at two different school grades. The article presents the bread range of possible types of visual representations of cube assemblies. Three ways of adapting to these situations can be picked out in terms of this classification, namely:

— successful resolution of the coordination problems posed by perspective representation of assemblies involving several cubes;

— restricted use of perspective drawings for one simple part of the assembly;

— abandonment of perspective drawings in favour of other, figurative or semi-figurative method of graphical representation.

The effect of certain features of each situation considered on pupils’ adaptation is also brought out. These features were used to favour semi-figurative techniques of representation linked to spatial orientation procedures.     

Comparing cognition by integrating concept learning,proactive interference,and list memory

This article describes an approach for training a variety of species to learn the abstract concept of same/different, which in turn forms the basis for testing proactive interference and list memory. The stimulus set for concept-learning training was progressively doubled from 8, 16, 32, 64, 128 . . . to 1,024 different pictures with novel-stimulus transfer following learning. All species fully learned the same/different abstract concept: capuchin and rhesus monkeys learned more readily than pigeons; nutcrackers and magpies were at least equivalent to monkeys and transferred somewhat better following initial training sets. A similar task using the 1,024-picture set plus delays was used to test proactive interference on occasional trials. Pigeons revealed greater interference with 10-s than with 1-s delays, whereas delay time had no effect on rhesus monkeys, suggesting that the monkeys’ interference was event based. This same single-item same/different task was expanded to a 4-item list memory task to test animal list memory. Humans were tested similarly with lists of kaleidoscope pictures. Delays between the list and test were manipulated, resulting in strong initial recency effects (i.e., strong 4th-item memory) at short delays and changing to a strong primacy effect (i.e., strong 1st-item memory) at long delays (pigeons 0-s to 10-s delays; monkeys 0-s to 30-s delays; humans 0-s to 100-s delays). Results and findings are discussed in terms of these species’ cognition and memory comparisons, evolutionary implications, and future directions for testing other species in these synergistically related tasks.     

造型艺术中的视觉抽象

人类绘画发展从幼稚的简化阶段到具象写实,再到抽象的过程,是绘画技巧及思维发展和成熟的过程,也是绘画发展的必然结果。人们从简单模仿到写实模仿的过程一旦完成,就会进入理想化阶段,最终必然要关注内心的表达,而人的内心是主观的,任何抽象都是主观看事物结果的表达。无论绘画的形式如何,其中都隐含或具有抽象的因素,这是衡量优秀作品的重要标志。"绘画的抽象是建立在整体的归纳和简化基础上,是对客观对象主动把握。观看一个物体,就是在进行某种抽象活动,因为观看活动中包含着对物体结构特征的把握,而不仅仅是对细节不加区别的录制。而且视知觉这种抽象能力从观看一开始就发挥作用了。"视觉之所以有思维本领,就是凭借直接抽象出事物里的式样来进行思考的。     

Analyzing prospective teachers’ images of scientists using positive,negative and stereotypical images of scientists

Background and purpose : This study details the use of a conceptual framework to analyze prospective teachers’ images of scientists to reveal their context-specific conceptions of scientists. The conceptual framework consists of context-specific conceptions related to positive, stereotypical and negative images of scientists as detailed in the literature on the images, role and work of scientists.

Sample, design and method : One hundred and ninety-six drawings of scientists, generated by prospective teachers, were analyzed using the Draw-A-Scientist-Test Checklist (DAST-C), a binary linear regression and the conceptual framework.

Results : The results of the binary linear regression analysis revealed a statistically significant difference for two DAST-C elements: ethnicity differences with regard to drawing a scientist who was Caucasian and gender differences for indications of danger. Analysis using the conceptual framework helped to categorize the same drawings into positive, stereotypical, negative and composite images of a scientist.

Conclusions : The conceptual framework revealed that drawings were focused on the physical appearance of the scientist, and to a lesser extent on the equipment, location and science-related practices that provided the context of a scientist’s role and work. Implications for teacher educators include the need to understand that there is a need to provide tools, like the conceptual framework used in this study, to help prospective teachers to confront and engage with their multidimensional perspectives of scientists in light of the current trends on perceiving and valuing scientists. In addition, teacher educators need to use the conceptual framework, which yields qualitative perspectives about drawings, together with the DAST-C, which yields quantitative measure for drawings, to help prospective teachers to gain a holistic outlook on their drawings of scientists.     

论方方小说中的欲望女性书写

与经典爱情故事通过女性作为客体的地位和她的吸引力来描述她的性欲不同,方方的小说出现了一些能和阳具独尊相抗衡的女性形象。方方对男权社会贬抑女性的性内化的认同,使这些女性被丑化,同时她们在日常生活中面临的社会、经济、文化等方面的实际问题及其抗争也被漠视,但是现实主义的创作态度和青春时代置身底层的经历使方方仍向我们展露了部分真实。本文试图恢复这些张扬自身欲望的女子的真面目,为某些女性意识薄弱的文本提供一种抗拒性阅读,为方方的新写实小说开拓全新的阐释空间。     

ADULT AGE DIFFERENCES IN SPEED AND ACCURACY OF MATCHING VERBAL AND PICTORIAL SIGNS

Young (mean age of 19 years) and older (mean age of 69 years) adults participated in a two‐choice, matching‐to‐sample reaction time experiment. Young adults responded more quickly than older adults; all subjects responded more quickly to a verbal standard sign than to a pictorial standard. However, there was an age difference in speed of performance only for those subjects in the stimulus order condition receiving first pictorial standards and then verbal standards. These data are interpreted within a model of dual memory processing systems (verbal and nonverbal). During adulthood there is an increasing tendency for verbal codes to elicit more general associations of both a verbal and a pictorial symbolic nature, while a pictorial code continues to activate only other pictorial stimuli. More generally, the implications of such a model for understanding aging and educational gerontology are discussed.     

Draw a Young and an Older Person: Schoolchildren's Images of Older People

The goal of this study was to explore stereotypes of older people as expressed in drawings by a sample of primary school children. Sixty children from fourth to sixth grades (30 boys and 30 girls aged 9 to 12 years) were asked to draw a young man, a young woman, an old man, and an old woman. The drawings were content analyzed. Children in our sample seemed to represent old people in varied or multidimensional ways, indicating, thus, that the image they held about elders was less negative than concluded in similar investigations. In fact, although some drawings had negative content, most pictured a positive—and even friendly—image of old people. Moreover, some of the drawings included both positive and negative traits at the same time. Compared with images of young men and women, those of the elderly seem to be more homogeneous and less complex, since there was more agreement on represented details. Suggestions for future research are proposed.     

Intellectual realism: the role of children's interpretations of pictures and perceptual verbs

Intellectual realism refers to the tendency of young children to indicate incorrectly all that is present in an object array when asked to indicate only what they can see of it from a particular perspective. 3 experiments tested and confirmed the hypotheses that children's interpretation of (a) pictorial conventions and of (b) the expression "look like" may increase this tendency. The results of this and other studies suggest that young children's difficulties with adult pictorial conventions, with the wording of task instructions, and with the concept of a momentary, view-determined appearance can all lead to intellectual realism errors.