Young children's interpretation of the task demands in a simple experimental situation: an example from drawings

This paper presents a very simple experiment on children's drawings to explore the reasons underlying children's contextual sensitivity. Five‐ and six‐year old children were asked to draw from a model on two consecutive tasks. The only difference between the two tasks was the model's orientation. A model cup was presented on one task with its handle visible (at the side) and on the other task with its handle hidden at the back. Previous research would predict that children of this age should show a tendency towards drawing a familiar model such as a cup in a stereotyped orientation (i.e. handle at the side), irrespective of whether or not the handle was visible. However, the results from the present study showed that the children's preparedness to draw the model as it appeared was influenced by the order of task presentation. The findings are discussed in terms of children's interpretation of the task demands which alters as a result of the contrast between the two tasks.